Hmis Project Management Topics and Tools

Homeless Management Information Systems (HMISs) are community-wide software solutions that are designed to capture client-level information over time on the characteristics and service needs of men, women, and children experiencing homelessness. In response to a Congressional directive, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has required all Continuums of Care (CoCs) across the country to implement HMIS at the local level. The primary goal of HMIS is to better understand the scope and dimensions of homelessness locally and nationally in order to address the problem more effectively. Through the implementation of advanced technology, HMIS also directly benefits service providers and homeless clients by providing more efficient and coordinated services. The intent of this paper is to assist HMIS project managers by describing the primary tasks associated with managing HMIS and providing sample documents to support these activities. This paper should be seen as a toolkit, and HMIS managers are urged to take samples found in the Appendices and edit them to their particular needs. (Authors)

Publication Date: 
2004