Redesigning the Runaway and Homeless Youth-Homeless Management Information System
Highlights
- FYSB needs to collect data from RHY grantees to monitor outcomes on homeless youth.
- Abt will develop a new system to collect and report data using flexible system development.
- The data collection system will be launched at the end of September 2020.
The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) is required by Congress to develop and deploy a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for its Runaway & Homeless Youth Program (RHY). The agency wants to ensure it collects high data quality—and provides statistical analyses—from FYSB’s more than 600 grantees. Abt Global is contracted to build and maintain a new, custom-built RHY-HMIS.
Abt worked closely with FYSB to develop the RHY-HMIS, which consists of two main components:
- A data intake and consolidation system to support data submission by FYSB-funded grantees, and
- The RHY-HMIS Dashboard, provides access to the data collected by RHY-funded grantees and federal staff.
RHY-HMIS was built on Amazon’s AWS Lambda serverless platform paired with the JavaScript framework, node.js. This serverless system allows the application’s code to be fully distributed, which results in faster data upload and subsequent analysis and feedback.
The improved RHY-HMIS data collection system will provide FYSB with information necessary for decision making to enhance outcomes at the program level and nationally by:
- Improving data quality and integrity,
- Allowing for seamless integration between RHY-HMIS and the Dashboard,
- Enhancing the grantee user experience,
- Facilitating ongoing trainings and technical assistance.
Abt will recommend feature enhancements to the RHY-HMIS itself that allow for improved performance measurement, reporting, and analysis.