The Howard County Continuum of Care for Homeless Services is administered by the Department of Community Resources and Services, with the Continuum of Care Board serving in an advisory capacity. The Continuum utilizes internet-based technology, known as ServicePoint, to capture information about persons receiving services at homeless service organizations in Howard.
In its pursuit to end homelessness, of the Continuum’s goals is to determine the extent and nature of homelessness in Howard County. This is accomplished through analysis and release of data grounded in the actual experiences of homeless persons, and the service providers who assist them in shelters and homeless assistance programs throughout the county. Information is aggregated (void of any identifying client level information), analyzed and made available to policy makers, service providers, advocates, and consumer representatives.
Benefits to Clients:
- Improved coordination of care and services·
- Reduced duplication of information gathering.
- High-security of client confidentiality.
Benefits to Participating Providers:
- Automated reporting for federal sub grantees.
- Readily accessible internal and external data.
- Potential to track longitudinal data for trend analysis.
- Streamlined and trackable referrals.
- Ability to maintain electronic client records.
Benefits to the Howard County Continuum of Care and Policymakers:
- Offers Business Intelligence software for analyzing system needs for funding, decision-making and policy.
- Creates the ability to track progress on system performance and locally defined outcome measurements.
- Strengthens partnership among agency partners of the CoC’s Coordinated Entry System of Homeless Services.
Benefits to the General Community:
- Provides information on:
o the extent of homelessness in Howard County;
o the causes of homelessness; and,
o trends and needs.
- Enables interested parties to better advocate around service and resource needs for those experiencing homelessness.