Issues for Statewide Implementations: Operational Strategies to Engage Rural Providers September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Hunter Thompson, North Carolina Gina Martinez, New Mexico Jenni Sullivan, Montana September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2 CHIN Project History The Carolina Homeless Information Network (CHIN) was originally facilitated by the North Carolina Interagency Council for Coordinating Homeless Programs (ICCHP) as a part of North Carolinas ten year plan to end homelessness in After an extensive planning process CHIN was formed as an interagency collaboration comprised of representative homeless service providers, nonprofit advocacy groups, government agencies, universities and more than twenty Continua of Care (CoC). September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 3 CHIN Project History In August 2004 CHINs Steering Committee selected the North Carolina Housing Coalition and the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness as co-lead agencies to provide administrative and policy support. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 4 CHIN Project Scope CHIN is North Carolinas centralized, balance of state, homeless management information system. It is designed as a computerized, data collection tool to capture client-level information over time on characteristics, service needs and services utilization of individuals experiencing homelessness. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 5 CHIN Project Scope To implement a statewide homeless management information system that will generate an unduplicated count of homeless individuals in North Carolina. To customize and implement a HMIS to meet the requirement of a single client tracking system that meets, or exceeds, reporting requirements. To support local case management and outcome tracking functions, and facilitate interagency resources/service management. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 6 CHIN Planning Structure/Decision Making The Interagency Council for Coordinating Homeless Programs is a Governor appointed task force charged with developing recommendations and strategies to end homelessness in NC. While preparing NCs Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness the council agreed that the creation of a centralized balance of state homeless management information system would be necessary to ensure that all continua of care within NC could fulfill HUDs reporting mandate. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 7 CHIN Planning Structure/Decision Making The ICCHP hosted a series of regional meetings across the state to discuss the concept and to recruit potential leadership. A Steering Committee was selected after a rigorous recruitment process. The diverse twenty member committee represented balance between the public and private sector, direct and indirect service providers, those with and those without existing HMIS systems, and equitable geographic participation. Special attention was given to rural/urban parity. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 8 CHIN Planning Structure/Decision Making The Steering Committee established the following committees: Policy, Membership, Operations and Fundraising. An Ad Hoc RFP subcommittee was created to select the vendor for the project. All decisions are made by the Steering Committee. Member agencies, end users and CHIN staff bring issues to Steering Committee for consideration and resolution. All decisions require a 2/3 majority. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 9 CHIN Funding Initial funding for the project has been provided by the ICCHP and the NC Department of Health and Human Services. Sustainability funding will be generated through annual membership subscriptions. It is anticipated that approximately 400 end users from more than 60 agencies will join CHIN by the end of 2006. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 10 CHIN Membership Rates In February 2005 the CHIN Steering Committee approved the membership rates for For the remainder of 2005, beginning July 1, the rate will be $375 per certified end user. In 2006 the rates will be $750/year/certified end user. All end users are required to attend a certification workshop prior to accessing the network. The one-time fee for certification will be $275 per end user. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 11 CHIN Network Launch The network was launched in July 2005 but extensive configuration issues were unresolved. Additional customization was required to fulfill North Carolinas business requirements. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 12 CHIN Major Barriers: Geographic Dispersion North Carolina is the 11th most populous state, according to the 2000 Census, with a resident population of 8,046,579. The population grew by 21.4% from the 1990 total of 6,628,637. North Carolina consists of 48,843 square miles of land and 3,826 square miles of inland water. Our total area of 52,669 square miles ranks North Carolina twenty-ninth in area among the states. It takes approximately eight hours to drive across North Carolina. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 13 CHIN Major Barriers: Geographic Dispersion According to the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Even today, with the rapid growth of urban and suburban areas, North Carolina still has over 350 municipalities with populations of fewer than 5,000 people in its 85 rural counties. 100 Counties, 30+ CoC September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 14 CHIN Major Barriers: Connectivity Connectivity is a significant issue for the successful implementation of CHIN. The product we selected doesnt perform adequately below 56Kbps. CHIN staff developed and administered a simple download speed performance test to determine how the product performed using dial-up, satellite broadband and cable broadband. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 15 CHIN Major Barriers: Connectivity The results dictated that the CHIN Steering Committee look at providing a bundled service plan (service/software/training) to sites who are not currently using broadband services. Investigation into a vendor partnership is underway. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 16 CHIN Major Barriers: Training CHIN was trained by the HMIS solution providers lead trainer using a train-the-trainer curriculum. CHIN developed customized end user training materials using vendors materials as a guide. Surveys by CHIN staff of the target end user population revealed that the level of computer experience and expertise ranged from entry level to advanced. Generally, urbanized areas had better trained staff and access to more technical resources. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 17 CHIN Major Barriers: Training CHIN staff developed and provided (free of charge) a one day workshop called Computer Basics to help entry level end users develop the necessary computer competencies to be successful. Site visits also revealed discrepancies in the understanding and administration of client confidentiality requirements. CHIN contracted with the NC Coalition to End Homelessness to provide three workshops across the state on Ethics, Security and Client Confidentiality. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 18 CHIN Major Barriers: Training Three sneak peek seminars were held in April to provide potential end users with a preview of the system and its functionality. Two solution provider representatives joined CHIN staff on a three city tour. During each presentation additional business requirements for the system were captured and documented. These requirements were incorporated into the final software release. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 19 CHIN Major Barriers: Provider Capacity CHIN selected Softscape as the software vendor and hosting service. The decision to use them as the project host was based primarily on economic reasons. CHINs contract with the vendor is based on simultaneous end users and designed to expand as the end user population grows. Performance provisions were built into our Master Service Agreement. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 20 CHIN Major Barriers: Rural Issues Connectivity: Lack of high-speed broadband Internet Service Providers and the unreasonable expense of available high-speed services. Time and Distance: With a limited staff traveling to sites for in-person service and support is not always possible. New service and support strategies were implemented to provide commensurate services. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 21 CHIN Major Barriers: Rural Issues Changing leadership: Within the first six months of 2005, five key leaders within different CoCs were reassigned or left the agency. Ever- changing leadership further compounds a difficult situation. Lack of available funding: Most of the agencies in rural NC have expressed concerns over CHINs funding model. Most are concerned about how they will fund their annual subscriptions without sacrificing direct services or staffing levels. The CHIN Steering Committee is working closely with these agencies to find sustainable solutions. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 22 CHIN Major Barriers: Rural Issues Outdated computers and a lack of dedicated resources: Many rural agencies share computing resources and do not have the necessary privacy and security measures in place locally to meet CHIN Standard Operating Procedures. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 23 CHIN Major Barriers: Creating Buy-in All of North Carolinas CoCs were contacted and site visits were arranged. CHIN staff visited over 25 cities during the first six months of 2005 to introduce the system to potential agencies and end users. During the visits business requirements were documented and potential committee members were recruited. Many of the rural areas had not deployed their own HMIS. This increased acceptance of CHIN as the HMIS solution. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 24 CHIN Major Barriers: Creating Buy-in Prior to the development of CHIN, 10+ HMIS systems were either starting up or operating around the state. The number was reduced to four during the first year of development. Joining CHIN was viewed as the more sustainable option. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 25 CHIN Possible Solutions: Enhanced Communications Establishment of a Toll Free service and support number. Use of conference calls to connect committees, CoC and staff. Development of Internet-based services and support including: FAQs, topic-specific mail list; technical bulletin boards; web mail; online service/discrepancy reporting; technical support chat room; establishment of IM accounts; personalized blogs and a customizable website. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 26 CHIN Possible Solutions Development of a continuous training schedule with tiered levels. Managed subscription campaign. (Open ended subscription campaign create complicated billing and training issues.) Designation of geographic service and support regions with assigned staff. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 27 CHIN Lessons Learned Spend considerable time checking vendor references (listed and unlisted). Develop and implement a comprehensive plan to define and capture system and end user business requirements. Provide multiple ways for CoCs to provide decision makers with input. Vendor performance requirements need to be clearly defined and performance penalties included in the contract. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 28 CHIN Lessons Learned Increase the time allotted for User Acceptance Testing (UAT) prior to accepting the product. Develop and deliver clear and concise information for external audiences. Be prepared to meet the press and to defend the projects privacy, security and access policies. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 29 CHIN Lessons Learned Give end users multiple opportunities to become vested into the project. Solicit input and feedback during site visits, follow-up on all inquiries and answer all questions. All contracts should be reviewed by legal counsel. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 30 CHIN Contact Information Hunter Thompson, Lead Coordinator Carolina Homeless Information Network(919) (office) (910) (cell)c/o North Carolina Housing Coalition 224 S. Dawson Street Raleigh, NC 27601 Implementing a Statewide HMIS September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Gina Martinez New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 32 New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) MFA is a quasi-governmental entity financing housing and related services for low to moderate income and underserved families. MFA, the states designated housing agency, provides housing programs for Homelessness to Homeownership throughout New Mexico. All homeless programs are available statewide through a network of non-profits and local governments. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 33 State Structure New Mexico has 2 COCs City of Albuquerque Balance of State State and Federal formula funding is managed at MFA. Total of 41 agencies receive funding for activities such as: Permanent Supportive Housing COC Match Emergency Shelter Operations Essential Services Only Homeless Prevention September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 34 Early Discussions In Mid 2002 Representatives from both COCs and MFA discussed creating a New Mexico HMIS. Decision to do statewide HMIS based on: The COCs wanted to maximize the points that could be received on the competitive grant process The desire to get a statewide unduplicated count of homelessness September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 35 Early Decisions Initial decision to develop a system in house because in 2002/2003 existing systems available for purchase were very expensive and difficult to administer. MFA Offered to host the system because: MFA already managed the formula grants for HUD and the allocation of funds that the State of New Mexico provides for homeless programs 1.The system was going to be housed on MFAs network. 2.The system could not be housed at HUD because they are not set up to manage such a system 3.There was concern HMIS would not be effectively used statewide if housed at City of Albuquerque September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 36 Delays Waiting for HUD Standards to be released in 2003/2004 caused major delay in implementation of HMIS MFA did not want to use limited resources to implement HMIS and then have to modify the system significantly to meet the new standards The timeline for the COCs were being driven by points awarded on the COC application September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 37 Data Standards Released July 2004 the revised HUD Data Standards were released MFA programmers updated the in-house system to comply with New Data Standards Process completed in October 2004 September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 38 The Implementation Begins October 2004 HUD Technical Assistance Contractor came to New Mexico to assist in the decision making process November 2004 Implementation began with a roll-out schedule, by activity, for MFA-managed agencies September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 39 ROADBLOCKS December 2004 MFA quickly realized that in-house product was not going to accommodate the issues that were arising Timing of Data Standards Resources (Time and Money) Geographic Issues Confidentiality Issues MFA began to shop for existing HMIS software that would accommodate New Mexicos needs. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 40 Reasons for Selecting Software Provider Security Cost more reasonable than other software available on the market Ease of Use Good References September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 41 Implementation January 2005 MFA signed an agreement with vendor for their HMIS product Implementation was delayed while system was being completed March 2005 Vendor provided training to all agencies that needed to supply information into HMIS There was much resistance from users regarding confidentiality September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 42 Implementation April 2005 The Attorney Generals office notified all domestic violence providers that New Mexico Victim Counselor Confidentiality law pre-empts full HMIS participation The discussion over DV participation is being driven by national DV groups and HUD September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 43 Obstacles The lack of communication between the COCs and MFA surfaced in the following areas: Manpower Money Training Resources Reporting Criteria Analyzing Data No funding from HUD for project implementation and oversight. Limited staff time to implement HMIS Coordination between COCs and MFA for training September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 44 Next Steps MFA has delayed full implementation of non-COC activities until January 2006 Agencies are being required to provide existing reports as well as enter data into HMIS to ensure the following issues are resolved. Proper training Report building Analysis of data Development of HMIS policies and procedures manual Oversight/Coordination of Program September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 45 Next Steps Developing proposal, in conjunction with City of Albuquerque, to present to COCs with possible solutions: Received buy-in from local HUD office, with strong supportive letter Hire full time staff person, employed by statewide COC, to manage HMIS Exploring funding possibilities Both COCs Agencies pay portion of award (1%) Agencies pay annual participation fee September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 46 Conclusion Key areas of concern All players must be at the table Communication be put in writing Responsibility of all entities to be concise and clear Funding in place prior to implementation Build in extra time for roadblocks in implementation schedule Montana HMIS September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Jenni Sullivan September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 48 HMIS Conception First Montana CoC meeting on HMIS in 2002 All stakeholders and many system providers from around the state were invited to the initial meeting Main topics discussed were: Using an existing system (PDQ, CDS or other) and updating it COTS solution Cost Timelines September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 49 HMIS Conception After an in-depth evaluation of the draft federal requirements for an HMIS, review of other potential systems, meetings with the federal technical advisor and JADs with homeless providers throughout the state, a decision was made to replicate essential CDS modules and modify them to include additional functionality required of a HMIS. This allowed for the use of an already built system and defrayed the cost of creating a completely new system. This approach utilized proven software that had been developed and in production for many years with a wide user acceptance It satisfied the federal requirements to use software already in existence. It also provided a solution that was cost effective. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 50 MTHMIS Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), Intergovernmental Human Services Bureau (IHSB) offered to host the system. DPHHS, IHSB hosts the CDS system DPHHS, IHSB provides matching dollars for the HUD HMIS grant Process already in place for running the system across the web using Citrix Secure database with automatic firewall set-up in place September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 51 MTHMIS All stake holders were invited to be a part of the MTHMIS system Detailed Design. The MTHMIS project team was made up of the following: CoC members Homeless Service Providers Included users of both the CDS and HMIS systems IHSB Northrop Grumman HUD September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 52 MTHMIS Development The are four principal reasons Montana concentrated on modifying CDS to incorporate the HMIS system. The grant for the HMIS system specifically stated the use of the existing CDS structure and incorporation of additional HMIS items. The timeframe and cost of building a new system. The MT CoC had a tight deadline to be using the HMIS and had a limited budget to build the HMIS. The federal HMIS Technical advisor recommended the CDS system modified to incorporate basic elements of an HMIS system option after a 2-day HMIS Technical session with Northrop Grumman, IHSB, HUD and MT CoC. Preliminary cost analysis of a web based system and the non- availability of additional HMIS funding. September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 53 Major Barriers/Issues Encountered Buy-In Only 25% of the state is required to use the HMIS system and out of that about 12% are domestic violence shelters Resource Issues No money allocated from HUD to administer the program Many Homeless services providers do not have the necessary equipment to enter data into the system Geographic Dispersion Rural Issues September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 54 Major Barriers/Issues Encountered Domestic Violence Issues Training Timing of Data Standards Timing of AHAR items HMIS Documentation Data Sharing Issues Duplicate Data Entry for Users of CDS and MTHMIS Interface between the two systems September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 55 Major Barriers/Issues Encountered Use draft version of HMIS standards Time Frames werent changed enough after final standards were released to complete development and implementation of a new system to meet the goals for the first AHAR HMIS Documentation Time and effort to develop wasnt costed as part of original system September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 56 Possible Solutions Buy-In Provide demonstrations of the MTHMIS system to interested parties across the state APR report is available to users of the MTHMIS Adding the following items to the HMIS system to provide more functionality Oracle Discoverer End User Layer Ad hoc reporting tool Domestic Violence Issues Presented multiple solutions to the Montana Domestic Violence Providers Continue to meet with and provide options to get Domestic Violence Providers using the MTHMIS system September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 57 Possible/Current Solutions Data Sharing Multiple Levels of Security At an homeless service provider level Hide all Share all Share with certain Homeless Service Providers At the client level Certain client data is only viewable by case managers for the homeless service provider entering the data An individual client can be hidden from all users except the case manager for the homeless service provider that entered the data SSL Database is password secure Firewall in place for server September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 58 Possible/Current Solutions Duplicate Data Entry for Users of CDS and MTHMIS Interface between the two systems AHAR items Best Solution: Send all data in a file to HUD and they would be able to do client data matching and create the AHAR. Current Solution: Have a complex client data matching algorithm behind the scenes to be able to send an unduplicated count for the AHAR HMIS Documentation Samples from the HMIS.INFO Web Site and Conference Calls September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 59 Implementing a Statewide HMIS Question & Answers