Adams County & Aurora Achieve Quality Data for Veterans

Adams County and the City of Aurora have achieved Quality Data for veterans, a necessary milestone for reaching a functional end to Veteran homelessness (and eventually all homelessness). Quality Data means we can account for every veteran experiencing homelessness by name, in real time. This Quality By-Name List (BNL) helps us understand the scope of veteran homelessness in each subregion, describes the inflow and outflow on an ongoing basis, gives us accurate information to reduce homelessness, and helps us measure our progress toward ending it. Community Solutions certified the data over a 3-month reporting period, assuring that Adams and Aurora maintained 100% data reliability through the end of last month.

Lindsey Earl, CSWB Administrator for Adams County, shared her thoughts on the key benefits of quality data for veterans. “Quality data gives us a level of certainty that we are providing care for all veterans experiencing homelessness in our community. It helps us connect to veterans who have lost housing to quickly reduce and resolve the trauma they are experiencing.” Earl added, “Under the guidance of MDHI and Community Solutions, we continuously research best practices and review our data sets to know they we are implementing evidence-based interventions for veterans experiencing homelessness.” She also mentioned key steps to achieving quality data included “extending an HMIS data-sharing agreement to our municipalities and nonprofit providers and increasing case conferencing participation.”

Margay Witzdam, Improvement Advisor with MDHI, was critical to their success. She added, “Since the beginning of the Built for Zero (BFZ) Veteran initiative in Metro Denver, Adams County and the City of Aurora have consistently showcased their ability to modify a methodology to their own communities' needs for success. Reaching Quality Data for Veterans in both sub-regions shows the importance of forming dedicated improvement teams and ongoing cross-collaboration.”

Boulder County was the first to achieve Quality Data last August. The addition of Adams and Aurora means 3 out of 9 subregions in metro Denver have achieved this milestone and know all veterans and singles experiencing homelessness by name, in real-time.

Aurora’s Certification of Quality Data from BFZ

Members of Aurora Team with Quality Data Cup

Lindsey Earl from Adams County Government

Members of Adams County Team with Quality Data Cup