TACIR recommends funding prevention, better HMIS data and re‑establishing an interagency council to address homelessness
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Summary
A TACIR draft recommends state appropriations to support homelessness prevention, paying HMIS end‑user licenses to improve data coverage, funding UT‑SWORPS to aggregate CoC data and dashboards, re‑establishing a state interagency homelessness council, and measures to streamline coordinated entry.
TACIR staff presented a draft report on Continuums of Care (CoCs) that serve people experiencing homelessness across Tennessee. The report finds opportunities to improve outcomes and responsiveness through more prevention funding, better data and stronger coordination.
Dr. Michael Strickland summarized six recommendations: (1) appropriate state funds for homelessness prevention (HUD CoC funds are generally prohibited from being used for prevention); (2) fund end‑user HMIS licenses for service providers who are not required to report to HMIS to reduce data gaps; (3) fund the University of Tennessee’s SWORPS to aggregate HMIS data from all 10 CoCs and produce statewide dashboards; (4) use those dashboards to publish accessible measures of need and service coverage; (5) re‑establish a statewide interagency council on homelessness (ICH) with CoC representation to coordinate state action; and (6) streamline online entry points and adopt common measures to assess how quickly people find and receive services via coordinated entry.
Staff argued prevention is usually more cost‑effective than emergency responses, that better data enables smarter resource allocation, and that improved coordination among state agencies and CoCs yields better outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.
Next steps: staff will incorporate commissioner feedback and return drafts for further review.