• Context
• DQ Webinar
• Submission Process
  • Prepping Reports
  • Sending the Report
• Accessing the Chicago DQ report
  
  • Scheduling the Chicago DQ Report (Recommended)
    
    • Scheduling for One Time
    • Scheduling for a Recurring Report
    • Retrieving the Report After Scheduling
  • Demonstration of Report Scheduling
  • Viewing the Chicago DQ Report
• Accessing the Timeliness Report
• Interpreting the Chicago DQ Report
  
  • Summary (Tab A)
  • Assessment Detail – Missing Values and Mismatches (Tab B)
  • Child-only Entries (Tab C)
  • Bed or Room/Unit Utilization (Tab D)
• Interpreting the Timeliness Report
• User Support

Context

This is one of three articles going over the data quality process. This article describes how to run the Chicago DQ report and interpret the data.

For details on the overall structure of the process and outlines of the compliance measures, please go here.

The Data Quality process is comprised of two reports. The Chicago DQ Report covers Missing Values, Child-only Entries, and Bed Utilization; while the Timeliness report covers Timeliness.

 

Webinar

This webinar was recorded on August 19th, 2024. The slides can be found below. 

 

 

Submission Process

The report is to be submitted before the deadline (August 30th). For a full overview of the timeline, please review our process article.

Prepping Reports

After downloading the Excel version of the Chicago DQ report from BusinessObjects, the files must be renamed using the ChicagoDQ_----_yyyy-mm-dd template.

To rename the file on your computer, first, right-click on the ChicagoDQ_----_yyyy-mm-dd.xlsx file

Next, click Rename from the drop-down menu

From here you will be able to adjust the project ID (----) and the date (yyyy-mm-dd) in the file name before submission.

 

EX: 

Project: All Chicago – Emergency Shelter(883)

Submission file name: ChicagoDQ_0883_2024-08-27

The project ID number in the file name MUST be 4 digits. If a project has less than a 4-digit ID number a "0" should be placed before the ID number in the file name. 

EX:

Project ID: 833

Submission file name: ChicagoDQ_0883_2024-08-27

Project ID: 12

Submission file name: ChicagoDQ_0012_2024-08-27

The date can be updated whenever you submit the report – it is simply for tracking purposes. However, inputting your project’s HMIS ID in the place of the dashes is critical.

EX:

Date of submission: June 14th, 2024

Submission file name: ChicagoDQ_0883_2024-08-30

 

Sending the Reports

To submit the Chicago DQ report, please create an email to DataQuality@allchicago.org. The subject line must be “Data Quality Report Submission Attachments”.

• To: DataQuality@allchicago.org
• Subject: Data Quality Report Submission Attachments

You may attach all of your data quality reports together in one email, no need to send them separately.

Example below:

 

Accessing the Chicago DQ Report

The Chicago DQ Report is a self-service report accessible within BusinessObject (formerly ART) by Agency Technical Administrators.

The Chicago DQ Report is called ChicagoDQ_----_yyyy-mm-dd. It uses the same naming structure that providers will use when submitting the report. For those with BusinessObject licenses, follow these steps:

• Log in to ServicePoint, and navigate to the BusinessObject  section in either of the following ways:
  • Reports > Under Custom Reports, then click on BusinessObject 
  • In the top right corner of the screen, click Connect to BusinessObject 

• Within the BusinessObject Browser:
  • Navigate to Public Folder > chicago_live_folder > Chicago Coc Reports (Secure) > Data Quality > ChicagoDQ_----_yyyy-mm-dd

 

Scheduling the Chicago DQ Report (Recommended)

The HMIS team recommends scheduling the report in advance. Instead of viewing the report in the browser, scheduling the report allows users to directly download it to Excel without needing to keep any browser tabs open for extended periods of time. For more instructions on scheduling reports please see our helpdesk article here. 

Follow this process to schedule the Chicago DQ Report:

• Navigate to the report and right-click on the report name (ChicagoDQ_----_yyyy-mm-dd)
• From the dropdown click “Schedule Report”

• A new screen will appear, where you will need to set the report parameters. 
• The report Format should be set to Microsoft Excel - Reports

• Next, click Edit Prompt Values under the Prompts section.
• This will open a new window where you can adjust the prompts before running the report

• 4 prompts will need to be completed.
  • Select Provider: This is where you will select the project you are running the report for.
  • Enter Start Date: This date will be 04/01/2024
  • Enter End Date Plus 1 Day: This date will be 07/01/2024
    • The report will pull data up until 06/30/2024 at 11:59 pm 
  • PIT Date  Plus 1 Day: This date will be 5/23/2024
    • The report will view the utilization for the date of 5/22/2024.  

• Once done click Apply
• You will now be able to see the report prompts selected

• Once everything is set up as intended, click Schedule at the bottom of the page. 

For more instructions on scheduling reports please see our helpdesk article here. 

1. Instance Title: The first part of the name, with the “----”, is where you will input the project’s HMIS ID. In our case, the project was “All Chicago – Emergency Shelter (883)”, so our code will be “0883”.
2. Instance Title: The second part of the name, with the “yyyy-mm-dd”, is where you will enter the date of when you plan on submitting the report. If you plan to submit this report on 8/20/2024, then you would put “2024-08-20”.
   1. Keep in mind, this can be changed in Excel after the fact
   2. If you run your report on a recurring basis, it will continue to use the same name each time
3. Report Format: You have two options for a report format, PDF and Excel. You only need to submit an Excel version to us, so you will likely only choose Excel.
4. Recurrence: Allows you to choose how often the report will run. You can choose to run it Once, Daily, Weekly or Monthly. The report will run and be delivered to your BusinessObjects inbox at the designated time indicated by the “Start Date” time.

 

Retrieving the Report After Scheduling

When you have successfully scheduled your report, scroll all the way to the bottom of the BusinessObject homepage, and you should see the report that was just scheduled under Recently Run.

• Once the report has a green check mark it is safe to download. You can do this by just clicking the report. It will then auto-download to your computer

 

 

Viewing the Chicago DQ Report

Providers may also choose to “view” the report, which will open the report in another tab in the browser being utilized. The report can then be viewed in the browser or downloaded. 

If you choose to view, here is the process for doing so and how to download your report:

A new tab will open in your browser where your Chicago DQ report will load. It may take up to 10 minutes for the report to load and you cannot close the browser or else you will need to run the report again from the beginning.

The following report prompts will appear when the report finishes loading.

• • Select Provider: This is where you will select the project you are running the report for.
  • Enter Start Date: This date will be 04/01/2024
  • Enter End Date Plus 1 Day: This date will be 07/01/2024
    • The report will pull data up until 06/30/2024 at 11:59 pm 
  • PIT Date  Plus 1 Day: This date will be 5/23/2024
    • The report will view the utilization for the date of 5/22/2024
    •  

   

  After your prompt selections are made, click “Run ” in the bottom right.

   

  Accessing the Timeliness Report

  The timeliness report will automatically be sent to the agency’s ATA’s email.

  Timeliness measures the time it takes to create an element in HMIS. This measure applies even if the entry date is backdated. For instance, if a client originally came into a project on 5/1/2024 but was not entered into that project in HMIS until 5/4/2024, the information will be considered out of compliance as it took 3 days to indicate that the client was enrolled in the project. Timeliness data cannot be corrected. Please review our Data Entry Timeframes article for more details on timeliness expectations. 

   

  Interpreting the Chicago DQ Report

  The Chicago DQ Report is split into 5 tabs:

  • Tab A – Summary
  • Client Detail (Key)
  • Tab B – Client detail
  • Tab C – Child-only entries
  • Tab D – Inventory Info
    
  • Tab E – Additional Information
    

   

  Summary (Tab A)

  The summary tab is a quick way to get a surface-level view of the project’s data quality status. Any elements that fall out of range will be highlighted in red. There are further details in the corresponding tabs about each element.

  

  As a reminder, the compliance thresholds are as follows:

  • Missing values and mismatches:
    • No more than 5% of clients enrolled in the project can miss any data element
  • Child-only entries:
    • Unless a provider is approved to have an unaccompanied minor in their project, there must be zero child only entries in a project

  Utilization

  

  • Bed and unit utilization:
    • Projects are measured by their project type, and the project must be in compliance with either their bed or unit utilization, if one is out of compliance but the other is not, then the project as a whole is still in compliance
      • Emergency Shelters: 80%-105%
      • Transitional Housing: 80% - 105%
      • Permanent Supportive Housing: 85% or greater 
      • Safe Haven: 85% - 105%

   

  Assessment Detail – Missing Values and Mismatches (Tab B)

  This tab reviews any data elements that may be missing or subassessments that have a mismatch. Any cells highlighted in red require correction. There are 32 columns total, and each row is a different client. Additionally, a legend can be found on the tab titled Client Detail Key.

  

  The legends:

  

   

  Elements that are missing simply need to be input into the assessment. Elements that are marked as mismatches require a review of one of the four subassessments: disability, income, non-cash benefits, and health insurance.

  Subassessments cause a significant amount of errors; the two most typical are HUD verification issues and mismatches.

  HUD verification errors are easy to spot, since they appear as such in the entry or exit assessment:

  

  The icon that should be next to the HUD verification is a green checkmark, like so:

  

  To address this issue, click on HUD verification and completely answer the prompt that appears.

  

  Mismatches are caused when a user indicates in the question immediately preceding the subassessment whether a client does or does not receive those benefits/income/etc., but upon opening up the subassessment, the opposite is indicated. An example of a mismatch is below:

  

   

  Child-only Entries (Tab C)

  There must be zero child-only entries. A child only entry is flagged when a client under the age of 18 is enrolled in a project without being connected to a parent/guardian. This can happen for two reasons:

  1. The child was entered separately from their parent/guardian
  2. The client’s date of birth is missing

  In instances where a provider is working with an unaccompanied minor, please complete the child only exemption form.

  A correctly entered household is below:

  

  Below are two incorrect examples:

  

  

   

  Bed or Room/Unit Utilization 

  Bed or room/unit utilization must be within the following ranges for compliance:

  • Emergency Shelters: 80%-105%
  • Transitional Housing: 80% - 105%
  • Permanent Supportive Housing: 85% or greater 
  • Safe Haven: 85% - 105%

  This is measured by looking at how many clients are entered into the project versus what the bed/unit total is in your Bed and Unit Inventory sheet. All Bed and Unit Inventory sheets were updated in February due in part to the Housing Inventory Count (HIC) that occurred in late January.

  If a project is over/under-utilizing their bed list, but is in compliance for their unit utilization, then the project will still be in compliance. The opposite situation would also count as being in compliance. So long as either bed or unit utilization is in compliance, the project as a whole will be considered compliant. 

  If the project type is Permanent Supportive Housing, the project will not be penalized if the utilization is over 105%

•  

•  

  Permanent Supportive Housing can review the clients counted in the Utilization summary table by utilizing the Housing Move-in Date column located in the report. This column will only display Housing Move- in dates that are within range of the enrollment and before or on the Point in Time Date. 

 

Clients with a Housing Move-in date represented as "Date out of range" in yellow means that the Housing Move-in date tied to the client is either before the enrollment or after the Data Quality point in time date. These clients are not being counted in the Utilization table of the report. This does not indicate an error.

Clients are only counted in PSH Utilization if:

1) Their housing move-in date is on or after the enrollment date

and

2) Their housing move-in date is on or before the Point in Time date which is 5/22/2024 for this Data Quality reporting period.

•  

  Interpreting the Timeliness Report

  In order to track timeliness, the HMIS Team has developed an automated report, that will be sent out to providers on a frequency determined by that provider.

  This timeliness report will track timeliness:

  • At Entry
  • At Exit
  • For Housing Move-in Dates
  • For Shelter Services

  Timeliness measures the time it takes to create an element in HMIS. This measure applies even if the entry date is backdated. For instance, if a client originally came into a project on 5/1/2024 but was not entered into that project in HMIS until 5/4/2024, the information will be considered out of compliance as it took 3 days to indicate that the client was enrolled in the project. Timeliness data cannot be corrected. Please review our Data Entry Timeframes article for more details on timeliness expectations. 

  As a reminder, the compliance thresholds are as follows:

  • New project enrollments (“Entries”)
    • When a client is initially enrolled in a project, the following information must be entered into HMIS within two days:
      • Name
      • Gender
      • Date of Birth
      • Household composition
      • Project Entry Date
      • Project
    • Exits from project enrollments (“Exits”)
      • For all bed-based project types (Emergency Shelter, Safe Haven, Transitional Housing, and various Permanent Housing projects), projects should exit clients from their project in HMIS no more than two (2) days after their last stay.
      • For all other project types (Services Only, Rapid Re-Housing, Street Outreach, Day Shelter, Homelessness Prevention, Other), projects should exit clients from their project in HMIS no more than seven (7) days after their last contact.
    • Service records for stays at shelters (“Shelter Stay Services”) must be entered into HMIS within two days
    • Housing Move-in Dates should be documented within two business days of the client moving into their unit

  User Support

  The HMIS Team will conduct a webinar for this round of Data Quality. 

  Data Quality Process Monday, August 19, 2024, 12 PM - 1 PM

  https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5953024670734843484
  

   

  Additionally, agencies will be able to request dates to meet with the HMIS Team to address any questions or issues they have with their reports. Before requesting a session, please note the following:

  • All sessions are limited to 30 minutes
  • These sessions will be done online - please ensure your computer has the capacity to record audio
  • An Agency Technical Administrator, or someone with ART access, must be on the call as well
  • Please open a ticket with the Help Desk highlighting any specific clients that need troubleshooting
  • Please have your report scheduled so that the HMIS team member can pull your information quickly, or email the report you plan on referencing beforehand
    • Doing so will save you time during the session

  Quick DQ Troubleshooting Run Through

•