The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is a locally administered data collection system required for all communities receiving federal funds intended to help those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. In San Joaquin County, Central Valley Low Income Housing Corporation is the designated HMIS Lead Agency. Staff at Central Valley Housing operate and oversee the database, working with partner agencies and service providers to collect accurate information on the clients they serve in order to fulfill reporting requirements, help us understand the extent of homelessness locally, and measure the effectiveness of services. Clarity by BitFocus is currently the software used by the San Joaquin Continuum of Care for HMIS.

HMIS is used to submit required reports to the Federal government, including but not limited to the Annual Performance Reports, System Performance Measures, Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Housing Inventory Count, Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, and the Point in Time Count. For the State of California, HMIS is used to submit required reports related to the State Homeless Data Integration System. In San Joaquin County, HMIS is also used to provide data and analysis to local governments, policy-makers, service providers, and the community-at-large in order to better understand the impacts of homelessness on our region, and how best to address the issue. All local service providers are invited to participate in the HMIS.

The Data and HMIS Committee of the San Joaquin Continuum of Care provides oversight to the HMIS Lead Agency. Additional expectations are documented as part of the HMIS Policies and Procedures. All CoC-funded projects and all ESG sub-recipients, as well as sub-recipients of HEAP, CESH, and HHAP funds, are required to enter data in HMIS according to the standards set by the HMIS Lead Agency and the San Joaquin Continuum of Care Board of Directors. This committee is also responsible for leading the annual process of reviewing the performance of the HMIS Lead Agency.

To download a copy of the manual provided to all end-users of the HMIS, please click below.