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HIFIS Data Analysis Framework
Section B: Using HIFIS Data to Inform the Community
There are many creative ways to use HIFIS and to inform the community. This is a shared responsibility among key HIFIS users; the HIFIS CCs play a key role. This section illustrates creative tools specifically developed to inform stakeholders at the site, community, regional and national levels.
HIFIS reporting tools
Generic reports
In selecting which generic reports to develop, the national HIFIS team gives highest priority to those that are national in scope, those related to funding or billing, and those that are similar to reports requested multiple times by the HIFIS communities. The following national generic reports have been developed and will be available in the next release of HIFIS: Shelter Report, Returning Clients Report, Admission Report, Age Report and Treaty Status Report. Other generic reports based on requests from the HIFIS communities are under development. All generic reports are documented by the national HIFIS team to provide project description and data elements.
HIFIS Community Reports
Communities that have reached threshold are invited to work with the national HIFIS team on a data analysis primer. While the National Database Export is generally not intended to be used by the community because of its limited number of data fields, it will be used as a data analysis primer to build aggregate reports at the community level in order to introduce HIFIS CCs to data analysis methods, models and tools. The goal is to provide the HIFIS CCs with a structure to work from for future data analysis. The Yellowknife Community Report will serve as a step-by-step training tool to guide HIFIS CCs in producing their own HIFIS Community Report.
Reports limited to the 10 mandatory fields could also serve as a data analysis primer for communities new to collecting HIFIS data or in areas where a large number of shelters are using other systems and have agreed to share data with HIFIS. Because of the differences between systems, it is easier to ensure that all data is shared consistently by limiting the set of data to the 10 mandatory fields.
Customized reports
Because of the pressing need for reports on HIFIS data, the HIFIS Initiative assessed various reporting software tools available and chose Crystal Reports as the most commonly used software package for accessing data from a variety of data sources and for building ad-hoc reports. Crystal Reports is easy to use and existing expertise can provide a wide range of training and support options to build a community reporting capacity. This tool works well with Microsoft FoxPro and offers affordable licensing for non-profit organizations. A recently produced Crystal Reports toolkit provides HIFIS CCs with quick and easy explanations on how to use the Crystal Reports software with HIFIS data. A budget was set aside for HIFIS CCs to attend Crystal Reports training because the national team members cannot provide training on the actual use of this software or assist in the development of customized reports. HIFIS CCs may wish to develop service provider or shelter-level reports for use in the community. Generally, the customized community reports are not limited to the 10 mandatory fields because they have access to a more exhaustive number of fields agreed to by shelters and service providers in the data sharing protocols.
Because HIFIS CCs share coordinator-level reports among themselves and because service providers and shelters share tools and tips with one another, it is important for HIFIS CCs to let the Help Desk know of materials being shared so the HIFIS Initiative can also keep track. If the Help Desk receives calls or e-mails, they will be able to forward requests to the original developer of the report.
Other HIFIS training tools
Community report cards on homelessness
Producing annual report cards has proven to be an excellent way of showing how well some Canadian communities are doing at ending homelessness. Report cards increase public awareness of homelessness issues through media and help communities to take on the issues themselves. HIFIS supported the production of the Community Report Cards Model and Startup ToolKit Homelessness.5 It shows how leaders and decision makers with access to resources can act quickly and efficiently to have an impact on homelessness. The HIFIS CC can coordinate with local homelessness coalitions to provide them with precise data and data analysis expertise to prepare material for the media and for public awareness tools. The training tool deals with these key questions:
- What is the goal of the annual report card and what is its impact?
The training tool describes the importance of HIFIS data as a key element in building the credibility of the report card with the media. It shows the importance of data collected and analyzed by service providers to inform on the lives of families with children, youth, single men and single women affected by homelessness. It talks about the role of the report cards in influencing the media constructively, the cumulative effect of their annual release on public awareness and their ongoing impact on homelessness.
- Who creates annual report cards and who makes them succeed?
The training tool talks about the relationships behind the production of an annual community report card. It deals with the vital role of the coordinator of the coalition as the key to success. The tool demonstrates the complementary functions of two important working groups: a research and evaluation group, to deal with content and data; and a public affairs group, to work on the media campaign and message framing. Finally, the tool describes the tasks of the steering committee in overseeing indicators, in grading and in dealing with other strategically selected content.
- Who owns the report card?
The model demonstrates that it takes a coalition and broad agency participation to succeed. It shows that consultation with members and their evaluation of previous report cards can help flag the necessary changes in methodology. It talks about the role of media analysis in guiding subsequent content and framing. Finally, it illustrates how the revision of key messages can contribute to better public understanding and how an informed community has a greater impact on change.
Regional data coordination
Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) is implementing a project to assess the value of regional data coordination, based on an approach similar to the report card model used by the Ottawa Alliance to End Homelessness and on the data collection partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency. The NL project will focus on completing the tasks required for developing a Regional Data Coordination (RDC) agreement, including: consensus around a core data set, data definitions, and reporting requirements, as well as a review of a sample regional community data sharing protocol. The training tool will engage participants in a discussion on the key challenges in reaching an RDC agreement in data gathering, sharing and analysis. It will offer a step-by-step guide in the development of support strategies that introduce, adapt and apply uniform and consistent data coordination practices at the regional level. The tool will describe the process of involving all service providers in a systematic regional collaboration, formalized in a regional data coordination protocol.
The ongoing monitoring and assessment of the NL regional data coordination project, as well as the promising approaches and lessons learned from data coordination experiences in other communities across Canada, will enhance the training model. The national HIFIS team will develop an RDC model and training tools to address questions such as:
- What is the goal of RDC?
- What are the key elements in building an RDC approach to data collection?
- What is the recommended approach or model for RDC?
- Would the model respond to regional conditions? What would the issues be and which strategies could deal with them?
- How would RDC respond to new information (such as the 2006 Census) and what would it draw from this information?
- How could the approach be evaluated over time to test its effectiveness?
- Who would carry out RDC and how would that role be supported and resourced?
- Is there willingness on the part all HIFIS users to enter into a Regional Data Sharing Agreement?
HIFIS supports the Homelessness Partnering Strategy community planning process
The goal of the HIFIS Initiative is to assist communities by releasing information that accurately represents the individuals and families who access homeless services at the site, community and national levels. HIFIS software can be used by shelters and service providers to feed outcomes into HPS community plans and results indicators. For example, HIFIS data (such as length-of-stay statistics) can be used to analyze the progress of communities in moving homeless people to longer-term housing solutions.
HIFIS data will help the 61 designated communities report on characteristics of the HPS target populations. Efforts made by HIFIS CCs to broaden its coverage in communities and to increase the number of mandatory data fields will provide more accurate measures of the effectiveness of homelessness prevention and reduction interventions. In many communities, HIFIS is capable of providing standardized data in support of community monitoring procedures of HPS-identified generic outcomes annual reporting. Examples in the HIFIS Data Analysis Toolbox will show how the community report card contributed to the HPS planning process. The training tool will illustrate how the Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency assisted in providing the statistical information required by the Community Plan Assessment Phase II, Data Tools document. Both the report card and the Newfoundland and Labrador RDC projects are case studies in data coordination. They are examples of how HIFIS can assist in community compliance to HPS reporting requirements based on identified generic outcomes.
These training tools will assist the HIFIS CCs in developing new capacity for evidence-based analysis. They will encourage planning, research and data coordination agreements with community coalitions that deal with homelessness or with statistics agencies that provide standardized data collection and monitoring procedures in communities and regions across Canada. These examples show how HIFIS assists communities in completing their plan assessment process and annual reports. They also show how HIFIS facilitate comparisons to understand homelessness at the community, regional and national levels, based on consistent and accurate information
