August HMIS Newsletter 💼

Welcome to the San Luis Obispo Continuum of Care's HMIS Newsletter.

This newsletter is designed to inform HMIS users, agency administrators and interested parties on the latest trends, best practices, and updates regarding the SLO CoC HMIS.

August 2026

IN THIS EDITION

Important Dates - Upcoming training on new Clarity Interface!
Tips and Training- New User Pause for Interface Updates
Reports Worth a Look - Potential Exits [Exit-101]
You Asked, We Answered - Attendance module
Coordinated Entry- WHV Update
Feedback requested- 2027 CDNA

ICA Staff Here This Week 🎉

The incredible staff from the Institute for Community Alliances (ICA) will be joining local HMIS staff for in-person trainings and planning meetings this Tuesday- Friday. They will be onsite to facilitate the User Interface Upgrade trainings, Coordinated Entry HSOC, as well as a special in-person Data Analysis User Training. Be sure to bring Abby, Derek, Sheena, and Janel your best local recommendations!

Interface Rollout Plan KB Article

IMPORTANT DATES -SAVE THE DATE- DON'T MISS OUT

September 1, 2026, 9 am: Clarity HMIS Training - LIVE via Zoom or in-person at DSS Higuera Office

September 2, 2026 1 PM: Clarity HMIS Training - LIVE via Zoom or in-person at DSS Higuera Office

September 3, 2026, 11 AM: Data Analysis User Training, In-Person at HSD Office

September 21, 2026: HSOC Data & Performance

October 1, 2026: Clarity HMIS New Interface - GO LIVE!

New User Registration Knowledge Base Article

HMIS User Interface Updates

San Luis Obispo HMIS will be implementing the new Clarity Human Services interface on October 1st! There will be several significant changes and updates to the look and navigation of the website. For this reason, any new users registered between now and October 1st will not be fully activated in the Live site until the new interface is active on 10/01. We hope this reduces confusion and effort of learning a new system.

Some new features to look forward to in the new interface include:

Dark mode
New tooltips when hovering over website icons
Simplified navigation

Potential Exits [Exit-101]

Review individual programs in HMIS for potential enrollments that should be closed! Users can run the "Potential Exits" report to evaluate projects that may have enrollments sitting open for long periods of time.

Under the "Report Library" in Clarity, open the "Program Based Reports" section.
Click "Run" next to the "Potential Exits" Report.
Select a "Cutoff Date" to find all enrollments that do not have a qualifying activity after that date.

View the DQ Supplemental Report KB Article here!

Question: What is the attendance module, and when should my agency be utilizing it in Clarity?

Answer: Attendance is only required for Night By Night emergency shelter project types to track bed nights for reporting requirements.

A new training module has been added to our HMIS Training site to demonstrate the use of the module.

Emergency shelters using the entry exit workflow may optionally track bed nights in the attendance module as well.

Additionally, any project may use the attendance module to track services for their agency. We have configurations to track meals, essential services and more!

Please reach out the HMIS team for more information on the module!

CES for Welcome Home Village

HMIS Inventory Module will be used by the CES team for matching clients to the Emergency Shelter (Interim) units. Units will be filled in groups of 7. Updates on this project and others are provided at the Monthly CES Announcements Meeting. More info can be found on the CES website linked below.

Coordinated Entry SLO Link

Join the CES Team for CES drop-in Office Hours for 2026!

CES Office Hours take place every other Friday at 10AM. Stop by to ask questions or share ideas for system improvement!

The CES Team, in partnership with the HMIS Support Team, is using a shared helpdesk email address to field technical questions.

Reach us at: hsd_CESsupport@co.slo.ca.us.

Thank you from the CES Team

Nathan, Hayley, and Nathaniel

DSS Homeless Services Needs Your Input

The 2027 Community Development Needs Assessment survey is now open for community input. The survey is conducted every year to gather input about housing and community development needs in the county. Community input will help guide how an estimated $3 million is allocated to address local housing and community development priorities.

Results of the survey and proposed funding priorities will be presented to the BOS at a public hearing on December 8, 2026. Survey results will help guide funding decisions for programs such as:

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)
Emergency Solutions Grants Program (ESG)

The 2027 Notice of Funding Availability for these funding programs is anticipated to be released on September 28, 2026.

HMIS Website

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