Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)

What is Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS)?
The Midlands Area Consortium for the Homeless (MACH) Homeless Management Information System is a case management system for homeless clients. It provides the MACH's 14-county region with a central point-of-entry for all homeless consumers. If your agency's primary mission is providing housing or services to people experiencing homelessness they should be participating in HMIS. Currently, participation in the MACH HMIS is free of charge to qualifying agencies in our service area. The agency is provided with a web-based, case management system with the capacity of identifying available shelter beds in the area, resources, and referring clients to other agencies. Participating agencies also receive training and technical support. Our first priority agencies are those with emergency shelter and transitional housing for homeless consumers, receiving both federal and nonfederal funds, which includes our faith-based agencies. Our second priority for participation are those providing services to our homeless consumers.

If you have question, please contact Rebecca Frierson at rfrierson3@sc.rr.com).

What are the Benefits to using HMIS?
HMIS Benefits to Clients:

Client intake
Client assessment 
Identifies services provided to clients and gaps in services 
Identifies available beds within a Continuum of Care (CoC) 
Identifies available resources to clients within the CoC

Benefits of HMIS to agencies:
 
Centralized intake 
Reduces duplication of services 
Provides quick access to all resources for the homeless within your CoC 
More efficient access to bed availability within your CoC 
Quick and easy entry and exit of clients into and out of specific programs 
Agency and program reports 
The internet provides a more direct and efficient connection to other agencies; data is safe and cannot be deleted when a computer fails