05-31-2017 May HMIS User Group Meeting

It was great to see everyone at May's User Group Meeting! We had a great time, and we are getting positive feedback on our new format of interactive activities, presentations, and guest speakers.
Notes for 05-31-2017 HMIS User Group Meeting:

  1. The hierarchy of HMIS organization has an interconnected structure. HUD creates the standards that are sent out for agencies to follow and uses incoming HMIS data for evaluation and research. The HUD TAs also communicate with the HMIS Lead Agency (via webinars and help desk tickets) on any new changes or procedures for HMIS. The CoC enforces the standards, adding any policies and procedures that that they think are appropriate for their region. The CoC also coordinates agency collaboration, administers the coordinated entry system, runs the PIT/HIC, and evaluates HMIS data for community needs and funding. The lead agency (CCH Colorado HMIS Team) provides guidance on the HUD/CoC standards and provides training on data entry, data quality, and reporting. The lead agency communicates with clients via user groups and emails, and by answering any tickets or issues related to data entry, data quality, and reporting.
  2. Per Joe Baker’s (the MDHI Data Coordinator) presentation: CoC-NOFA evaluations are conducted at the CoC level (with HUDs final approval) and there are MDHI meetings open to agencies where users can contribute suggestions for how to measure and evaluate outcomes. Any questions related to the NOFA process for MDHI can be sent to Joe at (303) 295-1772 X 103 .
  3. There are a lot of major upcoming events for HMIS. The HMIS Adsystech version 6 will be rolling out this summer and everyone will have to be retrained on this version. More about this will be forthcoming in the next few months. There is an RFP out for a new HMIS vendor and if a new vendor is chosen, there will have to be another retraining.
  4. E-Weeklys are important communications sent out from HMIS and may contain important messages regarding database updates, HUD policy, or upcoming trainings and agency visits.
  5. We discovered through the 1st exercise problem that completeness is extremely important for accurate outcomes evaluations and research. As we saw, missing data can skew the results widely. Insufficient data can skew our picture of homelessness in our community and provide for inaccurate evaluations of program outcomes.
  6. The APR process is pretty much the same. The recipients of the funds will periodically ask the sub-recipients to run and re-run the summary APR v5 (or CAPER v5) and Apr v5 Details (or CAPER v5 Details) reports in order to identify and clean incomplete and inaccurate data. When the recipient finds the information sufficient, they will upload the information into SAGE for APRs and E-Cart for CAPERs.
  7. Disabling condition is a bit tricky, but the reference guide can help you understand what to do to determine if a client does indeed have a disabling condition, and how to answer the specific disability questions based on if they have documentation, if they self-report as “No” or if they self-report as “Yes”.
  8. The Chronic Homeless questions have a very specific logic. It is important that we understand how prior living situation differs from Approximate Date Started, and how to calculate Approximate Date Started. It is also important to understand what “episodes” of being on street/ES/SH in the last three years are and understand how to determine when breaks in homelessness occur. The Detailed Length of Stay Guide and the Quick Length of Stay Reference Guide will help you understand how to calculate the Chronic Homeless questions.

HMIS May User Group 05-31-2017 PowerPoint
​HMIS May User Group 05-31-2017 Exercises
Disabling Condition Quick Reference Guide
​Detailed Length of Stay Reference Guide
​Length of Stay Quick Reference Guide