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 The Pima
County HMIS Project is
a community-wide computer database system designed to collect
data on homeless services and the homeless clients they serve.
The Tucson Planning Council for the Homeless, the local HUD
Continuum of Care (CoC)and I&R as the lead agency, worked
to develop and implement HMIS. Information & Referral
Services (I&R)
has been awarded funds to manage the HMIS project for Pima
County. The HMIS Project activities began in April 2003.
Pima County HMIS Project ensures that our
homeless delivery system addresses the specific needs of
this local community by involving input and guidance from
homeless service providers, constituents, and other community
members in Pima County.
Project implementation activities included:
- Determining local community priorities for system function, design, policies and procedures
- Selecting software, servers and hosting space
- Establishing a rollout schedule for participation
- Training participating agency staff on how to use the HMIS
When fully implemented, HMIS will be the primary tool for data collection and analysis for Pima County homeless services. Participating agencies will be able to use the system for client intake, case management, information and referral, data analysis and report generation. With longitudinal data, HMIS will provide the county and the state with a more accurate picture of homelessness in our community, which will be an asset in defining the need for funding for services.
Gathering data on the number of beds in
the Tucson Continuum of Care is a priority for the HMIS Project;
agencies with continuum beds will be the first participants
to begin using the system. Following the common model, agency
participation will be rolled out on a periodic schedule in
the first two years of the project.
The HMIS system also plans to gather data on supportive services within the CoC as well as services to the homeless beyond the CoC. Another project goal is to link the Pima system to the Maricopa and Rural Arizona CoCs’ HMIS system, creating a statewide HMIS.
For more information on the Tucson HMIS Project, visit the tucsonhmis yahoo! group site:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tucsonhmis/
or email Tucson HMIS Project Coordinator John Mott
jwmott@arizonatc.com
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