The Jacksonville BNL list tracks inflow data on a weekly basis

Check out this bright spot if…

• You need a better method of tracking inflow data
• You want to try it!

Summary

On a weekly basis, the Jacksonville Veteran outreach teams (VA Outreach and SSVF outreach) send an excel document that is formatted to directly import into Microsoft Access (which holds the BNL) that contains information on each of the newly identified Veterans.

The Jacksonville team originally tried to build out the capability to easily track inflow within HMIS when they realized two things: 1) HMIS was not particularly easy to adjust and 2) their SSVF outreach teams were not inputting into HMIS timely.

They chose to work in Access (as opposed to Excel) because they had a team member who was able to build out the system they wanted using that software.  They they went through and created a form for each of the outreach teams that corresponded to the fields that they were capturing to make the capturing and sharing process as simple as possible.

Key Action: DIstributing roles

Access (or some other database software) is helpful. It is easier to have a specific person responsible for “managing” the database and input process.

Key Action: Adapting to other contexts

For people just starting to build out their lists, just take the list of people you have AT THIS MINUTE.  Put it into a prioritized order and begin to follow up on those contacts. A lot of HMIS systems will allow you to do an .xls export, so you don’t really even have to start from scratch.  Don’t worry about the technicalities! Get started and then you can figure out the minutiae as you go!  You can’t get to step 2 if you don’t do step 1!

Fail forward moments

Still working on how to ensure that GPD providers send new individuals as soon as possible.  Currently, many individuals new to GPD have been added to the list by some form of outreach rather than directly from the provider.

For more information

Contact Lauren D’Amico (ldamico@community.solutions)