On Dec 9^th 2011, HUD released a “proposed rule” for Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) requirements. In general, this proposed rule seeks to solidify the role of the Lead Agency within a Continuum of Care (CoC), outline the regulations surrounding how an HMIS is administered and formalize data management policies between the Covered Homeless Organizations (CHO) and the Lead Agency within a Continuum. Many of you are already practicing these policies within your own CoCs but these regulations will officially formalize these policies and procedures.

• Go to www.regulations.gov
• Under “Select Document Type” choose “Proposed Rule”
• Under the “Enter Keyword or ID” field type in “HMIS Requirements Proposed Rule” and click on the “Submit” button
• Once you have received the search results, scroll down the page to “FR-5475-P-01 Homeless Management Information Systems” and click on “Submit a Comment” at the far right of this row
• Follow the instructions to submit your comment

Join us for the Fall 2011 National Human Services Data Consortium (NHSDC) Conference and Institute in Washington DC October, 12-14th. Session topics such as overcoming local reporting and policy analysis challenges as well a HUD-led discussion on the future of performance measurement, system change, and techniques for better collaboration. We would love to see those of you who will be attending the conference or who are in the DC area. To facilitate meeting with each of you, we are in the process of planning some activities to help us get your feedback on Clienttrack and also show our sincere appreciation for what you do everyday. Let us know if you will be attending by sending an email to your Account Advocate so we can plan accordingly and make sure you are included in our invitations. Look forward to seeing you there!

 We will be attending the NTEN Conference and we are looking forward to meeting all of you who are attending the NTEN Conference in San Francisco next year! We have submitted a proposal to present at the conference. The proposal is entitled “Technology Change Management – How do organizations ensure their technology solutions live up to their vision” and focuses on some of the organizational challenges and solutions to ensure success. We are very excited because over the years we have seen what works and doesn’t work when implementing Clienttrack in our own customer’s organizations and realized that these "best practices" are applicable to any technology implementation and adoption initiatives. Part of the criteria for being selected to present is based on popular vote. We encourage you to go to http://www.nten.org/ntc-session/11843 and vote for our proposal.  Even if you aren’t attending, this presentation will be the basis for future work so please go and vote. For those of you who are attending, we look forward to seeing you there!

 We express our sympathies to the people of Japan and those who have been impacted by the recent events there. In the midst of tragedy, we hope they can find the peace, strength, and perseverance required to move forward and build anew. The recent earthquake and tsunami is a reminder of how quickly life can change, and a sobering call to appreciate the miracle of ordinary days.