Real data, real impact: Northeastern and city of Toronto collaborate to showcase progress on municipal mental health response
Toronto residents experiencing a mental health emergency can turn to the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS), a non-police response providing free, confidential support. When TCCS wanted help visualizing dispatch data to improve service delivery, Northeastern University Toronto students stepped in.
In a data visualization course within Northeastern’s Master of Professional Studies in Analytics program, students analyzed anonymized TCCS dispatch records to identify trends such as seasonal and daily call patterns, providing insights to help optimize staffing and resources. Working with real-world, imperfect data gave students valuable hands-on experience in data cleaning and analysis, skills essential for their future careers.
TCCS staff appreciated the fresh perspectives and the collaboration’s potential to create accessible visualizations for the public, enhancing transparency and accountability.