By-Name Lists
The information and resources here are intended to answer questions and support your community to develop and sustain a quality By-Name List on your journey to ending chronic homelessness.
Keep checking back here as we will be regularly updating materials and adding further resources.
A By-Name List is a real-time list of all 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).
For further background information about By-Name Lists:
- Read the By-Name List Q&A document for answers to the most commonly asked questions about By-Name Lists.
- Watch this short 4 minute CAEH video on By-Name Lists and Functional Zero Chronic Homelessness
- Read this CAEH blog on the Power of Real-Time Data
- See this short 3 minute OrgCode video that explains the difference between a By-Name List, Coordinated Access List and Prioritization List (and how they work together).
This two-page 10 Steps to Create and Use a By-Name List document provides you with simple steps and links to further resources to help you develop, use and sustain a quality By-Name List.
The By-Name List (BNL) Scorecard is a self-assessment tool that assists you to take a snapshot of your local progress towards a quality By-Name List and identify areas for improvement. For an overview, see the BNL Scorecard 2.0 launch webinar or PowerPoint PDF.
By-Name List Scorecard Guide
Start by reviewing the By-Name List Scorecard 2.0 Guide. The Guide explains what the BNL Scorecard is and walks you through each question (including a full explanation along with tips and resources).
Complete the By-Name List Scorecard
Record your answers in the By-Name List Scorecard 2.0 and receive your score for Basic and Advanced Quality. The Scorecards & Tools document includes the following six tabs:
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- Tab #1: Instructions
- Tab #2: About Your Community
- Tab #3: By-Name List Scorecard 2.0
- Tab #4: Coordinated Access Scorecard 2.0
- Tab #5: Provider Participation Tool
- Tab #6: Provider Participation Tool – Instructions and Results
- Remember, your score is for improvement, not judgement.
- Take the Scorecard with others in your community – here are some ideas for Scorecard Group Exercises. Use the notes section to explain your answer and identify your next steps. (Note: BFZ-C communities complete the Scorecard in the Change Package). The BNL Scorecard 2.0 is part of the Scorecards & Tools Google Worksheet (view only) that you can make a copy of to use for your community.
Scorecard Tools:
- BNL Scorecard Group Exercises – ideas you can use with your community when you review the BNL Scorecard together
- Coordinate Outreach Coverage – Key Considerations and Examples (for BNL Scorecard 2.0 Question #2)
- Inactivity Policy – Key Considerations and Examples (for BNL Scorecard 2.0 Question #4)
- Data Balancing Workbook (walks you through the six key BNL data points and provides a “sandbox” to test your data to ensure it is balanced)
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.
Built for zero canada resources:
- Privacy Legislation in Canada: A Primer for Homelessness Response Systems (Draft June 2019)
- 20,000 Homes Campaign guidelines for dealing with personal information
- 20,000 Homes Campaign data sharing agreement
- Sample client survey consent form
HIFIS 4 Guidance from ACRE:
- Data Sharing and Privacy in HIFIS 4 (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:
Dufferin County:
- Privacy and Confidentiality Considerations
- Client Consent Form
- HIFIS Confidentiality & User Agreement
- Data Sharing Agreement for Service Providers
Guelph-Wellington:
- Guelph-Wellington By-Name List Ethics Review
- Guelph-Wellington Coordinated Entry Guide
- Oath of Confidentiality (see Appendix B)
- HIFIS Data Sharing Agreement (see Appendix C)
- HIFIS Collection and Release of Information (see Appendix E)
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:
- Privacy and Consent Training Video
- HIFIS 4 Protocol: Privacy and Consent (for Service Providers)
- HIFIS 4 Consent Cheat Sheet
- Sample Housing Stability System Shared Consent Script
Windsor-Essex:
HIFIS is a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) that can be used to collect, hold, manage and report on your By-Name List. HIFIS is expecting to add increased By-Name List and Coordinated Access functionality by April 2020. This section is intended to serve as one-stop for all things HIFIS 4 related.
- HIFIS on the federal Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) website
- HIFIS Brochure
- HIFIS Overview Presentation (Jan 2019)
- Updates on HIFIS Use in Canada (Sept 2019)
- Updates on HIFIS Services and Supports (Sept 2019)
- HIFIS Client Support Centre – e-mail support@hifis.ca or phone 1-866-324-2375 (open Monday to Friday 7:00 am – 5:00 pm ET)
- HIFIS 4 Demo site – for a hands on look at what HIFIS can do
- Reaching Home Directives on HIFIS (see end of Section #4 – Coordinated Access) -requirements for Reaching Home Designated Communities
- Sign-up for Reaching Home Newsletters:
- Reaching Home Newsletter – for monthly information on Reaching Home, HIFIS, and other homelessness-related issues – subscribe at ESDC.ISSD.RHInfo-infoVCS.DGRSDS.EDSC@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
- HIFIS Newsletter – with more detailed HIFIS info (first one expected this winter) – subscribe at info@HIFIS.ca
- Homelessness Learning Hub – get access to all HIFIS information by using search function (top right) – current resources include:
- Webinars: Case Management | User Rights | Housing Placements
- Tutorials: Client Information Menu | Creating a Client Record | Logging In and Out of HIFIS
- Courses: How to Use HIFIS and Its Functionalities | Get Started on HIFIS Implementation|How to Install and Configure HIFIS (coming Oct 2019)
- Guides: Four new guides (Implementation, Installation, Configuration, and User Guide)
- Tips and Tricks: Tips and Tricks document
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ACRE Consulting – HIFIS 4 resources including a collection of nearly 60 reports available for free. ACRE also occasionally posts advice about best practices, new features, and tutorials. They also offer fee for service training, report development and other supports to implement HIFIS 4.
- Download some free reports ( https://www.acreconsulting.ca/product-category/reports/)
- Sign-up for ACRE Consulting’s mailing list ( https://www.acreconsulting.ca/contact/ ) to receive updates and new materials.
- A growing collection of HIFIS 4 Resources https://www.acreconsulting.ca/resources/including Privacy Impact Assessments, Data Sharing Agreements, Consent forms, User Agreements, and more
- Data Sharing and Privacy in HIFIS 4 (2018) – a 30-page document outlining what is shared and what isn’t.
- A HIFIS 4 FAQ section https://www.acreconsulting.ca/faq/hifis-4-faqs/
- Updates in HIFIS – see HIFIS 4 Release Notes
- Online training for you, and for your front-line staff https://www.acreconsulting.ca/e-learning/
- HIFIS Resource Drop-Box – for the last year and a half, the City of London has hosted a shared Dropbox, where 45 communities across Canada have been sharing HIFIS-related resources. Content includes reports for both HIFIS 3.8 and HIFIS 4.0; Data Sharing Agreements; policies, procedures and job aids; training materials; and service-level contracts. If you would like to gain free access to the shared dropbox, please email jrivard@london.ca.
By-Name List templates in Excel – examples you can download and customize for your community:
Its not just about having data through your BNL – 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.
- Built for Zero Canada Community Dashboards (monthly progress to functional zero chronic)
- Adelaide Zero Project (monthly – goal to end street homelessness by 2020)
- Chicago (real-time)
- Edmonton (real-time through Tableau)
- ECHO Austin, TX (monthly)
- Montreal (for goal to house 2,000 people by 2020)
- Toronto Daily Shelter Usage and Overnight Service Usage
- US Built for Zero
- Waterloo System (weekly) and Waterloo Public (“All In 2020”)
- Windsor Data Reliability Dashboard (as By-Name List spreadsheet is updated)
A By-Name List 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.