“ServivcePoint is such as great tool that many of our agencies don’t just use it for HUD reporting; they also use it for their other homeless programs!”
- Andy Halfhill, Lead HMIS Administrator for Little Rock Community Mental Health Center (LRCMHC)

The lead HMIS agency in Arkansas shut down abruptly last year. The Bowman Systems® team wanted the transition process to a new agency to go as smoothly as possible so they assisted the new administrator in getting up to speed in a hurry.

When Andy Halfhill, Lead HMIS Administrator for Little Rock Community Mental Health Center (LRCMHC) (www.lrcmhc.org), took on the task of statewide HMIS system administration in Arkansas, there was little paper trail to follow.  The organization that had been managing the system since 2002 shut down abruptly last March, and the LRCMHC was not able to recover system process documentation.

Adding to the challenge, initially, there was no single individual on staff at LRCMHC directly charged with managing the system during a several month transition period.  Halfhill said that Bowman Systems team members took the initiative to place System-Wide News notes on the main menu page of ServicePoint providing contact information so the more than 70 agencies around the state using ServicePoint for client management and reporting would know whom to call with questions during the transition.  Bowman Systems also worked closely with Central Arkansas Team Care for the Homeless (CATCH), which holds the HMIS grant for the state of Arkansas.

When Halfhill came on board four months ago, he said he was able to work with Bowman Systems to go into the system to see what the previous administrator had done.  “Everyone has a unique log in, so we were able to track the work of the person that previously served in my role and develop some history,” responded Halfhill.  “I was also amazed that within one day of my coming on board, Josh Johnson (VP, Customer Relations) from Bowman was on the phone conducting an on-line training to get me started.” This was a critical time for the organization because the annual NOFA (Notice of Funding Availability) submission was due just weeks after Halfhill was retained.

The next step in the transition process was three days of comprehensive training.  “Levin Corbin (Bowman System’s Training and Implementation Specialist) did a great job,” said Halfhill.  “Since I didn’t come to the position with a housing specific background, it was particularly helpful that the Bowman Systems staff had the most up-to-date information about how HUD works and HPRP details.  Taking into account that I was new to housing, Ms. Corbin adjusted the training to the fact that I would be learning not just ServicePoint, but also the overall industry and how our particular system was using it.  She also identified issues that we needed to look at that were specific to our system instead of adopting a generic training approach.”

The personalized training did not stop there.  Halfhill reported that Ms. Corbin also helped him and a co-worker best determine how to set up training for other users in his system.  “We have the largest number of HUD grants of any agency,” noted Halfhill.  “My goal is for our system to become more efficient by having our agencies use ServicePoint features such as ART more fully.  It is a great program management tool, and our new administrator is excited about using it to its full capacity.”

Bowman Systems also helped Halfhill prepare the AHAR report that goes to congress every December.  “They didn’t just point to a report,” said Halfhill.  “They walked us through completing this report the first time to build our confidence in using the system.”

Halfhill describes ServicePoint as a highly user-friendly system that is easy to navigate, even if you are not computer savvy.  “It’s such a great tool that many of our agencies don’t just use it for HUD reporting, they also use it for their other homeless programs,” stated Halfhill.  “We also had an agency that was seeking to determine how they ranked in terms of total number of clients served compared with the other agencies in our state, and we were able to help them by using the ServicePoint reporting tools.”

Overall, Halfhill said he has found Bowman Systems to be a responsive partner in grant administration and the required reporting throughout the transition and beyond.  “Bowman really stays on top of HUD changes and is good about communicating those updates regularly via email and other tools,” reported Halfhill.  “I also like the fact that it’s the most widely used system of its kind across the country, so if I need to get peer help with a ServicePoint related task such as seeing how another statewide administrator is setting up assessments, it’s readily available.”

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