Collaboration by Mandate: How Shared Data Infrastructure Shapes Coordination and Control in U.S. Homelessness Services

TL;DR

This paper explores how mandated shared data systems in U.S. homelessness services facilitate coordination but also reinforce power imbalances, affecting decision-making and control among providers.

Contribution

It reveals how federally mandated data infrastructure influences collaboration and authority, highlighting the dual role of standardization in enabling and constraining stakeholders.

Findings

Shared data systems support coordination and learning.

Resource and capacity disparities limit equitable participation.

Data governance can reinforce power asymmetries.

Abstract

When governments mandate collaboration, shared data systems can serve both as tools for coordination and instruments of control. This study examines U.S. homelessness service networks, where Continuums of Care (CoCs) coordinate service providers through the federally mandated Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). With client consent, providers enter data into HMIS and access cross-provider service histories to support coordinated care. At the same time, HMIS embeds standards and governance rules that shape who can collect, access, interpret, and act on data, and thus who holds decision authority. Using qualitative interviews with six experts, we show that standardization can facilitate collaboration and shared learning. However, unequal resources, analytic capacity, and authority limit equitable participation and often shift some participants toward compliance-focused roles. We contribute to public-interest design research on civic data infrastructures by illustrating how mandated data sharing can simultaneously enable coordination and accountability while reproducing power asymmetries in data interpretation and decision-making.