Information Center Bulletin
Volume 1, No. 1 Winter 1996-97

PATH and ACCESS Programs Take to the Electronic Highways

Like many initiatives at the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) and Access to Community Care and Effective Services and Supports (ACCESS) are gearing up to use the "Infobahn." The Information Center's electronic bulletin board system (BBS) and World Wide Web site are fast becoming speedways for information exchange and knowledge dissemination for these programs within the Center's Homeless Programs Branch.

The PATH and ACCESS forums on the Information Center's BBS, for example, are becoming thoroughfares to find out about funding opportunities as they become available, to receive program announcements, and to share documents among State mental health authorities and an array of local service providers. "Since one focal point of the ACCESS program is to test systems integration approaches among social service and public agencies," says Frances Randolph, Dr.P.H., the program's director, "it's critical for our grantees to keep abreast of activities at other Federal agencies that are relevant to this knowledge development program. One use of the forum is to get information out quickly--such as changes to regulations issued by the Social Security Administration that have an impact on our population."

The forums also will give grantees opportunities to exchange ideas and advice around particular challenges, as well as to obtain new knowledge and information on specific issues. "The activity on the forums also will help us identify technical assistance needs and target resources to meet them," Randolph notes.

Greater use of the Web is in the works, too. "We're looking into the possibility that States will complete annual report forms online through the Web," says Michael Hutner, Ph.D., Director of the PATH program. New software is being developed to help States obtain data from service providers and send the data electronically to CMHS. "In the past, many weeks were spent cleaning up data States submit through their annual reports," Hutner explains. "We hope the automated forms and the Information Center Web site and BBS will enable us to cut that time in half."

The Information Center's homelessness forums on the BBS may play an increasingly important role in assisting State PATH contacts and about 400 local providers as they work together to deliver services. "I'm in constant communication with State PATH contacts, but the exchange of information among State PATH contacts is more limited," says Hutner. "Program-to-program and State-to-State sharing of successes and cautionary tales is crucial to progress in our field." At a recent meeting, State PATH contacts initiated an informal network to remedy that gap by using the Information Center BBS to discuss issues that affect services, such as managed care and best practices.

For more information, contact Frances Randolph, Dr.P.H. (ACCESS), or Michael Hutner, Ph.D. (PATH), at 301-443-3706.

Information Center Bulletin
Volume 1, No. 1