Presented at: Texas Conference on Ending Homelessness, Austin, TX
Presented on: 09/28/2023
The 2023 THN Data Presentation, delivered at the Texas Conference on Ending Homelessness, explores how technology and agile methodologies can unlock hidden potential within Continuums of Care (CoCs). The presentation focuses on improving service delivery by rethinking problem statements and leveraging data standards to better track homelessness trends. One highlighted case study involves intake phone lines, where up to one-third of calls were found to be inappropriate for the services offered. The team developed a more efficient call triage and assessment system using decision trees and call data analysis to better route inquiries and reduce staff burden, ultimately enhancing access to care and resource prioritization.
The presentation further details innovations in housing pipeline management and feedback loop design. Through process mapping and stakeholder collaboration, particularly with organizations like Connective, the team introduced a more automated, data-driven approach that minimized manual processing and allowed for greater scalability. These improvements led to a dramatic reduction in bureaucratic steps and wait times for housing, citing an example where wait time for homeless veterans dropped from 720 days to just 32. The overarching goal was to empower local systems to respond more nimbly and equitably to homelessness by integrating user-centered design, rapid prototyping, and real-time data feedback mechanisms.
