Statewide Homeless Operations Research Environment (SHORE)

· History

· Goals

· Participation

· Contact

History

SHORE, the Massachusetts Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), is both a web-based application and a data repository.

The Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) as the convenor of the Balance of State Continuum of Care, engaged Albion Systems, Inc., to build SHORE to meet its own HUD data collection requirements, but with an eye toward making it an attractive tool for all homeless services providers. To achieve maximum user friendliness, DTA held joint application development, or “JAD,” sessions with providers, staff, and developers from the start. Now in its fifth iteration, or “build,” SHORE continues to be shaped by providers and Continua of Care who use it – and even those who don’t! – through the SHORE/HMIS Steering Committee. The JAD process ensures that SHORE will remain usable and relevant as requirements and environments change.

The concept developed in early 2005, and by August 2005 the first users of the SHORE application had begun entering data.

There are now over 160 providers across the state representing over 570 homeless services programs contributing to the SHORE system.

Goals

The goals of SHORE, through its function as a centralized data repository, are to:

· prevent duplicate counting of homeless persons

· analyze patterns of assistance or service usage, including how they enter and exit the homeless assistance system

· measure the effectiveness of the service delivery system for homeless men, women and children in Massachusetts.

Participation

There are two ways in which a provider may participate in SHORE: direct data entry through the SHORE Web application, and “uploading” through a secure email system.

The SHORE application is located on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Virtual Gateway (a portal for a variety of services) and is available at no cost to any homeless services provider in the state. This application features all the required HUD client and program questions in an easy-to-use format, reporting capabilities, and different levels of security for different user types. To some degree, it is also customizable: providers can add their own fields and program and service names are tailored to reflect each individual provider’s reality.

The SHORE data repository is a series of dedicated servers and backup systems that provide a secure storage place for the gathered information. Providers who use the SHORE application as their primary HMIS software enter data directly into the system. For those providers who wish to use other HMIS software but want to take part in the statewide effort towards an unduplicated count, DTA has set up a system, described in its API document and White Paper, that allows them to send their data through an encrypted secure email system. The data can then be aggregated with the application-entered data and deduplicated in the SHORE data warehouse, which is where many reports will eventually come from.

By offering two ways to enter data into SHORE, DTA hopes to achieve as close to 100 percent provider participation as possible, bringing us one step closer to the ultimate goal of ending homelessness in Massachusetts.

Contact

For more information, contact the SHORE project manager, Deb Connolly at debra.connolly@state.ma.us.