2019 Spring Conference - NHSDC · County; Kristin Zakoor, Assistant Director of Data, Texas...

2019 Spring ConferenceNashville, TN April 15 - 17, 2019

Increasing Capacity & Building Connections:Bridging to the Future

This conference is co-sponsored by HUD.

Welcome from the NHSDC Board Chair

On behalf of the Board of Directors for the National Human Services Data Consortium (NHSDC) and our Spring Conference Planning Committee, I warmly welcome you to the beautiful city of Nashville. NHSDC is an all-volunteer led organization that holds two conferences per year (typically each April and October) for the express purpose of bringing together human services data professionals from around the country to learn best practices, inspire one another, and make connections.

The Spring 2019 Conference is monumental for NHSDC. It is the first time we have co-sponsored a conference with HUD. This partnership allows both organizations, together, to provide you with the technical information you need to successfully measure progress towards preventing and ending homelessness as well as learn from inspiring examples of communities who have successfully used data to transform their systems of care by increasing capacity and building connections.

NHSDC is excited to offer you 3 full days of high-quality content, with over 70 sessions in total. We are also excited for you to learn from HUD-SNAPS leadership, several Federal Partners, as well as local Nashville leaders.

I’m confident that our conference will help you to reflect upon and celebrate your past accomplishments, renew friendships with peers from across the country, and extend your networks. I hope that you will have a productive and fun‐filled time in Nashville and that you’ll head home feeling more skilled and more inspired.

Sincerely,

Jason Satterfield, 2019 NHSDC Board Chair

Contents

Day OneSchedule2. Day One Schedule

Sessions3. Opening Remarks

3. Session One Options

3. Lunch Plenary

3. Session Two Options

4. Session Three Options

6. Session Four Options

7. After Hours

Day TwoSchedule8. Day Two Schedule

Sessions9. Breakfast Plenary




11. Session Four Options

12. Session Five Options

Day ThreeSchedule14. Day Three Schedule

Sessions15. Networking Breakfast



16. Lunch Plenary


National Human Services Data Consortium 2019 Spring Conference

HUD’s Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs is excited to collaborate with NHSDC to bring important data and performance information to attendees. HUD and NHSDC have worked over the last two decades to deliver training and platforms that allow HMIS professionals to share ideas, current challenges, best practices and policy impacts.

This collaborative effort brings 30 HUD provided sessions on key topics and issues that are featured in the SNAPS’ Data TA Strategy to Improve Data and Performance.

1. Improving the capacity of people setting up, operating, and benefiting from data systems

2. Developing data systems that collect comprehensive, accurate, and timely data

3. Using data to improve Continuum of Care (CoC) efforts to end homelessness

HUD strongly encourages CoC and HMIS data leaders to review this strategy and integrate its vision and goals into their local work. HUD is offering a Certificate-of-Completion for individuals that attend short topic tracks on either HMIS Fundamentals or System Planning with Data. The attendee will need to complete a minimum of four sessions, noted with an “F” for HMIS Fundamentals or noted with an “SP” for System Planning with Data sessions.

HMIS Fundamentals:

• HMIS Governance 101• HMIS Lead Monitoring• HMIS Project Monitoring • Implementing Effective Contract Negotiation and Relationship Management Strategies 101 • HMIS Project Set Up 101 • HMIS Project Set Up 201• Understanding the Interconnectedness of HMIS Data • Achieving a Quality and Stable HMIS Staffing Pattern • HMIS Project Management and Annual Calendar of Expectations System Planning with Data:

• Orientation to the Stella Performance Module• System Modeling 101• System Performance Improvement: Part 1 - Analyzing Performance • System Performance Improvement Part 2 - Developing Strategies • Overview of System Performance Measures and Reports• Using Data in Funding Decisions • System Performance by Subpopulation and Geography

Sincerely,

Norm Suchar, Director, Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs

Welcome from HUD’s Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs

1Nashville, TN | April 15 - 17, 2019 | www.nhsdc.org

Monday, April 15th 7:00am-9:30am Registration

Room: Outside Platinum Ballroom [Note: Breakfast will be on your own.]

9:30am-10:00am Opening Remarks from NHSDC and HUD-SNAPS Leadership Room: Platinum Ballroom [Note: Coffee/water available.]

10:15am-11:45am Session One Options Homelessness 101 [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions; Joan Domenech, Program Manager, CSH

HMIS Governance 101 (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Leah Rainey, Senior Community Development Specialist and Mike Lindsay, ICF

Implementing Effective Contract Negotiation and Relationship Management Strategies 101 (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Mary Schwartz, Abt; Ryan Burger, ICF

Introduction to Data-Based Communications [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): George Martin, Policy Analyst, Homebase; Jamie Taylor, The Cloudburst Group

Orientation to the Stella Performance Module (SP) [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Stephanie Reinauer and Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Senior Associate, Abt

Strategic Communications with Non-CoC Partners and the Public [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): Susan Starrett, Associate Director for Federal TA, CSH; Andrea Miller, The Cloudburst Group

11:45am-1:20pm Lunch Plenary Strategic Federal Partnerships in Ending Homelessness Room: Platinum Ballroom Presenter(s): Abbilyn Miller, Senior Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; John Kuhn, National Director, SSVF, US Department of Veterans Affairs; Resa Matthews, Director, Division of Adolescent Development and Support, Family and Youth Services Bureau; Susan Pourciau, Policy Director, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; Kim Keaton, Director of Data & Analytics, CSH/NHSDC Board 2019 Vice Chair (Moderator)

1:30pm-2:20pm Session Two Options Consumer Advisory Boards: From Formation & Governance to Impact [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Sasha Caine, Staff Attorney and Nora Lally, Policy Analyst, HomeBase

Actionable Night-by-Night Shelter Data [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Jeremy Heyboer, Data Quality Manager and Lead Trainer, Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County

Data Science Tools Combat Systematic Bias to Ensure Equitable and Comprehensive Reporting [Track: Advanced Applications to Bridge HMIS; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Elizabeth McDonnell, Data Scientist, Crossroads

Measuring Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and Age Disparities in System and Project Level Performance [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Greg Barchuk, Your Way Home Montgomery County

Leveraging Data to Increase Access to Early Care and Education for Children who are Homelessness [Track: Building Partnerships to Increase the Homeless Response System’s Capacity; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Ashley Hirilal, Research Analyst and Sara Shaw, Early Childhood Development Research Scientist, Child Trends

Conference Schedule - Day One

2:30pm-3:45pm Session Three Options PIT Count Planning and Analysis Aided by Open Data and Open Source Tools [Track: Data Integration and Sharing; Level: Advanced] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Eddie Barber, Lead Developer, Simtech Solutions Inc.; Danielle Winslow, Acting Deputy Director, All Home King County; Kristin Zakoor, Assistant Director of Data, Texas Homeless Network

Whatever it Takes, Wherever it Is: Leveraging Data Across Disciplines to House Super-Utilizers [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Advanced] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): J. Scott Ashwood, Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation; Zachary Coil, Program Director, The People Concern; Brian Hargrave, Senior Human Services Analyst, City of Santa Monica Human Services

Simpler, Smoother, Swifter, Stronger: Actionable Coordinated Entry Evaluation [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Sasha Caine, Staff Attorney and George Martin, Policy Analyst, HomeBase; Kathryn Kaminski, Continuum of Care Quality Improvement Manager, Office of Supportive Housing County of Santa Clara

Holistic Approaches to System Evaluation & Planning Including Housing Market & Disparities Analyses [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Tracy Bennett, Director of Analytics and Evaluation, Michael Hatch, Analytics Consultant, and Genevieve Williamson, Chief Analyst, Focus Strategies

Developing a Data Monitoring Tool to Measure System Health [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Maureen Brewer, County Continuum of Care Manager and Alissa Parrish, HMIS Project Manager, City of Boise; Mike Lindsay, Senior Technical Specialist, ICF

Networking Room: Guided Questions (Coordinated Entry) Room: Studio 7

4:00pm-4:50pm Session Four Options Connecticut’s HMIS Journey and Lessons Learned [Track: Data Integration and Sharing; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Jim Bombaci, VP of Operations, James Buckley, VP of Research and Development, and Russ Comier, CEO, Nutmeg Consulting

At the Intersection of Data Entry, Reporting, and Performance [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Jessica McKown, Program Data Specialist, Allegheny County Department of Human Services

Data Science Tools Combat Systematic Bias to Ensure Equitable and Comprehensive Reporting [Track: Advanced Applications to Bridge HMIS; Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Elizabeth McDonnell, Data Scientist, Crossroads

Learning Together to End Youth Homelessness [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Keianna Pierre Louis, Contractor/Grants Coordinator, Palm Beach County Division of Human and Veteran Services; Margaret Woley, A Way Home America

Setting Performance Expectations of CoC Funded Grantees Using Project Performance [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Jayde Beebe, South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless

Networking Room: Guided Questions (Data Sharing) Room: Studio 7

5:15pm After Hours: Cocktail Reception Room: Skye Ballroom [Note: Hors d’oeuvre served and cash bar.]

National Human Services Data Consortium 2019 Spring Conference 2

Conference Sessions - Day One

Monday, April 15th

Opening Remarks from NHSDC and HUD-SNAPS Leadership (9:30am-10:00am)[Room: Platinum Ballroom]

Session One Options (10:15am-11:45am)Homelessness 101How is homelessness defined, how is it measured and what resources and strategies are available to end it? This session will provide an overview of the homeless services field including the federal definitions of homelessness, expectations for measuring homelessness and the context that our local Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) operate within. Presenter(s): Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions; Joan Domenech, Program Manager, CSH [Room: Melody–A; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

HMIS Governance 101 (F)How does a Continuum of Care (CoC) effectively govern its local Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This session will detail the elements of HMIS governance including HMIS-CoC governance agreement(s), CoC-level data management committee(s), regional and statewide governance models and the role of the CoC membership and Board in HMIS management and oversight. Presenter(s): Leah Rainey, Senior Community Development Specialist and Mike Lindsay, ICF [Room: Melody-B; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Implementing Effective Contract Negotiation and Relationship Management Strategies 101 (F) How do Continuums of Care (CoCs) ensure that they have an effective contract with their Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) software provider? This session will review the key components of a contract, the skills necessary to negotiate an agreement, and strategies to hold the HMIS software provider accountable under such contracts. Presenter(s): Mary Schwartz, Abt; Ryan Burger, ICF [Room: Melody B; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Introduction to Data-Based CommunicationsHow do communities develop targeted, actionable and engaging communications about their data? This session provides an overview of basic audience engagement strategies and how to couple them with data storytelling and develop a local Communications Plan. Presenter(s): George Martin, Policy Analyst, Homebase; Jamie Taylor, The Cloudburst Group [Room: Studio 5; Level: Advanced]

Orientation to the Stellar Performance Module (SP)How can the newly released Stella Performance Module be used to evaluate your system to address homelessness? This session will provide an orientation to the Performance Management (PM) module in Stella, including key concepts, available data, and functionality for system evaluation and planning. Presenter(s): Stephanie Reinauer and Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Senior Associate, Abt [Room: Studio 6; Level: Advanced]

Strategic Communications with Non-CoC Partners and the PublicWhat are the various mediums for publishing information related to Continuum of Care (CoC) activities and progress in ending homelessness? This session will include tips on how to develop messages for each media type, developing relationships with journalists, editorial boards, and use of active social media sites. Presenter(s): Susan Starrett, Associate Director for Federal TA, CSH; Andrea Miller, The Cloudburst Group [Room: Studio 7; Level: Advanced]

Lunch Plenary (11:45am-1:20pm)Strategic Federal Partnerships in Ending HomelessnessFederal partners across the government rely on HMIS data to inform policy and programmatic decisions. Speakers from HUD, USICH, ACF, and the VA will outline their strategic partnerships and show how they use HMIS data.Presenter(s): Abbilyn Miller, Senior Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; John Kuhn, National Director, SSVF, US Department of Veterans Affairs; Resa Matthews, Director, Division of Adolescent Development and Support, Family and Youth Services Bureau; Susan Pourciau, Policy Director, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; Kim Keaton, Director of Data & Analytics, CSH/NHSDC Board 2019 Vice Chair (Moderator) [Room: Platinum Ballroom]

Session Two Options (1:30pm-2:20pm)Consumer Advisory Boards: From Formation & Governance to ImpactThe planning process for conducting an accurate point in time homeless count in larger regions such as Texas Balance of State, King County, and Dallas can be a daunting undertaking. Like any large project, it is often best to break this work down into manageable tasks and to use lessons learned by others to help inform the process. During this session, we will provide an overview of how open source and free tools can be utilized alongside both open and private data sets to inform the entire count process. Topics to be covered will include recruiting volunteers, using historical data to establish count routes, creating balanced count teams, monitoring the count, establishing a sampling and enumeration methodology (if needed), and using open source tools such as QGIS and Tableau. Also, we will cover using open data sets such as the US Census and the HUD GIS Tools to analyze the data for racial disparities. Presenter(s): Sasha Caine, Staff Attorney; Nora Lally, Policy Analyst, HomeBase [Room: Melody–A; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Actionable Night-by-Night Shelter DataLast year our five Seasonal Night by Night Emergency Shelters entered over 60,000 individual nights of shelter into HMIS totaling nearly 400,000 nights over the last 6 seasons. This presentation will share the successful visualizations that inspired shelter staff to take ownership of their data and act on behalf of their clients. We will also include a few visualizations that fell flat. From data quality to coordinated entry, data visualization is not just for funders but can become a crucial tool helping shelter staff, case managers and agencies make sense out of this voluminous and rich data set for the benefit of their clients. Examples will include line graphs, bar charts, GANTT charts, scatter plots, integrating NOAA data, charting race and ethnicity,


and finding other meaningful client sets beyond demographics. In terms of knowing your audience, we will share anecdotes of knowing this particular audience and how crucial their feedback can be. In each case, we will show how the visualizations lead shelter staff to OWN their data and ACT for their clients. Presenter(s): Jeremy Heyboer, Data Quality Manager and Lead Trainer, Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County [Room: Melody-B; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Data Science Tools Combat Systematic Bias to Ensure Equitable and Comprehensive ReportingStatistical and machine-learning tools leveraged from the data science community are critical to an organization’s ability to accurately report all populations served. It allows the question, “how many clients were served last year?” to be answered, a basic but often impossible task using HMIS alone. Rhode Island’s Continuum of Care will serve as an example in describing the problem associated with reliance on HMIS for data reporting.

From afar, one might imagine a coordinated network of service providers who seamlessly manage a single database. From this imagined database, reports could be pulled that provide information about all clients served, across and within programs. Dashboards could be created that show the number of people in shelter, or the number of chronically homeless in a CoC. Right now, HMIS is this imaginary database.

HMIS has a high barrier to entry, and as a result, its data is often not comprehensive of the homeless population within a CoC or sometimes even within a single provider. Programs who are not required to use HMIS have little incentive to do so, resulting in their clients missing from HMIS-based analyses. Other programs simply cannot exclusively use HMIS, such as those serving protected populations (i.e. domestic violence programs) or those who also serve the non-homeless (i.e. managed properties).

The near-ubiquity of HMIS facilitates within-CoC standardization and collaborative longitudinal tracking, but its omnipresence may lead to systematic bias resulting in under-reporting of marginalized and at-risk homeless populations. This beginner-level presentation will describe the field of service providers in Rhode Island’s CoC – all of the places that interface with people broadly experiencing homelessness – and the range of databases and reporting methods each uses. The goal is to identify the places where data is being lost and to recognize the impact of this on individual populations. Presenter(s): Elizabeth McDonnell, Data Scientist, Crossroads [Room: Studio 4; Track: Advanced Applications to Bridge HMIS; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Measuring Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and Age Disparities in System and Project Level Performance Communities cannot achieve the goal of ending homelessness without proactively addressing the impact of historical and ongoing institutionalized discrimination in housing practices. But in order to adopt strategic frameworks that place equity at their center, communities must understand how to measure inequities currently present in their homelessness systems. This session will share experiences from Your Way Home’s racial equity evaluation with SPARC / The Center for Social Innovation, which blended analysis of quantitative HMIS data, focus groups with homeless service recipients, and interviews with provider staff. Insights from this evaluation (Phase I report forthcoming) have been and will continue to inform future strategic decisions as Your Way Home works to build a more equitable homeless system. The session will demonstrate how a community can investigate HMIS data at the system and project level for areas of inequity in performance across racial,

ethnic, gender and age groups. This includes but is not limited to analyses of the general community’s population as compared to the population of individuals served by the homeless system; coordinated entry (triage/assessment, street outreach, etc.); project enrollment and exit trends; length of stay trends; and geographic mapping of housing placements. Presenter(s): Greg Barchuk, Your Way Home Montgomery County [Room: Studio 5; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Leveraging Data to Increase Access to Early Care and Education for Children Who are Homelessness Data on young children’s housing status are limited and unreliable (Bires et al., 2018). Differences in data collection methods across federal agencies make it difficult to provide accurate estimates of the proportion of children birth to five experiencing homelessness in the US. This makes providing care and services to families experiencing homelessness challenge. However, we know that high-quality early care and education (ECE) can help children overcome some of the negative effects homelessness has on their development and well-being (Valdez-Bain, 2017). The purpose of this project was twofold: (1) to understand how states and communities use data to identify these families and (2) to explore promising practices and challenges around data used to identify and reach families experiencing homelessness. Key respondents were interviewed from agencies at the state, county, or local level within a set of six selected states and communities to further explore the data sources that states and communities use to identify families experiencing homelessness, and to provide examples of how states and communities are supporting the enrollment of families experiencing homelessness in ECE. Across states and communities, respondents reported limitations to the ECE and housing data sources they use to identify families experiencing homelessness. Respondents reported that neither the ECE systems nor the housing system is adequately identifying and providing outreach to families experiencing homelessness. Respondents discussed concerns around the lack of a shared definition of homelessness across agencies. These definitional differences affect agencies’ understanding of who is and is not eligible to receive services set aside for families experiencing homelessness. This is especially the case for families living doubled up. In fact, all respondents reported difficulty with integrating families living doubled up into their service system (both for housing and ECE services), even those relying on the McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness. Respondents indicated that focusing on data sharing and collaboration across systems would improve the quality of data on young children’s housing status. By developing a clear picture of this population, states and communities can develop practices and resources to better address the early learning needs of this extremely vulnerable population. Presenter(s): Ashley Hirilal, Research Analyst and Sara Shaw, Early Childhood Development Research Scientist, Child Trends [Room: Studio 6; Track: Building Partnerships to Increase the Homeless Response System’s Capacity; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Hold Meeting Room[Room: Studio 7]

Session Three Options (2:30pm-3:45pm)PIT Count Planning and Analysis Aided by Open Data and Open Source ToolsThe planning process for conducting an accurate point in time homeless count in larger regions such as Texas Balance of State, King County, and Dallas can be a daunting undertaking. Like any large project, it is often


best to break this work down into manageable tasks and to use lessons learned by others to help inform the process. During this session, we will provide an overview of how open source and free tools can be utilized alongside both open and private data sets to inform the entire count process. Topics to be covered will include recruiting volunteers, using historical data to establish count routes, creating balanced count teams, monitoring the count, establishing a sampling and enumeration methodology (if needed), and using open source tools such as QGIS and Tableau, and using open data sets such as US Census and the HUD GIS Tools to analyze the data for racial disparities. Presenter(s): Eddie Barber, Lead Developer, Simtech Solutions Inc.; Danielle Winslow, Acting Deputy Director, All Home King County; Kristin Zakoor, Assistant Director of Data, Texas Homeless Network [Room: Melody-A; Track: Data Integration and Sharing; Level: Advanced]

Whatever it Takes, Wherever it Is: Leveraging Data Across Disciplines to House Super-UtilizersThe Santa Monica Homeless Multidisciplinary Street Team (HMST), jointly funded by the City of Santa Monica/County of Los Angeles and operated by nonprofit The People Concern, provides street-based medical and behavioral health interventions to the 25 highest utilizers of local emergency services. The team, consisting of behavioral health clinicians, medical providers, and a peer specialist, provides services wherever participants might be—on the streets, in shelters, jails, hospitals, parks, libraries, and courtrooms—in an effort to address housing and supportive service needs. Strategic partnerships and open two-way communication with a variety of stakeholders (including police, fire, and hospital personnel) empower HMST to do “whatever it takes” to support participants while seeking a reduction in emergency service utilization. Since its launch in 2016, HMST has engaged 29 high utilizers, placing 25 into housing and dramatically reducing the cohort’s cumulative use of costly public resources. A forthcoming mixed-methods evaluation of HMST, conducted by RAND Corporation, will illuminate the successes and challenges of HMST while providing recommendations to communities seeking to address the disproportionate impact the highest utilizers have on emergency services. This session will discuss the beginnings of HMST, a process by which police/fire/hospital data determined the initial cohort, interventions deployed by HMST and partners, and how data is shared and analyzed across traditionally siloed systems. Presenter(s): J. Scott Ashwood, Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation; Zachary Coil, Program Director, The People Concern; Brian Hargrave, Senior Human Services Analyst, City of Santa Monica Human Services [Room: Melody-B; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Advanced]

Simpler, Smoother, Swifter, Stronger: Actionable Coordinated Entry EvaluationThe past few years have been ones of significant change for our homeless response systems. Communities across the country have designed and implemented unique approaches to coordinated entry and are now looking to evaluate the impact their systems are having on the delivery of housing and services to people experiencing homelessness. Thorough and impartial evaluations are enabling CoCs to make refinements to make more effective use of resources, reach more persons experiencing homelessness, prioritize the most vulnerable, resolve households’ homelessness as quickly as possible, and adequately support the professionals that operate coordinated entry. This session will cover strategies for designing and carrying out an annual evaluation that will not only fulfill HUD requirements but will enable a CoC to optimize the coordinated entry process. We will discuss what Santa Clara County and Maricopa County have learned through their annual evaluations and how the CoCs are using this knowledge to strengthen their coordinated entry systems. We will cover how to develop a scope of analysis based on

federal and local priorities by determining what the CoC wants to know about the system, what values stakeholders want to be reflected in the process, and what challenges have been identified so far. We will discuss how to formulate specific questions and determine which sources to consult for answers. We will examine how and when to employ interviews, focus groups, surveys, and HMIS data analysis to obtain information and analyze system strengths and gaps. Most importantly, we will share strategies for ensuring a coordinated entry system evaluation is actionable and highlight how the Santa Clara County CoC and Maricopa Regional CoC have refined their systems to be simples, smoother, swifter, stronger. Presenter(s): Sasha Caine, Staff Attorney and George Martin, Policy Analyst, HomeBase; Kathryn Kaminski, Continuum of Care Quality Improvement Manager, Office of Supportive Housing County of Santa Clara [Room: Studio 4; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Advanced]

Holistic Approaches to System Evaluation & Planning Including Housing Market and Disparities Analyses Understanding the homeless system performance. Focus Strategies regularly assists communities with efforts to measure performance and understand outcomes in relation to system planning efforts, drawing upon HUD’s system performance metrics and other strategies that call upon local data to understand performance. This session will focus on how communities may take a holistic, action-oriented approach to performance analysis through a specific set of metrics and strategies. It will address how these approaches provide an opportunity to integrate the investigation of disparities that exist in communities’ homeless response systems, while also considering local housing market conditions. Drawing upon a comprehensive list of performance measures (including those developed by HUD and Focus Strategies), we will illustrate how each metric illuminates different system elements and how they work cohesively to reveal patterns within the system. Focus Strategies will present community examples and discuss how analytic approaches are used to identify indicators of high-performing programs. We will illustrate how communities may apply these strategies to identify specific programs to target for improvement. This holistic approach to performance measures enables communities to identify a defined course of action in efforts to reduce homelessness. Further, as the prevalence of racial and ethnic disparities in access to and utilization of homeless system interventions continue to be of concern, communities are encouraged to address racial inequities in their system analyses and planning efforts. Our session will address how suggested performance measures and analytic approaches may help communities identify and tackle disparities at different points in the system – including system access and program utilization. We will draw attention to key considerations in data interpretation (e.g., how to avoid drawing the wrong conclusion), as well as implications for system level policy development of different patterns of findings. As tightening housing market conditions increasingly affect communities’ systemic responses to homelessness, Focus Strategies has assisted several communities in interpreting local housing market data in relation to homeless system planning efforts and goals. Our presentation will incorporate emerging housing market analytics, community examples, as well as methods for interpreting findings to determine best-fit strategies for reducing homelessness. Presenter(s): Tracy Bennett, Director of Analytics and Evaluation, Michael Hatch, Analytics Consultant, and Genevieve Williamson, Chief Analyst, Focus Strategies [Room: Studio 5; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]


Developing a Data Monitoring Tool to Measure System HealthThis session is designed to demonstrate an innovative data-monitoring tool CoCs can develop to use and explore a CoC’s HMIS data and monitor outcomes important to the community. Presenters will provide participants with an overview of how the monitoring tool was developed, the planning involved, the roles of key staff/stakeholders, and culminate with a suggested process to develop such a tool. The focus of the session will be twofold: 1) to show the power of the planning effort undergone to develop the monitoring tool; and 2) to highlight the flexibility of the tool to not only measure data quality but also assess the overall health of the CoC in terms of how quickly and effectively clients are able to access and receive the resources they need to stabilize in housing. Presenters will also share the challenges experienced in synthesizing and distilling the data necessary to identify and track key outcomes. Presenter(s): Maureen Brewer, County Continuum of Care Manager and Alissa Parrish, HMIS Project Manager, City of Boise; Mike Lindsay, Senior Technical Specialist, ICF [Room: Studio 6; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Advanced]

Networking Room: Guided Questions (Coordinated Entry)[Room: Studio 7]

Session Four Options (4:00pm-4:50pm)Connecticut’s HMIS Journey and Lessons LearnedA comprehensive (but quick) view of Connecticut’s adventures in data integration and sharing. Learn about the things CT has done to push data collection, exchange, and reporting. Learn from both our successes and our mistakes. Take a look at tools, reports, and relationships CT has built to serve our populations and funders better. Presenter(s): Jim Bombaci, VP of Operations, James Buckley, VP of Research and Development, and Russ Comier, CEO, Nutmeg Consulting [Room: Melody-A; Track: Data Integration and Sharing; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

At the Intersection of Data Entry, Reporting, and PerformanceIn Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (ACDHS) is the CoC Collaborative Applicant and HMIS Lead Agency. As such, it is equipped with a robust program monitoring staff, infrastructure, and processes. For the past three years, this has included a position solely devoted to monitoring HMIS data quality and program performance. The program data specialist conducts on-going monitoring of individual program data entry, with a focus on data completeness, accuracy, timeliness and program performance. This position has facilitated a stronger, more hands-on approach to tackling specific data entry issues, improving connections and bridging a gap with service providers, and more accurate reporting and data analysis. The original focus was on monitoring the data quality and timeliness of each program across the system. During this time, data monitoring took a very hands-on approach. After a few months of devoted data monitoring and technical assistance, the quality of the data improved drastically with most programs showing little to no errors on the data quality report. The focus on basic data entry better acclimated the service providers with their data entry processes and assisted in building a positive rapport with the Collaborative Applicant/HMIS Lead. With the drastic improvements in data quality, data monitoring shifted it’s the focus to individual program performance. This transition produces a better connection between services and reporting. Programs receive both their individual information and the aggregate information for their

specific program type, both in visual form. Including both pieces is vital to harvest accountability and foster a sense of competition among programs. Often, after the providers receive this information, they reach out to discuss issues or rework business processes to improve performance. This allows the data specialist to develop best practices for data entry and understand their implications on reporting and system performance. There have been drastic improvements in data quality, timeliness, the accuracy of data and provider relationships since the inception of the program data specialist position. This position has been vital to ACDHS and data management and is a best practice that other CoC can learn from and make plans to replicate. Presenter(s): Jessica McKown, Program Data Specialist, Allegheny County Department of Human Sevices [Room: Melody-B; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Data Science Tools Combat Systematic Bias to Ensure Equitable and Comprehensive Reporting Data science tools like R, SQL, and Python are most commonly used for analysis in STEM fields but can be leveraged by homeless service providers to ensure that all individuals are counted regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ status, or geographic location. Once all potential populations and their respective “secondary databases” have been identified, an alternative toolkit using a combination of the above programming languages will be presented that can help ensure no individuals are systematically excluded from analysis.

The combination of HMIS’ high barrier to entry, its exclusivity as a homeless data management system, and the need to separate and anonymize certain client data (like victims of domestic violence) results in a number of secondary databases that can range from basic multi-tab excel spreadsheets to administrator-run proprietary software.

How can losing information about these unique populations be avoided? Their data is not readily available for analysis in HMIS and clients from these secondary databases are often systematically excluded by analysts who rely on built-in HMIS reports. Using the programming languages R and SQL, HMIS custom reports can be combined with other secondary databases to get a full picture of clients served by a given organization or CoC. Here, the process of importing and cleaning data in order to merge multiple databases will be described. Once data for all populations are combined into a single database, this presentation will explore the ways in which this data can be analyzed more richly than through the lens of HMIS alone, including how natural language processing can be used to analyze case notes on a system-wide scale, and how predictive modeling can help smartly allocate limited resources. Presenter(s): Elizabeth McDonnell, Data Scientist, Crossroads [Room: Studio 4; Track: Advanced Applications to Bridge HMIS; Level: Advanced]

Learning Together to End Youth HomelessnessThe A Way Home America Community Dashboard is a nationwide initiative that brings together communities from across the country to jointly track their progress towards ending youth homelessness and learn from one another. In this session, attendees will learn about the overall initiative, in particular about the focus on the youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth. AWHA is committed to centering the challenge of ending youth homelessness on the youth who are most likely to experience it - youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth. The AWHA Community Dashboard is a unique initiative that supports communities in understanding their success in housing youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth. The session will discuss the metrics used to track this success, why they were chosen and other options that communities


could consider. One participating community will co-present this session to share with attendees how they have put the AWHA Community Dashboard into action in their own community. This session will provide attendees with ideas about how they can measure their own progress and ensure they are paying attention to disproportionality in their own community. Presenter(s): Keianna Pierre Louis, Contractor/Grants Coordinator, Palm Beach County Division of Human and Veteran Services; Margaret Woley, A Way Home America [Room: Studio 5; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Setting Performance Expectations of CoC Funded Grantees Using Project Performance ScorecardsCollaborative applicants have a variety of responsibilities and on-going duties that they are accountable for when operating a Continuum of Care - such as implementing a Coordinated Entry system, developing written standards, and setting performance expectations and monitoring plans for not only CoC funded grantees but the community as a whole. This session will highlight how the Collaborative Applicant for the San Antonio/Bexar County Continuum of Care has approached setting performance expectations and how they monitor progress on the System Performance Measures through the use of quarterly scorecards that were built out in the HMIS. The presenters will discuss how the scorecards were developed using metrics and thresholds that are relevant for each project type, how they interact with the annual NOFA competition, and how they help inform system-level planning and prioritizing needs for the community. After the presentation, session attendees will have the opportunity to practice developing project scorecards with definitions that they can take back to help inform future development of monitoring and evaluations plans in their own communities. Presenter(s): Jayde Beebe, South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless [Room: Studio 6; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Networking Room: Guided Questions (Data Sharing)[Room: Studio 7]

After Hours (5:15pm) - Cocktail Reception[Room: Skye Ballroom]


Conference Schedule - Day TwoTuesday, April 16th 7:20am-8:20am Breakfast & Morning Plenary

Nashville’s Efforts to End Homelessness - Embracing Change and Looking to the Future Room: Platinum Ballroom Presenter(s): Judith Tackett, Nashville Department of Social Services

8:30am-10:00am Session One Options HMIS Lead Monitoring (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Ryan Burger, ICF; Mary Schwartz, Abt

Protecting Data in an HMIS Environment: Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Mike Lindsay, ICF; Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions

System Performance Improvement: Part 1 - Analyzing Performance (SP) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Senior Associate, Abt; Sarah Kahn, The Cloudburst Group

Data Quality 201: Strategies to Check the Accuracy of Your System [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Alissa Parrish, ICF; Natalie Matthews, Technical Assistance (TA) Provider, Abt

Strategies for Evaluating and Monitoring Coordinated Entry [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Susan Starrett, Associate Director for Federal TA, CSH; George Martin, Policy Analyst, Homebase

Using Data in Funding Decisions (SP) [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): Stephanie Reinauer, Abt; Leah Rainey, Senior Community Development Specialist, ICFT

10:15am-11:45am Session Two Options HMIS Project Monitoring (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Alissa Parrish, ICF; Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions

System Modeling 101 (SP) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Natalie Matthews, Technical Assistance (TA) Provider, Abt; Sarah Kahn, The Cloudburst Group

Using Coordinated Entry Data to Improve System Planning [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Senior Associate, Abt

System Performance by Subpopulation and Geography (SP) [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Joan Domenech, CSH; Susan Starrett, Associate Director for Federal TA, CSH

Data Dashboards for Insight, Action, and Engagement [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Jamie Taylor and Andrea Miller, The Cloudburst Group

Overview of System Performance Measures and Reports (SP) [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): George Martin, Policy Analyst, Homebase; Stephanie Reinauer, Abt

11:45pm-12:50pm Lunch Break - On your own

1:00pm-1:50pm Session Three Options NHSDC Moderated Session (Your Vision: HMIS and How We Examine Homelessness) Room: Melody-B

Navigating the Homeless Crisis System: Visualizing the Flow of Clients through Service Delivery [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Christopher Weare, Manager of Data Analytics and Research, Sacramento Steps Forward

Racial Disparities and Homelessness in Western New York [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Dale Zuchlewski, Executive Director, Homeless Alliance of Western New York

Boston’s Open Source Data Warehouse [Track: Advanced Applications to Bridge HMIS; Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Jennifer Flynn, HMIS Administrator, City of Boston

You have a By-Name List, but is it Quality Data? How Can You Use it to Measure System Performance? [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): Esther Tang, Product Coordinator, and Jen Padgett, Technology/Data Advisor, Community Solutions

2:05pm-3:20pm Session Four Options NHSDC Moderated Session (Building Strong Data Ecosystems) Room: Melody-A

Housing and Healthcare: Partnerships for Statewide Data Sharing [Track: Data Integration and Sharing; Level: Advanced] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Megan Sifuentes, Director of Policy and Innovation Division, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Talking About Race with White People [Track:Data Visualization and Storytelling; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Jesse Dirkman, HMIS Data Analyst, Institute for Community Alliances

Rethinking the Homelessness Response Framework [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Matt Simmonds, President, Simtech Solutions Inc

Trust Building and Boundary Spanning: Bridging Gaps in Data Collection and Analysis [Track: Building Partnerships to Increase the Homeless Response System’s Capacity; Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Allyson Thiessen, Regional HMIS Lead, CARES

State and National Spotlight on Comparable Databases for Victim Service Providers [Track: Building Partnerships to Increase the Homeless Response System’s Capacity; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): ): Laura Chaath, Program Associate and Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Studios; Aron Dunn, HMIS System Administrator, HMIS System Administrator, Cabell-Huntington Wayne Continuum of Care; Debbie Fox, Senior Policy and Practice Specialist, National Network Against Domestic Violence (NNEDV)


Conference Sessions - Day Two

3:40pm-4:30pm Session Five Options Coordinated Entry System Pathways: A Probabilistic Graphical Modeling Approach to Racial Equity Analysis [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Advanced] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Clayton Aldern, Journalist and Data Scientist, Pierce County Washington; Caitlin Aylward, Building Changes

NHSDC Moderated Session (System Performance: What Does it Mean for You) Room: Melody-B

Developing a Comprehensive Data System: A Multifaceted Approach [Track: Advanced Applications to Bridge HMIS; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Rebecca Pfeiffer, Continuum of Care Coordinator, City of Charlotte; Mary Ann Priester, HMIS Administrator, Charlotte-Mecklenberg Continuum of Care; Alisson Winston, Director, Urban Ministry Center

Racial Disparities Analysis Using Data from Homeless Response Systems [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Nathan Andrade, Programmer Analyst, Simtech Solutions Inc; Alexandra Espinosa, HMIS Director, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance; Eric Samuels, CEO/President, Texas Homeless Network

From Bednights to Cohorts to Housing: One Client’s Journey to Housing in Boston [Track: When Data and the Client Story Meet; Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Ian Gendreau, Coordinated Access and Systems Change Manager, City of Boston

Communities Sustaining an End to Homelessness Over Time [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): Caitlin Bayer, Knowledge Manager, and Julia Parshall, Data Coaching, Community Solutions

Tuesday, April 16th

Breakfast Plenary (7:20am-8:20am)Nashville’s Efforts to End Homelessness - Embracing Change and Looking to the Future Nashville’s CoC has undergone a substantial amount of change in recent years. Hear from locals about what they’ve done to navigate the process of CoC leadership, and what the future looks like in Nashville. Presenter(s): Judith Tackett, Nashville Department of Social Services [Room: Platinum Ballroom]

Session One Options (8:30am-10:00am)HMIS Lead Monitoring (F) How can a Continuum of Care (CoC) objectively and comprehensively monitor its HMIS Lead Agency? This session will provide CoC leadership with the skills to provide regular and thorough monitoring of its HMIS Lead, including sample monitoring tools and practices. Presenter(s): Ryan Burger, ICF; Mary Schwartz, Abt [Room: Melody-A; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Protecting Data in an HMIS Environment: Privacy, Security, and ConfidentialityHow can a Continuum of Care (CoC) ensure that its Coordinated Entry (CE) system securely leverages its Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This session will provide an in-depth review and discussion of HUD privacy and security guidance on the use of HMIS in a CE system.Presenter(s): Mike Lindsay, ICF; Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions [Room: Melody-B; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

System Performance Improvement: Part 1 - Analyzing Performance (SP)This session is for CoC leadership and will explore how to use system performance data in conjunction with other data sources and data reports to identify factors contributing to performance results. Attendees will learn how to create a performance analysis plan to identify system- and project- level strengths and barriers. Presenter(s): Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Senior Associate, Abt; Sarah Kahn, The Cloudburst Group [Room: Studio 4; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Data Quality 201: Strategies to Check the Accuracy of Your System What are effective strategies to check the accuracy of a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This session will describe how to review the results of HMIS reports to identify potential issues with the accuracy of programming as well as potential data quality issues. Presenter(s): Alissa Parrish, ICF; Natalie Matthews, Technical Assistance (TA) Provider, AbtT [Room: Studio 5; Level: Advanced]

Strategies for Evaluating and Monitoring Coordinated Entry What are effective practices to evaluate and monitor a Coordinated Entry (CE) system? This session will explore both requirements and promising practices for local CE monitoring and evaluation efforts, including sample monitoring tools and evaluation reports. Presenter(s): Susan Starrett, Associate Director for Federal TA, CSH; George Martin, Policy Analyst, Homebase [Room: Studio 6; Level: Advanced]


Using Data in Funding Decisions (SP) How can data be used to inform funding decisions? This session will review performance rating and priority ranking concepts for and demonstrate how to use HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Project Rating and Ranking Tool to help CoCs with funding decisions across all funding sources. Presenter(s): Stephanie Reinauer, Abt; Leah Rainey, Senior Community Development Specialist, ICF [Room: Studio 7; Level: Advanced]

Session Two Options (10:15am-11:45am)HMIS Project Monitoring (F) How can a Continuum of Care (CoC) ensure the effective monitoring of the agencies that are participating in its Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This session will ensure that CoC and HMIS leadership have the skills necessary to monitor providers and users participating in HMIS, in accordance with Federal Partner HMIS standards. Presenter(s): Alissa Parrish, ICF; Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions [Room: Melody-A; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

System Modeling 101 (SP) What is system modeling and how can it assist Continuums of Care (CoCs) seeking to create their optimal system? This session will be an introduction to system modeling concepts and decision framework. Presenter(s): Natalie Matthews, Technical Assistance (TA) Provider, Abt; Sarah Kahn, The Cloudburst Group [Room: Melody-B; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Using Coordinated Entry Data to Improve System Planning This session is for CoC leadership and explores how analysis of coordinated entry data can improve system planning and coordination with other systems. Attendees will learn about different approaches to coordinated entry data analysis and about new tools and data that will be available soon. Presenter(s): Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Senior Associate, Abt [Room: Studio 4; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

System Performance by Subpopulation and Geography (SP) This session will explore how CoCs can understand their system performance for different sub-populations or geographies using LSA Data and the Performance Management Module. Participants will explore how to use data visualizations to explore current system performance and identify ways to improve service delivery and performance. Presenter(s): Joan Domenech, CSH; Susan Starrett, Associate Director for Federal TA, CSH [Room: Studio 5; Level: Advanced]

Data Dashboards for Insight, Action, and Engagement What are effective practices for creating community dashboards? This session will provide the skills needed to structure data for Tableau, build dashboards and publish, along with other statistical software to analyze Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data. Presenter(s): Jamie Taylor and Andrea Miller, The Cloudburst Group [Room: Studio 6; Level: Advanced]

Overview of System Performance Measures and Reports (SP) What are the System Performance Measures (SPMs) and why do they matter to Continuums of Care (CoCs)? This session will be an introduction to the SPMs and various reports and tools that can be used to understand local SPMs. Presenter(s): George Martin, Policy Analyst, Homebase; Stephanie Reinauer, Abt [Room: Studio 7; Level: Advanced]

Lunch Break (11:45am-12:50pm)

Session Three Options (1:00pm-1:50pm)NHSDC Moderated Session (Your Vision: HMIS and How We Examine Homelessness)The Board of National Human Services Data Consortium will moderate a discussion surrounding attendees thoughts on HMIS and How we Examine Homelessness. This is an opportunity to share and collaborate on ideas that can better human services data initiatives. [Room: Melody-B]

Navigating the Homeless Crisis System: Visualizing the Flow of Clients through Service Delivery Why and how do some individuals experiencing homelessness successfully navigate through a homeless crisis system to return to a stable housing situation, while others return to homelessness or disengage from the system? Process analysis, a key tool employed by the Lean/Six Sigma performance improvement methodology, is a method for understanding the sources of these divergent outcomes. The analysis seeks to identify sources of delays and system disengagement and to identify pathways to success and undesirable outcomes. Process analyses, however, often consist of statistical analyses and data charts that fail to communicate key findings clearly to administrators and decision-makers. This presentation demonstrates a simple graphical depiction of the flows of clients through the homeless crisis system that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the current system in an easy to understand format. The depiction is based on data from a historical by-name list that records the services being provided to a client at different stages of engagement. Presenter(s): Christopher Weare, Manager of Data Analytics and Research, Sacramento Steps Forward [Room: Studio 4; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Racial Disparities and Homelessness in Western New YorkIn response to one of HUD’s questions from this year’s CoC funding application, our team analyzed how equitably our CoC is serving different racial/ethnic groups in terms of receiving homelessness services, prioritizing those services, and housing success rate. We determined that an unbiased homeless system would serve each racial/ethnic group at the same rate that each group experiences homelessness. Using data from the United States Census Bureau and our HMIS, we compared these rates from before and after the implementation of a coordinated entry system to determine if program entry requirements would result in a less biased system. We gathered information on how local systemic discrimination has led to disproportionate numbers of people of color living in poverty and homelessness, compared levels of vulnerability (disability status, VI-SPDAT scores) between the different groups, and studied how the rates at which each race/ethnicity is served differs by housing provider types. Ultimately, we found that we serve all individuals more equally now, but people of color can still greatly benefit from restructuring the social systems that put them more at risk of homelessness. We believe that our method could be of use to other communities looking for a way to ensure equity among the groups they serve. Presenter(s): Dale Zuchlewski, Executive Director, Homeless Alliance of Western New York [Room: Studio 5; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]


Boston’s Open Source Data Warehouse Due to legacy systems and State requirements, the Boston CoC has 9 different front end HMIS Software installations that contribute data to CoC reporting and recognized the need to be flexible and nimble in how we both accessed and used the data. Targeted investment of $400,00 in 2015 from the City of Boston enabled the CoC to build from the ground up an open-source data warehouse that not only works for the CoC administrative staff but also have given the ground level end users the tools they need to serve clients. This open-source warehouse not only integrates HMIS data in the current CSV format but by using APIs, also accesses additional assessments like out Front Door Triage assessment or the Coordinated Entry assessments as well as client pictures from their scanned ID cards contained in the different front-end systems. Additionally, the Boston HMIS Data Warehouse has become a repository of client files that can be shared across agencies with the proper releases. As an administrator, the warehouse can produce not only the required HUD reports but also a wide range of custom developed reports and dashboards as well as allow all reports to be filtered by a defined subpopulation type. Finally, the Boston Warehouse has the functionality to auto-generate cohorts (by-name lists), directly from the HMIS data based on the stated criteria for the cohort This proposal is for a tour of the functionality of Boston’s warehouse and also an explanation of what Open-Source means and how other CoCs can benefit from our technical work. Presenter(s): Jennifer Flynn, HMIS Administrator, City of Boston [Room: Studio 6; Track: Advanced Applications to Bridge HMIS; Level: Advanced]

You have a By-Name List, but is it Quality Data? How Can You Use it to Measure System Performance? A by-name list (BNL) is a real-time list of everyone, by name, who are experiencing homelessness in a community. Due to the implementation of coordinated entry and efforts like the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, many communities implemented a list to keep track of who needed to be housed. But how do you know if the list has quality data? What measures can you put in place to ensure that your community has the data coverage and quality necessary to get to a list that will help you improve your system and achieve an end to homelessness? And when you are able to generate quality, reliable data with your by-name list, how might you be able to accurately track progress and identify areas for system intervention on an ongoing basis? The Community Solutions team will walk through what it means to have a quality by-name list with reliable data and will introduce the scorecard we’ve developed which has been implemented by 61 US communities to guide their progress towards achieving quality data allowing them to:

• Determine if their data is reliable and quality.• Coordinate resources to end homelessness.• Understand resource need for specific populations.• Have a real-time assessment of the impact of inflow and outflow on

system performance.• Identify trends in returns to homelessness, housing placements, and newly

identified individuals.• Use real-time data dashboards in stakeholder meetings.• Measure a sustainable end to homelessness. Successes due to using the quality by-name list assessment:

• Rockford, Illinois & Bergen County, NJ have ended Veteran & Chronic Homelessness.

• 11 communities have ended homelessness for Veterans, Chronic or both populations.

• 60+ communities are tracking BNL data to understand their progress.• Montgomery County used the projections based on their real-time inflow

and outflow data from their BNL to successfully advocate for needed resources in their community to reduce chronic homelessness by 90% in a single year.

• Phoenix used their quality by-name list to re-allocate resources to better serve their veteran population Communities have been able to demonstrate that they’ve met the federal criteria and benchmarks for ending veteran and chronic homelessness” (9 veterans; 3 chronic).

Presenter(s): Esther Tang, Product Coordinator, and Jen Padgett, Technology/Data Advisor, Community Solutions [Room: Studio 7; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Session Four Options (2:05pm-3:20pm)NHSDC Moderated Session (Building Strong Data Ecosystems)The Board of National Human Services Data Consortium will moderate a discussion surrounding attendees thoughts on Building Strong Data Ecosystems. This is an opportunity to share and collaborate on way to better data quality. [Room: Melody-A]

Housing and Healthcare: Partnerships for Statewide Data Sharing HMIS data is being matched with Medicaid data in Michigan to improve health and housing outcomes for homeless individuals. Join us for this session to learn how creating an environment and critical partnerships allow for this implementation to take place. Learn from various partners how the implementation process works including how to build relationships to free the data, the mechanics of data sharing, how to execute data use agreements, and security and compliance. Learn from practical application examples. How matching HMIS data with state Medicaid data can identify highly vulnerable homeless frequent user populations and opportunities to bill Medicaid for supportive services. Presenter(s): ) Megan Sifuentes, Director of Policy and Innovation Division, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services [Room: Melody-B; Track: Data Integration and Sharing; Level: Advanced]

Talking About Race with White People In many of our communities, people of color experience homelessness at disproportionate rates. Many of us are just starting to have conversations about this problem and possible solutions in our communities. Our boards, committees, and employees are often much whiter than the folks experiencing homelessness. How can we have productive conversations about race with all of these white folks? This session will explore the hurdles of having fruitful conversations about race/racial disparities with white people and define the concept of white fragility. We will explore best practices for talking about and presenting on race/racial disparities in homelessness. This is a session geared toward folks new to talking about race with white people but starts from the belief that racial discrimination in the United States is both real and important to address. Presenter(s): Jesse Dirkman, HMIS Data Analyst, Institute for Community Alliances [Room: Studio 4; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]


Rethinking the Homelessness Response Framework Communities face many common challenges when attempting to effectively respond to the range of housing needs of individuals and families. Examples of the current challenges to be overcome include:

• Systems and the standards they are being built to adhere to are too focused on reporting rather than the work of helping people.

• Finding and accessing services is a cumbersome process.• Data is fragmented between providers, systems, and regions. • Coordinated Entry Systems tend to exclude the most vulnerable and

service-resistant.• First responders, such as police and medical personnel, are too disconnected

from coordinated entry systems.• Data entry is overly burdensome on staff.• Different funding providers have different requirements.

To overcome these challenges, multiple technical objects, or services, can be integrated into a singular framework. Each service within the framework fulfills a specific functional requirement and works seamlessly with the other services through the adoption of established APIs and data exchange protocols. During this session, we will share this development practice, known as “Service-Oriented Architecture” (SOA), and have an informed discussion on how this practice might revolutionize our collective approach for responding to homelessness. We will highlight during this presentation how the SOA approach has supported work to measure the impact of natural disasters, identify racial disparities, inform prioritization for coordinated entry, and measure system and project performance. Presenter(s): Matt Simmonds, President, Simtech Solutions Inc [Room: Studio 5; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Trust Building and Boundary Spanning: Bridging Gaps in Data Collection and Analysis CARES, Inc, a regional HMIS provider in NYS, has an ongoing partnership with local academic institution Siena College, where CARES’ data and knowledge about the homeless system is matched to the skills of professors and students at the liberal arts college to provide instructional opportunities that also benefit the homeless services community. Presenter(s): Allyson Thiessen, Regional HMIS Lead, CARES [Room: Studio 6; Track: Building Partnerships to Increase the Homeless Response System’s Capacity; Level: Advanced]

State and National Spotlight on Comparable Databases for Victim Service Providers As HUD CoC funding increases for programs serving survivors fleeing domestic violence, confidentiality, safety, and data challenges have surfaced for victim service providers and HMIS leads. This session provides an opportunity to hear about best practices nationally and from a Comparable Database and HMIS leader in a dual role from West Virginia. Conference attendees will participate in a facilitated conversation to discuss key roles for collecting and integrating data into the conversation. Key areas of conversation include: protecting data privacy, building relationships across victim service providers, homeless service providers, state domestic violence coalitions and Continuum of Cares, asking sensitive questions, data sharing and receiving consent, reporting aggregate level data to HMIS leads, Comparable Database technical assistance and training for victim service providers, cross-system coordination, and survivor-centered coordinated entry.

Presenter(s): Laura Chaath, Program Associate and Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Studios; Aron Dunn, HMIS System Administrator, HMIS System Administrator, Cabell-Huntington Wayne Continuum of Care; Debbie Fox, Senior Policy and Practice Specialist, National Network Against Domestic Violence (NNEDV) [Room: Studio 7; Track: Building Partnerships to Increase the Homeless Response System’s Capacity; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Session Five Options (3:40pm-4:30pm)Coordinated Entry System Pathways: A Probabilistic Graphical Modeling Approach to Racial Equity AnalysisMost attempts to evaluate the performance of municipal homelessness crisis-response systems are rooted in the analysis of a given intervention or set of non-profit providers. Unfortunately, provider and enrollment-based analyses tend to be blind to factors guiding the structural and temporal dynamics of a Coordinated Entry System. Borrowing from the probabilistic graphical modeling literature, we describe a new methodology for the statistical representation of whole Coordinated Entry Systems. By modeling clients’ sequences of interactions with a homeless system (“pathways” through the system), we can represent and visualize how the system is working—and for whom. We report pilot results of a racial equity analysis using a dataset from Pierce County, Washington. Presenter(s): Clayton Aldern, Journalist and Data Scientist, Pierce County Washington; Caitlin Aylward, Building Changes [Room: Melody-A; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Advanced]

NHSDC Moderated Session (System Performance: What Does it Mean for You)The Board of National Human Services Data Consortium will moderate a discussion surrounding attendees thoughts on System Performance. This is an opportunity for continuums to share their best practices to achieving great system performance. [Room: Melody-B]

Developing a Comprehensive Data System: A Multifaceted Approach To fully understand the nature of homelessness, develop informed system-level solutions, and best coordinate care for persons experiencing homelessness, comprehensive data systems are required. For a myriad of reasons, HMIS is not always the most appropriate repository for all of the types of data that are necessary to make data-driven decisions and to address the complex needs of persons experiencing homelessness. For this reason, it is necessary to look beyond HMIS to ensure we are making systems decisions and facilitating client level solutions with the most comprehensive data available. Funding and HMIS policy decisions, innovative uses of technology, and ongoing collaboration between HMIS Contributing Homeless Organizations (CHOs) and external partners are necessary to bridge the gap between what data is captured in HMIS and what data is captured by the other systems our clients interact with. In this session, participants will hear how one community has leveraged contract requirements for federal and local funding sources and engaged non-traditional CHOs to diversify and expand data entry in to HMIS, implemented an open HMIS system, utilized non-traditional data collection and exchange methods such as Virtru, ArcGIS, and online submission forms, and created a collaborative model of data sharing between CHOs and non-CHOs. Presenter(s): Rebecca Pfeiffer, Continuum of Care Coordinator, City of Charlotte; Mary Ann Priester, HMIS Administrator, Charlotte-Mecklenberg Continuum of Care; Alisson Winston, Director, Urban Ministry Center [Room: Studio 4; Track: Advanced Applications to Bridge HMIS; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]


Racial Disparities Analysis Using Data from Homeless Response Systems In response to one of HUD’s questions from this year’s CoC funding application, our team analyzed how equitably our CoC is serving different racial/ethnic groups in terms of receiving homelessness services, prioritizing those services, and housing success rate. We determined that an unbiased homeless system would serve each racial/ethnic group at the same rate that each group experiences homelessness. Using data from the United States Census Bureau and our HMIS, we compared these rates from before and after the implementation of a coordinated entry system to determine if program entry requirements would result in a less biased system. We gathered information on how local systemic discrimination has led to disproportionate numbers of people of color living in poverty and homelessness, compared levels of vulnerability (disability status, VI-SPDAT scores) between the different groups, and studied how the rates at which each race/ethnicity is served differs by housing provider types. Ultimately, we found that we serve all individuals more equally now, but people of color can still greatly benefit from restructuring the social systems that put them more at risk of homelessness. We believe that our method could be of use to other communities looking for a way to ensure equity among the groups they serve. Presenter(s): Nathan Andrade, Programmer Analyst, Simtech Solutions Inc; Alexandra Espinosa, HMIS Director, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance; Eric Samuels, CEO/President, Texas Homeless Network [Room: Studio 5; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

From Bednights to Cohorts to Housing: One Client’s Journey to Housing in Boston Because of Boston’s extremely high bed and outreach coverage in HMIS, the Boston CoC’s Chronically Homeless By Name List (Chronic Cohort) is generated in the HMIS Data Warehouse based on the data using the HUD definition. This presentation will use a specific client’s journey to housing and how the data was used to make the placement possible. Using this client’s HMIS history, we will explore which chronic cluster from our previous analysis client X belongs, how the data is used to generate the Chronic Cohort and what additional data collection and services kick in during the case conferencing sessions. Next, we will show how data sharing with MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid provider, allowed the caseworkers to put together a service package from multiple funding sources. Medicaid billable services were the additional supports needed on top of shelter stabilization services. This service package then allowed the client to become eligible for a Boston Housing Authority super-priority for the chronically homeless and move into his new unit just before Christmas 2018 after 2 years of homelessness. This session will move between PowerPoint, in warehouse demo, and links to newspaper articles about his journey. Presenter(s): Ian Gendreau, Coordinated Access and Systems Change Manager, City of Boston [Room: Studio 6; Track: When Data and the Client Story Meet; Level: Advanced]

Communities Sustaining an End to Homelessness Over TimeIn 2015, we began to use a sustaining threshold to measure if the communities that had reached functional zero for veteran homelessness had sustained their progress over time by continually developing new solutions to the ever-changing complex problem of homelessness. Built for Zero communities that have reached functional zero submit seven monthly data points from their by-name list related to the number of actively homeless veterans entering and exiting their systems. These communities also continuously check data quality and address any issues that arise to ensure their data is accurate. We compare this monthly data to the community’s original functional zero thresholds to measure sustainability over time. To date, ten communities have ended veteran homelessness. All continue to experience fluctuation in the number of veterans experiencing homelessness after they reached functional zero. Three communities have sustained consistently, specifically those with higher thresholds relative to their system size and capacity. Currently, seven communities are below their sustaining threshold. Communities that have sustained for three months or more are more likely to sustain long term. Sustaining an end to homelessness requires communities to continually track and respond to the dynamics of homelessness across a geographically defined area, even after they have “ended” homelessness. Given the impact ending homelessness has on social determinants of health outcomes, cost savings, and overall neighborhood well-being understanding how to maintain and measure an end to homelessness has important implications for population-level outcomes across various sectors. Presenter(s): Caitlin Bayer, Knowledge Manager, and Julia Parshall, Data Coaching, Community Solutions [Room: Studio 7; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]


Wednesday, April 17th 7:20am-8:20am Networking Breakfast

Room: Platinum Ballroom

8:30am-10:00am Session One Options HMIS Project Set-up 101 (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Joan Domenech, CSH; Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions

Understanding the Interconnectedness of HMIS Data (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Natalie Matthews, Technical Assistance (TA) Provider and Stephanie Reinauer, Abt

Achieving a Quality and Stable HMIS Staffing Pattern (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Ryan Burger and Leah Rainey, Senior Community Development Specialist, ICF

Data Quality 201: Governance Agreements and Monitoring for DQ [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Mike Lindsay and Alissa Parrish, ICF

Using Coordinated Entry Data to Serve the Most Vulnerable Households [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Susan Starrett, Associate Director for Federal TA, CSH; George Martin, Policy Analyst, Homebase

Intermediate Analytics in Excel for System Diagnosis and Improvement [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): Andrea Miller, The Cloudburst Group; Leah Rainey, ICF

10:15am-11:45am Session Two Options HMIS Project Set-up 201 (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions; Joan Domenech, CSH

Data Sharing to Prevent and End Homelessness [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Mike Lindsay, and Alissa Parrish, ICF

HMIS Project Management and Annual Calendar of Expectations (F) [Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Mary Schwartz, Abt; Ryan Burger, ICF

Leveraging HUD Reports for System Planning and Improvement: An Overview [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Andrea Miller, The Cloudburst Group; Leah Rainey, Senior Community Development Specialist, ICF

System Performance Improvement: Part 2 - Developing Strategies (SP) [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 6 Presenter(s): Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Senior Associate, Abt; Sarah Kahn, The Cloudburst Group

Data Maturity and Data Action Cycle Framework [Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): Natalie Matthews, Technical Assistance (TA) Provider, Abt; Jamie Taylor, The Cloudburst Group

11:45am-12:50pm Lunch Plenary Predictions About the Future of Homeless Service Information Room: Platinum Ballroom Presenter(s): Abby Miller, Senior Program Specialist and Fran Ledger, Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Conference Schedule - Day Three

1:00pm-1:50pm Session Three Options LSA Office Hours Room: Melody-A Presenter(s): HUD TA Providers

Implementing a Disaster Recovery and Response System Through Partnerships and Data [TTrack: Building Partnerships to Increase the Homeless Response System’s Capacity; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Melody-B Presenter(s): Abby Burgess, Institute for Community Alliances; Nicole Purdy, Senior Research Project Manager, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness; Ana Rausch, Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County

Integrating Healthcare and Homeless Systems [Track: Data Integration and Sharing; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 4 Presenter(s): Pamela Mosely, Program Coordinator, Pima County

Estimating the Known Unknown: Combining HMIS and PIT to Improve Estimates of Homeless Populations [Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Advanced] Room: Studio 5 Presenter(s): Christopher Weare, Manager of Data Analytics and Research, Sacramento Steps Forward

Taking the Next Step: Using Data to Drive Strategic Change [Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate] Room: Studio 7 Presenter(s): Cristina Lucier, VP of Research and Diana Stanley, CEO, The Lord’s Place

2:05pm-3:20pm Closing Remarks Room: Platinum Ballroom


Conference Sessions - Day Three

Wednesday, April 17th

Networking Breakfast (7:20am-8:20am)[Room: Platinum Ballroom]

Session One Options (8:30am-10:00am)HMIS Project Set-up 101 (F)What is project-set up in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This session will detail the project set-up requirements and best practices across all Federal Partners that utilize HMIS. Presenter(s): Joan Domenech, CSH; Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions [Room: Melody-A; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Understanding the Interconnectedness of HMIS Data (F) What data is available via the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This session will provide an overview of the data collection and reporting requirements across all Federal Partners that use HMIS. Presenter(s): Natalie Matthews, Technical Assistance (TA) Provider and Stephanie Reinauer, Abt [Room: Melody-B; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Achieving a Quality and Stable HMIS Staffing Pattern (F) What are the keys to identifying and maintaining a strong HMIS staff? This session will focus on how to hire and develop an effective HMIS team, including strategies for supervision, staff training, and performance evaluations. Presenter(s): Ryan Burger and Leah Rainey, Senior Community Development Specialist, ICF [Room: Studio 4; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Data Quality 201: Governance Agreements and Monitoring for DQ How can a Continuum of Care (CoC) make sure that they have the agreements and practices in place to increase data quality across its Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This expert-led working session will help participants develop strong data quality governance agreements, benchmarks, and monitoring practices. Presenter(s): Mike Lindsay and Alissa Parrish, ICF [Room: Studio 5; Level: Advanced]

Using Coordinated Entry Data to Serve the Most Vulnerable HouseholdsHow does a Continuum of Care (CoC) know if it is serving the most vulnerable households in its community? This session will review assessment tools and prioritization processes, and explore models of progressive engagement as a practice to support identifying those most in need. Presenter(s): Susan Starrett, Associate Director for Federal TA, CSH; George Martin, Policy Analyst, Homebase [Room: Studio 6; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Intermediate Analytics in Excel for System Diagnosis and ImprovementHow can Excel be leveraged to analyze data? This session will explore the use of macros, advanced pivot tables, slicers, and dashboards in Excel, and demonstrate how to integrate data across multiple sources using built-in or add-on tools. Presenter(s): Andrea Miller, The Cloudburst Group; Mary Schwartz, Abt [Room: Studio 7; Level: Advanced]

Session Two Options (10:15am-11:45am)HMIS Project Set-up 201 (F) What are common challenges when completing project-set up in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This session will review advanced project set-up topics, and provide solutions to address common issues. Presenter(s): Gordon Sullivan, Program Manager, Collaborative Solutions; Joan Domenech, CSH [Room: Melody-A; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Data Sharing to Prevent and End Homelessness Many communities are sharing and integrating data from multiple systems of care to design more effective cross-sector responses to homelessness. These initiatives rely on person-centered data sharing policies and practices to govern the appropriate uses and disclosures of data. This workshop will walk through a framework for data sharing including key decision points, various types of data sharing agreements, and community examples of data sharing models, policies, protocols, and practices. Common uses of integrated data will also be explored, including using cross-sector data for identifying program participants, matching them with appropriate housing and services, evaluating systems, and or providing cross-sector care coordination. Presenter(s): Mike Lindsay, and Alissa Parrish, ICF [Room: Melody-B; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

HMIS Project Management and Annual Calendar of Expectations (F)What does it take to successfully manage a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)? This session will detail the key tasks and skills of an HMIS team and provide a template calendar to highlight the responsibilities of this role. Presenter(s): Mary Schwartz, Abt; Ryan Burger, ICF [Room: Studio 4; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Leveraging HUD Reports for System Planning and Improvement: An Overview What are the tools available to Continuums of Care (CoCs) to analyze and optimize their system? This session will provide an overview of the analytical tools, HUD reports, and other resources to help CoCs improve the system and project performance, including guidance to develop strategies for system improvement and optimization. Presenter(s): Andrea Miller, The Cloudburst Group; Leah Rainey, Senior Community Development Specialist, ICF [Room: Studio 5; Level: Advanced]

System Performance Improvement: Part 2 - Developing Strategies (SP)This session is for CoC leadership and will explore how to develop, implement, and evaluate strategies to improve the performance of local homeless systems. Attendees will learn how to draw sound conclusions from the performance analysis discussed in System Performance Improvement: Part 1, translate findings into high impact strategies that address system gaps/barriers and develop an evaluation plan to monitor strategy implementation and the degree to which the intended outcomes are being achieved. Presenter(s): Joyce Probst MacAlpine, Senior Associate, Abt; Sarah Kahn, The Cloudburst Group [Room: Studio 6; Level: Advanced]


Data Maturity and Data Action Cycle Framework How can the Continuums of Care (CoCs) use analytic results to inform project and system-level design efforts? This session will identify how CoCs used data to improve program design to better fit client needs and to take system-level action. Presenter(s): Natalie Matthews, Technical Assistance (TA) Provider, Abt; Jamie Taylor, The Cloudburst Group [Room: Studio 7; Level: Advanced]

Lunch Plenary (11:45am-12:50pm)Seven Predictions About the Future of Homeless Service InformationRepresentatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s SNAPS Office will discuss the path forward for CoCs, from now to five years from now. An achievable vision where the majority of communities know if they are putting resources behind the most effective strategies. To know if homelessness is becoming more rare, brief, and non-reoccurring. Presenter(s): Abby Miller, Senior Program Specialist and Fran Ledger, Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [Room: Platinum Ballroom]

Session Three Options (1:00pm-1:50pm)LSA Office HoursDue to an extension for CoCs to submit LSA data, many NHSDC conference attendees have questions about the process. Come to this office hours session to get your questions answered by expert TA providers. Presenter(s): HUD TA Providers [Room: Melody-A]

Implementing a Disaster Recovery and Response System Through Partnerships and Data This session will feature speakers from Houston and North Carolina that will discuss their responses to Hurricanes Harvey, Matthew, and Florence. Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston in 2017 and had a significant impact on the city’s homeless population. Ana Rausch will discuss how the CoC contributed to reducing the length of time disaster shelters remained open and transitioned survivors into the best available housing option. In North Carolina, previous experience with Hurricane Matthew in 2016 set the stage for exposing the gaps in the state’s emergency response planning, and how they were able to have a much more coordinated response when Florence hit in 2018. The experience allowed the state to transition seamlessly from an emergency crisis mode to more regular reporting on outcomes for those affected by the hurricanes. Presenter(s): Abby Burgess, Institute for Community Alliances; Nicole Purdy, Senior Research Project Manager, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness; Ana Rausch, Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County [Room: Melody-B; Track: Building Partnerships to Increase the Homeless Response System’s Capacity; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Integrating Healthcare and Homeless Systems Integrating Healthcare and Homeless systems can be a daunting but not impossible task. This session will explore how one community’s journey started with expanding data sharing and updating the client release of information, moving to integrate coordinated entry with medical funded housing and hospital charge. Presenter(s): Pamela Mosely, Program Coordinator, Pima County [Room: Studio 4; Track: Data Integration and Sharing; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Estimating the Known Unknown: Combining HMIS and PIT to Improve Estimates of Homeless Populations There is a broad understanding that both HMIS and PIT data, while informative, have consequential limitations. The HMIS only tracks individuals who have come into contact with homeless service providers. Thus, it cannot inform policymakers about the size and composition of individuals who have not sought help. Biannual Point-in-Time counts seek to address this issue by enumerating all homeless individuals whether or not that they are receiving services. Nonetheless, these counts are difficult to implement and prone to undercounts. This session presents methods for combining HMIS and PIT data to produce more accurate estimates of the size and composition of the population of unsheltered individuals that take advantage of the inherent uncertainty of each of these sources. These methods are not new and have already been applied in some isolated instances. Nevertheless, they have yet to gain wide acceptance due to the (perceived) high costs and a lack of clear and simple methods for implementation. Fortunately, the expansion of street outreach efforts and improvements to HMIS data quality have made these methods significantly easier and less costly to implement. Estimation only requires two inputs commonly available to CoCs. The first is an active Street Outreach program that can track unsheltered, homeless individuals on or around the PIT night. The second is a PIT demographic survey that includes identifying information that enables a researcher to cross-reference PIT respondents with a list of clients enrolled in Street Outreach. Estimation methods -- called either multi-list or capture-recapture estimates -- calculate estimates of the entire homeless population by examining the overlap between these two counts. The presentation explains these estimates and provides a calculation tool. Additional benefits of these estimates are that they provide information on the effectiveness of existing street outreach efforts in reaching the unserved, homeless population and on the effectiveness of the PIT count in identifying unsheltered individuals. Presenter(s): Christopher Weare, Manager of Data Analytics and research, Sacramento Steps Forward [Room: Studio 5; Track: Performance Measurement and Planning; Level: Advanced]

Taking the Next Step: Using Data to Drive Strategic Change Once data is collected, cleaned and reported, how can the results be used to drive strategic change? This interactive session will explore two ways for an agency to become more data-informed in accomplishing strategic goals and improving outcomes. First, we will discuss techniques and tips for analyzing data for the purpose of program planning and quality improvement. Second, we will lead a discussion on the use of data in the development of strategic partnerships and funding opportunities. The speakers will provide examples of the ways in which data from multiple scales and sources can be synthesized to demonstrate trends, weave stories, and suggest the need for expanded resources. This discussion will also explore the range of strategies available for analyzing HMIS and community data, including tips for using variables to make longitudinal or population-specific comparisons. The session will provide a forum for participants to share their own experiences in using data to drive improvement, as well as to explore how they could integrate data analysis into future decision-making and fundraising efforts. Presenter(s): Cristina Lucier, VP of Research and Diana Stanley, CEO, The Lord’s Place [Room: Studio 7; Track: Data Visualization and Storytelling Presentations; Level: Beginner to Intermediate]

Closing Remarks (2:05pm-3:20pm)[Room:Platinum Ballroom]


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National Human Services Data Consortium 2019 Spring Conference

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