COSCDA Conference 2012

Washington, DC

Karen DeBlasio, HUD

March 13, 2012

Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS)

OVERVIEW

• HMIS and HEARTH• What is HMIS?• Benefits of HMIS• HMIS Requirements under HEARTH• Data Collection Requirements• HMIS Data Quality

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HMIS and HEARTH

• December 9, 2011- Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) Requirements Proposed Rule published

• February 7, 2012- Public comment period closed

• Spring 2012- HMIS Data Standards Notice published

• Summer 2012- HMIS Governance, Security, Technical, and Data Quality Notices published

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What is HMIS?

• A Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is a locally administered, electronic data collection system that stores longitudinal person-level information about persons who access the homeless service system.

• Every Continuum of Care (CoC) is required to

implement a HMIS to comply with HUD’s data

collection, management and reporting

standards.

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Benefits of HMIS

• Homeless Persons

– Streamlined referrals

– Coordinated intake and assessment

– Coordinated case management• Case Manager

– Case Planning

– Managing client progress

– Assistance with eligibility determination

– Simplified reporting5

Benefits of HMIS (cont’d)

• Programmatic

– Tracking client outcomes

– Coordination of services (internal/external)

– Simplified reporting for funders, boards, and

stakeholders

– Information for informing program design• Systemic

– Identification of service gaps, extent of

homelessness

– Measuring HEARTH performance measures

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Requirements

• The HEARTH Act makes HMIS participation a statutory requirement for Emergency Solutions Grants and CoC recipients and sub recipients.

• Emergency Shelter Grant recipients and

sub recipients are not currently required to

participate in HMIS, but may start

participating now to prepare for future

required HMIS participation. 7

Requirements (cont’d)

• HMIS must be able to produce an unduplicated counts of persons experiencing homelessness in CoC

• VAWA victim services providers are not permitted to use HMIS; they must use a comparable database

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Requirements (cont’d)

• CoC must identify HMIS Lead

• HMIS lead must develop policies and procedures around data quality, data standards, technical issues, and security and confidentiality

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Duties of HMIS Lead- Under HEARTH

• Developing written policies and procedures- including security & data quality plans

• Executing agreements with all contributing homeless organizations

• Serving as applicant to HUD for any HMIS grants that will cover the CoC geo area

• Monitor all contributing homeless organizations for compliance 10

HMIS Data Standards

• Data standards establish uniform definitions for the types of information to be collected and protocols for when data are collected and from whom.

• The March 2010 Revised Data Standards can be downloaded from the HUDHRE

• Draft 2012 Data Standards will be out this spring for public comment

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HMIS Data Standards- Universal Data Elements

• Name• Social Security Number• Date of Birth• Race• Ethnicity• Gender• Veteran Status• Disabling Condition

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Universal Data Elements (cont’d)

• Residence prior to provider program entry• Housing Status• Provider Program Entry Date• Provider Program Exit Date• Destination• Personal Identification Number• Household Identification Number

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HMIS Data Standards- Program Specific Data Elements

• Examples:– Zip code of last permanent address– Income– Employment Status– Disability

• Other program-specific data elements developed in collaboration with Federal partners

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HMIS Data Quality

• The following four data collection and data entry standards will ensure higher data quality:

1. Timeliness and Frequency of Data Entry

2. Data Completeness

3. Data Accuracy

4. Data Consistency

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For more Information…

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