What is HMIS?
A Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is a locally administered, electronic data collection system that stores person-level information about clients who access the homeless service system.
How did the use of HMIS begin?
HMIS began as a grassroots effort in the mid to late 90’s to use technology at the community level to improve service delivery, the Continuum of Care (CoC) process, and community homeless planning efforts. As local implementation of HMIS grew and communities were able to generate data about persons relying on homeless services, it caught the attention of Congress. Click here to download a complete history of HMIS as a PDF document.
How does HMIS work?
Participating agencies — gather and enter standardized client-level and demographic data into HMIS, such as First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Address Data Quality, Disability and Chronically Homeless. Record services and target achievements. Data collected is compiled into reports that permits us to understand the demographic and geographic scope of homelessness and the needs in Orange County.
- Agency personnel input client data in HMIS within 3 days of client(s) entering the project.
- Both standard and customizable reports are available for use by participating agencies.
- The HMIS team provides technical support for Orange County’s participating agencies.
- Our services include project set-up, training, and on-going help desk support
What are the benefits of HMIS?
For The Client – Reduced duplication of information; safeguard of client confidentiality.
For The Provider – Improved ability to serve clients; Ability to measure and assess program effectiveness and report to boards and funders.
For The Continuum – The ability to measure the progress towards ending homelessness in Orange County
For Funders – The ability to evaluate return on investment in participating projects.
Who is the HMIS Administrator?
2-1-1 Orange County (211OC) administers the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for the Orange County Continuum of Care (CoC). In this effort, 211OC run the database that supports our community’s efforts to address homelessness. This information is used locally and is reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide data used to shape federal priorities.
211OC is a key service of Orange County United Way that connects thousands of OC residents with health and human service resources.