Leveraging technology to transform homeless services

In 2018, Cisco and Vacation spot: Dwelling launched into a partnership to sort out homelessness in Santa Clara County. Whereas our main focus was on the event of supportive housing and homelessness prevention, we additionally noticed a chance to leverage know-how to enhance lives. Whereas not a panacea, know-how can play a vital function in serving to people experiencing homelessness entry very important sources, and might improve the effectivity and repair supply of the organizations serving them.

Assessing know-how wants in Santa Clara County’s supportive housing system

We started with a know-how wants evaluation of Santa Clara County’s supportive housing system, which aimed to establish alternatives to leverage knowledge and know-how to strengthen the system of care. The findings have been insightful: each homeless service suppliers and folks receiving companies expressed a necessity for higher communication between workers and purchasers, in addition to the necessity for programs that enable people to entry companies and handle their very own data.

Primarily based on these insights, the evaluation really useful the event of a client-facing portal. The envisioned device would offer safe entry for e-signatures, appointment scheduling, doc administration, and direct communication between purchasers and suppliers. This laid the muse for what would finally turn into MyConnectSV.

Constructing MyConnectSV: A collaborative effort

Constructing MyConnectSV was not fast. Vacation spot: Dwelling adopted a considerate and inclusive course of to make sure it was achieved proper. Techniques-level adjustments, equivalent to updating insurance policies round digital releases of data on the County degree, have been vital earlier than implementation might start.

All through the design, growth and testing course of, the Vacation spot: Dwelling workforce constantly engaged service suppliers and folks with lived expertise of homelessness to assist create an answer that would really meet their wants.

The outcome? A safe, user-friendly platform designed to empower people and streamline service supply.

Key options of MyConnectSV embody the flexibility to:

• Replace contact data in actual time
• Observe upcoming appointments
• Add and entry private paperwork
• Entry vital sources, equivalent to meals and medical care data
• Signal and add key paperwork electronically
• Talk instantly with case managers
• Observe their place within the housing queue
• Share their location with case managers by way of a “drop pin” function

These functionalities save weeks of time, stop missed alternatives, and expedite the journey to secure housing. For people experiencing homelessness, this implies staying linked to important sources and help programs. For service organizations, it means improved outreach and effectivity in delivering care.

The workforce continues to enhance the device by actively listening to customers and incorporating their suggestions into ongoing growth—guaranteeing that MyConnectSV evolves to fulfill the wants of these most impacted.

The broader impression of know-how in homeless companies

The advantages of know-how like MyConnectSV prolong past time financial savings. It democratizes entry to data, making vital sources obtainable to all, and is each replicable and scalable. In partnering with Readability by Bitfocusa platform at the moment utilized by over 75 communities throughout the nation, we ensured that this client-facing module might be simply adopted by Bitfocus customers throughout the USA.

What started as an area initiative in Santa Clara County is now a replicable, impactful answer with the potential to make a distinction nationwide. And whereas there’s nonetheless a lot work to be achieved, this can be a reminder of how know-how, when designed with empathy and goal, can actually enhance lives.

To be taught extra, try Vacation spot: Dwelling’s newest e-newsletter, Breaking Down Boundaries to Housing.

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