In 2018, Cisco and Vacation spot: Residence launched into a partnership to deal with homelessness in Santa Clara County. Whereas our main focus was on the event of supportive housing and homelessness prevention, we additionally noticed a possibility to leverage know-how to enhance lives. Whereas not a panacea, know-how can play a important position in serving to people experiencing homelessness entry very important assets, and may improve the effectivity and repair supply of the organizations serving them.
Assessing know-how wants in Santa Clara County’s supportive housing system
We started with a know-how wants evaluation of Santa Clara County’s supportive housing system, which aimed to determine alternatives to leverage information and know-how to strengthen the system of care. The findings had been insightful: each homeless service suppliers and other people receiving providers expressed a necessity for higher communication between employees and purchasers, in addition to the necessity for methods that permit people to entry providers and handle their very own info.
Primarily based on these insights, the evaluation really helpful the event of a client-facing portal. The envisioned software would offer safe entry for e-signatures, appointment scheduling, doc administration, and direct communication between purchasers and suppliers. This laid the inspiration for what would ultimately grow to be MyConnectSV.
Constructing MyConnectSV: A collaborative effort
Constructing MyConnectSV was not fast. Vacation spot: Residence adopted a considerate and inclusive course of to make sure it was achieved proper. Methods-level adjustments, equivalent to updating insurance policies round digital releases of knowledge on the County degree, had been vital earlier than implementation might start.
All through the design, growth and testing course of, the Vacation spot: Residence group constantly engaged service suppliers and other people with lived expertise of homelessness to assist create an answer that would actually meet their wants.
The end result? A safe, user-friendly platform designed to empower people and streamline service supply.
Key options of MyConnectSV embrace the flexibility to:
- Replace contact info in actual time
- Monitor upcoming appointments
- Add and entry private paperwork
- Entry important assets, equivalent to meals and medical care info
- Signal and add key paperwork electronically
- Talk straight with case managers
- Monitor their place within the housing queue
- Share their location with case managers by way of a “drop pin” characteristic
These functionalities save weeks of time, stop missed alternatives, and expedite the journey to steady housing. For people experiencing homelessness, this implies staying linked to important assets and assist methods. For service organizations, it means improved outreach and effectivity in delivering care.
The group continues to enhance the software by actively listening to customers and incorporating their suggestions into ongoing growth—making certain that MyConnectSV evolves to satisfy the wants of these most impacted.
The broader impression of know-how in homeless providers
The advantages of know-how like MyConnectSV prolong past time financial savings. It democratizes entry to info, making important assets accessible to all, and is each replicable and scalable. In partnering with Readability by Bitfocus, a platform presently utilized by over 75 communities throughout the nation, we ensured that this client-facing module may very well be simply adopted by Bitfocus customers throughout the US.
What started as an area initiative in Santa Clara County is now a replicable, impactful answer with the potential to make a distinction nationwide. And whereas there’s nonetheless a lot work to be achieved, this can be a reminder of how know-how, when designed with empathy and goal, can actually enhance lives.
To be taught extra, take a look at Vacation spot: Residence’s newest publication, Breaking Down Limitations to Housing.
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