MSHMIS System Administrator Webinar: 12/16/15
Please remember to enter the Audio PIN if dialing-in by telephone!
Welcome – New Users in the Meeting
NEW HOT TOPICS
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System Upgrades: 5.12.8 (PATH Report Updates) and 5.12.9 (ShelterPoint Upgrade)
Last Friday night, we upgraded to ServicePoint 5.12.8, which included the following fixes to the PATH Report
o The rows Relevant Housing Services and Housing Placement Assistance were not being populated in Q11.
o The row Housing Technical Assistance was not being populated in Q10.
o Assessment answers from existing Interim records were not being pulled into the PATH report as expected.
o The previously greyed out Referrals Provided columns in Q11 now populates with data.
We are in the process of evaluating the ShelterPoint patch and will let you know as soon as we finish testing and have scheduled the
upgrade.
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Ending Veteran Homelessness: Many of your CoC are working client by client to end Veteran homelessness. The effort usually
involves multiple providers some of which are on the System and some that are not. However, the State ICH (Governors Council)
and other state and even federal partners are looking at our HMIS data to tell the story. The core of this involving balancing the
number of new Veteran’s that are homeless with those that are housed. After running the data against our HMIS By Name list
based on the Front Door reports, it is clear that at least some of you that are housing Veterans are likely not finishing the data loop.
It can be challenging as the average time to housing is over 100 days. It is important that the Veteran be open in a reporting
program during that time and that the exit destination reflects that they are housed when you are successful. Please make sure
that you have a local process to accomplish this!! The data matters.
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AHAR Report: Calculating Bed and Unit Inventory Issue
In working with the AHAR report, we discovered that the bed inventory for the individual four point in time dates does not
necessarily match what is in the HMIS Bed/Unit Inventory section on those four dates. Bowman told us that they use an algorithm
which averages bed numbers on the four dates, which in some cases gives an inaccurate over or under utilization in the AHAR
submission for some communities. We have submitted a case to Bowman on this, but we do not anticipate a fix before the final
deadline of December 23rd.
As a workaround, we are recommending that communities where the Bed Inventories in the AHAR report are significantly different
than what is in HMIS to manually adjust the numbers on the four Point in Time dates directly in HDX. To determine what the exact
Bed/Unit Inventory numbers are for your CoC, you can run the 0629 - Housing Inventory Count - v10 (ART > Public Folder > ART
Gallery Reports and Resources > ART Gallery Reports) for each of the four individual Point in Time dates, and use the numbers
from the report to manually insert into HDX.
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AHAR Notes: The "Chronic Health Condition" disability in the AHAR Report
You may have noticed in this year's AHAR, that you may receive missing data errors for disability type if only "chronic health
conditon" is listed
If this is the case, there is no need to worry. This year's AHAR does not recognize "Chronic Health Condition" as a value but next
year's AHAR will. In the meantime, there is no need to adjust the answers for your clients. Abt Associates, the firm that reviews the
AHAR submissions, is aware that the report counts in this way and should not reflect negatively on the submission.
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Important Changes to the Chronic Homeless Definition from HUD:
On Friday, December 4th, HUD released the final rule on definition changes for Chronically Homeless persons in the Federal
Register. Attached is a copy of the publication. Below are some of the highlights of the changes:
This rule goes into effect January 15, 2016. On this date, any persons served in permanent supportive housing (PSH) that is required to
serve persons that are chronically homeless (either dedicated or prioritized) may only accept new participants that meet this definition.
Program participants who are already residing in these programs will not be affected. Going forward dedicated projects will need to
develop a priority plan to fill beds when there are not enough Chronically Homeless (new definition) to address openings. It is not HUD’s
intent to have beds open.
MCAH Staff are currently working on training materials for the new definition, which we will be releasing soon. However, we want to stress
that the Chronically Homeless interview needs to be a controlled process performed by staff who have trained in it’s application. Because
of the nuances within the definition, there will be issues if the interview is performed by individuals who are not properly trained and who
attempt to rush through the interview process. Specifically, while all intake workers will need to be trained on the basic rule, we
recommend that some smaller number of designated staff that are trained interviewers arrange the time and place for a detailed interview
to “certify” the results of the initial interview for a small number of clients. .
Updates to the Federal Rule:
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Requires a substantiated disability
As always those that have been continuously homeless (living in the streets, ES, or SH) for the last 12 months qualify. TH does not qualify
someone for Chronic Status.
o Institutional stays of less than 90s can be included in the time calculation as long as they were on the streets, ES, or SH when they
began.
o Stays in "housed" environments that are less than 7 consecutive nights do not constitute a break in homelessness.
Homeless on at least 4 separate occasions in the last 3 years as long as the combined occasions total 12 months.
o A break in homelessness is defined as a stay in housing that lasts at least 7 consecutive nights.
o A client must have at least 4 separate occasions to qualify under this option. That is, if they had 2 occasions that totaled 14 months,
they would not qualify as chronic.
o Institutional stays of less than 90 days can be included in the time calculation as long as they were on the streets, ES, or SH when they
began.
o Calculating a month is nuanced.
 They must be seen by a homeless service program at least once in the month.
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 They cannot have any breaks where they are housed for at least 7 consecutive days.
The chronic status of a household is defined by the Head of Household even when other members of the household may change.
The CoC must have written intake procedures that ensure compliance with the new rule. MCAH will provide a sample that may be adopted.
The new rule goes into effect on January 15th. It does not affect existing clients in chronic qualified services (PSH and VASH).
The way that the series of questions is asked is proscribed. Currently, most people in Michigan qualify under the 4 or more rule. In this new
world, the interview must take them backward in time up to 3 years. For many that would actually qualify, this interview may take quite some
time and will require an interview environment that is quite and distraction free.
The HMIS may be used to substantiate the pattern of homelessness however it will require an interview to cover times when the client is on the
street or in a non-participating shelter. Third party verification and or sign-off is required. That means the interview is going to have to be very
specific about where the client was and who they were with. Fortunately the HMIS may be used to verify stays which will streamline the
process. MCAH is working on a report from the HMIS that can be used as verification and also to help guide the interview for those with really
complex stay histories.
MCAH will provide training on the new definition. All intake staff should take the training. However because a complex interview will be required to
confirm that status of those with long complex housing/homeless histories, that all those we are attempting to count under the “episode” part of the
definition with need certification.
MCAH Recommendations for the Intake Plan:
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Each CoC will identify individuals to complete Chronic Certification Interviews. They might be PH program staff or HARA Staff or a Case
Management Program. This interview will flow with the SPDAT interview.
All CoC Intake workers currently completing the Chronic Questions will complete training and ask all Data Standard questions as they apply to
the initial interview.
We know this initial data will be inaccurate in some instances as it is a “snapshot” as answered by the client. Certification will only be required
for those attempting to qualify under the “4 or more episodes in the last 3 years” part of the rule. We think that the interview should take
place within two weeks of the initial intake interview to increase the likelihood that the client can be contacted and also to jump start
problem solving. It is important that we manage client expectations. That means that we will need a Report and/or tickler of some
kind so that CoCs know very quickly that a follow-up interview is necessary.
There will be new question added to the HMIS that will “flag” those who have been certified in a follow-up interview.
o Example question choices:
o Client verified as “chronic” by housing history case manager under the Episode Rule
o Client verified as “non-chronic” by housing history case manager
o Client unavailable for housing history interview
Barb will create a report that will list the HMIS transaction data for clients scheduled for certification. This report will support the
interview and might in some instances document certification without interviewing.
A certified housing history case manager will conduct the housing history portion of the interview to validate chronic status The case manager
will go through the entire housing history in order to determine chronicity. The certification will place only those that are truly chronic on any list
and we expect the numbers of chronic will be small. However once CoCs determine their alternate priorities this testing should also be done in
this interview.
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Case Manager will update/change the client record after the data is confirmed and complete the “flagged” field question to confirm interview and
the outcomes (chronic, not chronic, and unavailable for interview). They will attach a paper verification onto the record so that sharing partners
may also use this Certification for their files.
If the client is determined chronic and is eligible to be placed on the housing list, it might be necessary to recertify when housing becomes
available. A community process will be used.
We will need to determine how long a Certification will last. Solicit input from attendees.
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Coverage Exercise: Please plan to review your Coverage by March 31st to support the Annual Count in 2015. This year for the
Annual Count, we are asking all CoCs to complete this process. This will also allow you to evaluate how your clients are flowing
through your Coordinated Assessment Programs. GET IT ON YOUR COC AGENDAs ASAP. Forms and FAQ are attached.
Training are also being hosted by your assigned MCAH Staff. Please make sure that you complete this process if you
haven’t already done so.
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2016 PIT/HIC Count
HUD just released the final guidance for the 2016 PIT Count. Our staff are currently going through the detailed guidance to
prepare the training aids for the 2016 edition of this activity. We have scheduled two training webinars to help communities
prepare for PIT/HIC 2016:
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2016 PIT and HIC Part 1: HUD Guidance and Count Strategies for CoCs
Friday, January 8, 2016 - 10:00
am
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/566049847843473409
2016 PIT and HIC Part 2: Using HMIS to Complete Your PIT/HIC Submission
Tuesday, February 2, 2016 - 10:00
am
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/78683622250439937
Leading up to these webinars, below are key points and resources heading into the PIT/HIC season.
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A Street Count is Not Required in 2016: Communities will not be required to count individuals and families living on the
streets or in other places unfit for human habitation. However, communities are encouraged to still conduct street counts if
practical.
Per historic HUD Guidance the Count Date should be scheduled for a night in the last 10 days of January: We
STRONGLY recommend doing it on the last Wednesday of January, to align with other HUD required activities such as
APRs, the HMIS APR and the AHAR. That date is January 27, 2016. The Balance of State Count Date is January 27,
2016.
Historic HUD Guidance for the PIT/HIC Available: Historic PIT/HIC Guidance is available from HUD at
https://www.hudexchange.info/hdx/guides/pit-hic/
MCAH Historic PIT/HIC Guidance is Available: MCAH Guidance is available at http://mihomeless.org/index.php/userresources/hmis-training-certification/downloads/point-in-time-count-resources/viewcategory/187-pit-kit-resources
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The 2016 HUD PIT/HIC Data Collection Notice Can Now Be Downloaded: The following link takes you to guidance from
HUD for the 2016 Count. http://hudexchange.us5.listmanage.com/track/click?u=87d7c8afc03ba69ee70d865b9&id=cda6c6f603&e=a77cec56d7
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Development of ServicePoint 6.0 to Start in January:
Bowman has informed us that their team will begin intensive development of ServicePoint 6.0 after the first of the year with the
(very) preliminary release date of it coming in the third or fourth quarter of 2016. This is the first massive redesign of the product in
over 4 years, and Bowman has solicited extensive feedback via focus user groups to drive the development process. We have
been informed that SP 6.0 will also include a brand new reporting tool which will exist alongside the current reporting tools in
ServicePoint.
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MCAH Help Desk Coverage During the Holiday Season: MCAH’s office will be closed on December 24th, 25th, and December
31st – January 1st so that the MCAH staff can enjoy the holidays with their families. Between the Christmas and New Years
Holiday, the help desk will be running on limited staffing. There will be someone available for general support from 9 am to 5 pm
on the 28-30, however specific MCAH staff members may have limited availability as they enjoy vacation time with their families.
As always, if there is an emergency, such as ServicePoint going down, you can text either Barb (517-230-7146 or Gerry (810577-6185) and we will work to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
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Contact Information in ServicePoint: All System Administrators need to review their User Profiles, and ensure that their phone
numbers and emails are current.
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New Balance of State Users and Agency Administrators Webinar Registration:
To clean up our list for the Balance of State Users and Agency Administrators meeting, we decided to “sunset” the old meeting and
issue a new link. We are asking all attendees to reregister for the meeting through the link below. Please send out to all your
users and agency administrators that would like to attend. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1945922646829188610
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Pulling questions from ART: We have determined that a substantial reason that we have problems with mapping reports to our
ART Site are duplicative and just too many questions. We are adding a new SOW that removes from ART any field that has not
been updated (with client data) since 4/1/2015 on the ClientPoint Side. We do understand in a few instances that you may need to
run historical data. Please call our office. We have a procedure to resolve this. PLEASE DO NOT BUILD NEW ASSESSMENTS
WITHOUT NETWORKING WITH MCAH STAFF. If you put the wrong question in your Report, the data will not roll up on standard
reports. While genuinely new questions may be added, it is forbidden to add a new question just because you like the wording
better. You can do wording on your paper from.
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BOS (Balance of State) Stipend holders may now start invoicing for the 2015/16 Grant year and we can begin to reimburse.
Please spend these dollars down prior to 12/31/2015 unless otherwise approved. We are encouraging all Option 2 communities
with stipend dollars to begin submitting receipts and requests to Gloria (gpecora@mihomeless.org) as money is spent down, to
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minimize the annual “year-end” scramble for closing out the grants. If anyone has any pressing technical equipment needs, we
may have funds available to assist. Please contact Gerry regarding possible equipment requests and we will review them.
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Register for the MCAH Mailing Lists:
MCAH is using a brand new mailing list management tool to help us communicate better with you all. If you, or a co-worker you
know, would like to sign up to receive communication from one of our various mailing lists, you can do so by clicking the
appropriate link below:
Michigan Statewide System Administrator’s Meeting Mailing List:
http://eepurl.com/bvmzNv
Michigan Balance of State Users and Agency Administrator’s Meeting Mailing List:
http://eepurl.com/bwokOr
FOLLOW UP ON PREVIOUS AGENDA ITEMS:
 Emergency Shelter Contact List:
We are in the process of pulling together an emergency shelter contact list for MDHHS. This information was requested for a variety of
reasons. First and foremost, MDHHS plans to use the information to assess the gaps in shelter. They also plan to offer training
opportunities and standards for sheltering which they plan to make available to all shelters (not just those funded by MDHHS). The
information used to populate the initial contact list was gathered from HMIS. Unfortunately, several key pieces of data were either missing
and/or out-of-date. An email went out on November 5th asking all System Administrators to review the list and update their information. We
received overwhelming response and would like to thank those of you that took the time to review/update your information. If you have not
yet done so, please review that email and get your changes to Shanna Cherubini (scherubini@mihomeless.org) ASAP. (Should we keep
this or remove?)
 Michigan Data Quality Audit:
We again would like to thank everyone for working so diligently on the data quality exercise that was sent out last month. As we
move forward, it is important that continue to monitor our data quality and continue to correct error on a regular basis.
(To Review) Data Quality Items of Concern:
o SSN Information
o Veteran Status
o Subassessment Verifications (Income, NonCash Benefits, Disability and Health Insurance)
o Domestic Violence Information
o Relationship to HoH
o Client Location
o Length of Time on the Streets…..
o Discharge Destination*
o Unexited Clients
o Missing RRH data (In Permanent Housing/Move In Date)
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Child Only Households
Provider Page Updates (Federal Partner Info, HUD Standards, B&U Inventory Information & Closing out inactive providers).
One area of particular concern pertains to Discharge Destination. As a reminder… the ‘Data Not Collected’ and ‘No Exit Interview
Completed’ options have the same impact on outcome data as selecting ‘Don’t Know’. In certain situations, it may be necessary to select
these options. However, we ask that agencies make every effort to collect discharge information from clients who are exiting their
programs. MCAH has created three reports to help with this process.
o Discharge Destination DQ Report – Identify any ‘non-HUD’ destination responses & gather information regarding ‘other’
destinations so they can be mapped into the appropriate HUD categories. Document errors on data quality spreadsheet
along with the correct HUD response so agencies know how to fix their data.
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Destination Data Quality Report with Rental Assistance Info. – Identify clients who received rental assistance within 1
month of being discharged. Compile a list of clients for the agency to review. PLEASE NOTE: This report is for
informational purposes only. Clients with rental assistance at the time of exit do not automatically count as data quality
errors. Use the information obtained from the report and consult with direct care staff to determine whether or not client
records should be corrected.
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If Discharge Destination nulls continue to be an issue after agencies have made every attempt to clean up data. System
Administrators should run the ‘Destination Client Level Audit Report’ (located in the NOFA folder) to try to identify
where clients went after exiting a project with an unknown destination. If the client moved from one project to another in a
short period of time, you may be able to determine the actual destination upon leaving the first project based on the
Residence Prior to Living question answered by the second project.
Note: This report should not be sent to agencies; it may present a privacy breach if data isn’t being shared. Send the
agencies a list of Client IDs with probable destinations. Agency staff will make the decision whether the “unknown”
destinations should be changed to the “probable” destinations. If the agency doesn’t feel comfortable changing the
destination, they should not be forced to make the changes, as determining probable destination is an assumption, not
necessarily fact. We don’t want agencies to feel like they have to “make up” data.
Please refer to the Michigan 2015 Data Quality Exercise document (attached to meeting minutes) for a list a specific steps that you can
take to monitor and correct your data. This document includes a list of reports (with locations) to address all of the data quality concerns
mentioned above.
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Updating Privacy Training Annually During 2014 we alert the local SA if we had users that failed the Quiz. Some of those users
have still not responded. At this point they will need to repeat the training and should be redirected to the Certification Module on
our Website. In addition to the basic Privacy Update, we are now requiring users to repeat a series of short refreshers on
configuring Visibility on Assessments (all SA and Agency Administrator Access levels), Securing the Client Record (all users) and
using the Un-named Record (All Users). That is Privacy Update:
o Privacy Update (1 hr) – All Users
o Securing the Client Record (19 min)- All Users
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Creating Un-named Records (6 min) – All Users
Establishing Visibility (21 min) – System Administrators and Agency Administrators
 A refresher of key components of sharing data through the System:
When it comes to visibility and security of client records in HMIS, we need to remember it is a two-step process. The first step it to
establish the default visibility on each agency provider page and the second is to ensure that when staff enter clients they add an ROI
(to “turn on” internal sharing) and adjust security on the individual record (to “turn off” or “limit” external sharing) based on the
clients that say “no” to sharing data.
***VERY IMPORTANT!!!***
If you are using CUSTOM ASSESSMENTS within your community, you must make sure the questions are updated to reflect the changes
to the HUD data standards after moving up to version 5.12. MCAH staff will update all of our standard MCAH created and maintained
assessments, however, local communities must do the same with their custom assessments to ensure you are compliant with the new
data standards.
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ESP& ShelterPoint Issue:
o Previously, there was a ShelterPoint issue that made client furlough nearly impossible to manage. Entry-Exits could not be
deleted if they were tied to shelter stays, which left us with some child only households or clients with multiple entry-exits for
one provider over a short period of time. Bowman has fixed this issue; EEs are able to be deleted once again, and the
furloughing addendum is valid.
o We now have a new issue. It seems that some clients with open shelter stay service transactions had that service closed
for the following day, though they may still be in shelter. ALL shelters should run their billing reports for July, August,
September, and October to see if they may have been affected. The good news is that this does not seem to be affecting
every shelter. Typically, this can be fixed by removing the shelter stay end date if the client has not left, as the EE is
untouched in most cases, but not every page has had the same results
 Additional Partner Community Issues:
We want to thank all of you for being such fabulous partners as we work together to end homelessness in
Michigan. From the entire MCAH staff, to you, your coworkers, your families and friends, we want to wish
you the most blessed of holiday seasons, and we are looking forward to a wonderful 2016 with all of you.
HMIS Sys Admin Webinars occur the 3rd Wednesday of each month. Please mark your calendars.
Next meeting: January 20, 2016 at 1:00 pm via GoToWebinar.
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