NH-HMIS Happenings W i n t e r 2 0 1 4 Our team truly believes in the power of using data to better serve our clients. HMIS is the vehicle we can use to help drive additional funding. We look forward to working with you all to help New Hampshire meet and exceed its HMIS goals. Season s greetings! May your 2015 be rich with the blessings of love, joy, peace, and laughter. from the HMIS Team Donna, Tony, Linda & Tommy Inside this issue: Training dates 1 User survey input 2 Welcome Melissa 2 2014 HMIS Data Standards 3 Interim Review 4 HUD APR change 4 Run HUD APR often! 4 Tip Duplicate Entry 5 Training survey highlights 6 Coordinated Assessment 7 As usual, the HMIS team will be starting the new year in high gear. We ll be busy making the training materials, documentation, and our website the easiest to use and most upto-date that they can be. Here are some of the projects we are completing for 2014 and that are coming up in early 2015: AHAR submission Runaway Youth project HOPWA project Training makeup classes Agency site visit wellness check a survey will be sent to Agency Administrators to assist them with getting ready for a visit from Donna (more on page 5) HMIS Advisory Council 6
PAGE 2 Reflections on the 2014 Training This year, HMIS training was held later in the year (November) than in previous years (September). When we needed to reschedule the dates into November, we realized that this is busy time of year, and were sorry to make you change your schedule. First, we waited several months for the Data Standard to be sent from HUD, with hopes it would be done in time for a September training. Then, we waited for Bowman to make the changes to the software. Since the HUD Data Standard has not changed since 2010, there were many changes that needed to be tested. We really pushed to have training complete before the busy Holiday season and potential snow storms, but in the end, we didn t have any other choice in order to get training done by the end of the year as HUD mandates. We also realized that some of you are busy with APRs and getting ready for the AHAR, so that is another reason why we really wanted the training to happen around September as we had in past years. Next year, we are looking to move training back to around mid-september. We thank all of you for being flexible with your schedules and attending the training! After training, we found out that there were some glitches with some of you being able to take the recertification test that were out of our control. We are happy to report that most everyone has taken and passed the certification test and is up and running the new version of ServicePoint! If you are having difficulties with the new forms or ServicePoint, let us know. Remember that the ticket system is open 24/7, don t be afraid to use it the HMIS team will be sure to respond. Summary of Training Evaluations Thanks for your feedback! The evaluations you filled out after the training help us make the classes more helpful to you. We compiled the responses and will put the result PowerPoint summary on the NH-HMIS website https://nh-hmis.org. Some highlights are: For 76% of users, this was not their first training; 90% thought length of training was just right. 96% said that the several emails sent by HMIS as reminders about the training were just the right amount. 90% determined the class met their objectives by rating them between 4 and 5 (the highest ratings). 91% gave the trainer the highest two ratings! Over 63% of users want to be trained by a live trainer. Over 70% of users want training every year; 21% every 6 months.
PAGE 3 2014 AHAR Update HMIS submitted the Continuum of Care (CoC) data for HUD s Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) prior to the December 19th deadline! AHAR is a report from the United States Congress that reports on the extent and nature of homelessness in America including counts of individuals, persons in families, and special population groups such as veterans and chronically homeless people. These submissions allow HUD to get vital information about the homeless population in the country so that future funding allocations and technical assistance can be provided. Since 2010 NH HMIS has been able to successfully submit data for the AHAR due to improved data quality standards and major increase in HMIS implementation. The HMIS team and CoCs are currently working on data cleanup for the Final AHAR report that provides the latest data for all categories of clients, including Veterans. Cold Weather Shelter Locations Cold Weather Shelters depend on the generosity of volunteers and others who staff the shelter locations each night, provide donations of goods to meet the needs of the guests, reach out to the community to educate the public on the reasons for homelessness, and offer opportunities for improving peoples' lives. During the harshest months of the year, these shelters give families and individuals a warm place to sleep during the cold weather and strive to provide them with the tools they need to get back on their feet, and into permanent, sustainable housing. If you have an overflow of people at your shelter, here are a few of the emergency seasonal shelters available in New Hampshire: In Concord, both shelters are open from 12/13/14-3/22/15: 1.) First Congregational Church at 177 North Main Street 603-225-5491 2.) South Congregational Church at 27 Pleasant Street 603-224-2521 Sadly, both of these churches report that 2014 will be their final winter offering overnight shelter for the city s homeless population. In Rochester, the shelter is open from 10/6/14-5/4/15: 3.) Homeless Center for Strafford County at 9 Isinglas Dr. 603-332-3065 Both shelters are currently looking for volunteers. These three shelters are the ones that we keep track of in HMIS; however, there are other shelters in the state, so check with your local CoC.
PAGE 4 Change to Children s Income During training, we found out that there is a significant change to a child s income. According to the 2014 HUD Data Standard (page 40), a child s income is now recorded under the HOH. Per HUD Income received by or on behalf of a minor child should be recorded as part of household income under the Head of Household, unless the federal funder in the HMIS Program Specific Manual instructs otherwise. Under the previous Standard, this data element was required for all persons. This has been changed so that data collection is required for only the Head of Households and adult household members, who will require collection for at least one member of a household comprised of only children. Projects may choose to collect this information for all household members including minor children, as long as this does not interfere with accurate reporting per funder requirements. Projects collecting data through client interviews should ask clients whether they receive income from each of the sources listed rather than asking them to state the sources of income they receive. Training tips! During the November training, our trainer provided these useful tips: There were several questions about which race is Mexican considered. According to the 2014 Data Standard White is a person having origins in any of the peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. American Indian or Alaska Native.So according to the Standard, Mexican is considered to be American Indian or Alaska Native. To the question U. S. Military Veteran?, don t answer this question if the person is under 18, this will skew your reports. When a client turns from 17 to 18, you must update the answer to this question. This improves the overall data quality for your project. For Administrators who run reports, scheduling reports saves you time by automating reports to have them sent to you on a particular date. See the document User Guide to Scheduling and Deleting ART Reports on the HMIS website http://nh-hmis.org/ for more information. Data is one of the most powerful tools we have in our toolkit to end homelessness -- Mark Johnston, Retired Assistant Secretary U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Office of Community Planning and Development
PAGE 5 ART Training Available For Agency Administrators, if you would like training on the Advanced Reporting Tool (ART), contact Donna Curley. She will schedule a phone or GotoMeeting training to review the Service- Point dashboard and canned reports. Remember that you cannot run ART reports from the training database. Admins, are you ready for the Wellness Checkup? Donna Curley, HMIS Project Manager, will be conducting Agency site wellness checkups of each Agency starting in the Spring. The purpose of the wellness checkup is to help Agencies: 1. Ensure that they are in compliance with our Policies and Procedures. 2. Assess their HMIS operations, management, and relative health and sustainability. 3. Identify specific issues or priority areas that may require attention HMIS will be sending out preliminary documentation soon to help Agencies prepare for their wellness checkup. Admins can now change their passwords Agency Admins can now change their own password. You must be logged into ServicePoint. Notice that there is now a gear icon in the upper right, next to your name. Click the gear to display a User Profile where you can click the Change Password button. This makes it easier to change your password if you think your password has been compromised.
HMIS HAPPENINGS PAGE 6 New Documents Several new documents have been added to the NH-HMIS website at http://nhhmis.org/: Helper Guide for Interim Review and Follow-up Review Details how to periodically assess and update client information following a client's entry into a project using the new Interim Review. Subassessment Helper Guide Shows how to enter data for the Disability, Health Insurance, Monthly Income, and Non-Cash Benefits sub-assessments. Updates to all of the Intake workflow documents that includes the changes to data elements per the 2014 HUD Data Standard. User Guide to Scheduling and Deleting ART Reports Updates were made to this guide to include information about cleaning up your ART Inbox by deleting older reports. Winner of the DD Gift Certificate! In August, an HMIS survey was emailed to all users to help us prepare for the upcoming HMIS training to identify what enhancements/changes you would like to see in our ServicePoint implementation and improve HMIS. The winner of the $15.00 Dunkin Donuts gift card was Amy Rybczyk from New Horizons for New Hampshire in the Manchester COC (MCOC). Congratulations Amy!
PAGE 7 NH HMIS Advisory Council The NH-HMIS Advisory Council advises and supports NH-HMIS operations in the following areas resource development, consumer involvement, and quality assurance/accountability. The Council will support the overall initiative, in particular advising the Management on HMIS operations. The HMIS Advisory Council shall meet at least quarterly, at which time HMIS decisions can be raised for discussion and/or approval. The HMIS Advisory Council shall designate a committee or task group to develop and help enforce the implementation of HMIS policies. More information about the Advisory Council can be found on the New Hampshire HMIS website at http://nh-hmis.org/content/hmis-advisory-council. Council Members Bureau of Homeless & Housing Services Patricia Jackson Michael Puleo Balance of State CoC Craig Henderson Barry Quimby Lori Hathaway Susan Ford HMIS Lead Agency Donna Curley Tony Nappo Greater Nashua CoC Miles Pendry TBD-open position, contact HMIS if interested Manchester CoC Cathy Kuhn Susan Howland Harbor Homes is a non profit organization dedicated to creating and providing quality residential and supportive services for individuals and their families who are experiences mental illness and/or homelessness. The non profit organization became the Homeless Management Information Systems lead agency on August 1, 2010 with the aim to better equip New Hampshire agencies to provide accurate data quality. For more information, see the New Hampshire HMIS website www.nh-hmis.org. New Hampshire HMIS Harbor Homes 45 High Street Nashua, NH www.nh-hmis.org