HMIS LEAD WEBINAR

September 15, 2021

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PURPOSE

Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)

• Inform HMIS Leads & System Admins of upcoming HMIS events, information, and changes to guidance

• Provide broad overviews of HMIS guidance & foundational HMIS knowledge

• Provide forum for questions from the field of HMIS Leads & System Admins

• Remind CoCs and HMIS Leads about upcoming reporting deadlines & reporting requirements using HMIS and other data sources

• Provide leadership to HMIS Leads & System Admins for implementation success

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WEBINAR REMINDERS

• HUD Exchange Website:• For all materials, past, present, future

• For HMIS Lead listserv management

• For links to other HMIS information

• For AAQ submission

• During & after the webinar today:• You are muted

• Use Q&A features of WebEx to interact with us*

• Use slide numbers in your questions

• Follow up via HMIS AAQ submission

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*SELECT “ALL PANELISTS”

IN Q&A

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HUD & TECHNICAL STAFF

• Fran Ledger, SNAPS Office (she, they)• Meradith Alspaugh, Partnership Center (she, her)• Genelle Denzin, Abt Associates (she, her)• Jenni Hernandez, Partnership Center (she, her)• Jesse Jorstad, Abt Associates (he, him)• Brian Roccapriore, Cloudburst (he, him)• Mary Schwartz, Abt Associates (she, her)• Kayla Thompson, Abt Associates (she, her)

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AGENDA

General Updates/Announcements/Reminders• Comparable databases• Reporting timelines• NHSDC• HMIS Data Analytics On-Demand Course Deeper Dive Content• LSA Updates

• Standard CSV Data Quality Tool (Beta Test)

• Version 1.1 Data Standards materials• Extra supportive materials plan

• ESG CAPER/APR Specifications updates• PATH APR• Federal Partner Program HMIS Manuals• EHV & HMIS Project Set up• SSVF Uploads in October• RHY Uploads in September-October-November

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ANNOUNCEMENTS & REMINDERS

HUD Staff & Technical Assistance Providers

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COMPARABLE DATABASES

• The CoC and VSP both have responsibilities when it comes to ensuring the use of a compliant comparable database (24 CFR 578.57(a)(3); 24 CFR 578.103(b)).

• VSP recipients must use a compliant comparable database or be at risk of a HUD Field Office finding or local finding.• No Vendor or Recipient is 100% compliant, 100% of the time!

• HUD is providing Technical Assistance to Recipients and Vendors:• AAQ and Request for Technical Assistance

• Resources• When to Use a Comparable Database (Decision Tree)

• Comparable Database Manual

• Comparable Database Checklist

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REPORTING TIMELINES

Report Timeline

System Performance Measures (SPM) October 1, 2021 – February 28, 2022

Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA) (Tentatively) Opens November 2021

Housing Inventory Count/Point In Time (Tentatively) Opens March 2022

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NATIONAL HUMAN SERVICES DATA CONSORTIUM (NHSDC)

• NHSDC October 13 – 14th

• Pre-conference Institute on October 12th

• Among other sessions, HUD will present Office Hours and LSA, Stella, Data Standards Learning Lab

• Register here

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HMIS ADVANCED USER MEETING

• HUD will be convening 9 communities who are using their data in advanced and new ways.

• Communities will meet (virtually), and present their ideas to one another

• Each community will work with a TA provider to produce a brief narrative paper outlining their initiatives/learnings, and those will be published to the HUD Exchange.

• Interested communities should submit an AAQ to the HMIS desk.

• Publications from past convenings: • 2008 -https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/CaseStudiesFromNineCommunities.pdf• 2010 -https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/1189/advancing-data-on-homelessness-in-eleven-

communities/

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HMIS DATA ANALYTICS ON-DEMAND COURSE

• Course will provide a conceptual and practical framework for ad hoc reporting utilizing HMIS data.

• Self-paced course, open to anyone interested in analyzing, interpreting, and communicating HMIS data.

• The second cohort runs 10/11/21 through 12/3/21

• Registration updates will go out through HUD Exchange in early October

• Participation again is limited to 200 individuals

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DEEP DIVES INTO CONTENT

Technical Assistance Providers

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LONGITUDINAL SYSTEMS ANALYSIS (LSA)

What is it?

• The LSA is the third component of the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The first two are the Housing Inventory Chart (HIC) and Point In Time Counts (PIT). LSA data also powers Stella P.

• Aggregate data across 10 CSVs. Includes:• Demographic characteristics like age, race, gender, and veteran status;

• Length of time homeless and patterns of system use;

• Information specific to populations whose needs and/or eligibility for services may differ from the broader homeless population, such as veterans, people and households experiencing chronic homelessness, and others; and

• Housing outcomes for those who exit the homeless services system.

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LONGITUDINAL SYSTEMS ANALYSIS (LSA)

When is it?

• Vendor testing in HDX 2.0 scheduled to begin 10/4

• Data collection cycle expected to open in early November.

• Estimating an 8-week data collection cycle.

• And now, a trip down memory lane…

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LSA CONTINUEDSTORY TIME

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Behold! A group of HMIS Admins in their natural friendly state – ready for a great LSA reporting cycle.

On the horizon! A flag file filled with feedback about their beloved data. A gold mine of information! Alas! The data are

aggregated, and the flag file cannot help the HMIS Admins find the erroneous records!

LSA CONTINUEDA NEW HOPE

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Introducing: Standard CSV Data Quality Tool• Macro Enabled Excel Workbook• Utilizes the Standard HMIS CSV• Narrows the gap between what is the

problem and which records are involved.

• Includes logic checks beyond the scope of LSA.

• Does not include all LSA checks.

Plus Mary and Alex who couldn’t make bitmojis

LSA CONTINUEDHOW DO I GET THE NEW TOOL?

• Tool will be released in Beta Version in the coming weeks.

• Announcement will come through the HUD Exchange list serv.

• Support will be handled through GitHub.

6 steps…

1. Download tool.

2. Export CSV.

3. Tell the tool where the CSV is saved.

4. Tool runs checks.

5. Export the related IDs.

6. Solve all the problems.

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Note: Use of this tool is voluntary.

LSA CONTINUEDWHAT CAN I BE DOING NOW TO PREPARE?

COMMON DATA QUALITY ISSUES

• There must be exactly One Head of Household per household.

• All heads of household must have a client location.

• Dates of Birth – needed to establish household type. Large numbers of unknown DOBs result in usability issues.

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LSA CONTINUEDWHAT CAN I BE DOING NOW TO PREPARE?

COMMON DATA QUALITY ISSUES

• Inventory• Discrepancies between the HIC and LSA Inventory should be reconciled where

appropriate. Be prepared to explain differences that cannot be reconciled.

• Ensure projects have the correct project type.

• Unused inventory will result in flags.

• Unexplained low or high utilization rates.

• Inventory is fully or largely dedicated for one household type but used completely or mostly by another household type. (FY22 HMIS Data Manual (page 58) states, “differences due to significant changes in project operations should be entered as they occur.”)

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LSA CONTINUEDWHAT CAN I BE DOING NOW TO PREPARE?

COMMON DATA QUALITY ISSUES

Overlapping Enrollments – not all overlaps are problematic.• This year there will be thresholds for overlap errors.• In general, we do not expect overlaps between…

• ES (entry/exit) – entry date and exit date or end of period

• ES (night-by-night) – bednights

• SH – entry date and exit date or end of period

• TH – entry date and exit date or end of period

Note: There are very limited instances where an overlapping enrollment is technically correct.

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LSA CONTINUEDWHAT CAN I BE DOING NOW TO PREPARE?

COMMON DATA QUALITY ISSUES

Overlapping Enrollments Continued

• Within the same ProjectID and PersonalID, an overlap between Entry Date and Exit Date or end of period is not permitted for any project type.

• For PSH Only:• Move In Date to Exit Date or end of period

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LSA CONTINUEDWHAT CAN I BE DOING NOW TO PREPARE?

COMMON DATA QUALITY ISSUES

HMIS ParticipationIf the project operated during the reporting period and HMIS Participation = Yes, then there is expected to be household data for the project. The inverse is also true.

What if a project stops or starts participating?

The FY2022 data manual, page 38, clarifies, “If a project's 'HMIS Participating Project' status changes, Operating End Date should indicate the end date of the former ‘HMIS Participating Project’ status.”

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LSA CONTINUEDWHAT CAN I BE DOING NOW TO PREPARE?

COMMON DATA QUALITY ISSUES

Missing ProjectsNote: Change to specifications to align timeframes between LSACalculated, Project and Inventory CSVs.

• Ensure that if a project has ended there are no open enrollments beyond the operating end date.

• Ensure projects have a Housing Type designated as described on page 48 of data manual.

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LSA CONTINUEDWHAT CAN I BE DOING NOW TO PREPARE?

COMMON DATA QUALITY ISSUES

General Alignment• Inventory End Dates must be <= Operating End Dates

• If a project ends on 6/30/21, the inventory must also end on or before that date.

• Inventory Start Dates must be >= Operating Start Dates• If a project starts on 7/1/21, the inventory must start on or after that date.

• Project Exit Dates must be <= Operating End Dates• If a project ends on 6/30/21, all participants must be exited on or prior to that

date.

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HMIS DATA STANDARDS VERSION 1.1DOCUMENT OVERVIEW

• FY 2022 Data Standards Materials available as of mid-August:• Interactive Data Standards Tool, Data Manual, and Data Dictionary v1.1• FY 2022 CSV and XML Schemas v1.1• FY 2020 to FY 2022 Mapping Instructions (for vendors) - NEW• FY 2022 Back Data Entry Requirements – NEW• FY 2022 APR/CAPER Programming Specs – NEW• FY 2022 CE APR Programming Specs– NEW• FY 2022 Validations– NEW• FY 2022 APR/CAPER & CE APR Table shells– NEW• HMIS Project Setup Tool– NEW

• Coming Soon: Reporting Glossary, HUD and Federal Partner HMIS Program Manuals

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HMIS DATA STANDARDSDICTIONARY UPDATES

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• V7 – removed field A and re-numbered response options for entire element.

• Removed “The system must record the appropriate collection stage for each element.” from the System Logic in C2 Moving on Assistance Provided.

HMIS DATA STANDARDSDICTIONARY UPDATES

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• Updated/Corrected the following XML tags:• 3.20 Housing Move-In Date XML = <MoveInDate>• 4.13 Date of Engagement XML = <DateOfEngagement>• R4 Last Grade Completed XML = <Education><LastGradeCompleted>• R5 School Status XML = <SchoolStatus><LastGradeCompleted>• Updated XML locations for C1 Well-being, C2 Moving On Assistance

Provided, C3 Youth Education Status, and W6 Prescribed Anti-Retroviral

PENDING CHANGES

• 3.11 edited System Logic in Dictionary and Manual.• For residential projects, the client's 3.11 Project Exit Date would be

recorded as the last day the client appeared at the residential project (in the case of Night-by-Night, the day after the last bed night (4.14) recorded) and the 3.12 Destination would be marked as 'No exit interview completed’.

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HMIS DATA STANDARDSCSV UPDATES

• Export.csv• Fixed “Notes” for “SourceContactLast”

• Client.csv• Fixed column “NativeHIPacific” name and notes section to remove the word

“Other”• Fixed “Notes” for “Gender” to align to response values• Fixed column “GenderOther” to “NoSingleGender”

• Enrollment.csv• Updated V7 fields per HMIS Data Dictionary• Added value ‘99’ to list R2.A ReasonNoServices

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HMIS DATA STANDARDSCSV UPDATES

• Exit.csv• Fixed 4.20.A Null Requirements

• IncomeBenefits.csv• Fixed “Notes” for “Non-Cash Benefits”

• HealthAndDV.csv• Fixed C1.3 Field Name

• CurrentLivingSituation.csv• Changed 4.12.3 to S100 to match 2.02.2

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HMIS DATA STANDARDSCSV UPDATES

• AssessmentQuestions.csv• Changed 4.19.A to “S500” to ensure no truncation of Assessment Answers in

data transfers• Lists

• 4.20.2 fixed (response 15)• R7.1 Removed Note• V3.3 fixed (responses 12, 16)• V7 updated lists

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FY 2022 APR/CAPER SPECIFICATIONS UPDATES

• Updated instructions in CSV output to reflect changes in gender-related tables.

• Added applicability of Q7b to ESG-CAPER. (ESG-CAPER now has 40 tables)

• Q8a Removed reference to point in time count in instructions.

• Updated Gender row headers and programming instructions in Q10a-10d, 25c, 26c, 27c

• Updated Race row headers in Q12a

• Updated Ethnicity row headers in Q12b

• Changed references to “Substance Abuse” to “Substance Use Disorder” in Q13a1-13c2, 25e, 26e

• Changed references to “Drug Abuse” to “Drug Use Disorder” in Q13a1-13c2, 25e, 26e

• Changed reference to “Mental Health Problem” to “Mental Health Disorder” in Q13a1-13c2, 25e, 26e

• Corrected copy/paste typo in instructions for 13a2-13c2 which referenced 13a1-13c1.

• Q14 – added instruction to use the latest [domestic violence] from the latest project stay for each client where the [information date] <= [report end date].

• 27a Grayed out cells which cannot logically contain data

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APR/CAPER GENDER UPDATE

Sage will validate row headers to ensure they contain the text shown for the 7 gender-related tables (Q10a through d, Q25c, Q26c, Q27c).

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A B C D E

1Total Without Children With Children and

AdultsUnknown Household

Type2 Male

3 Female

4 No Single Gender

5 Questioning

6 Transgender

7Client Doesn’t Know/Client Refused

8 Data Not Collected

9 Total

CE APR REPORTING UPDATE

• Updated Q9d and Q10 with additional rows to account for changes in the FY 2022 Data Standards.

• Add instruction to include only Continuum Projects in report (2.02.5 Continuum Project = yes).

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CE APR REMINDERS

• The CE APR is a “system-wide” report.

• The report must be generated on all projects collecting 4.19 and 4.20 data elements.

• Victim Service Providers (VSPs) must ALSO be able to generate the CE APR from their comparable database if they receive their own CoC grant for CE or if they are ‘participating’ in the CoC’s CE system.

• The CE APR in Sage will allow for multiple CSV-CE APR files to be uploaded.

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SAGE UPDATES

• Sage will require every CSV uploaded on or after October 1st to be in the FY 2022 Format. • This is applicable to ESG CAPER, CoC APR, and CE APR

• Users will be able to submit reports if the CSVs were already uploaded and attached without re-uploading CSVs.

• Beginning Friday, August 20th, Sage will be open for upload testing.• Testing is available on www.sagehmis.info

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PATH APR

• Updated PATH Annual Report available in HMIS by October 1, 2021

• Changes in PATH Annual Report:• Row header updates (e.g., “substance abuse” changed to “substance use”)

• Q26a Gender – updated to account for all new gender option combinations (programming matches APR and CAPER)

• Programming instructions clarifications

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EMERGENCY HOUSING VOUCHERS (EHV) & HMIS PROJECT SET UP AAQ

• Q: Required to incorporate CE and EHV (even if using EHVs to move folks off of other subsidies)?• A: No requirement for EHV to participate in HMIS CE, but it is encouraged.

The requirement is for EHV to be filled through the community’s CES.

• Q: Can we type code our EHV projects as “PSH”?• A: No. HUD is going to program reports based upon EHV residential projects

being type-coded as either PH – Housing with Services or PH – Housing Only.

• Q: “Blended Fund Sources” and “Dual Enrollments”• A: Currently working on guidance document

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EHV AND HMIS GUIDANCE

• EHV for Residential + Other fund source for Services• Funding eligibility – can the two fund sources be used together?

• Dual enrollment issues – can the project types be used together?

• “Logically impossible” versus “technically correct” considerations

• EHVs in HMIS

• EHVs and Coordinated Entry

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SSVF UPLOADS

• SSVF Repository will require FY 2020 Version of the HMIS CSV for uploads up through October 9th.

• SSVF will require FY 2022 Version of the HMIS CSV for all uploads beginning November 1, 2021.

• Email ssvfhmis@abtassoc.com for further information or with questions

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RHY UPLOADS

• RHY Reporting Repository will require grantees with terminating grants to upload in FY 2020 format by September 17, 2021. The repository is currently open for uploads!

• All continuing RHY grantees will use FY 2022 HMIS CSV for uploading beginning in October.

• Submit a www.RHYMISServiceDesk.net ticket for further information or with questions

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RESOURCE LINKS

• HMIS Lead Webinars

• HMIS Lead Series Tools and Products

• HMIS Data Standards

• Comparable Database Decision Tree

• Comparable Database Manual

• Comparable Database Checklist

• Federal Partner Manuals

• HMIS Project Set-up Tool

Newest Resources:

• EHVs in HMIS

• EHVs and Coordinated Entry

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UPCOMING MEETINGS

All meetings are 1:00 pm to 2:30pm ET

2021• October 20th

• November 17th

• December 15th

2022• January 19th

• February 16th

• March 16th

• April 20th

• May 18th

• June 15th

• July 20th

• August 17th

• September 21st

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