MSHDW HMIS PRIVACY NOTICE

Last Updated: June 11, 2025

The information you provide to this agency will be aggregated into the Maryland Statewide
Homeless Services Data Warehouse (MSHDW) administered by the Maryland Department of
Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and the University of Maryland School of Social
Work (UMSSW). Your data will first be entered into this agency’s Homeless Management
Information System per the applicable CoC’s HMIS Privacy Policy and shared with the MSHDW.
The MSHDW is a statewide database compiling data from all Maryland CoC HMIS
implementations. Your personal information in the MSHDW is only accessible to designated
staff at the Department of Housing and Community Development and by partners with an
approved Data Use Agreement outlining their responsibilities for managing data privacy,
security, and confidentiality. The MSHDW has Data Use Agreements with the following
institutions:

The University of Maryland. The University of Maryland is the institution responsible for
administering the Data Warehouse contract with the project vendor, WellSky, and holds
a data use agreement approving the following uses of data:
○ Data analysis, data matching, and de-duplication to produce the State’s
YouthREACH Report on unaccompanied homeless youth.
○ Data analysis for aggregate and de-identified data to assess data quality and
support system performance analysis for planning and reporting purposes.
Data Protection and Risks:
Your data is protected by legal agreements signed by agencies with access to the MSHDW and
by electronic encryption of your personal information. Per HMIS regulation, information may
also be disclosed to avert serious threats to health or safety and to provide evidence of
abuse/neglect or domestic violence.
Questions
You can contact the Department of Housing and Community Development at 443-571-8937 if
you have questions about the information collected in the MSHDW or if there is an injury to you
related to the collection of information in the MSHDW.

Your Rights:

1. You have the right to decide whether to share any personal information.
2. You have a right to request any information about yourself entered into the MSHDW.
3. You will receive the same services whether or not you share personal information.
4. You have a right to request an updated MSHDW Privacy Notice at any time.
This policy may be amended at any time, and amendments may affect information obtained
before the date of the change. An amendment to the privacy notice regarding use or disclosure
will be effective concerning data entered before the amendment unless otherwise stated.