HMIS 101: Who Is Responsible For The Operation of HMIS

The Institute for Community Alliances (ICA) serves as the State of Alaska’s HMIS (AKHMIS) Lead Agency. ICA provides technical assistance and training support for service providers entering client-level data into AKHMIS. ICA’s Alaska-specific staff serve as Alaska’s System Administrators.

AKHMIS technical assistance and training support

System Configuration

ICA is responsible for setting up organizations, programs, and end users to collect and report on data as required by funders.

Training

ICA trains hundreds of end users each year through our online New End User Training process. Additional training is provided via video trainings and online or virtual one-on-one trainings.

User Support

Requests for assistance can be submitted any time through the AKHMIS Help Desk. You can also search for answers to frequently asked questions in our FAQ section.

Reporting and Evaluation

ICA supports required state and federal reporting, as well as custom reporting needs. ICA also provides tools to support program evaluation, produces statistics on homelessness in Alaska, and uses data to support research and advocacy efforts.

HMIS Vendor

WellSky (https://wellsky.com/) is Alaska’s HMIS Software Vendor. WellSky provides the Community Services platform and is responsible for developing and maintaining the user interface and reporting tools. WellSky is responsible for ensuring system security and availability, implementing federally required data elements and reports, and responding to software and reporting issues identified by ICA.

AKHMIS Advisory Board

The AKHMIS Advisory Board provides strategic direction and decision-making in support of AKHMIS. The Board is responsible for the following:

Appointing members and officers of the AKHMIS Advisory Board, consistent with established protocols.
Serving as a forum for broader stakeholder engagement, program coordination, policy, planning, and operation of AKHMIS program.
Serving as the primary conduit of two-way and consistent communication between the Continuums of Care and the HMIS Lead.
Reviewing AKHMIS operational policies procedures, and protocols and submit recommendations for approval.
Providing input and feedback on policies and procedures related to AKHMIS.
Ensuring system compliance with HUD (Housing & Urban Development) and legislative mandates.
Ensuring the AKHMIS scope aligns with the requirements of AKHMIS-Participating Organizations, HUD, and other stakeholder groups.
Addressing issues that have major implications for the AKHMIS, such as HUD HMIS Data Standards revisions or AKHMIS Vendor performance problems to provide recommendations to the AK CoCs’ Boards.
Providing strategic planning, policies, and priorities for the administration of the AKHMIS program.
Informing the CoCs on the areas of AKHMIS that would benefit from enhancement or improvement.
Providing feedback on system structure, training practices, and policies.
Resolving issues as they arise related to the AKHMIS program and participate in annual review of the performance of the designated HMIS Lead Agency.

Do you want to be involved in these activities? Learn more about the Board’s various Committees and contact the Committee chair to be added to their email lists.