Indiana researchers have unveiled a statewide evictions and foreclosures dashboard, believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Thursday marked the launch of the data tool from the Polis Center and New America.

The Polis Center collected data from the Indiana courts system and joined it with demographic data from New America to create the dashboard. It shows eviction and foreclosure filings and judgments down to the census tract level, data that wasn’t really available to the public before now.

Indiana University Assistant Professor Patricia Basile said the dashboard can help better identify trends and challenges.

“I’m really excited that it has eviction filings and eviction judgments because it also allow us to see how different judges are treating tenants very differently and having extremely different results,” Basile said.

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Community organizer Mari Luna with Patchwork Indy said the dashboard can also empower advocates.

“Our stories and our experiences are supported by the numbers,” Luna said. “They’re supported by the research.”

The Polis Center hopes to add more data and features to the dashboard in the future.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.