HUD AAQ: HMIS Consent to Share

From: HUD AAQ

Date: Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 5:22 PM

Subject: Question Response for HMIS Question ID 58898 ­ HUD Exchange Ask A Question

Question Status: Answered

Question Related To: Homeless Management Information Systems

Question ID: 58898

Question Subject: HMIS / BHA

Question Text: State Of Maryland Behavioral Health Administration has contacted this CoC and our Mental Health Agencies informing them that they will face federal and state prosecution if they input client's disability type in the county's HMIS. Regardless of the release of information that we have in place that covers CRF 42 Part 2. We are looking for advice on how we remain in compliance with HUD 2014 HMIS Data Standards and not deal with the legal issues BHA has threatened us with. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Response: Thank you for your question. We apologize for the delay in responding. HUD and HHS staff and TA providers met with the state in September and discussed this issue. It appeared that there was some misunderstanding in how consent to share data was obtained; the state thought that CoCs were NOT getting consent to share. We cleared this up and they agreed that as long as a client consents to have their information shared, it is ok to share the data. Keep in mind that you do not need consent to collect or enter data (based on HUD rules). We are continuing to work with them to provide further guidance, but you should not change your data entry practices at this time.