Thread by @freddieoconnell

We had a big milestone at today’s HMIS Advisory Committee meeting today.

@HIDNashville is our HMIS Lead, and @rachel0c has diligently helped us get important documents finalized to finally allow new providers to become participating agencies in HMIS with secure data sharing.

Why is this important? HMIS is our local implementation of a Homeless Management Information System. It’s basically our way of tracking people (with informed consent) experiencing homelessness to ensure that they get the best services possible and eventually secure housing.

In 2018, #MetroCouncil passed BL2018-1199, which represented a fundamental transformation of what had been our Homelessness Commission, aligning it with our local Continuum of Care.

nashville.gov/Metro-Clerk/Le…

Very soon after that, with my interest in using better data to support better policy, I joined the HMIS Advisory Committee, where I embarked on another important journey with @startleseasily: getting our HMIS set up to allow secure data sharing.

@startleseasily This means that as someone experiencing homelessness comes into contact with a provider through our coordinated entry process, we can seamlessly follow their experiences with services and housing opportunities. People get a better service level, and we perform better as a system.

For the years of work I’ve spent on trying to help Nashville end #homelessness, Jun 5, 2018 was a major milestone.

Jul 29, 2018 is another. Four new participating agencies were reviewed by our committee today. This is great news.

We don’t have a date set for it yet, but I expect the next major milestone to be when we complete our first public permanent supportive housing project, which is underway.

I’m very excited that @JohnCooper4Nash is committed to this project, which will make a huge difference.