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Data Entry

1. Bed Utilization

1.1. What is Bed Utilization?

To understand why the Bed and Unit Utilization Report is important, it is important to know about the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR, aka the LSA), which is a report that HUD submits to Congress every year. All data that we upload to the AHAR comes from your HMIS data. HUD expects the data to fall within boundaries they consider reasonable. Any data that does not fit within their specifications causes an error and requires either a change to the data or an explanation. An area that typically causes great difficulties is HUD's expectation of Bed Utilization rates fall between 65% and 105%. Your Bed Utilization Rate gives an idea of how full your program is on a given night.

Bed Utilization:

Generally speaking, Bed Utilization is a measure of how many clients are being served as compared to the total number of beds reported on the Housing Inventory Chart (HIC).

If the Bed Utilization percentage is too high, either the number of beds reported on the HIC is low or you are perhaps not exiting your households from HMIS in a timely way or you are serving larger families than was anticipated.

If the Bed Utilization percentage is too low, your project either served fewer households than was anticipated, not all your households got entered into HMIS, or the number of beds reported on the HIC is too high. If you are unsure of which is the case, please contact the HMIS Department at COHHIO for help.

To check your data for accuracy, you should log into R minor elevated. (See below for how that works.)

Unit Utilization:

Unit Utilization is the average number of households who were served in your project, divided by the number of units reported on the HIC. In this calculation, a household can be a single individual or multiple family members and to get your total Unit Count, we add together the number of units reported for your family beds and the number of beds reported for your individual beds.

Unit Utilization is not currently used in any HUD reporting or in any CoC-level scoring or monitoring. This could change, however.

How it's all calculated:

Instead of measuring utilization only on the last Wednesday of each month, we are now counting bed nights* and dividing total bed nights served by total possible bed nights* served.

* A bed night is a single night in a bed.

Example A: Client A enters a shelter on May 1 and exits on May 5. They spent four nights in the shelter, so that was 4 bed nights from that client alone in the month of May for that shelter.

Example B: PSH Project A served 10 people every single night in the month of June. Each client was served 30 bed nights during that month, and since there were 10 clients, that PSH project served a total of 300 bed nights for the month of June.

* Total possible bed nights is calculated based on how many beds or units a project has x how many days are in the given month.

Example C: PSH Project B has 5 beds. That project's total possible bed nights for the month of April (which has 30 days in it) is 30 x 5, which is 150.

Example D: Using what we know from Example B of PSH Project A's total bed nights for the month of June, let's calculate what their bed utilization was for that month. They have 11 beds and June has 30 days so since 11 x 30 = 330 possible bed nights. Their bed utilization is bed nights (300) divided by possible bed nights (330), which is: 91%!

Please refer to the Bed Utilization guidance here for instructions on how to run and interpret the report.

2. In Depth: Entry Exits

2.1. How to Answer Destination when Destination Data Not Obtained

For clients who exit a program without having had contact with staff at exit regarding their destination and their destination is unknown to staff, HMIS data entry personnel must choose "No exit interview completed (HUD)" or "Data not collected (HUD)" for Destination. Both answers mean the same thing!
 
As always, when staff does know the client's destination, whether through an exit interviewor otherwise, they should select that destination out of the list of destinations in the dropdown.
 
 

2.2. Destinations to Family or Friends (Temp vs Permanent)

Download the attached document.

2.3. Overlapping Project Stays Between RRH and PSH Projects

RRH – PSH Overlapping Project Stays

Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) and Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) are both considered permanent housing project types and as such, a single household would normally be prioritized for either RRH or PSH. On rare occasions, a household may need to be served in both RRH and PSH. Recording this kind of scenario in HMIS is tricky because even though it is allowed, we do not want the data to incorrectly make it appear as if a household was served with duplicative resources. For more information, please check the Ohio Balance of State training and guidance about Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive Housing.

End users should keep the following in mind when thinking about how to record Entry, Move-In, and Exit Dates in HMIS for households served by both RRH and PSH:

1.       There should only be one Move-In Date between a project stay’s Entry and Exit Dates.

2.       A Move-In Date should only fall within one project stay’s Entry and Exit Dates.

3.       When a Move-In Date = the Exit Date, it will count as being “between” a project stay’s Entry and Exit Dates.

Following are some example scenarios that outline how to manage HMIS data entry for households served by both RRH and PSH.

Scenario 1: Household prioritized for PSH is moving into an RRH unit until the PSH unit becomes available.

April 2, 2020: household is prioritized for and accepted into PSH, but a PSH unit isn’t available until July

April 15, 2020: household moves into a RRH unit because their medical needs are so great and they cannot find the temporary housing they need until July

July 1, 2020: the PSH unit becomes available, lease is signed

July 15, 2020: household moves into the PSH unit

Table 1 shows how the entry and exits dates for the RRH and PSH projects should be recorded in HMIS for Scenario #1:

Project

Entry Date

Move In Date

Exit Date

RRH

4/2/2020

4/15/2020

7/14/2020

PSH

7/15/2020

7/15/2020

?

Table 1

Note that the Entry – Exit date range does not overlap with the PSH’s Entry – Exit date range. This is necessary because PSH and RRH are both permanent housing project types, and any overlaps will be read as serving the same household with redundant services. Any overlap of Move-In Date – Exit Dates in PH project types would indicate a household was sleeping in two places at once, which is not possible.

The RRH’s Exit Date must be the Move-In Date – 1 day because the Move-In Date of the PSH project must fall outside the RRH’s Entry – Exit date range.

This workflow will throw Data Quality warnings because the PSH Entry Date = the Move-In Date, but that is ok. Warnings are meant to flag unusual situations, and this should be an unusual situation. In this case, there is no need to correct anything based on the warning.

 

Table 2 provides general guidance about how entry, exit, and move-in dates should be determined and recorded in HMIS when clients are served by both RRH and PSH projects in Scenario 1:

Project

Entry Date

Move In Date

Exit Date

RRH

Date the HH accepted to the RRH project

Date the HH literally moved into the RRH unit

Move-In/Entry Date of the PSH project MINUS 1 day

PSH

Date the HH moved into the PSH unit

Date the HH moved into the PSH unit

Date the HH stops receiving PSH services.

Table 2

Scenario 2: Household prioritized for PSH but moving costs and/or security deposit is being paid by RRH.

In this scenario, the household is moving into a PSH unit, so there will only be one Move-In Date. Please note that moving costs and deposits are often allowable expenses for PSH projects. If PSH projects need assistance to determine what funds or budgets may be used for these costs, please contact the CoC team.

April 2, 2020: household is prioritized for and accepted into PSH, but the RRH project will pay their moving costs and/or security deposit

April 12, 2020: household moves into the PSH unit

Table 3 shows how the Entry and Exits Dates for the RRH and PSH projects should be recorded in HMIS for Scenario #2:

Project

Entry Date

Move In Date

Exit Date

RRH

4/2/2020

[no Move-In Date]

4/11/2020

PSH

4/12/2020

4/12/2020

?

Table 3

Note that the Entry – Exit date range does not overlap with the PSH’s Entry – Exit date range. This is necessary because PSH and RRH are both permanent housing project types, and any overlaps will be read as serving the same household with redundant services.

The RRH’s Exit Date must be the Move-In Date – 1 day because the Move-In Date of the PSH project must fall outside the RRH’s Entry – Exit date range.

This workflow will throw Data Quality warnings because the PSH Entry Date = the Move-In Date, but that is ok. Warnings are meant to flag unusual situations, and this should be an unusual situation. In this case, there is no need to correct anything based on the warning.

Table 4 provides general guidance about how entry, exit, and move-in dates should be determined and recorded in HMIS when clients are served by both RRH and PSH projects in this type of scenario:

Project

Entry Date

Move In Date

Exit Date

RRH

Date the HH accepted to the RRH project for moving costs/security deposit expenses only

[no move-in date because the HH is not moving into a RRH unit]

Move-In/Entry Date of the PSH project MINUS 1 day

PSH

Date the HH moved into the PSH unit

Date the HH moved into the PSH unit

Date the HH stops receiving PSH services.

Table 4

2.4. Aligning Destinations and Project Types


Hi all!

In R minor elevated, you may have noticed some new Errors/Warnings in the Data Quality reporting. We have been working on a data analysis for the purposes of increasing Rapid Rehousing dollars to our CoC but there are many discrepancies in the way households are being assigned a “Destination” at Exit. This problem is making it difficult to determine how much more money is needed.

HUD suggests that when it is not clear what a particular Destination should be case managers should select the closest approximation of where a household is going at Exit. However, there are times when we can choose the correct Destination with confidence. Examples of these can be found in the new Errors/Warnings in R minor elevated:

Households Exiting to Rapid Rehousing (RRH)

A household who goes from an Emergency Shelter (for example) into a Rapid Rehousing unit should have a Destination from the Emergency Shelter stay of “Rental by client, with RRH or equivalent subsidy”. If that household is entering a Rapid Rehousing project in the Balance of State CoC or the Mahoning CoC, that household would also have an Entry Exit into the Rapid Rehousing project.

Households Exiting to Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)

A household who goes from an Emergency Shelter (for example) into Permanent Supportive Housing should have a Destination from the Emergency Shelter stay of “Permanent housing (other than RRH) for formerly homeless persons”. If that household is entering a PSH project in the Balance of State CoC or the Mahoning CoC, that household would also have an Entry Exit into the Rapid Rehousing project.

Households Exiting to Transitional Housing (TH)

A household who goes from an Emergency Shelter (for example) into Transitional Housing should have a Destination from the Emergency Shelter stay of “Transitional housing for homeless persons (including homeless youth)”. If that household is entering a TH project in the Balance of State CoC or the Mahoning CoC, that household would also have an Entry Exit into the TH project.

Project Types and Destinations

Project Type

Project Type’s HUD Definition

Corresponding Destination

Emergency Shelter (ES)

A project that offers temporary shelter (lodging) for the homeless in general or for specific homeless populations. Requirements and limitations may vary by program, and will be specified by the funder.

Emergency shelter, including hotel or motel paid for with emergency shelter voucher, or RHY-funded Host Home shelter

Transitional Housing (TH)

A project that provides temporary lodging and is designed to facilitate the movement of homeless individuals and families into permanent housing within a specified period of time, but no longer than 24 months. Requirements and limitations may vary by program, and will be specified by the funder.

Transitional housing for homeless persons (including homeless youth)

Safe Haven (SH)

A project that offers supportive housing that

(1) serves hard to reach homeless persons with severe mental illness who came from the streets and have been unwilling or unable to participate in supportive services;

(2) provides 24-hour residence for eligible persons for an unspecified period;

(3) has an overnight capacity limited to 25 or fewer persons; and

(4) provides low demand services and referrals for the residents.

We no longer have any Safe Havens in the Balance of State so this will rarely be the correct Destination (unless you’re in Region 6), but if there is an Exit to our old Safe Haven, it should be:
Safe Haven

PH - Rapid Re
Housing (RRH)

A permanent housing project that provides housing relocation and stabilization services and short- and/or medium-term rental assistance as necessary to help a homeless individual or family move as quickly as possible into permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing.

Rental by client, with RRH or equivalent subsidy

PH – Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)

A project that offers permanent housing and supportive services to assist homeless persons with a disability (individuals with disabilities or families in which one adult or child has a disability) to live independently.

Permanent housing (other than RRH) for formerly homeless persons

 

What Project Type is My Provider?

In our HMIS, every provider name has a suffix at the end of its name like “- ES” or “- RRH”. These abbreviations are detailed in the table above in the Project Type column.

Examples of Correct HMIS Data

Household goes from Unsheltered to Rapid Rehousing

Provider Name

Entry Date

Exit Date

Destination

Unsheltered

3/1/2020

4/1/2020

Rental by client, with RRH or equivalent subsidy

Ashtabula – RRH

3/20/2020

 

[still in project]

 

Household goes from Transitional Housing to Permanent Supportive Housing

Provider Name

Entry Date

Exit Date

Destination

Ashtabula – TH

3/1/2020

4/1/2020

Permanent housing (other than RRH) for formerly homeless persons

Ashtabula – PSH

3/20/2020

 

[still in project]

 

Household goes from Unsheltered to a Domestic Violence Shelter who does not participate in HMIS

Provider Name

Entry Date

Exit Date

Destination

Unsheltered

3/1/2020

4/1/2020

Emergency shelter, including hotel or motel paid for with emergency shelter voucher, or RHY-funded Host Home shelter

 

Household goes from an Emergency Shelter to Rapid Rehousing

Provider Name

Entry Date

Exit Date

Destination

Ashtabula - ES

3/1/2020

4/1/2020

Rental by client, with RRH or equivalent subsidy

Ashtabula – RRH

3/20/2020

 

[still in project]

 

Errors and Warnings in R minor elevated

Four new Errors and six new Warnings have been added, but they represent only two main ideas:

  1. The Destination of any household moving from one Project Type to another should clearly identify to which Project Type the household is moving.
    1. Error: Incorrect Exit Destination (should be RRH)
    2. Error: Incorrect Exit Destination (should be PSH)
    3. Error: Incorrect Exit Destination (should be TH)
    4. Error: Incorrect Exit Destination (should be SH)
    5. Warning: Check Exit Destination (may be RRH)
    6. Warning: Check Exit Destination (may be PSH)
  2. If a Destination indicates that a household moved to another Project Type at Exit, the project stay of that Project Type should be represented in HMIS (as long as that project is participating in our HMIS).
    1. Warning: Missing RRH Project Stay or Incorrect Destination
    2. Warning: Missing PSH Project Stay or Incorrect Destination
    3. Warning: Missing TH Project Stay or Incorrect Destination
    4. Warning: Missing Safe Haven Project Stay or Incorrect Destination

Please watch the video above for more explanation and check R minor elevated to ensure that your Destinations have been answered correctly. Check the Guidance section for detailed information about any individual Error/Warning.


3. In Depth: Assessments

3.1. Status Updates and Annual Assessments

Status Updates are used to document changes to income, benefits, insurance, or domestic violence history for one or many clients while an enrollment is still open.  If a change is found during the exit interview the changes can be documented during the exit interview/exit assessment.

 

You can find detailed instructions on creating Status Updates or Annual Assessments on this page.

 

How Do I Conduct a Program Status/Annual Assessment?

 

3.2. How to Complete an Exit Assessment

The following process details how to answer the Exit Assessment. You will need to fill out the applicable parts of the assessment and click "Save" and then move to the next household member using the Household Members list on the left. Once you have finished with all household members then click "Save & Exit".

Housing Status at Exit

The Housing Status should already show an answer based on the clients answer at Entry. If the Housing Status at Exit is different than the answer already given, then choose the correct response. If you are exiting a client into another program, you need to answer how the client is exiting the current program, not what the client's status will be in the new program.

Income at Exit

The Income questions will already have answers based on what was entered for the client at Entry and possibly updates during their stay.

If you have any changes to income that occurred within past 30 days that have not already been entered via Entry (if it's within 30 days of program entry) or Backdate Mode (if it's a change that occurred during the stay) then you will need to enter those changes now.

You may need to update some or all of these elements depending on the type of income change:

  • "Income received from any source in past 30 days?" (Yes/No)
  • "Total Monthly Income" ($)
  • "Monthly Income" (sub-assessment)

Possible Income at Exit situations:

1. No recorded income and exiting with no income

If the client has no reported income and they are leaving with no income then you do not need to change any of the Income questions. The income questions should be already No, 0, and no sub-assessment records and they should be left this way.

2. No recorded income but exiting with income

If the client had no income previously and now has income within 30 days of exit, then you need to change "Income Received from any source in the past 30 days?" to "Yes", replace the "0" in "Total Monthly Income" with their new monthly income total, then Add an Income sub-assessment record to create a new record of that Income.

3. Has recorded income but is exiting with no income

If the client had income and is no longer receiving any income, then you need to change "Income received from any source in the past 30 days?" to "No", replace the amount in "Total Monthly Income" with "0" and Edit ($) the Monthly Income sub-assessment record(s) and put an End Date(s) on the income(s) that ended (do not change "Receiving Income Source" inside the sub-assessment , it should stay set to "Yes" so the reports can tally the months that they did have the income).

4a. Has recorded income and is exiting with same income (no change in amount or source)

If the client had income previously and is exiting with the same Income from the same source, then you do not need to change anything on the income.

4b. Has recorded income and is exiting with different income (change in amount and/or source)

If the client already had income and is exiting with different income then you would leave "Income received from any source in the past 30 days?" set to "Yes", then enter their new monthly income into "Total Monthly Income."

Depending on the changes in the Sources of Income you will need to do some of the following:

When an Income ends:

Click the pencil next to the Monthly Income sub-assessment record that has ended and add an End Date on the Income Source. Do not change Receiving Income Source inside the sub-assessment to No.

When an existing Income amount changes:

Click the pencil next to the Monthly Income sub-assessment record that has ended and add an End Date on the Income Source. Do not change Receiving Income Source inside the sub-assessment to No.

Add an Income sub-assessment record for that Income Source with the new amount. Leave the End Date blank.

When a new Income is gained

Add an Income sub-assessment record for that Income Source with the new amount. Leave the End Date blank.

Regardless of the combination in this example (4b) you should wind up with at least one Income that has an amount and no End Date.

Non-cash Benefits at Exit

Changes to non-cash benefits at exit should be handled in the same manner as Income with the exception that you don't have a Total Monthly Income amount question to include. Also, depending on the benefit, there may not be a dollar amount inside the sub-assessment.

3.3. Interims and Follow Ups

Interims and Follows Ups is a new ServicePoint feature designed to record changes in Income or Non-Cash Benefits during a program stay (Interim) and after a program stay (Follow Up).

This feature will allow you to update Income and Non-Cash Benefits that have occurred for the client as a general change, or as the result of a recertification or Annual Assessment.  It will also allow you to record that a recertification of Income or Non-Cash Benefits was performed when there was no change to Income. This is especially important for programs where the client stays in your program more than 365 days.

Some Important Points:

  • Interims are required for all clients with stays longer than 365 days. For Rapid Rehousing and Prevention, Interims are also required every 90 days (also known as "Recertification".) Interims may also be used to record any changes to income or non cash benefits that occur during the program stay.
  • Follow Ups are not required but encouraged.
  • If a case manager learns of new information during a program stay about a client's situation that is not related to Income or Non Cash Benefits, that data can be updated at Exit.
  • Interim and Follow Ups Review Dates should match the date the client was consulted. It is not important to record when a specific change to Income or Non Cash Benefits actually occurred. Therefore, when recording an income change that happened a month prior to the Review Date, it is appropriate for the income data to match the Review Date.
  • Whenever the case manager records an Annual Assessment, the ROI should also be updated.
  • Whenever a case manager for Rapid Rehousing or Prevention records a Recertification for a household, a Case Management Service Transaction is needed to indicate the collection of data from the client.

How to Enter Interims:

These instructions assume the following:

  • The client has a record in ServicePoint
  • An entry record into the program has been created
  • The HUD assessment had been completed and saved at Entry.

Once the Annual Assessment or recertification has been completed, or the client informs you of a change to income or benefits, their HMIS record will need to be updated. Follow the steps below to update the client's record in HMIS.

1.     Login to ServicePoint. If necessary, click Enter Data As and select the correct provider.

2.     Click ClientPoint, find the client that needs an update in the Search screen, and open the record.

3.     On the Summary tab, in the Entry/Exits dashlet, find the relevant Entry and click the pencil icon for the Entry Date. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1

4.     Click "Save & Continue" on the Edit Entry Data window. (See Figure 2.)

 

Figure 2

5.     There will be two new columns in the Entry/Exit data. One for Interims and one for Follow Ups. Click the Interim icon
for one of the household members. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3

6.     Click "Add Interim Review" in the Interim Reviews window. (See Figure 4)

Figure 4

7.     The Add Interim Review window will appear. (See Figure 5.) Make sure all the household members' boxes are checked; regardless of if any of them have any changes.

Figure 5

8.     Select the Review Type. "Annual Assessment" refers to the annual review agencies are required to complete on all clients. "Update" refers to any other kind of interim done, whether it is a 90-day recertification or just an update to the client income or non-cash benefits that happens during a program stay. Note: The Review Type is very important for APR reporting. If an Annual Assessment is typed as an "Update", it will not show correctly.

9.     Set the Review Date to the date the review was performed or the date the client provided information about the change.

10.  Click "Save & Continue". (See Figure 5.)

11.  The Entry Exit Interim Review window will come up. (See Figure 6.) The Interim Review Date reflects the date entered for the when the review occurred.  If no data has changed for any of the household members, simply click "Save & Exit". (See Figure 6.)

Figure 6

12.  If there was a change, change the answers to reflect the income or benefit status for the client and click "Save & Exit".  If there were changes on multiple clients in the household, use the Household Members sidebar to switch to to their record and make the necessary changes. (See Figure 7.)

 

Figure 7

13.  An entry will be created in the Interim Reviews box which will show a count of all the members of the household in the single Interim record. (See Figure 8.) Click "Exit".

 

Figure 8

14.  On the Households portion of the Entry screen, notice that each member of the household has been included in the Interim record regardless of any individual changes. (See Figure 9.) Also, the answers that were updated in the Interim record will not show on the Entry
Assessment. This is due to the Interim updates occurring after the Entry Date. The Entry Assessment only shows answers that are effective on the Entry Date.


To Make Changes to an Existing Interim Review

Perform the following steps to make changes to the answers for an existing Interim Review.

1.     Click an Interim icon (See Figure 9).

Figure 9

2.     Click the pencil next to the Review that requires a change.

3.     Click "Save & Continue".

4.     Select the correct answer to the data element that needs to be changed.

5.     Click "Save & Exit" to return to the Interim Reviews window.

6.     Click Exit to return to the Entry/Exit Data window.

 

How to Enter Follow Ups:

Client outcomes can be tracked by entering Follow Up data. Follow ups occur after the client has exited the program.  Perform the following steps to track client follow up information.

1.     Login to ServicePoint. If necessary, click Enter Data As and select the correct provider.

2.     Click ClientPoint, find the client that needs an update in the Search screen, open the record.

3.     On the Summary tab, in the Entry/Exits dashlet, find the relevant Entry and click the pencil icon for the Exit Date. (See Figure 10)

 

Figure 10

4.     Click "Save & Continue". (See Figure 11.)

 

Figure 11

5.     Click on a Follow Ups icon for one of the household members. (See Figure 12.)

 

Figure 12

6.     Click "Add Follow Up Review" on the Follow Up Reviews window. (See Figure 13.)

 

Figure 13

7.     Check the box for all the household members, even if no changes occurred for some members. (See Figure 14.)

Figure 14 

8.      Select the Review Type. For Follow Ups this will usually be General Review. Note: The Review Type does not reflect in any reporting.

9.     Set the date as the date the case manager completed the follow up with the client.

10.  Click "Save & Continue". (See Figure 14.)

11.  The Entry Exit Follow Up Review window will appear. (See Figure 15.) If nothing has changed, click "Save & Exit". This will record that there was no change for each household member.  (See Figure 17.) If changes did occur for any of the data elements on the Follow Up assessment, make those changes as appropriate to each household member with any change. (See Figure 15.)

 

Figure 15

12.  A record is displayed in the Follow Ups Review box. It will also provide a count of all the members of the household in the single Follow Up record. (See Figure 16.)

13.  Click "Exit".

 

Figure 16

14.  Each member of the household will be included in the Follow up record regardless of if anything changed. The answers that were updated in the Follow Up record will not be show on the Exit Assessment.  This is due to the Follow Up update occurring after the Exit Date.  The Exit Assessment only shows answers that are effective up to the client's Exit Date.

To Make Changes to an Existing Follow Ups Review

Perform the following steps to make changes to a Follow Ups record.

1.     Click a Follow Ups icon (Figure 17).

Figure 17

2.     Click the pencil next to the Follow Up question that requires a change.

3.     Click Save & Continue

4.     Select the correct answer.

5.     Click the Save & Exit button to return to the Follow Ups Review window.

6.     Click Exit to return to the Entry/Exit Data window.

3.4. Updating or Changing Incomes During Program Enrollment

Interim Reviews for Income Changes

  1. The information at Project Start/Entry is only about what the client’s income looked like the day they entered the project. Never go back into the Project Start/Entry pencil to make any changes to income that happened to the client after their first day, you must create an Interim Review for any changes after the first day.  You should only go back to the Project Start/Entry pencil to correct or complete something was incorrect or missing about the income related to their first day.

Effectively, Interim Reviews allow you to create a pencil with a date you need to record an event occurred for the client, in this case, income changes.

  1. When making income changes using Interim Reviews, set the date of the Interim to the date you found out about any changes and make the End Date and Start Dates changes to income sub-assessments based upon that date, not the actual dates when the event occurred for a client.

For example: If you are PSH and you meet with your client once a year and find out that the client had an income change 5 months ago, but just talked to them yesterday and learned about the change, make the Interim Review date yesterday and align the changes based upon yesterday. If you find out about changes at Exit, don’t make an Interim Review, just Exit the client and make the changes through the Exit Assessment, aligning everything around the Exit Date.

  1. There are only three things you should change in an income update.  The ‘Outside’ Y/N, the Total Monthly Income (TMI), and adding an End Date to the inside of the income sub-assessment that is changing.  You then create a new income sub-assessment record for that income source with the new information (a new Inside Amount, and a new Start Date). When you End Date an old income sub-assessment do not change the Inside Amount or change the Inside Yes/No, leave those exactly as they were and only put in an End Date.
     
  • “Income from Any Source” (Yes/No) – ‘Outside Yes/No’
  • “Total Monthly Income” ($ amount) --  ‘TMI’
  • “Monthly Income” (sub-assessment) -- ‘income sub-assessment’ including Monthly Amount (‘Inside Amount’) and Receiving Income Source (‘Inside Yes/No’)

 

 

  1. When you are ending an old income sub-assessment record to replace it with the new income sub-assessment, you set the End Date to be the day before the event (Interim Review Date or Exit Date), and the new income sub-assessment record you create with have its Start Date be the date of the event (Interim Review Date or Exit Date).  The old record and the new record should not have the same or overlapping End Date/Start Date, if this happens it causes the income amount to spike on that day and come back down the next day, which will have a negative effect on your outcomes.

In summary

  • Interims Reviews are for changes that occur after the Project Start/Entry Date
  • Set the Interim date to the date you found out about the change
  • When ending an income sub-assessment only input an End Date, leave all the other answers exactly as they were
  • Any income ending should have an End Date of the day before the Interim date, and the new income should have a Start Date that matches the Interim Date
  • If you are finding out about changes at Exit use the Exit Assessment instead of an Interim but then use the day before exit as the End Date for an income and the Exit Date as the Start Date for new incomes

 

Income Update Examples

Whether you are updating income through an Interim Review, or an Exit Assessment you will need to review the Income for each adult in the household (including a child’s SSI/SSDI/Child Support that is being recorded on the appropriate adult) and record the new income data using the examples below:

Client had no income but is updating with income

If the client had no income previously and now has income:

  • Income from Any Source:             Switch from No to Yes
  • Total Monthly Income:                  Delete 0 and input the new monthly income total
  • Monthly Income (sub-assessment):

    1. Click HUD Verification to open the income sub-assessments
    2. Click the pencil (🖉) next to the income that will be changing from No to Yes
    3. Enter an End Date (the day before the Interim or Exit, accordingly)
    4. Click Save
    5. Select Yes for the Income that has moved to Incomplete
    6. Enter the dollar amount
    7. Click Save
    8. Click Exit to close HUD Verification
    9. Click Save & Exit to close the Interim

Client had income but now has no income

If the client had income previously and is no longer receiving any income:

  • Income from Any Source:             Switch from Yes to No
  • Total Monthly Income:                  Delete dollar amount and replace with 0
  • Monthly Income (sub-assessment):

    1. Click HUD Verification to open the income sub-assessments
    2. Click the pencil (🖉) next to the income that will be changing from Yes to No
    3. Enter an End Date (the day before the Interim or Exit, accordingly)
    4. Click Save
    5. Select No for the Income that has moved to Incomplete
    6. Click Save & Exit to close HUD Verification
    7. Click Save & Exit to close the Interim

Client has income and now has different income (change in amount and/or source)

These examples for are a client who already has some income but has had a change either to the amount of income from a single source, or they have multiple income sources and one has changed but the other remain:

When one income source ends but other income sources still remain

  • Income from Any Source?    Keep Yes
  • Total Monthly Income:          delete existing amount and enter new monthly income total
  • Monthly Income (sub-assessment):

    1. Click HUD Verification to open the income sub-assessments
    2. Click the pencil (🖉) next to the income that will be changing from Yes to No
    3. Enter an End Date (the day before the Interim or Exit, accordingly)
    4. Click Save
    5. Select No for the Income that has moved to Incomplete
    6. Click Save & Exit to close HUD Verification
    7. Click Save & Exit to close the Interim

When an existing income source changes amount

For example: Client has a part-time job and gets a 2nd part time job.  You update the Total Monthly Income, then end date the existing Earned Income sub-assessment and replace it with a new Earned Income sub-assessment

  • Income from Any Source?    Keep Yes
  • Total Monthly Income:          delete existing amount and enter new monthly income total
  • Monthly Income (sub-assessment):

    1. Click HUD Verification to open the income sub-assessments
    2. Click the pencil (🖉) next to the income that will be changing amounts
    3. Enter an End Date (the day before the Interim or Exit, accordingly)
    4. Click Save
    5. Select Yes for the Income that has moved to Incomplete
    6. Enter the new dollar amount
    7. Click Save
    8. Click Exit to close HUD Verification
    9. Click Save & Exit to close the Interim

When a new income source is gained and there are other incomes that are continuing

  • Income from Any Source?    Keep Yes
  • Total Monthly Income:          delete existing amount and enter new monthly income total
  • Monthly Income (sub-assessment):

    1. Click HUD Verification to open the income sub-assessments
    2. Click the pencil (🖉) next to the income that will be changing from No to Yes
    3. Enter an End Date (the day before the Interim or Exit, accordingly)
    4. Click Save
    5. Select Yes for the Income that has moved to Incomplete
    6. Enter the new dollar amount
    7. Click Save
    8. Click Exit to close HUD Verification
    9. Click Save & Exit to close the Interim

Client has no changes to income

These last two examples might happen if you are a PSH program doing an Annual Assessment and there are no changes to income.  You have to create an Interim Review set as Annual Assessment but may not have anything to change.  If you aren’t a PSH or TH with clients staying over 365 days needing re-certification, you won’t create Interim Reviews when there are no changes.

These might also be the case for any client at Exit who had no income and leaves with no Income, or has some income recorded that doesn’t change as they exit.

Client had no income and is at review still has no income

If the client has no reported income and they still have no income then you do not need to change any of the Income questions. The income questions should be:

  • Income from Any Source:              Keep No
  • Total Monthly Income:                  Keep 0
  • Monthly Income (sub-assessment): Keep existing sub-assessments

Client has income and is maintaining the same income (no change in amount or source)

If the client had income previously and is maintaining the same Income from the same source(s) then you do not need to change anything on the income.

  • Income from Any Source:              Keep Yes
  • Total Monthly Income:                  Keep dollar amount
  • Monthly Income (sub-assessment): Keep existing sub-assessments


4. In Depth: Service Transactions

4.1. Which Service Transactions to Enter

Each client should have at least one Case Management Service Transaction to indicate that client's intake process.

Each client should also have a second Service Transaction of some kind besides Case Management. It does NOT have to be financial; it can be "Housing Search and Placement".

As your client progresses through your program, users should update any services given, such as rental payments.

For each recertification, there should be one Case Management Service Transaction.

So, a typical collection of Services Transactions for a client might be:

Date Service Activity Represented
5/1/2014 Case Management Intake
6/15/2014 Housing Search and Placement Found housing for the client
6/15/2014 Rental Payment Paid first month's rent
6/15/2014 Deposit Payment Paid deposit
7/1/2014 Rental Payment Paid 2nd month's rent
8/1/2014 Case Management Recertification
8/1/2014 Rental Payment Paid 3rd month's rent

 

5. How to Adjust Existing Records

6. Forgot Password / Password Reset

6.1. Forgot Password / Password Reset

Starting May 6, 2019 users can use the automated 'Forgot Password' feature to reset lost or forgotten password without the need to contact an administrator.


You can download and review the printed instructions attached to this page for more details.