2023 HMIS Policies Changes You Should Know
Every year, the Policies & Prioritization Committee - a sub-committee of the HMIS Governing Board - reviews and updates the HMIS Policies. This year, that group reviewed the policies over the summer, with the HMIS Governing Board approving the proposed updates at its October 2023 meeting.
This year's review was shorter in nature. There were only five updates made to the HMIS Policies, and none of them represent a substantive change in activities or expectations for HMIS-participating agencies, HMIS users or the HMIS Lead Agency. In fact, the biggest change was a decision to perform heavy and light reviews in alternating years, with the light reviews coinciding with the HUD and MN Data Standards changes in the odd years - like 2023!
Here's a brief summary of the four other HMIS policy changes:
Added "Covered Homeless Organization" Terminology
In Minnesota, the terms “Participating Agency” and “Partner Agency” have historically been used interchangeably to refer to organizations that are actively participating in HMIS; HUD often utilizes the term "Covered Homeless Organization" (or “CHO”) for the same purpose. A footnote has been added to the policies to confirm that the terms are equivalent.
Expanded Data Quality Plan Language
New language has been added to the “Data Quality Plan” section to emphasize that HMIS Participating Agencies are expected to participate in data quality clean-up efforts throughout the year. Those efforts include, but are not limited to, the Quarterly Data Quality (QDQ) review cycles. Additionally, the revised language affirms that the HMIS Lead Agency is responsible for keeping data quality reports in working order.
Formalized System Performance Measures as a Lead Agency Responsibility
The federal System Performance Measures (SPMs) project was added to the list of HMIS Lead Agency responsibilities. The inclusion of SPMs formalizes a commitment to work that ICA has been carrying out on an annual basis as required by HUD.
Added HMIS Technical Support Section
A new section titled “HMIS Technical Support” was added to affirm that the HMIS Lead Agency will maintain a technical support process in alignment with HUD's HMIS Lead Standards document and that details of the plan will be made available on the MN HMIS website.
Click here to view the HMIS policy changes made in 2023 or visit the Administrative Documents page of the MN HMIS website to find a complete listing of the HMIS policies.