01. What is HMIS?

Overview

Knowing where your agency fits into Minnesota's statewide collaborative effort to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness is an important first step in feeling empowered in your work to utilize HMIS for data entry, reporting, funding, and general assistance services.

• Minnesota’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is an online database.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) legally requires the use of HMIS.
• The Institute for Community Alliances (ICA) is the nonprofit organization that serves as the database administrator in Minnesota.
• ClientTrack, a product of Eccovia, is the software system that ICA employs for MN's HMIS.
• A Continuum of Care (CoC) is an entity tasked with reducing homelessness in its region.

• More About This — Further important information is found in this section.
• Details — Specific details and/or step-by-step workflows will be described in this section.
• Video — Any relevant videos will be posted in this section.

More About This

Minnesota’s Homeless Management Information System, or HMIS, is a web-based database used by homeless service organizations across the state to collect client-level data on individuals and households experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. The administration of an HMIS is legally required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Each state in the U.S. is divided into smaller sections, and each section is called a Continuum of Care, or a CoC. A CoC is a strategic entity created to coordinate, organize, and deliver housing and services and to promote community-wide commitment to reduce the incidences of homelessness.

Minnesota has ten HUD CoCs, plus the Minnesota Tribal Collaborative (MTC) to Prevent and End Homelessness, which acts similarly to a CoC. Each CoC and MTC is led by a CoC Coordinator. The Coordinator role and the work of the CoC is supported by officers within the community (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and so on), state agencies, participating partner agencies, and the Institute for Community Alliances (ICA).

ICA administers Minnesota's HMIS and supports all HMIS users. ClientTrack, a product of Eccovia, is the software system that ICA employs for MN's HMIS.

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Details

The state of Minnesota is divided into ten HUD CoCs, plus the Minnesota Tribal Collaborative to Prevent and End Homelessness. MTC is comprised of Tribal Nations who have passed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for participation through their own Tribal Councils or Governing Bodies. The Tribes who currently have such MOUs in place include: Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Mille Lacs, Leech Lake, Red Lake and White Earth.

The HUD CoCs in Minnesota are:

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Video

Under construction, coming soon!

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Related Articles & References:

MN HMIS Administrator: Institute for Community Alliances (ICA) - HMISMN.org

MN CoC Contact Info - Regional Contacts

HMIS Partnering Agencies

Core HMIS Workflow How-to Guides:

HMIS Fundamentals

ClientTrack Basics

Client Intake

Program Enrollment

Questions? Email the Helpdesk: MNHMIS@icalliances.org