By-Name Data

The information and resources here are intended to answer questions and support your community to develop and sustain quality By-Name Data on your journey to ending chronic and veteran homelessness.

Keep checking back here as we will be regularly updating materials and adding further resources.

What is By-Name Data?

By-Name Data is real-time data of all known people experiencing homelessness in your community. It includes a robust set of data points that support coordinated access and prioritization at a household level and an understanding of homeless inflow and outflow at a system level. This real-time actionable data supports triage to services, system performance evaluation and advocacy (for the policies and resources necessary to end homelessness).

By-Name Data is a subtle but important shift away from the term By-Name List – where a By-Name List was sometimes interpreted as stand-alone data. By-Name Data refers to the dynamic universe of person-specific homelessness data contained within your overall community-wide homelessness database or data system. Materials and information on this website will be updated over time to align with the term By-Name Data (BND). Communities are encouraged to continue to use whatever terms make the most sense within your local context.  

For further background information about By-Name Data:
10 Steps to Create and Use By-Name Data

Click on the box below to access the three-page 10 Steps to Create and Use By-Name Data that provides you with the overall steps and links to further resources to help you develop, maintain and use a quality By-Name List. The webinar series below will walk you through the further details of the “10 Steps” and the community of practice presentations provide examples of how communities have created and use By-Name Data.

10 STEPS TO CREATE AND USE BY-NAME data

Getting Started with By-Name Data – Webinar Series
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By-Name Data Scorecard 4.0 & Tools 

The By-Name Data Scorecard sets out an ambitious framework with 13 key elements for building the necessary data management and systems coordination practices to understand the movement of everyone experiencing homelessness in your community (those identified and consenting). The By-Name Data Scorecard is part of the Scorecards and Tools Workbook. The Scorecards and Tools Workbook version 4.0 was released November 2024. For an overview, see the Scorecards and Tools Workbook 4.0 Launch – Recording and PDF or review the By-Name Data Scorecard Guide below. 

By-Name Data Scorecard Guide

By-Name Data Scorecard Guide

Start by reviewing the By-Name Data Scorecard Guide. The Guide explains what the BND Scorecard is and walks you through each question (including a full explanation along with tips and resources).

Complete the By-Name Data Scorecard

Scorecards & Tools workbook 4.0

The By-Name Data (BND) Scorecard is part of the Scorecards & Tools Workbook (a Google Worksheet). This is a view only version – you can make a copy to use for your community. If your community is connected to Built for Zero, you can find your Scorecards and Tools Workbook in your Change Package. The first tab of the Workbook provides an overview of all the tools, including the BND Scorecard. Each question in the BND Scorecard has links to the appropriate supporting information in the By-Name Data Scorecard Guide. Record your answers in the BND Scorecard tab to receive your score for Foundations, Veteran, and  Sustain and Continuous Improvement. Use the notes section to explain your answer and identify your next steps. Remember, your score is for improvement, not judgement! 

Scorecard Tools:

  • BND Scorecard Group Exercises – ideas you can use with your community when you review the BND Scorecard together
  • By-Name Data Reliability Tool – this interactive tool allows communities to enter By-Name Data and determine if it is balanced and reliable. It also provides definitions, samples and calculations for each of the BND key aggregate data points.
Privacy, Consent and Data Sharing

When we collect sensitive and personal information we have an obligation to protect the privacy, safety and dignity of the individuals whose information is collected.

canadian alliance to end homelessness resources:
HIFIS 4 Guidance:
  • Control and Protect Client Information (INFC, 2023) – an 8 page guide for HIFIS leads that provides a list of the HIFIS functions and settings that can be leveraged to control and protect the information entered into the system. It also provides details on who can manage the function or setting, how it can be turned on and off and its impact when activated. 
  • HIFIS Implementation Guide V.1 (ESCD, 2019) – see pages 21-23 for privacy and legal compliance information
  • Data Sharing and Privacy in HIFIS 4 (ACRE Consulting, 2018) – a 30-page document outlining what is shared and what isn’t. The introduction is a must read in order to support understanding of the full document.
Sample Consent and Data Sharing Agreements, Forms, & Materials from Communities:

 

Multiple Sample Documents on ACRE Website:

Brantford:

Dufferin County:

Guelph-Wellington:

Kawartha-Haliburton:

  • Coordinated Entry System Process Guide:
    • Multi-Agency Consent Form (see Appendix C)
    • By-Name List Identity Protection Process (see Appendix D)
    • By-Name List Addition and Consent Form (see Appendix H)

St. John’s:

Waterloo Region:

Windsor-Essex:

Homeless Individual and Family Information System (HIFIS)

HIFIS is a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) that can be used to collect, hold, manage and report on your By-Name Data. This section is intended to serve as a one-stop for all things HIFIS related.

  • By-Name Data and Coordinated Access in HIFIS
    • HIFIS added increased By-Name Data and Coordinated Access functionality with the December 2020 release of HIFIS version 59 and the October 2023 release of version 60.
    • INFC’s Coordinated Access in HIFIS Guide (May 2024) – explains CA and then offers suggestions for HIFIS system configuration and using the customizable features in HIFIS.
    • Here is ACRE Consulting’s Guide to BNLs in HIFIS (May 2023, 20 pages) – this document is intended for local service provision coordinators who want to know exactly how BND relates to their HIFIS system. 
    • Here is the CAEH HIFIS Monthly Inflow/Outflow Report that can support you to pull your aggregate BND. Includes a Guide explaining how it works and a sample output report.
    • Here is an ACRE webinar (April 2023) reviewing the similarities and differences in the HIFIS Reports for the Reaching Home Community Homelessness Report (CHR) 2022/2023, the CAEH Monthly Inflow/Outflow Report, and Ontario Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP).
Sample By-Name Data Excel Workbook
CAEH BNL Excel Workbook

See CAEH BNL Excel Workbook and CAEH BNL Excel Workbook Guide. 

For Ontario Only – See the CAEH BNL Excel Workbook – ON HPP edition. See also short instructions for Changing Year in the ON HPP BNL Excel Workbook to help you close 2023/2024 and start 2024/2025.

The CAEH By-Name List Excel Workbook is a customizable interim approach for storing and using BNL data to end homelessness. It can be used until communities are able to fully implement a more sophisticated real-time Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) like HIFIS 4 (the Homelessness Individual and Family Information System). The workbook is intended to be customized by communities for their unique needs. As is, the workbook meets the basic quality requirements for both the CAEH chronic and veteran BNL Scorecards. It is also designed to collect monthly inflow and outflow data.

To learn how to use this workbook, please consult the CAEH By-Name List Excel Workbook Guide. For further information and instructions, please refer to our By-Name List Excel Workbook Series and tips and tricks below.

Using excel – Tips
  • Excel skills are considered essential for managing BNLs in Excel and generally for further analysis of data, regardless of what database you use to hold your BNL
  • While BFZ-C does not provide Excel training, we have pulled together some recommendations for familiarizing yourself with Excel:
    • Learn what makes sense – Excel has so many functions that it’s impossible to learn them all. Fun fact: there are over 450 functions! Don’t focus on learning everything about Excel, or complex formulas, but learn what you need from Excel.
    • Learn by doing – After orienting yourself to some of the basics of Excel, just get started. Most people learn it best by playing around in Excel.
    • Use it frequently – The more often you use it and devote time to it, the better you will be at remembering functions and learning new things. Use it for everything and anything that makes sense so that your regular work tasks became Excel learning opportunities.
  • Excel training options you can consider
Sample Data Dashboards

Its not just about having By-Name Data – its about how you display it for further analysis to help make data-driven decisions in your community. Below are sample data dashboards from a number of communities.

Canada
  • Built for Zero Canada Community Dashboards – tracks monthly progress toward functional zero for chronic and veteran homelessness
  • Edmonton Howard Trust – real-time updates through Tableau on emergency shelter usage, By-Name List chronic data, and overall housing and homelessness data by gender, Indigenous identity, location, and age
  • Hamilton Affordable Housing & Homelessness Dashboard – this dashboard provides annualized affordable housing data and monthly homelessness data. The dashboard uses ArcGIS and is updated on a quarterly basis
  • Lambton County – Individual Current on a By-Name List – released in 2024 through Power BI.
  • New Brunswick – includes dashboards for Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John (monthly HIFIS data through Human Development Council using Power BI). See also Emergency Shelter Dashboard (nightly provincial data through Social Supports NB)
  • Niagara Region – monthly total chronic homelessness – part of their larger community dashboard project.
  • Nipissing District – monthly chronic inflow/outflow in Tableau – part of social services data portal released in fall 2024.
  • Prince Edward Island – John Howard Society Coordinated Access portal includes dashboard using mix of HIFIS (updated every two weeks) and PiT Count data.
  • Peterborough Report Card – sample of past monthly snapshots (2021 & 2022) showing inflow and outflow changes  
  • Simcoe County – two Power BI dashboards with data from Jan 2023. The Shelter Utilization dashboard provides shelter data for nightly occupancy and capacity. The Shelter System Flow dashboard provides data about the number of people experiencing homelessness in Simcoe County and tracks who is entering and leaving the shelter system each month. 
  • Toronto Shelter System Flow Data Dashboard – a Tableau dashboard showing monthly inflow, outflow and total active homeless data from the City of Toronto shelter system
  • Toronto Daily Shelter Usage and Overnight Service Usage – daily reporting includes occupancy, vacancy, and capacity data based on a snapshot at 4:00 AM
Australia
United States
  • National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH, USA) – State of Homelessness: State and Continuums of Care dashboards – up to 10 years of data visualized through Tableau
  • Charlotte-Mecklenburg – This data snapshot provides information on progress in the work to end and prevent homelessness. Three sections are included that illustrate housing needs and successes. In addition to data, each section provides an overview and detailed explanations to describe what the numbers mean and why it matters. 
  • Chicago – HMIS data that is updated weekly and includes active client list data, coordinated entry client list data, and timeframe to housing data
  • King County Regional Homelessness Authority – using a combination of HMIS and PiT data, a number of dashboards that explore households served (updated monthly), system performance (updated quarterly/annually), overall inflow and outflow data (updated annually), and data examining system equity
  • Los Angeles County Homelessness Initiative – Using Tableau, this interactive tool provides a snapshot of how many people have been helped, and how, by Los Angeles County’s homeless services system, starting in July 2017. The dashboard tracks progress across the system over time, and also for specific populations.
  • South Central Indiana – using Tableau, a US BFZ Performance Management Tracker light displaying basic By-Name Data.
  • St. Louis (Continuum of Care) – includes housing inventory data, PiT data, local performance dashboard, and Coordinated Entry dashboard
Coordinated Access – How It Connects

By-Name Data is the crown jewel of a strong Coordinated Access system (CA). A CA is a way for communities to design, streamline and bring consistency to the process by which people experiencing homelessness access housing and services. A strong CA uses a housing first approach along with a standardized and coordinated process for access, assessment, prioritization and referral for housing and other services across all the agencies and organizations in a local area.

This short 3 minute OrgCode video explains the difference between a By-Name List, Coordinated Access List and Prioritization List (and how they work together).

Further information and resources to support your work in developing and improving coordinated access and prioritization processes can be found on the Coordinated Access page of this website.

Leveraging By-Name Data to End Homelessness
Webinars and Videos
  • How to Use By-Name Data – Part 1 – Person-Level – Recording (25 min) and Presentation
  • How to Use By-Name Data – Part 2 – System-Level – Recording (21 min) and Presentation
  • How Communities are Using By-Name Data To End Homelessness (CAEH webinar, 2021) – Recording and PDF
  • Using and Sharing Data to Improve Outcomes For Homeless Veterans (US) (10 min) – Video
Community Reports and Presentations

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