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Join HMIS

LAHSA provides set-up, training, and help desk support. If you are interested in participating with HMIS, please contact us.

Who Should Participate and Why?

We want to collect information from all homeless service providers throughout the LACoC.  If you receive U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding, you are required to use HMIS.  If you are not, we encourage you to participate whether you have or will ever receive government funding.  Increased participation in HMIS will help all of us gain an understanding of homelessness, evaluate programs, garner more funding, and strengthen our collective efforts to prevent and end homelessness.

HMIS is a database designed to meet an agency’s business needs. It can be used for people, contract, and service delivery management.  Agencies benefit by having a free database with support that can assist with meeting their reporting needs.


How Does HMIS Work?

Participating agencies collect and input standardized client-level and demographic data into the system.  Services and target achievements are entered to capture client-level activities depending on the agency, program, or program type.  The data is compiled into reports that allow us to understand the demographic, geographic, or cultural scope of homelessness and the needs.

How is Data Used?

  • For Clients: Reduces the wait time for services
  • For Funders: Evaluates return on investment
  • For Providers: Measures and evaluates program effectiveness and reports to Board and Funders
  • For HUD and other similar entities: Provides an understanding of homelessness and service use patterns

How to Secure Good Data Quality?

  • Client data should be input into HMIS on a daily basis
  • Review HUD’s data standards
  • Assign an employee with a basic level of computer literacy for data entry and moderate-to-highly skilled for reporting
  • Attend training and user forums

The LACoC HMIS includes:

  • Client demographic data collection
  • Comprehensive client case management
  • Employment, education, and housing history tracking
  • Savings tracking
  • Bed maintenance, tracking and assignment module
  • Customized assessment capability
  • Customized reporting capability
  • Real-time data collection and reporting
  • Group activities management
  • Group case note management
  • Information and referral capabilities
  • Advanced security features
  • Outcome management

The LACoC HMIS is not connected to any federal or national data collection agency and data is not passed electronically to any national database for homeless or low-income individuals.