News release
Public Information Office
SLU 10880 Hammond,
LA 70402 phone:
985-549-2341 fax:
985-549-2061publicinfo@selu.edu
www.selu.edu/news
Contact: Rene Abadie
Date: 7/3/03
| SOUTHEASTERN RECEIVES FEDERAL GRANT TO SET UP TRACKING
SYSTEM FOR
AGENCIES SERVING THE HOMELESS
HAMMOND -- A $311,028 two-year federal grant will enable Southeastern Louisiana University to set up a web-based interactive database designed to help area social agencies better track services for homeless individuals and families. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant will help agencies to begin using a software system designed specifically to produce a more accurate demographic picture of the homeless in the region. Called ServicePoint, the management information system streamlines data entry and reporting ability, allowing more accurate counts of the homeless and the services they receive. While designed primarily for homeless agencies that serve the five-parish Northlake Homeless Coalition, the system can also be used by other social service organizations, said Bonnie Lewis, director of Southeastern’s Florida Parishes Social Science Research Center and the principal investigator for the grant. Lewis said approximately 70 agencies in the five parishes – Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangiphoa and Washington – provide critical services to the homeless in the region. Those agencies will be the first to go on-line with the new system. The system allows agencies to share data such as client intake information, case activity, unmet needs, and referrals to other agencies in the system, Lewis said. The system will eliminate duplicate counting of individuals and families, providing a more accurate assessment of the homeless problem in the region. In addition, the database will include secure features which protect confidential information not intended to be shared. “HUD has strongly encouraged the agencies it funds to use a ‘continuum of care’ model in meeting the needs of homeless clients,” Lewis explained. By 2004, she said, all HUD-funded agencies are mandated to use a shared database to limit the problem of duplication of services and over-counting of disadvantaged individuals. The model is intended to help agencies identify and meet the various social, medical and other needs of the homeless. She said that, after considerable study, HUD has determined that one of the features of the best continuum of care models is a reliable management information system. Agencies are moving toward a more mature level of programming, Lewis said, and are now expected to demonstrate collaboration with other social service agencies. As the process of required reporting becomes easier through this system, these agencies will be able to devote more time to planning and carrying out their mission. “We already have a considerable number of agencies – some operated by the state and others privately run – that can help the homeless with housing, employment, training, education, and health care,” she added. “The system will help to find and plug the holes in the safety net for these clients.” The information system will also include data on other agencies that are not necessarily focused on aiding the homeless but do provide related services in the continuum of care model. The result, Lewis said, will be an on-line, easily updated resource directory that all agencies in the five parishes can access for referral purposes. Most of the funds will be used for computer purchases, software licensing for the agencies, training on how to use the system and ongoing support, Lewis explained. The ServicePoint software was developed by a Shreveport firm and is considered one of the best such systems available. Assisting Lewis in the project are field coordinator Erin Matheny, who is responsible for marketing and training; Laura Zammit of the Center for Faculty Excellence and Mike Hackett of computer services, who are serving as technical consultants on the planning and implementation of the system; and Nga Bui, a graduate student in business who is updating the resource directory and bringing it online. |
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