Behind every data point is a person and behind every insight, an opportunity to do better. By understanding the full picture of homelessness in our region, we can prevent housing crises, respond quickly and effectively to needs, and resolve homelessness with lasting solutions.
How do people first seek help to avoid or get out of homelessness, and how can we help them sooner? Data helps us understand patterns in who seeks help, where they come from, and what support they receive (or miss out on) by monitoring:
Data reveals where prevention is working and where people are falling through the cracks.
Once someone enters the system, data helps inform how well and how quickly we respond. Who’s getting referred? How fast are they being placed? Where are delays happening? We can help answer these questions through tracking:
Ending homelessness doesn’t stop with housing. We need to know what supports long-term stability and where people are returning to homelessness. Data, such as what intervention types result in the lowest return rates, helps us track outcomes over time, compare program models, and highlight what’s truly working.
We need to use data not just to house individuals, but to keep them housed.
Our data doesn’t just sit in a spreadsheet. Local governments, funders, and community coalitions use our insights to plan programs, set priorities, and measure progress.
A few examples of our data in action include:
Local government bodies use data to inform their work, including:
Data enables our community to access grants and maintain accountability by:
Data helps people understand the community’s homelessness response progress and impact by:
Sacramento Steps Forward is the team behind the numbers. Our role is to collect, clean, and analyze data across the Homelessness Response System (HRS), from shelter entries to housing placements; and share it with the community to drive better outcomes. We:
We bring together data from all our community’s providers participating in the Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS), including shelter, outreach, housing, and prevention. We also collect and analyze data from additional sources such as our Point-in-Time (PIT) Count data, local funding reports, and national and state databases.
We work with providers and system partners to make data more complete, timely, and accurate. This includes technical assistance, flagging data quality issues, and supporting provider staff in improving how information is entered, tracked, and used.
Data on its own is just numbers. We turn it into stories, trends, and insights measuring system performance, highlighting disparities, and identifying points for intervention. This can include, but is not limited to, public dashboards, performance reports, and deep-dive briefs.
This means respecting privacy, protecting individual information, and setting the standard for how data can be used responsibly to drive change.
If you are unable to find the information or resources you need, reach out via the form below. We will respond as quickly as possible. Thank you for your partnership!
