Santa Clara County’s Customer Portal Pilot Program provided opportunities for individuals with lived experience of homelessness to inform and test new technology designed to expand client access and choice. The program included leaders from the Lived Experience Advisory Board working in collaboration with Destination: Home, County of Santa Clara, and Bitfocus to pilot the Customer Portal. The Customer Portal is a new tool that provides clients access to components of their HMIS record. It includes a suite of features to empower clients with increased choice and personal agency in their journey to permanent housing. Centering Lived Experience in the collaborative approach to technology advancements is leading to a shift in power within Santa Clara County and provides a model for other communities to follow.

The four-month pilot included nine homeless service agencies representing 13 programs and extended invitations for participation to over 300 individuals experiencing homelessness. Multiple feedback loops, including a series of focus groups and surveys, were provided for client and provider participants resulting in numerous feature enhancement requests currently in development for future release.

The pilot program showcases the importance of lived experience in technology design, development, and implementation processes. The session will outline the core strategies to facilitate meaningful engagement, recommendations for establishing effective feedback loops, and how to translate input into effective outcomes. The session aims to provide instruction and inspiration for engaging lived experience in system and solution transformation.