Lee County GIS for Human Services

The Department of Human Services (DHS) of the Lee County Board of County Commissioners supports low-income residents with programs in housing, targeted neighborhood development, elimination of homelessness, vocational training, and HIV/AIDS support and administers state-mandated public health, mental health, and substance abuse services. In 2001, the department began joining human services demographic data to the established county GIS. Objectives of GIS utilization were proactive analysis and coordinated planning and implementation of human services delivery.

Model GIS projects and maps were prepared to demonstrate the value of coordinated human services planning to a consortium of collaborating agencies, which included the department, Lee County Sheriff's Office, the Florida State Department of Health, and the University of Florida Housing Data Center. Several map projects were created joining data from two or more collaborating agencies.

This project was designed to display community health indicators arrayed against a background of household income gradations. The map project allows for modification of the background to display various community health condition gradients.

The Human Services Picture—Lee County
The bottom right display map provides a comprehensive overview of Lee County human services conditions. Crime, housing, and health data was mapped against varying background gradients of demographic data such as income and race.