How to share data: A practical guide for health and homeless systems of care

This practical guide is intended to serve as a tool for communities at any stage of engagement in cross-sector data sharing between health and homeless systems of care. It is designed to help communities ready to start such efforts for the first time, as well as those that have room to grow their data sharing efforts. It is not intended to be a set of step-by-step instructions but rather focuses on providing practical tips for some of the more challenging components of robust crosssector data sharing.

The guide is a follow-up to the report Breaking Down Silos: How to Share Data to Improve the Health of People Experiencing Homelessness, published in July 2021, which provides deeper background regarding the context and challenges of data sharing and lays out efforts underway to collaborate in many California communities.

The authors hope organizations and agencies across the state will use the guide to start or enhance their data sharing efforts. With focus and planning, cross-sector data sharing can facilitate more robust and effective responses to ensure that people with complex care needs can become stably housed and remain healthy. There is no templated approach to cross-sector data sharing that will work for all communities. Each community has unique partnerships, infrastructure, policies, and procedures that need to be considered when developing data sharing efforts. However, lessons learned from communities that have already implemented data sharing can guide others’ efforts.