• 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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    Creating a Client Record

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    Rischelle Fajardo
    • Updated
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    Starting with the Global Visibility rollout, all new client records created in HMIS will be globally visible across agencies by default. This means any unlocked client record can be viewed by all participating providers, supporting better coordination and reducing duplication. However, this also makes consent management and data accuracy more important than ever.

    • Global Visibility applies to all new client records created after the rollout date. 
      • Exceptions: Clients entered under EDA mode for HOPWA or RHY projects will remain locked by default and will not be globally visible. 

    • Consent matters:

      • Full Sharing: A client agrees to share their information with all HMIS agencies. Their record will be globally visible, and other providers can see their profile, enrollments, and services. 
      • Limited Sharing: A client agrees to share only with your agency and Coordinated Entry. Their record will still be created, but visibility will be restricted based on ROI settings. 
      • No Sharing: A client declines HMIS participation. Do not create a record. Track services offline in your internal system.

       

    Overview

    After completing a thorough search and a matching record have not been found, then a new record must be created. 
     

     

     

     

    Client records can be found in the Clients module of the HMIS: 

     

     

     

     

     

    The following will walk-through steps that should be taken when creating a new client record in the HMIS.

    1. Search for client
    2. Add New Client
    3. Add Client to a Household
    4. Household Information
    5. Client Record

    Step 1: Search for Client

    Follow the guidelines in this article to complete a thorough search: Searching for Clients in HMIS. 


    In order to add a new client, you have to complete a search first. Notice how upon first navigating to the Clients Search page, the Add New Client button is grayed out: 


     

    Step 2: Add New Client

    After completing a thorough search, you may now click Add New Client with this Information. 

    Users should not create Anonymous clients nor be added without a household, even if they are a single client.

    Clients also cannot be added without a Last Name. The system will alert you of a Validation Error:

     

    Step 3: Add Client to a Household

    New clients should always be added into a household right away. This prevents data issues in the enrollment in the future. See this article for a more information: Households (HH)

    New Household

    A new household should be created when the no matching records can be found when searching for the individual or any of the other members of the household. 

    To enlarge, right click and Open image in new tab.

     

    • Household Type: Designate a Household Type that best fits your client's sex and other household members that might be with them:
      • Single Male
      • Single Female
      • Male w/ Child
      • Female w/ Child
      • Couple with No Children
      • Two-Parent Family
      • Other
    • Client Search: This search field is for you to search and/or create other new household members. If they are a single person household, then disregard this search.
    • Selected Clients: Clients that will be included in this household will be listed down here

     

     

     

    Existing Household

    If there is a known household in the HMIS already in the system that the client belongs in, add them to an existing household.

    To enlarge, right click and Open image in new tab.

     

    • Household Search: When searching for existing households, the search field will pre-populate the client's last name.
    • Advanced Search: Clicking this button, will expand the search fields if there is more information about the household available.
    • Household Results: Similar to the functionality of the Client Search, use this space to compare data points to ensure that you are selecting the household that your client should be in. Select the household by clicking the plus icon in the first column
    • Add NEW Household when unable to find the appropriate household. 

     

     

     

     

    As a general rule, households nor its members should never be deleted, unless self-correcting an error. Existing households are valid and may be used to link clients together with a different provider. Deleting households or its members out of a household may cause data issues for other enrollments. 

     

    Step 4: Household Information

    After adding the client to a household, the next window is the Household Information. 

    In the table at the top, we need to assign:

    1. One Head of Household and
    2. Relationship to the Head of Household for the other members

    When selecting "Yes" for an individual for Head of Household, Relationship to Head of Household will automatically populate "Self"

     

    Step 5: Client Record

    Finally, if you have not done so during the Search step, complete each household member's Client Record information. This is the same data that appears on their Client Profile. See this article for more guidance on how to complete each question: Client Profile

    • Clicking each name in the Household Members panel, allows you to go to each client's record.
    • Clicking the pencil will allow you to edit the Client Record. 
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