Overview and Introduction to HMIS Concepts:

VA Community Contracts

Part II: Data collection requirements, reporting requirements, AHAR, and

Pulse

VA Community Contracts Data Collection Requirements

• Overview• HMIS Data Collection Requirements– Data Elements– Program Descriptor Data Elements– Universal Data Elements

• Timeline

VA Community Contracts Overview

• VA Community Contracts is a VA program that funds community agencies providing services to homeless Veterans

• The program provides resources for supportive housing and/or supportive services with the goal of helping homeless Veterans in three different type of models:– Emergency Housing– Residential Treatment– Safe Havens

HMIS Data Collection Requirements

VA Community Contract Data Collection

• VA Community Contract programs will be required by the VA to participate in HMIS

• VA Community Contract providers should are expected to entering data into their local HMIS begin working with local HMIS no later than of September 30, 2011

• Data collection will include data elements in HUD’s March 2010 HMIS Data Standards

VA Community Contract Data Collection

• Emergency Housing Contracts– Programs are similar to HUD’s Emergency Shelter

programs

• Resident Treatment Contracts– Programs are similar to HUD’s Transitional Housing

programs

• Safe Havens Contracts– Programs are similar to HUD’s Safe Haven programs

VA Community Contracts Data Collection

VA Community Contracts Data Elements

• The data elements specifically for VA Community Contract providers fall under two data element categories:– Program Descriptor Data Elements– Universal Data Elements

VA Community Contract Program Descriptor Data Elements

VA Community Contract Program Descriptor Data Elements

• Program Descriptor Data Elements (PDDE):– Required for all VA Community Contracts, homeless

assistance or prevention programs in CoC jurisdiction– Programs that operate in multiple CoCs must be

established as distinct programs within each CoC– Necessary for accurately reporting VA Community

Contract activities by grant

VA Community Contract Program Descriptor Data Elements

2.1. Organization Identifier

2.2. Organization Name2.3. Program Identifier2.4. Program Name2.5. Direct Service Code2.6. Site Information2.7. Continuum of Care

Number

2.8. Program Type Code2.9. Bed and Unit

Inventory Information

2.10. Target Population A2.11. Target Population B2.12. Method for

Tracking Residential Program Occupancy

2.13. Grantee Identifier

VA Community Contract Universal Data Elements

• Universal Data Elements (UDE):– Required for all HMIS participating programs including

VA Community Contract Baseline client-level information required of every client record within HMIS

– Necessary for accurately reporting the nature and scope of homelessness within HMIS

VA Community Contract Universal Data Elements

3.1 Name3.2 Social Security

Number3.3 Date of Birth3.4 Race3.5 Ethnicity3.6 Gender3.7 Veteran Status3.8 Disabling Condition

3.9 Residence Prior to Program Entry

3.10 Zip Code of Last Permanent Address

3.11 Housing Status3.12 Program Entry Date3.13 Program Exit Date3.14 Unique Person

Identification Number3.15 Household

Identification Number

Reporting

• There is no HMIS generated reporting for VA Community Contract programs.

• VA Community Contract programs are expected to participate in community reporting such as:– Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR)– Pulse– Point in Time Counts and Reporting (PIT)– Housing Inventory Count (HIC)– Other local data analysis and reporting

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Timeline

• VA Community Contract programs are expected to begin entering data into HMIS by September 30, 2011.

AHAR and Pulse

• Data Collection and Reporting Requirements• National Reports– AHAR– PULSE

• Context of these reports

Data Collection and Reporting Requirements

• Among the common community-wide reports on homelessness that HUD requires we will be discussing:– Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR)– PULSE Report

• There are other common community-wide reports on homelessness that HUD requires that we will NOT be discussing:– Point-In Time Count– Housing Inventory Count

What is the AHAR?

• Annual report to Congress about:– An account of sheltered and unsheltered homeless

individuals and families, both on a single night (Point-in-Time count)

– A descriptive analysis of characteristics and service use patterns of sheltered persons over the course of the year (HMIS data)

– Nationwide trends in homelessness – The size and use of the U.S. inventory of residential

programs for homeless persons (e-HIC)

• Released annually in June/July• Supplemental Report– Veterans

AHAR Data Sources

• HMIS Data– Data from October 1-September 30 of each reporting year– Universal data elements (some program specific—PSH

only)– Limited to emergency shelters, transitional housing, and

permanent supportive housing programs– Domiciliary/Contract, GPD, HUD VASH

• CoC Exhibit 1 Data– Housing Inventory data– Sheltered and Unsheltered Populations data– Sheltered and Unsheltered Subpopulations data

Who reports to the AHAR?

• All 453 CoCs nationwide provide Housing Inventory and Point-in-Time (PIT) Count data

• For HMIS data, all CoCs with adequate data quality can participate– Sample Communities: 102

• Sample communities are Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) jurisdictions that were randomly selected to be representative of the nation (CDBG jurisdictions can be part or all of a CoC).

– Contributing Communities: 246 in 2009 AHAR• Contributing communities are CoCs that volunteer to provide CoC-

wide data

Why is the AHAR important?

• Primary source of data on the extent and nature of homelessness nationwide– AHAR data is being used to inform the nation’s plan to end

homelessness and to measure progress.

• Communities learn about their homeless population, and take greater stake in the quality of their HMIS data

• HUD considers AHAR participation a benchmark of a high quality HMIS implementation

• HUD asks questions about AHAR participation in Exhibit 1 of HUD’s CoC funding application

What we learned from the 2009 AHAR

• Family homelessness has increased– Takes longer to leave shelter– More likely to use transitional housing alone or in combination

with emergency shelter– 63% were housed the night before they sought shelter

• Individual homelessness has decreased– Still nearly 2/3 of total persons homeless at any given time during

the year– More than 10% drop in the number of chronically homeless

persons from 2008 to 2009– 41% were already homeless the night before they sought shelter

AHAR Reporting Categories for HMIS Data

• ES-FAM: all persons in families served in emergency shelters• ES-IND: all persons served in emergency shelters for individuals• TH-FAM: all persons in families served in transitional housing• TH-IND: all persons served in transitional housing for individuals• PSH-FAM: all persons in families served in permanent supportive

housing• PSH-IND: all persons served in permanent supportive housing for

individuals

• Veterans Supplemental Report (all 6 categories above JUST for Veterans)

AHAR Reporting Deadlines

• October 1, 2011:– AHAR data collection begins in the HDX

• November 15, 2011:– First draft of data on All Persons and Veterans

• January 14, 2012:– Final draft of data on All Persons and Veterans completed

and confirmed by communities

AHAR Veterans Report

• In 2010, communities will be submitting separate data for veterans

• A veterans category will not be activated until the regular AHAR category is submitted for review.

• Veteran data is due at the same time as “All Persons” Data– Draft Veteran data is due November 15th, 2011– Final Veteran data is due January 14th, 2012

Data Quality Thresholds

• CoCs can participate in all or a few categories—it’s not all or nothing!

• Each reporting category is assessed independently for data quality, using three thresholds:– 50% HMIS bed coverage– Reasonable bed utilization rates

• Typically between 65—105%

– Reasonable missing data rates

Homelessness Pulse Project

• Goal: To provide timely data on homelessness– Current data (AHAR and PIT) only collected annually– HUD wants to know how homelessness is changing in

response to ongoing national events

• The Pulse project is gaining attention from:– HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan– US Interagency Council on Homelessness– White House Domestic Policy Council

What data are collected for Pulse

• Annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count of homeless people• Quarterly PIT count of sheltered homeless people• Three month count of “new clients”– Total number of “new clients” during the quarter– “New client” veteran and disability status– “New client” prior living situation and stability

• Bed count for the date of the quarterly PIT count

Expansion of the Pulse

• Started with 9 communities• Expanded to 41 this year• HUD wants to recruit more sites• Eligibility criteria– Useable data in all 4 reporting categories for 2009 AHAR

• If interested email AHAR@abtassoc.com– Check out Pulse Tech Lab for more information

Resources

• HMIS Data Standards (March 2010) http://www.hmis.info/ClassicAsp/documents/Final%20HMIS%20Data%20Standards-Revised%20_3.pdf

• www.hmis.info• www.hudhre.info• A Guide for Counting Sheltered People

http://www.hudhre.info/documents/counting_sheltered.pdf• A Guide for Counting Unsheltered People

http://www.hudhre.info/documents/counting_sheltered.pdf• Using HMIS for PIT Counts

http://www.hudhre.info/documents/UsingHMISforPITCounts_Presentation.pdf)

• VA Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Training Manual (need a link)