Homelessness is no new issue for the Bay Area. But as a volunteer who has worked withhundreds of unhoused individuals through nonprofits, I’ve seen massive changes in the way our local community addresses these issues.
Nonprofit organizations have been increasingly utilizing paid platforms like Apricot, a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), to combat homelessness by connecting unhoused individuals to opportunities. Additionally, some other organizations utilize local government-provided HMIS services, such as Santa Clara County’s Clarity HMIS.
Though local programs like Clarity may seem inefficient for nonprofits and untrustworthy for users, government HMIS services remain a far more effective alternative to paid platforms. Transitioning to Clarity HMIS is the best way for nonprofits to continue supporting our unhoused communities, according to the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing (OSH).
Many of the clients I’ve worked with have voiced concerns regarding the privacy and confidentiality of the data in HMIS, as everything from Social Security to past drug use can be required information in these databases.
People can’t trust government help if they don’t understand how their data is being used, especially when providing sensitive information. Ensuring clients understand this is crucial for the success of government-backed HMIS services, which Clarity HMIS protects through rigorous data usage agreements and privacy standards.
From choosing software to designing system wide policies and procedures, Clarity HMIS is created to be extremely safe for user data, according to the OSH. However, a problem with Clarity HMIS that I’ve encountered are many instances where language barriers prevent full comprehension of how this data is protected and used.
Without other language versions, many homeless individuals refuse to provide their data. Those who do may ultimately sign forms and input personal information without realizing how this information will be tracked, leading to ethical concerns.
On the other hand, the practices of private, for-profit HMIS software need additional guidelines. Paid HMIS softwares lack any of the government oversight of local HMIS services and suffer from far more lax data regulations and security measures.
For example, I’ve personally seen the same client being entered numerous times on a paid database by different workers. Such overlap can often prevent a doubly-entered client from receiving benefits due to system confusion.
Clarity HMIS has the capability to identify and merge duplicate accounts while providing much clearer details on each client case, which is a product of the greater scrutiny and rules used to create the system, according to the OSH. Most concerningly, many private HMIS providers list little to no privacy or data protections for individuals entered into them, and they are free to use this highly sensitive data as they please.
Government HMIS services are created under highly secure and transparent data rules, which guarantees protection that private HMIS does not.
Additionally, systems like Clarity HMIS actually have the power to connect unhoused individuals with the services they need through coordinated care and resource allocation, instead of paid ones that may only act as a catalog of past clients, according to the OSH.
But some problems remain for both HMIS software types. Despite HMIS turning digital, many intake forms and benefits statements remain on paper. Almost all current databases lack the capability to scan and save these documents to client files, disrupting the benefits process for especially older clients who struggle with tech literacy.
Whether for-profit or government-backed, HMIS services are still very much a work in progress in need of new features and constant improvement. Though depending on any HMIS service leads to concerns over user data, government-backed HMIS are ultimately the safer, more effective approach to alleviating homelessness when compared to for-profit offerings.
But even more importantly, transitioning to government HMIS services is yet another small step forward to hopefully ending our homelessness crisis.
Written by Jonathan Xue
