PA211

This paper analyzes and documents the relationships between several relevant client statuses, and the unmet needs of those clients: Pennsylvania residents who contact PA211 for assistance. My literature review suggested pronounced disparities in urban-rural food security, and methodological challenges created by gendered behavioral differences and mental health problems among clients. Data provided by PA211 uses a three-tier structure, containing unique IDs to differentiate client interactions from referrals, categorizations of services provided, as well as a numbering system to allow counting of needs. Unmet needs, or services which clients were unable to find assistance with after contacting PA211, intersect in varying ways with client demographic information, repeat-client status, location, and timing. Using multiple and logistic regression, a stacked bar chart, and a correlation matrix, I analyze and visualize these relationships. Findings reveal that age is the most significant predictor of differing unmet need composition and volume, while gender, race, income, and veteran status have only minor effects. Repeat clients disproportionately seek assistance in housing, while first-time clients seek utility assistance, suggesting that repeat clients contend with long-term deprivation. This also suggests insufficiency of housing assistance in Pennsylvania. Further, rural and urban categorization of location is insufficient for meaningful analysis, with county-level examination proving superior, in some cases. This research outlines flaws in PA211’s data procurement process, including geographic categorization (rural/urban versus county-level) and survey strategies. I suggest remedies including more rigid surveying of client assets, housing, and employment status, as well as closer examination of heightened unmet needs among those who fail to divulge ethnic identity.