CITY HALL A trio of consulting firms are vying for the opportunity to help City Hall better manage the delivery of services to the homeless population, ensuring that those who enter the system are moving forward toward self sufficiency and are not remaining stagnant in their recovery.
The firm that is selected will work with the Human Services Division to find the best Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) that would be used by seven non-profit agencies and City Hall at 13 locations, each offering multiple programs.
HMIS is a computerized data collection tool specifically designed to capture client-level, system-wide information over time on the characteristics and service needs of men, women, and children experiencing homelessness.
A new HMIS would replace the current ClientTrack computer program that has been in use since 2001 and has been criticized by service providers for being difficult to use. The ClientTrack system is also outdated and does not feature options offered by the latest batch of programs, said Stacey Rowe, a human services administrator.
“It’s relatively rigid, which is the overall problem,” Rowe said of ClientTrack. “The City of Santa Monica was on the cutting edge years ago, being one of the first communities to develop and use a computerized case management system …There has been a quantum leap in sophistication with this type of a system, and because we were ahead of the curve, we didn’t get the benefits that other communities did that bought after us.”
Replacing ClientTrack was a key recommendation of the Urban Institute, which conducted a comprehensive evaluation of City Hall’s continuum of care and released a strategic five-year plan to help improve the delivery of services. ClientTrack was found to be not as sophisticated as newer systems in tracking client outcomes and is limited in the number of fields that can be collected, as well as the kind of reports that can be generated.
The system only collects the most basic information, such as the name, age and Social Security number of each client, plus some background on what types of services they have accessed in the past.
City officials are looking for a new system that will give providers the ability to interface with other local and regional systems, including billing; better identify “bottlenecks” in delivery; improve coordination between agencies; reduce the time it takes to generate reports; track all services provided system-wide so there is no duplication; and better track outcomes.
Essentially, the new system will help city officials and service providers in identifying who is making progress and who is not.
“From our standpoint … this is about the effectiveness of service delivery,” said John Maceri, executive director of OPCC, one of the leading service providers in the city.“We are interested in all organizations.We want to keep good information,good statistical information on the services being provided.The more tools we have to help us do that, the better.”
The most recent count of the homeless population in Los Angeles County estimated the number to be approximately 88,000, with roughly 2,800 in Santa Monica at any given time.
City Hall plans to spend approximately $3 million during 2007-08 in municipal and federal funds on seven non-profit agencies providing an array of services to the homeless of Santa Monica. Services include emergency and drop-in services, short-term and long-term shelters, case management and housing placement assistance, and post-placement care.
The three consultants that have submitted bids are Abt Associates, Canavan Associates, and Symmetric Solutions, Inc.
Abt, which is based in Cambridge, Mass., is one of the largest for-profit government and business research and consulting firms in the world, according to its Web site. It was founded in 1965 and has more than 1,000 employee-owners. In 2006, Abt was ranked 17th among the top 50 U.S. market research firms, 22nd among global research firms by the American Marketing Association. Its gross revenue last year was $199 million.
Canavan Associates, located in Northampton, Mass., was founded in 2003 and specialized in management information systems. Canavan managed the implementation of data systems that were primarily used by homeless shelters. In 2004, Canavan expanded its operations to include evaluation and education, according to its Web site.
Symmetric Solutions, located in Hood River, Ore., specializes in the selection, planning and implementation of homeless management systems. Symmetric, which was founded in 1991, has worked with over 25 communities across the country, according to its Web site.
Rowe said a selection committee comprised of city staff and service providers will evaluate the proposals submitted by the three consultants and come back with a final recommendation by mid-August. There is no word yet on what the cost of the contract would be.
“What we are really looking for is experience,” Rowe said. “We are really looking for people who have done this before, that understand all of the different components, the regulatory part, data management part, and the service provision part, and they need to be really good listeners. They will have to spend a lot of time talking to the provider agencies that will use this and understand what it is they really need and what we need as a community.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 17, 2007. Read the original PDF.