VIRTUAL London.

Abstract

Each year, agencies across the United States receive federal funding through an application process to deliver housing and services to the unhoused population. The Department of Housing and Urban Development organizes this funding distribution through the creation of Continuums of Care (CoCs). CoCs are geographic designations for homeless delivery systems. For example, the entire state of Delaware is a CoC while the city of Nashville is its own CoC. In 2001, the United States federal government started to request data from CoCs to track the effectiveness of their housing and service delivery. Thus, the Homeless Information Management System (HMIS) became a required element of federal funding. While HMISs had been part of the service delivery discussion for a few years, this federal requirement fast tracked implementation across the country. The goal of HMIS was to not only create a source for data but to assist CoCs in coordinating services and streamline intake and data collection processes at individual agencies. In the twenty years since HMISs became a mandatory part of federally-funded programming, HMISs have faced many challenges across the country and specific challenges for differing CoCs. While the integration of this technology was seen as a way to improve service delivery, HMISs continue to face scrutiny on privacy, efficiency, and effectiveness measures. This presentation will review the HMIS landscape, its impact on the unhoused and service agencies, and how technology integration on front-line workers serving the vulnerable can foster important change in services.