Broward County Commissioners have approved funding for technology that will connect homeless people with appropriate and necessary services to assist in getting the homeless off the streets and support them in their efforts to become productive, independent members of society.
At the request of Vice Mayor Barbara Sharief along with the commitment of Sheriff Scott Israel, Commissioners have approved $350,000 from the Broward Sheriff’s Office law enforcement trust funds to assist with the purchase of a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS.) HMIS is a web-based software application designed to connect services to homeless persons in the community.
“This is true collaboration between the Broward County Commission and the sheriff to do all that we can to bring an end to homelessness and increase public safety. The HMIS project will allow us to better assess the needs of the homeless and practice public outreach to greatly increase Broward’s ability to bring the homeless off the streets and into a safe environment where reintegration can begin. I commend Sheriff Israel for his leadership and collaboration.”
Agencies that are on the HMIS network will create a continuum of care that will assess the needs of the homeless with housing options and appropriate support services.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that each community designate a single information system as the official HMIS software. Accordingly, funding to support a HMIS system will leverage federal HUD funding for homeless services in the community.
In addition, homelessness is often correlated with crime and, therefore, efforts to end homelessness support law enforcement efforts to create a safer community. The approved $350,000 will fund the start-up and initial costs for the HMIS system in Broward County.
