HMIS (Homeless Management Information System)

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An HMIS is typically a web-based software application that homeless assistance providers use to coordinate care, manage their operations, and better serve their clients. The application typically allows case managers working with homeless persons to guide them back to self-sufficiency by coordinating with other human service providers to obtain services that assist with the loss of a job, disabilities, and other issues that prevent someone experiencing homelessness from obtaining and maintaining a home.

An HMIS is normally a secure system that allows collaborating agencies to share information on the clients they mutually serve, which can also preclude unethical behavior by persons seeking to obtain duplicate services or funds.

HMIS allows the aggregation of client-level data across homeless service agencies to generate unduplicated counts and service patterns of clients served. It improves agency effectiveness through tracking client outcomes and can produce financial and programmatic reports for funders, boards, and other stakeholders. HMIS can help increase the understanding of the local extent and scope of homelessness and identify service gaps (i.e. are the services available meeting the needs of clients).

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other planners and policymakers at the federal, state and local levels use aggregate HMIS data to obtain better information about the extent and nature of homelessness over time. Specifically, an HMIS can be used to produce an unduplicated count of homeless persons, understand patterns of service use, and measure the effectiveness of homeless programs.