January 2024

Happy New Year from the Data & Analytics Department!

In this edition you'll find the following: 

• Resolve auto-exit issues with our job aids.
• Don't forget to visit our FAQs page.
• Sign up to vote on Bitfocus for HMIS improvements.
• Thanks for your support on the LSA Report!
• Register for the January-end PIT Count.

In partnership, 

The Data and Analytics Department

Q: Why do the clients on my program roster show that they were exited the same day they were enrolled? How can I fix this?

A: This is a common error that HMIS users are seeing. For security reasons, client enrollments with no services or assessments in the last 90 days are automatically exited from your program. The exit date is set to the last date they received a service or assessment. If you enroll a client and never return to that enrollment to add services or complete an assessment, the client will show up as enrolled and exited on the same day. To resolve this issue, open up the client’s enrollment, go to the exit tab, and “undo” the exit. For more detailed directions, please review our job aid below. We have also included our job aids to help you identify clients who may be auto-exited soon and a reminder on how to add, edit, and delete services.



• Reopen an Enrollment (aka “Undo” an Exit)
• Potential Exits Report Job Aid
• Add, Edit, or Delete a Service

We understand that using the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) can be complex, and we're here to help! In our commitment to assist the HMIS community, we've crafted a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page, addressing the most common issues users encounter. Explore the FAQs to find the answers you need and streamline your HMIS experience.

“HMIS” stands for Homeless Management Information System. Each Continuum of Care (CoC) around the nation choses which software they want to use for their HMIS. Here in Sacramento, we use Clarity (that’s the name of the software), which is created by the software company, BitFocus. As you know, we do our best to customize your programs, services, and reports, but there are always limitations to the system. Thankfully, there are ways to request major system changes.

BitFocus offers a system for suggesting new software features, which involves submitting suggestions and then having community members upvote for suggestions they would like to see. BitFocus developers review these suggestions in order based on the amount of votes they receive. These suggestions play a huge role in the changes that are made to the system. For example:

• How great would it be to be able to view your password before you logged in so you could see if you were typing it correctly? 

This suggestion is currently being reviewed by developers.

• What if the client’s UID was listed at the top of the screen so you could see it as you navigated through a client’s profile? 

This suggestion is currenting being reviewed by developers.

• How about a report that would show exactly which of your enrolled clients are either missing a valid ROI or have ROIs that are expiring soon? 

That report is currently being created!

• Wouldn’t it be great if clients could e-sign their documents in HMIS on a touchscreen laptop? 

This error in the HTML script is being reviewed by developers right now.

The key to getting our suggestions reviewed is to get more people to vote for the changes we would like to see in the system.  If you would like to add your voices to ours, you can visit the BitFocus Ideas webpage and sign up by providing them with your work email address and then following the link in the email they send you.  Once you are in, you can vote for suggestions you like and submit your own.  Each month in 2024, we will be highlighting a new feature that we’d love to get your comments and votes for.  Help us use the power of our community of HMIS users to encourage improvements to the system we share.

We are at the end of the LSA reporting period! The final deadline for submitting our CoC’s data to the Department of Housing and Urban Development is January 17th. We have resolved most of our errors and will continue to work with our partners to clean up any remaining data quality issues. Thank you all for your swift responses and data corrections. We are proud to send evidence of our collective accomplishments and the data we have collected for the 2023 fiscal year.

Sacramento’s 2024 Point-In-Time Count needs YOU! Join the Sacramento CoC in the effort by volunteering through our newly revamped and user-friendly portal, linked below. Scheduled for January 24 and January 25, your involvement is crucial in broadening our reach and contributing to a vision where homelessness is both rare and brief. Sign up today to be a part of the action!

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