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In response to requirements from the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) that communities produce an unduplicated
client count of persons who are homeless, the Maricopa Regional
Continuum of Care on Homelessness 2001 application for HUD McKinney
Act funds included a request for funding for the Community Information
& Referral, Inc. (CIR) to implement a Homeless Management Information
System (HMIS). The
HMIS will be used by homeless programs in Maricopa County to capture,
maintain and report information. HUD awarded the funding to CIR
in the fall of 2001 to implement the HMIS.
The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), which provides staff
support to the Maricopa Regional Continuum of Care on Homelessness,
contracted for assistance with a community planning effort to work
with homeless providers in the geographic area of Maricopa County
to identify the community wants and needs for such a system.
Management consultants Cannon & Gill, Inc. assisted with
the planning process and the selection of the HMIS software package
from December 2001 to June 2002.
CIR estimates a three to four-year phase in of all of the homeless
providers in the Maricopa County geographic area.
CIR estimates that 27 homeless providers will begin using
the HMIS in a phase-in implementation over the first year (by December
2003).
The purpose of this project is to purchase off-the-shelf software
and implement a system to capture and report data on persons who
are homeless in the geographic area of Maricopa County, Arizona
in order to meet the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD). A planning committee comprised of homeless
providers, the Community Information & Referral, Inc. (CIR),
which is the local agency which will be the administrator of the
Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), and other interested
parties from the City of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona Department
of Economic Security and Arizona Department of Health Services met
and identified key features that should be included in this system.
The planning committee identified high level requirements for the
HMIS that shall include the following key operational areas:
Homeless information about real-time bed and service
availability among homeless providers and referral capabilities.
Providers should be able to use the software to “reserve”
beds in their own facilities. Referrals between providers
will require the receiving provider to accept the referral. On-line
client intake with data recorded at the time of intake
which can be used to reduce duplicate data entry and to produce
an unduplicated client count. This feature also allows a provider
to search the system to determine if the client already is currently
or was in the past receiving services from that provider. If the
client agrees to information sharing, this may also allow a provider
to search the database for other services previously or currently
provided to the client to improve coordination of services. On-line
case management – within an agency and, subject
to agency and client agreement, across agencies. This feature should
allow data about service needs, services provided, and goal achievement,
and team members to be automated for reporting purposes. System
wide information and reporting which will allow non-client
identifiable information to be reported for a variety of purposes
and to a variety of community identified information users. This
may include ad hoc reports, standard reports and queries that will
provide information about persons who are homeless and the services
and beds received and client “turnaway” information.
All of these operational levels assume (1) appropriate client confidentiality
according to laws and regulations, (2) agencies continue to use
their own requirements for acceptance into service, (3) agency information
is confidential, and (4) detailed protocols and agreements on access
to data and information sharing are executed among participating
providers.
Data from the providers will be stored in a central database and
must be available to the individual providers for information and
reports about their own programs. In addition, the information in
the central database will be used to produce community-wide de-identified
information about homeless populations in the geographic area to
HUD, local policy makers, funding sources, and other interested
parties. The system will also produce management reports for participant
homeless provider agencies.
The current level of automation among the providers varies significantly.
Some providers have manual operations while other providers have
their own custom or packaged automated systems for information and
referral, client intake, case management, or reporting. Consequently,
some providers will use the HMIS system as the front-end system,
while other providers may wish to interface their existing systems
to the HMIS.
The HMIS must accommodate the four key operational areas identified
above, is and will remain compliant with the requirements of the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and
other relevant state and federal laws related to client confidentiality,
particularly of persons who have substance abuse, mental health,
domestic violence and HIV/AIDS related issues.
The total population of Maricopa County is approximately
3 million people residing in a 9,222 square mile area. There are
approximately 70 homeless providers in this geographic area providing
services and 8,416 beds to the estimated 11,000 – 14,000 persons
who are homeless. The 8,416 beds are designated as follows: 2,082
are Emergency Shelter Beds; 3,433 are Transitional Housing Beds;
and 2,901 are Permanent Supportive Housing Beds.
In addition, the community is discussing the potential to use the
HMIS that is developed and implemented in the Maricopa geographic
area to also serve the other two Homeless Continuums in Arizona.
This potentially would include the 23 providers, 2,066 beds, and
5,028 people who are estimated to be homeless in the Pima County
Continuum and an estimated 20 - 25 providers, 200 - 300 beds, and
500 people who are homeless in the Balance of State / Rural Continuum.
The community has not yet reached agreement on including one or
both of these other geographic areas in the HMIS; however, this
remains a possibility.
Implementation for the Participating Homeless Providers will be
performed in a phased manner:
- Emergency Shelters
- Transitional Housing Providers
- Permanent Support Housing Providers
- Food Banks and Other Faith-Based Providers
The current Participating Providers are:
General contact information about the participating providers is
available here.
The expected benefits of the HMIS are:
For the Client -- Improved coordination of care and services;
improved knowledge about services and beds available; potential
linkage to other service delivery systems in the future; reduced
duplication of information gathering/sharing if elements such as
common / central intake and shared case management are operationalized;
potential direct access to information in the future if kiosk or
similar option is added; protection of client confidentiality.
For the Provider Who Participates in the HMIS -- Automated
reporting; reduction in number of reports produced; improved internal
and external data; improved ability to serve clients; automated
information for management and case managers (i.e., automated case
management function when operationalized); improved client tracking;
potential to streamline referral processes; potential for strengthened
partnerships through participation; meet HUD reporting requirements
For the Continuum of Care -- Improved information about
system and system needs for funding, decision-making and policy;
improve information for the Maricopa Continuum of Care Exhibit 1
application to HUD and other funding applications; improved ability
to identify and quantify gaps in the system; credibility; potential
for strengthened partnership among components of the community system
For HUD and Other Funders -- Improved information about
system and system needs for funding, decision-making and policy
For the General Community -- Better information about people
who are experiencing homelessness, the causes and the trends and
future needs will help the general community to better plan for
affordable housing and support for people who are at-risk of becoming
or returning to homelessness; better information about housing and
support needs will enable interested parties to better market these
needs to potential funders and policy –makers.
If You are a Homeless Provider
If you are a homeless provider and have questions about participating
in HMIS, please contact the HMIS Project Director:
Robert
Duvall
Community Information & Referral
(602) 263-8845 ext. 102 / 602-577-0501 (cell)
rduvall@cir.org
If You Wish to Contribute
If you wish to contribute funds or other resources to the Maricopa
HMIS Project, please contact:
Roberto Armijo
Executive Director
Community Information & Referral
2200 N Central Ave Ste 601
Phoenix, AZ 85004
(602) 263-8845 ext. 111
rarmijo@cir.org
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