HMIS Users: Complete Your Privacy Training Today and Implement NEW ROI July 1

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.

June 2026

IN THIS EDITION

HMIS Updates - Privacy and Security, Agency and User Action Required!
Important Dates- Don't Miss Out - System changes, New ROI in Clarity! Please join July 1st Office Hours at 3pm
Tips and Training- Geolocation and Vehicle Homelessness
Reports Worth a Look - CLS Monitoring Report Update!
You Asked, We Answered - Updating client disabilities in Clarity enrollment.
5 Cities Homeless Coalition - Jail to Community Program
A message from Coordinated Entry- User feedback sessions hosted!
Looking Ahead- New Clarity Interface and Upgrade!

Security and Privacy Training Live

The Annual Privacy and Security Training has been assigned to all users. The updated policies were approved by HSOC and are posted to the website. This includes a new ROI and privacy document. Please prioritize this training module and incorporate the changes in your agencies intake procedures. Users have 30 days to complete the annual training requirement. Thank you for your prompt attention to this requirement!

New Clarity ROI

The new client release of information will be live in Clarity on July 1, 2026. Agencies using paper forms must change forms. Agencies do not need to update the ROI for clients until their current ROI expires. Programs serving US Veterans are highly encouraged to review the new veteran data release with the VA with all active clients identifying as Veterans and execute the new ROI. A new data collection field specific to veterans will appear on the client profile and should be completed once the veteran signs the updated ROI.

Updated HMIS Privacy Policy and ROI Forms

New Clarity HMIS User Agreement

Users will be required to sign the new Clarity User Agreement at their first login on or after July 1, 2026. Please take time to review the agreement at login!

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

July 1, 2026: New User Agreements LIVE in Clarity - Users will need to re-sign user agreement at login.

July 1, 2026: New ROI live in Clarity, update paper forms if used.

July 1, 2026- 3pm: SLO HMIS Office Hours - Join us to review changes to HMIS! It is highly recommended that all users attend this office hours to learn about important updates! Click here to join the meeting

July 3, 2026: County Offices and HMIS Helpdesk closed.

July 20, 2026 - 10am: HSOC Data and Performance Committee

July 28, 2026: New Clarity Authenticator!

Users must login once with an authenticator application on this date. Training for the new authenticator will take place during office hours. Review this vendor KB for more information on the New Clarity Authenticator Go Live

Street Outreach Workflow Knowledge Base Article

Geolocation and Vehicle Homelessness

Users creating CLS assessments in Clarity should be adding Geolocations to enhance our understanding of street and vehicle homelessness. Users entering data in the field should enable location services to quickly add geolocation. Users can also drop a pin back at the office to identify the location of an outreach interaction.

CLS Monitoring Report

We have updated the CLS Monitoring report to include clients without a required CLS update. Users can also view upcoming due CLS assessments and missing Geolocations within each assessment.

View the CLS Assessment Monitoring KB Article here!

Question: I need to update a client's disability status, how do I make this edit in Clarity?

Answer: For any given enrollment, there should be one and only one ‘Disabling Condition’ response to choose from for reporting purposes and the answer should always be reflective of the most current disabling condition available (even if the disabling condition onset was after the ‘Project Start Date’ for the enrollment). If the status changes over the course of the project stay, or the information was recorded incorrectly at the time of the project start, correct the record at project start.

To update the field disabling condition, open the program and edit the field on the enrollment tab. Users may also add new disability types using the status update, however, the field Disabling Condition must be edited on the enrollment ( at project start) to align correctly to any yes/ no responses in the types of disabilities in any status assessment.

5 Cities Homeless Coalition - Jail to Community Program

We recently had the opportunity to meet with Christina Grace, 5CHC's Jail to Community Program Supervisor. Tina is available for pre-release planning to connect incarcerated individuals with housing, care, and case management prior to their release, aiming to prevent a return to homelessness. The partnership is between the county jail, Sherriff's department and Cal AIM teams. Thank you for your work, Tina!

Seeking Feedback!

The SLO CoC CES website is live and can be accessed below. The CES team is looking for feedback and are working on adding a FAQ section.

Coordinated Entry SLO Link

News

The CES team recently hosted two workgroups to discuss the Client Choice Assessment and Permanent Housing Queue Referral Checklist and is working to add these forms to the Coordinated Entry Program in HMIS.

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

Clarity is getting a makeover!

Bitfocus is launching its New User Interface (NUI) in October 2026, and while things may look different, the good news is that the functionality you know and love isn't going anywhere.

What's Changing?

Improving navigation and usability
Reducing clicks and streamlining workflows
Modernizing the look and feel
Enhancing accessibility
Creating a foundation for future improvements (including YOUR ideas!)

Please note: Clarity maintenance may increase in the next few months leading up to the upgrade. We will send emails for any scheduled system downtime.

We will also be scheduling trainings in early September to prepare for the upgrade. Please keep reading the HMIS newsletter to stay informed!

HMIS Website

Join the Newsletter