• Context
• DQ Webinar March 8 2022
• 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 March 8th 2022. The slides can be found below.  A more recent webinar will be posted the day after it is recorded.

 

 

Submission Process

The report is to be submitted before the first round deadline (March 29^th 2022), and the second round deadline (Thursday, April 7^th). For a full overview of the timeline, please review our process article.

Any projects listed in on this spreadsheet are expected to participate.

 

Prepping Reports

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

If you were to run a report for the sample project “All Chicago – Emergency Shelter(883)”, the file would be renamed to: ChicagoDQ_0883_2022-03-29.

The date can be updated to 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.

 

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 the Advanced Reporting Tool (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. Only ATAs have access to this report in ServicePoint’s Advanced Reporting Tool (ART). For those with ART licenses, follow these steps:

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

 

• Within the ART Browser:
  • Navigate to Public 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 to Excel without needing to keep any browser tabs open for extended periods of time.

Follow this process to schedule the Chicago DQ Report:

• Navigate to the report and click the magnifying glass
• From there click “Schedule Report”

• A new prompt will appear, with “EDA Provider” highlighted, please highlight “Select Provider(s):” instead and click “Select”

• The following screen asks you to search for your project. Please search by using your project’s HMIS ID (a three to four digit number), then click “Search”

• If your search pulls up the correct project, click the green plus icon next to the project name. This will move that project to the “Selected Values” section

• If this is the correct provider, click submit
• Upon clicking submit, you will be taken back to the previous prompt, with a provider selected

• Clicking on “Next” will bring you to the “Schedule Report” prompt, where you get to determine how often your report will run

Scheduling your reports means that they will run on an automated basis. You may schedule one-time reports or reports that run more often (see below for more details).

Below is a breakdown of the “Schedule Report” screen:

1. Name: The first part of the name, with the “1” above it” 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. Name: The second part of the name, with the “2” above it is where you will enter the date of when you plan on submitting the report. If you plan to submit this report on 3/12/2020, then you would put “2020-03-12”.
   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. Interval: 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 ART inbox at the designated time indicated by the “Start Date” time.
5. Start Date and End Date: These will change depending on whether this is run on an interval or only once  

 

Scheduling for One Time

To run a report one time, simply fill out the prompts and select “Once” for the interval. The Start Date/End Date do not need to be changed.

When you click “Send”, the report will begin processing and will be ready for you to download in a few minutes.

 

Scheduling for a Recurring Report

 If you want to have this file delivered to you on a weekly/daily basis, the you can schedule the report to run on whatever interval you want. Below is an example of a report I run on a bi-daily basis, ending on 3/22/2020.

Please note, that if you schedule a report to run on a recurring basis, always add one day to the “Start Date”. If you are scheduling the report on 3/2/2020, you will indicate the start date of the report to be for 3/3/2020.

Retrieving the Report After Scheduling

When you have successfully scheduled your report, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, click refresh, and you should see the following:

No matter whether it was set to once or to be scheduled on a recurring basis, this will appear and show the state of your report.

In order to grab a completed report, you will navigate to your Inbox folder, where you should see your newly completed report.

 

Video to Schedule Report 

 

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. 

This is not recommended by the HMIS team. Oftentimes, the report takes a significant amount of time to run in browser, and is prone to timing out, meaning that despite waiting, the browser will automatically cancel the process and you will not be able to access the report.

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.

• EDA Provider – Do not change
• Select Providers - You will click on this in order to select the project you want to run. You will only be running the report for one project at a time.
• EDA Provider - Do not change
• Enter Start Date -
  
• End Date PLUS 1 Day -
  
• PIT Date Plus 1 Day -
  

 

After your prompt selections are made, click “Run Query” 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 2/1/2020, but they were not entered into that project in HMIS until 2/15/2020, the information will be considered out of compliance as it took 14 days to indicate that the client was enrolled in the project. Timeliness data cannot be corrected.

 

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
• Bed and unit utilization (SQL):
  • 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% - 105%
    • 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 at the very bottom of the sheet.

The legends:

 

Elements that are missing simply need to be input into the assessment. Elements that are marked as mismatch require review of the 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 (SQL)

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% - 105%
• 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.

 

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. For instance, if a client originally came into a project on 2/1/2020, but they were not entered into that project in HMIS until 2/15/2020, even if the entry date is backdated, it will be considered out of compliance as it took 14 days to indicate that the client was enrolled in the project. Timeliness data cannot be corrected.

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 two webinars to help you with your DQ reports.  Assistance can also be requested through the Help Desk.

Data Quality Process Update Tuesday March 8, 2022, 10 - 11:00AM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2462193984078641931

ATA Meeting Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 10 - 11:30AM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/929254872633489679

 

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