Step 1: Assess Existing Processes to Locate At-risk Populations

You probably already know who some at-risk populations are and how to reach them because they are enrolled in programs and receive services from your agency. State and local public health departments, for example, know women who are connected through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and generally know how to get in touch with them; or they know how to contact daycare providers who can help locate parents and guardians in an emergency.

To avoid duplicating efforts, you might find it helpful to conduct an inventory of your department’s current activities that include techniques and abilities to locate people. Interview others in your department or agency about the successes and barriers they have experienced in locating people who use their services. You might want to ask questions such as:

• Who are the at-risk populations served by the department?
• Where are their gathering places?
• What is the department’s process for locating these people? What data are available to use in the mapping efforts?
• How do at-risk populations receive information from the department?
• Who are their trusted sources?
• What other community and religious organizations serve these same groups?
• What other links do these at-risk population groups have to the community?
• What privacy rules could impact efforts to locate at-risk population groups?

This type of intra-departmental assessment can provide locating strategies as well as data that can be used in the mapping process. You might also consider asking your partners to gather this information from their networks.