How many homeless? Tracking system still not on the rails. (Shelter).

OTTAWA -- A federal government computerized system to track the homeless, whose genesis began more than seven years ago, "still isn't off the ground" says a recent story in the Ottawa Citizen.

The system, Homeless Individuals and Families Information System or HIFIS, which is currently the bailiwick of Human Resources Development Canada, has cost more than $1.3 million in consulting, planning, designing, programming, testing and re-testing.

Initially, the Canada Housing and Mortgage Company paid for periodic meetings and expert advice on research and development of the system by paying a few hundred thousand dollars. It then handed over the project to HRDC to develop, install, convert data systems and train users.

However, Version 1 of HIFIS had too many snags, despite Ontario's Region of Peel using it successfully, and a new, updated version, Version 2, has recently been undergoing testing.

Response to using the system is mixed among homeless shelters, but most everyone seems to agree that a national data collection on who uses homeless shelters and for what periods of time is necessary in order to develop policies and spending priorities.

Although some continue to debate whether the money would be better spent on housing the homeless, there was a recognition that most shelters were collecting data on a local level and that that data be brought together on a national scale.

"On the one hand, you want to use as much money as possible to help the homeless. On the other hand, you also want to do so effectively. Communities and provinces have all called upon us to take leadership around doing more research so that they can invest better," said Guido Weisz, an HRDC official.

Currently, no one knows how many homeless there are in Canada, except for a one-day snap shot during the 2001 federal government census, when about 14,000 people were housed in shelters.