The Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) January 1, 2006 – June 30, 2006

Agenda  Introduction to the AHAR  Universal Data Elements  HMIS Systems – C-STAR © /ServicePoint™  Collaborative Agreement – RTFH/SVdPV  Worksheets  Sub-Reports  Summary  Projected Plan for Future Reporting  Availability of Reports  Questions & Answers

Introduction to the AHAR  The Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR)  Requested by HUD  Analyzes Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data collected nationally.  Incorporates a volunteer, pilot group of Continuum of Care (CoC) members of which St. Vincent de Paul Village is part and Regional Task Force on the Homeless.  Goals  To produce an unduplicated count of all homeless persons in the United States and, on the basis of that information, develop a descriptive profile of the homeless population using services provided by CoC members throughout the nation.  To increase the participants of CoC members and to have all participating CoC’s improve data collection abilities and integrity.

Universal Data Elements  Definition  Information fields which HUD has identified as required entries in the HMIS  Tracks basic demographic characteristics of the homeless and their patterns of service use  Function  To avoid duplication in reporting and therefore ensure accuracy of disclosed information  Helps to facilitate an ease of data integration as programs begin to share data

Universal Data Elements  Universal Data Elements established by HUD are:  Name  Social Security Number  Date of Birth  Ethnicity and Race  Gender  Veteran Status  Disabling Condition  Residence Prior to Program Entry  Zip Code of Last Permanent Address  Program Entry Date  Program Exit Date  Unique Person Identification Number  Program Identification Number  Household Identification Number

Universal Data Elements  A Note on Missing Data: In reviewing this report, one will find areas in which data is missing or incomplete. One of the benefits derived from data integration has been the need to evaluate the accuracy and integrity of the data being collected at the point of data entry. Missing data is a result of such accurate reporting and The Regional Task Force on the Homeless and St. Vincent de Paul Village recognize such deficiencies and are actively working to resolve them.

Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) ServicePoint™ C-STAR ©

HMIS Systems ServicePoint™  Definition  A web-based information management system administered by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless and utilized by over 150 homeless service programs throughout San Diego County.  Designed to meet the needs of human service organizations ranging from homeless shelters to food banks  Function  Provides: Client Tracking Case Management Service/Referral Management Shelter Bed Availability Resource Indexing Reporting

HMIS Systems C-STAR©  Definition  An HMIS system designed and utilized by St. Vincent de Paul Village (SVdPV) and other providers.  Contains comprehensive tools for assigning, delivering and tracking services provided.  Function  A user can… Assign mandatory and voluntary services Capture service histories Record service delivery Add case notes to an individual client or through a group activity process.

HMIS Systems  Contributing Agencies & Corresponding Bed Coverage Total Number of Agencies:  15 Emergency Housing Coverage:  8 agencies  140 total beds (year-round and seasonal) Transitional Housing Coverage:  7 agencies  1,821 total beds

Collaborative Agreement Regional Task Force on the Homeless St. Vincent de Paul Village, Inc.

Collaborative Agreement Regional Task Force on the Homeless St. Vincent de Paul Village, Inc. Serves as a central clearinghouse for Homelessness in San Diego Provides homeless sub- population information to service providers and other stakeholders Maintains an inventory of local services available to those in need Provider of Homeless services in San Diego An internationally recognized continuum of integrated services All services focus on meeting the needs of the homeless while maintaining respect for the dignity of the person

Collaborative Agreement  Partnership Background June 2004  Regional Task Force on the Homeless and St. Vincent de Paul Village signed a letter of intent to share specific sets of de-identified client data in order to obtain aggregate information on homelessness in San Diego County populations. Primary purpose  To share local homeless statistics with HUD  Publish local data twice annually

Worksheets

Worksheet 1: For Estimating the Total Number of Households in a Specified Shelter During Covered Time Period

Worksheet 2: Instructions for Calculating the Number of Respondents in a Category on an Average Night

Sub-Reports

Emergency Shelters: Individuals

Sub-Reports Emergency Shelters: Families

Sub-Reports Transitional Housing: Individuals

Sub-Reports Transitional Housing: Families

Summary Report

Projected Plan for Future Reports  It is anticipated that HUD will require future reports from both City and County Continuums of Care. The first AHAR report was completed and submitted to Congress in December of 2005, and subsequent reports are to cover 12 month periods. This report, however, covered only 6 months. The next AHAR will be dated from July 2006 to July  Included in the Letter of Intent between RTFH and SVdPV is a disclosure element which obligates the agencies to develop reports twice annually. These reports will include Universal Data Elements and formatting similar to that of the AHAR.

Importance of Complete Data in our HMIS for the AHAR  HUD’s Analysis The AHAR will most likely become mandatory and used by HUD to evaluate CoC’s.  Local Government Analysis Any data element that is missing in our AHAR by more than 10% will cause the data to inaccurately depict our community’s homeless situation, need for resources or success rate and may jeopardize support and funding by our local governments.  Bed Occupancy Rates As an example, lack of complete data in shelters makes it appear as if the shelters are not full and hence our community doesn’t need more beds, more funding or more resources.

Weaknesses in CoC Data which Need to be Addressed  Every client record MUST include all Universal data elements  Name  Social Security Number  Date of Birth  Ethnicity and Race  Gender  Veteran Status  Disabling Condition  Residence Prior to Program Entry  Zip Code of Last Permanent Address  Program Entry Date  Program Exit Date

Weaknesses in CoC Data which Need to be Addressed  Every HUD-funded client record MUST include all Program Level data elements  Income and Sources  Disability  Domestic Violence  Services Received  Destination  Reasons for Leaving  Every client record MUST include an Exit Date!

Specific Data Elements with Low Response Rates Veteran Disability Prior Living Situation Length of Time in Prior Living Situation Zip Code Services Received Reason for Leaving Destination Exit Date

Action Steps to Improve Data Quality  RTFH and FJV will be working with each agency and program to identify, correct and improve the data for this next AHAR period.  RTFH ServicePoint staff will create reports on data quality for each ServicePoint program and meet with agencies to facilitate data correction and updates.  FJV staff will create reports on data quality for each CSTAR TM program and meet with agencies to facilitate data correction and updates.

Timeline for Data Quality Correction  Data quality reports will be distributed to all agencies by February 30,  Last year’s data and current data should be corrected by April 30,  All new data should be input with all Universal and Program level data elements.  Final data quality check will occur on August 30, 2007, one month prior to the end of this AHAR period.

Availability of Reports  This entire presentation will be available on the websites of both agencies:  Or by contacting the agencies directly: St. Vincent de Paul Village  – Mathew Packard Regional Task Force on the Homeless  – Deborah Lester

Regional Task Force on the Homeless and St. Vincent de Paul Village would like to extend their thanks to those agencies using ServicePoint™ and C-STAR © to fulfill their HMIS needs. We look forward to working with you to improve data collection and analysis in the future.

Questions?