1. United Way of Greater Houston
HMIS Forum
1st Quarter 2019
United Way of Greater Houston
March 19, 2019
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

2. Your HMIS Team Ana Rausch – Senior Research Project Manager
Erol Fetahagic – System Analyst
Kelita Beechum – Data Analyst
Ryan R. Clay – Data Analyst
Karen Flores – Program Analyst
Yvette Fuentes – Program Analyst
Lindsey Grubbs – Program Analyst
Scot More – Program Analyst

3. Agenda Welcome & Introductions Annual Numbers Natural Disaster Data
HMIS Concerns
HUD CoC Requirements
Security Training
Client search
HMIS Site Visits
Dashboards
Monthly Reporting
Checking Data Claims
CSV Troubleshooting
HMIS Issues/Trainings Updates
Q&A

5. Welcome to our newest HMIS Participating Agencies
Open Gate Homeless 

6. How do you let the HMIS Team know you’re having an issue?
The More You Know
How do you let the HMIS Team know you’re having an issue?

7. Annual Update – System Size
2016
Change
2017
2018
Organizations 75
+ 9.3% 82
+ 6.1% 87
Projects
264
+ 11.4%
294
- 2.4%
287
Users
1,002
+ 4.8%
1,050
- 1.0%
1,039
All Clients
47,838
+ 8.2%
51,779
+ 14.4%
59,256
Clients in Homeless Assistance Projects*
29,624
+ 1.3%
29,995
+ 2.2%
30,648
* E. Shelters, Trans. Housing, PSH, RRH, Street Outreach + Homeless in Services Only & Day Shelters

8. Annual Update – Assessed & Housed
2016
Change
2017
2018
Households Assessed by CA
4,358
+ 21.6%
5,301
- .3%
5,285
Persons Housed in RRH
2,396
+ 10.4%
2,645
- 15.6%
2,233
Persons Housed in PSH
856
+ 42.5%
1,218
- 5.0%
1,158
Persons Exited to PH from any homeless assistance project
5,888
+ 44.8%
8,523
- 9.5%
7,713

9. Natural Disaster Data
Locally added questions in the universal data assessment
Answers are optional
Used for disaster recovery funding & reimbursements
Can be reported in the Data Explorer tool

10. Common HMIS Concerns Multiple overlapping enrollments
Not checking out clients when exited
Not checking out or exiting family members
Duplicates
Not submitting items by required deadline
s and information requests
Closed programs not exiting clients
Making programmatic changes without informing HMIS (increasing beds, changing populations)
Not providing complete information when requesting changes (example, LSA HIT error message)

11. HUD CoC Requirements LSA – Longitudinal System Analysis
System Performance Measures
HIC – Housing Inventory Count
PIT – Point in Time Count
All needed for:
AHAR – Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress
ALL HMIS Data
Regardless of funding

12. ******

13. HMIS Site Visits
Site Visits were conducted between December - January for the 2019 PIT.
Purpose was to confirm housing site setup for the Housing Inventory Chart (HIC) as well as to prepare scoring for the NOFA.
This visit counts for CoC programs’ scoring.
Kelita Beechum and Karen Flores will continue to conduct site visits for all other participating agencies.

14. Dashboards

15. How many HMIS Forums are held each year?
The More You Know
How many HMIS Forums are held each year?

16. Security Training Purpose
All HMIS users are required to attend the security training annually, to maintain their HMIS license.
The Coalition for the Homeless (CFTH) takes this very seriously and we want our staff members as well as all ClientTrack Users to understand their responsibilities.
Training is based on privacy and security standards set forth on HUD exchange.
HUD HMIS Baseline and Additional security Standards:

17. Security Training Dates
Security trainings were conducted throughout the months of January & February.
Only approximately 50% of the more than 800 HMIS Users took the training (it’s only 10 minutes).
Participation is scored during site visits for funding.
We will be offering additional dates. This will be the LAST time you will be able to receive this training in 2018.

18. Searching for a Client

19. Client ID

20. Any combination of SSN & Full DOB

21. First OR Last Name & Any combination of SSN

22. First OR Last Name & Full DOB

23. In HMIS, not enrolled in your program

24. In HMIS, different last name OR name misspelled – not enrolled in your
& correct the name

25. In HMIS, same name & DOB but SSN is incorrect – not enrolled in your
& correct the SSN

26. Searched 5 different ways & didn’t find

27. ******

28. Monthly Reporting
Beginning March 1st, Karen Flores is taking over this duty
Clients in program (enrollment) report
Due to Karen by the 7th of each month for ALL programs
Submitted with client detail
In PDF format
Enroll at any point NOT just new enrollments
Always for the previous month
Karen will review & send out a Data Quality Report
You will only get a report back if there are issues
Please review Data Quality Report & make necessary corrections before the 15th of every month

29. Where can you find information about HMIS News?
The More You Know
Where can you find information about HMIS News?

30. Checking Data Claims STATEMENT:
“Women and families are the fastest-growing segments of the American homeless population.”
Is this statement true?
What is the source of the claim?
What definitions are used?
What time period is covered?
What does the data actually say?

31. Checking the Data #1
Source: HUD HDX for TX-700 CoC,

32. Checking the Data #2 Source: HMIS annual enrollment data, 2015-2018
Homeless assistance projects included: ES, TH, PSH, RRH, SO, DS (homeless at entry), SSO (homeless at entry)

33. Checking the Data #3
Source: The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, December 2018

34. Checking Data Claims - Conclusion
So what does the data say?
Women and families are not the fastest-growing segments of the homeless population in our CoC.
Tips for checking data claims*:
1. Ask the person making the claim for evidence.
2. Look for what other fact-checkers have found before you.
3. Do a Google search -- and then search again.
4. Search the Deep Web.
5. Look for experts with different perspectives.
6. Check out some books.
7. Anything else?
* From:

35. CSV Export Troubleshooting
CSV Export is required for CoC APR, ESG CAPER, SSVF, PATH, RHY, and Data Quality Detail reports
ClientTrack generates the export as an EXE file
EXE files are recognized by computer AV programs as potential threats and in some cases can be auto-deleted
If you have trouble downloading the CSV EXE file, please ask your IT department for help changing computer’s security settings
CFTH support staff can’t assist with local computer issues

36. HMIS Issues Issues have to be tracked for reporting purposes.
Do not HMIS staff directly unless instructed to do so.
Use any of the following methods for assistance:
Go to
Call the Help Desk
Monday – Thursday
Send an to
Everyone has a user name and password

37. ******

38. HMIS Trainings Register for training online.
Bring COMPLETED User Agreement with you.
You will be turned away from training if:
You do not bring your User Agreement
Your program is not set up HMIS
You are more than 10 minutes late

39. ******

41. The Way Home is the collaborative model to prevent
Thank You!!
The Coalition for the Homeless leads in the development, advocacy, and coordination of community strategies to prevent and end homelessness.
The Way Home is the collaborative model to prevent
and end homelessness in Houston, Harris, Ft. Bend, & Montgomery Counties. For more information visit