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Data Sources and Information
Substance Use & Overdose:
- Fatal overdose data provided by the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office and the Hamilton County Health Department's Epidemiologists. There may be additional suspected drug-related death data reported over this time period in subsequent reports as data is finalized.
- Narcan (Naloxone) Data is provided by Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and thereby provided by EsoSuite and EMS personnel.
- Non-fatal data is all non-fatal overdose-related emergency department visits from Hamilton County hospitals were included in this data, regardless of the patient's county of residence. Data was pulled from ESSENCE - NSSP using the CDC All Drug Overdose (version 2) query, which includes relevant ICD-10-CM codes, ICD-9-CM codes, SNOMED codes, and relevant terms in the chief complaint free text field. There may be additional suspected nonfatal overdose-related emergency department visit data reported over this time period in subsequent reports as data is finalized
- Jurisdiction: Currently, Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office (which is also the Southeast Tennessee Regional Forensic Center) primarily handles deaths that occur within Hamilton County with occasional cases referred from adjoining counties. Those referred cases do not count in the Hamilton County statistics. Individuals who are injured or overdose in other counties, transported to a medical facility in Hamilton County and die in Hamilton County, will have their death certificate done by the Hamilton County Medical Examiner Office. Those cases are included in Hamilton County statistics. The converse also holds: an injury or overdose occurring in Hamilton County, with death in a different county or state, will be included in that jurisdiction’s statistics, not Hamilton County.
- Prosecution data comes directly from the prosecutor’s office.
Victim Services:
- All Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Hotline Calls and Exams data are provided by the Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults. Sexual assault exams are counted by the county in which the assault occurred, not necessarily where the victim lives.
- All Counts of Child Sex Crime Prosecutions and Medical Exams data are provided by staff at the Children’s Advocacy Center and Prosecutor. Child maltreatment data counts children as 18 years old and younger. A child may disclose more than one type of violence but are categorized by the type of violence from their initial intake from the Department of Children's Services.
Homelessness & Health:
- Hamilton County's Homeless Health Care Center data provided by eClinicalWorks from the Hamilton County Health Department Homelessness Housing Status Definitions
- Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition Data is provided by their website’s public data system. Every year, Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, in compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) hosts an annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count.
- PIT Count is intended to serve as a snapshot of homelessness on a single night in January. The data collected through PIT Count is a crucial element HUD uses in determining how to best allocate resources for housing service.
Crime:
- Population is a current estimate from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/hamiltoncountytennessee populations are an estimation. Hamilton County population, less East Ridge (21,936), is 352,746
- All crime data is provided by the respective Hamilton County municipal agency using their Records Management System. 2025 data is considered "operational" and subject to change as each agency finalizes their data.
Food Nutrition & Assistance:
- The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program is funded through the USDA. WIC services are provided through the Tennessee Department of Health in 126 entities across the state, including county health departments, stand-alone clinics, and hospital sites. The program is designed to provide supplemental food assistance and nutrition education to low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children until age five. To inquire, visit: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic.
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget so they can afford the nutritious food essential to health and well-being. To inquire, visit: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program
- The Chattanooga Area Food Bank partners with retailers, manufacturers, farmers, buying alliances, and individual donors to end hunger in the region. Foxwood Food Center is Hamilton County’s largest brick and mortar food pantry, and the only one operated by the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. Emergency Food Boxes are distributed at Foxwood Center location at 3209 Wilcox Blvd. Chattanooga, TN 37411- (423) 622-1800.
Other Locations:
Chattanooga Area Food Bank- 2009 Curtain Pole Rd. Chattanooga, TN 37406-(423) 622-1800
Northwest Georgia Branch- 1111 South Hamilton Street Dalton, GA 30720-(706) 508-8591
Education:
- Education data derives from the Tennessee Department of Education (2024-2025) and reflects 82 Hamilton County Schools.
- All local education data can be found on the State Report Card, found here: https://www.tn.gov/education/families/report-card.html
Data Dictionary
Substance Misuse & Overdose:
- Drug-related deaths are those deaths that the Hamilton County Health Department receives from the Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office with a cause of death listed as an acute overdose or a death resulting from chronic drug abuse.
- Acute overdose deaths are those deaths in which the Hamilton County Medical Examiner listed drugs (either an overdose or a toxicity) as a primary cause of death or contributing cause of death on the death certificate and in the medical examiner report.
- Cause of Death and contributing cause of death following a thorough investigation, including (as appropriate): scene investigation, medical records review, external examination, autopsy, histology, and postmortem toxicology reports. Some deaths may have substances listed on the toxicology report in concentrations that are not high enough to result in or contribute to a death, and are therefore, not a cause of death; in these cases, these deaths do not count as an acute overdose death. Chronic drug abuse deaths are those deaths in which the cause of death is due to chronic substance abuse and the individuals did not overdose at the time of death.
- Narcan is the brand name for Naloxone, the medication designed to reverse an opioid overdose. This means that it attaches to opioid receptors and reverses and blocks the effects of other opioids. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose. But, Naloxone has no effect on someone who does not have opioids in their system, and it is not a treatment for opioid use disorder. Examples of opioids include heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, and morphine. Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Victim Services:
- All Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults data is provided by staff at Partnership. Sexual assault exams are counted by the county in which the assault occurred, not necessarily where the victim lives.
- All Children’s Advocacy Center and Prosecutor Data provided by staff at CAC. Child maltreatment data counts children as 18 years old and younger. A child may disclose more than one type of violence but are categorized by the type of violence from their initial intake from the Department of Children's Services.
Homelessness & Health:
- Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition Data is provided by their website’s public data system. Every year, Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, in compliance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), conducts an annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count.
- PIT Count is intended to serve as a snapshot of homelessness on a single night in January. The data collected through PIT Count is a crucial element HUD uses in determining how to best allocate resources for housing services. The count includes those who are unsheltered, used emergency shelter, or used transitional housing.
- Housing and Urban Development’s definitions and categories of homeless
Definitions and Categories of Homeless (PDF) Hamilton Homeless Health Clinic data definitions are as follows:
Homeless Shelter – Patients who are living in an organized shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness. Shelters that generally provide meals and a place to sleep are regarded as temporary and often limit the number of days or the hours of the day that a resident may stay at the shelter.
Transitional Housing – Transitional housing units are generally small units (six people is common) where people transition from a shelter and are provided extended, but temporary, housing stays (generally between 6 months and 2 years).
Doubled Up – Patients who are living with others. The arrangement is considered to be temporary and unstable, though a patient may live in a succession of such arrangements over a protracted period.
Street – Patients who are living outdoors, in a vehicle, in an encampment, in makeshift housing/shelter, or in other places generally not deemed safe or fit for human occupancy.
Permanent Supportive Housing – Permanent supportive housing usually is in service-rich environments, does not have time limits, and may be restricted to people with some type of disabling condition.
Other – Patients who were housed when first seen during the year and were no longer homeless, but who were still eligible for the program because they experienced homelessness during the previous 12 months.
Unknown – Patients known to be experiencing homeless whose housing arrangements are unknown.
Crime:
- Violent Crimes: The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program defines violent crimes as those offenses that involve force or threat of force and is composed of four offenses: murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
- Property Crimes: The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program includes the offenses of burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims. Source:
- Crime itself is defined by the National Uniform Crime Reporting Program and refers to serious crime that occur with regularity in all areas of the country and are likely to be reported to police. Part 1 violent crimes include homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Part 1 property crimes include burglary, theft, and auto theft.
Travel & Infrastructure:
- External data portals are subject to the definitions respective to the entity that reports originate from.
External data portals are subject to the definitions respective to the entity that reports originate from.
Education:
- The Tennessee State Achievement Rate refers to the percentage of students whose score “met expectations” or “exceeded expectations” across all test subjects