This page provides resources and guidance around By-Name List Scorecard questions 11a-11b:
11a) Does your community have policies and protocols in place for keeping your by-name list up to date and accurate, including timelines for data submission from providers and ongoing quality assurance protocol?
11b) Do you implement policies and procedures to ensure that data collection takes place in a complete and consistent way across all access points to your system?
Identify which of the four policies & procedures listed in the BNL Policies & Procedures Worksheet your community already has, and which of those are already current and effective.
BNL Policies & Procedures Worksheet
The following four policies and procedures are required by communities in order to say “yes” to Scorecard Question 11a:
1.Inactivity: A written policy that specifies the number of days of inactivity (i.e. the person cannot be located) after which a person’s status will be changed to “inactive,” which includes protocols to attempt to locate an individual before they are moved to inactive status
Community sample: Inactivity Policy
2. Counting Non-assessed Households: For individuals who have not consented to services and/or assessment at this time (won't share personal information or sign any ROI/consents), determine what process can be followed to record at least basic, non-identifying information about them/their case so they can be counted accurately on BNL
Community Sample: Policy for Tracking Households W/O Full Assessment
3. Data Quality Assurance: Outline how you (will) continuously ensure that your by-name list is accurate and current, including timelines for provider data submission and ongoing quality assurance protocol
Community Samples: Policies for Managing Data Quality
4. Outreach Standards: Document procedures and standards for outreach coverage & coordination
Spokane InReach Policies & Procedures
Spokane InReach Program Manual
Questions to Consider:
Why, what, who, when Activity: An activity to help communities design and improve policies and procedures
WHY do we need an [inactivity, non-consenting households, data quality assurance, outreach standards] policy?
How does our data inform these policies? What are we seeing in our data that we need to account for in these policies?
What are our current HMIS protocols regarding inactivity and data quality? As a whole system and at the individual agency level.
WHAT are we trying to accomplish?
Consider how the policy affects the community and current way of operations. Is there transformation work that needs to happen?
What are your steps to accomplish this first draft?
WHO does the policy impact?
What service users will be impacted? What population(s)?
What providers (orgs & individuals) will be impacted?
How might the policy impact orgs and individuals differently?
Does our policy/procedures design effort include perspectives from those most impacted (front-line staff, management, people with current/recent lived experience, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, etc.)?
WHO will be involved in the design/approval/enactment processes?
Who holds the red ball for drafting policies?
Who is responsible for approving policies?
Who needs to be trained on new policies?
Who will be in charge of implementing the policies? Ie. doing training and follow up.
WHEN should the policy be drafted/approved/enacted?
When will the policy be drafted?
When can we aim to have this proposed policy approved?
What is our goal month for beginning to implement/enact the new (or revised) policy?
Actions to consider
Meet with agency leads to determine and ensure alignment of inactivity processes for each agency. All agencies should match at a system level eg. 30 days system wide.
Create a work group to focus on building the policies and procedures. Ensure there is a young person in this work group