• AIRS – Alliance of Information and Referral Systems
  • AHAR – Annual Homeless Assessment Report
  • APR – Annual Performance Report
  • ATA – Agency Technical Administrator
  • CAPER – Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report
  • CES – Coordinated Entry System
  • CDBG – Community Development Block Grant CoC - Continuum of Care
  • CH – Chronically Homeless
  • CoC – Continuum of Care
  • DOB – Date of Birth
  • DQSC – Data Quality Sub-Committee
  • DV – Domestic Violence
  • ES – Emergency Shelter
  • ESG – Emergency Solutions Grant
  • EVHI – Ending Veteran Homelessness Initiative
  • Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
  • HMIS – Homeless Management Information System
  • HoH – Head of Household
  • HOPWA – Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
  • HPCC – Homeless Prevention Call Center
  • HUD – Housing and Urban Development
  • NOFA – Notice of Funding Availability PIT - Point in Time
  • NP - Non-Participating (Agency is listed as not using ServicePoint or no longer in operation)
  • PATH - Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness
  • PPI – Personal Protected Information
  • PSH – Permanent Supportive Housing
  • RHY – Runaway and Homeless Youth
  • ROI – Release of Information
  • RRH – Rapid Re-Housing
  • SH – Safe Haven
  • SHP – Supportive Housing Program
  • SRO – Single Room Occupancy
  • SSI – Supplemental Security Income
  • SSN – Social Security Numbe
  • SSO – Supportive Services Only
  • SSVF – Supportive Services for Veteran Families
  • UDE – Universal Data Element
  • TANF – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
  • TFA – Temporary Financial Assistance
  • VASH – Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing

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    HMIS Global Visibility Announcement

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    Rischelle Fajardo
    • Updated
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    As part of the Chicago CoC's ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration and improve client outcomes, the HMIS Committee has approved a significant update to data visibility settings within the HMIS. This change aligns with the Chicago CoC's awarded funding as part of the White House and U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) Initiative called ALL INside, which identified five priority areas for support. One of those priorities is:

      “Support to address technical issues that relate to allowing the system to provide
  added transparency for HMIS partners working across same populations.”

     

    January Webinar Training Series

     

    What's Changing? 

    With a few exceptions, all HMIS data for unlocked clients will now be visible to users across agencies, regardless of who originally entered the information. This change applies only to data entered on or after the rollout date. Data entered prior to the rollout will retain its original visibility settings.

    The following will be globally visible:

    • Client Profile
    • Client Entry/Exits
    • Client Assessments
    • Client Sub-assessments
    • Client ROI (Release of Information)
    • Client Services
    • Client Case Notes
    • Client Attachments
    • Client Goals
    • Client Incidents
    • Client Call Record

     

    Why This Matters for the CoC

    This shift to global visibility brings several key benefits for the Chicago CoC:

    • Comprehensive Client Records: For clients served by multiple agencies, the client data available to those agencies will be comprehensive. Ensuring all agencies have access to the same client information.
    • Reduced Data Entry Burden: Assessment data entered by one agency will be visible to others upon enrollment, minimizing redundant data collection.
    • Improved Service Coordination: A complete and holistic view of client needs allows for a better understanding of how to provide support effectively and streamlines the coordination of their services.
    • Strengthening Data Integrity: Revised client consent documentation/workflows and updated guidance on record locking are designed to improve data integrity by minimizing duplication, reducing the need for client merges, and ensuring data consistency.

     

    How Will This Affect Client Enrollments?

    Client Profile / Clients Created

    With the rollout of global visibility, all newly created client profiles in HMIS will be unlocked by default, meaning they will be visible to all users across the CoC who have access to unlocked clients. This change is designed to improve coordination, reduce duplication, and ensure that providers have access to the most accurate and up-to-date client information.

    If a client does not wish to share their information across agencies, their record must be manually locked at the time of creation. It’s important to note that this change applies only to clients created on or after the rollout date. Clients who were already in the system will retain their original visibility settings, which may or may not allow visibility of the client record, depending on their current visibility settings.

     

    Enrollments / Assessments

    Project enrollments will now be visible across the CoC for unlocked clients. This means that when a client is enrolled in a program, other providers will be able to view that enrollment record, including entry and exit dates, services provided, and assessments or sub-assessments linked to that enrollment. For example, if a client has already completed an enrollment assessment with one agency, that information will be visible to another agency enrolling the same client. This will reduce the need to re-collect information that is already accurate and available in HMIS. 

    It’s important to note that HOPWA and RHY project enrollments will not be included in this visibility change and will continue to follow their existing visibility settings. 

    Assessments That Will Be Globally Visible:

    AME Entry Assessment HUD CoC & ESG Update
    Annual Assessment HUD VASH Annual Assessment
    Contact Information HUD VASH Entry
    COVID-19: High Risk Indicator HUD VASH Exit
    DFSS and IDHS Supplemental Assessment HUD VASH Update
    HHS PATH Annual Assessment State Homeless Prevention
    HHS PATH Entry for Services Only VA GPD CCSH CRS Annual Assessment
    HHS PATH Entry for Street Outreach VA GPD CCSH CRS Entry
    HHS PATH Exit VA GPD CCSH CRS Exit
    HHS PATH Update VA GPD CCSH CRS Update
    HPCC VA SSVF Annual
    HUD CoC & ESG Entry – All Other Projects VA SSVF Entry for HP and RRH
    HUD CoC & ESG Entry – SO, ES, SH VA SSVF Exit
    HUD CoC & ESG Exit VA SSVF Update
    Coordinated Entry HUD   Coordinated Entry HUD Update

     

    How Will This Affect Reporting?

    With the rollout of global visibility, the way data appears in HMIS generated reports, particularly federal reports like the APR, will change in a meaningful way. For unlocked clients, data entered by one agency will now be visible to others and will be included in reports, regardless of which provider originally entered it. This includes, but is not limited to, assessment fields such as date of birth, income, non-cash benefits, disabling condition, living situation, veteran status, housing move-in date, and household relationships.

    What this means in practice is that if a client’s income was recorded by one agency, and that client later enrolls in a different program, that income data will now appear in the second agency’s APR, provided the client is unlocked and the data wasn’t overwritten during the new enrollment.

    This change will result in more complete and accurate reporting at the system level, but it also means that agencies may begin to see data in their reports that they did not directly enter. This is expected and intentional under the new visibility model. It reflects the shared responsibility of the CoC to maintain accurate, unduplicated, and coordinated data for clients who move between programs and providers.

    It’s important for users to understand that there is no longer a way to limit reports to only the data entered by their agency for unlocked clients. Reports will reflect the full scope of visible data tied to the client, regardless of which provider entered it. This aligns with the broader goals of the visibility change: to reduce duplication, improve data quality, and support more coordinated care and system-wide accountability.

     

    FAQ Summary:

    1. What is changing with visibility in HMIS?
      1. Starting on the rollout date, all HMIS data for unlocked clients going forward will be globally visible across the CoC. This means that users will be able to view client data regardless of which agency entered it, as long as the client is not locked.
    2. Which client records will be affected?
      1. New clients created after the rollout will be unlocked by default and globally visible.
      2. If a client chooses "Limited Sharing", their record must be manually locked at the time of creation.
      3. Clients created before the rollout will retain their original visibility settings, which may or may not allow full visibility.
    3. Will enrollments be visible too?
      1. Yes. All new enrollments starting on the rollout date for unlocked clients will be globally visible, including entry/exit dates, services, case notes, and assessments tied to the enrollment.
        1. Note: Enrollments for HOPWA and RHY projects are excluded from this change.
    4. Can agencies limit reports to only the data they entered?
      1. No. Under the new visibility model, there is no way to restrict reports to only agency entered data for unlocked clients. Reports will reflect the full scope of visible data during that reporting time range tied to the client, regardless of which provider entered it.
    5. Will I still be able to see which agency entered specific data?
      1. Yes. While data will be visible across agencies, HMIS will still track which provider entered each data element. This information can be viewed in the question history button.

     

    Webinar Training Series Schedule:

    To help agencies and users prepare, the HMIS team is hosting a five-part webinar series in January 2026 that covers everything you need to know. We recommend that all users and agency staff register for every session and share these links with their teams to ensure full preparation for the Global Visibility rollout.

     

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