HMIS-SCC – Homeless Management Information System – Santa Clara County
CTA led the planning and implementation of the HMIS system in Santa Clara County (SCC). Dedicating over a year to the research and planning, CTA completed the extensive requirements to address every aspect of the project. The key activities included collecting best practices nationally, analyzing over 60 software packages and completing a thorough hardware evaluation to meet implementation, confidentiality and security requirements. In addition to the research and planning, CTA facilitated agency collaboration to gain agreement on the structure of the solution for SCC.
The rollout of HMIS in SCC started in 2004. To date, over 400 staff members at housing and service providing agencies have been trained on confidentiality and software protocol requirements to securely and accurately enter data on over 100,000 unique clients in SCC Continuum of Care.
Today, CTA continues to manage this actively used system and provides the technical infrastructure, client confidentiality support, software and report training required. In addition, CTA provides policy and procedure management that makes HMIS SCC a national model.
UPDATE: As of March 2011, the “Homeless” in HMIS was changed to “Help.” The project will still meet HUD’s requirements for the Homeless Management Information System. This change was made in SCC to allow the project to focus on the specific aspect of “Helping” clients. The partnering agencies involved strive for homeless prevention and 2/3 of the clients serviced are not literally homeless, but need assistance to avoid this path. Together, we work to “Help” and prevent homelessness.
HMIS – Homeless Management Information Systems – Bay Area
Extending their reach, CTA has worked extensively with Monterey, Contra Costa, and Santa Cruz Counties on an ongoing basis to help manage their HMIS implementations. In 2010, CTA became the HMIS project administrators for Santa Cruz County, fully responsible for managing the entire project.
HPRP – Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program
CTA assists several Bay Area Counties with their HMIS requirements for HPRP funding. CTA provides development, software training, report support and technical consultation to several counties. This assistance allows the Counties to adhere to HUD regulations and successfully continue their funding. Compliance relies heavily on reporting requirements and CTA provides the technical assistance to service agencies as needed. Note: This program will end in 2011. Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding is expected to replace this program requiring agencies to join HMIS.
BACHIC – Bay Area Counties Homeless Information Collaborative
CTA facilitated the coordination and collaboration of 11 Bay Area Counties to build a regional understanding of the causes, needs and patterns of the homeless. Utilizing HMIS data as the primary source, CTA organized, managed and obtained funding for the Regional Homeless Information Network Operative (RHINO) with the goal of determining from existing data, the regional best practices when servicing the homeless. CTA provided technical consulting, planning and assistance to the Collaborative to plan for regional assessment capabilities. See RHINO to learn more about CTA’s contribution to this effort.
RHINO – Regional Homeless Information Network Operative
CTA collaborated with 11 Bay Area Counties to build a shared data warehouse using HMIS information. CTA built the warehouse, imported the data, tested the data integrity and reported the initial findings for analysis. Using their HMIS knowledge and best practices from other communities; CTA facilitated, managed and actively participated in the project. CTA then consulted on how best to use the data sets to yield more results by recommending the sets to incorporate and the findings that could be derived from them. By 2009, CTA reported the initial findings across all eleven counties for further analysis. Moving forward, the goal is to understand and collaboratively plan for effective service delivery across the region. Due to CTA’s involvement with technical aspects of the project, HomeBase – a San Francisco-based Technical Assistance firm, now provides facilitation for BACHIC and the RHINO project.
CVM SCC – Community Voice Mail for Santa Clara County
CTA built and currently manages a 24-hour Community Voice Mail system that services the clients of over 30 partnering agencies within Santa Clara County. Each individual has a unique voicemail number to receive messages from potential employers, landlords, case managers and family. This service is instrumental to clients as they work to re-enter mainstream life.
CalWORKS Distance Learning
A successful partnership with Santa Clara County CalWORKS allows participants to access approved podcasts and online learning materials 24/7. For this distance-learning project, CTA researched options, designed the solution, provided training as well as recommended implementation and maintenance requirements for on-going course updates. The system enables clients to successfully complete program requirements as their convenience while meeting the performance requirements in California for continued funding.
Bay Area Shelter Bed Hotline
CTA continues to manage a multilingual, 24-hour hotline for nine Bay Area Counties to provide up-to-date information on bed availability. CTA uses their networking technology and voicemail infrastructure to connect over 8,000 homeless annually to shelters that best fit their needs.