Outreach Services and Current Living Situation

HMIS User Notice



Applies to: HMIS Outreach

Effective Date: 09/01/2026

Applies to 

All HMIS users engaged in Street Outreach efforts 


Effective Date 

Effective dates will vary by change: Outreach Service Geolocation (09/01/2026), New CLS Question (09/01/2026), Auto Exits for Outreach (09/09/2026) 


Notice of Change Overview 

LAHSA is making updates to our Current Living Situation (CLS) assessment as well as how services are logged for Outreach projects and how long Outreach enrollments will remain open. 

These changes are intended to streamline data collection and data quality by ensuring that participant location and current living situation information is captured through the Current Living Situation assessment, rather than through Outreach services items. 


Changes: 

1. Geolocation will no longer be collected through Outreach services. Users should capture participant location information through the Current Living Situation assessment. 
2. A new question has been added for participants who identify as unsheltered. When Current Living Situation = Unsheltered, users will be prompted to identify “What type of place is the participant living in?” This field provides additional details about the participant's current unsheltered living situation, such as whether they are living in a car, tent, abandoned building, or another type of place. 
3. Information collected in the new field will support downstream workflows and initiatives. Accurate responses to this question are important because the information will flow into downstream HMIS workflows and may be used to identify and support populations targeted by specific initiatives, including efforts focused on resolving RV-related unsheltered homelessness. 
4. Current Living Situation remains an important data collection requirement. Outreach users should consistently complete the CLS assessment when required and ensure that the information recorded accurately reflects the participant's current living situation. As a reminder, a CLS assessment should be completed for every contact with a participant as part of street outreach. 
5. Outreach program enrollments will be auto-exited if there is no activity within a 90-day period. This is a feature we’re activating to enhance data quality for Outreach program enrollments. Currently there are many stale Outreach enrollments that sit open even without any program activity. We are making this update to ensure those get closed in a timely manner. 
   

Reporting Implications

1. Participant geolocation data for all reporting, including Tableau dashboards and federal reports, will utilize Current Living Situation responses and not via the service item geolocation responses.  
2. As of July 2026, Current Living Situation completeness is tracked in the HMIS Data Quality Dashboard. Providers should use the dashboard to monitor the completeness of their CLS data and address missing assessments or required information. Consistent completion of the CLS assessment is important not only for data quality monitoring, but also to ensure that participant information is available for downstream reporting, workflows, and initiatives. 

*For more information on the HMIS Data Quality dashboard visit the Data Quality Monitoring Plan landing page.  

Service Provider Action 

Outreach providers should take the following actions: 

1. Review the attached Current Living Situation Job Aid for instructions on completing the CLS assessment. 
2. Use the CLS assessment to capture participant location/geolocation information rather than relying on Outreach services for this information. 
3. Complete the new “What type of place is the participant living in?” field whenever the participant's Current Living Situation is identified as Unsheltered. 
4. Monitor CLS completeness in the HMIS Data Quality Dashboard and address missing or incomplete CLS records as part of routine data quality monitoring. There should be at least one CLS assessment completed per enrollment. 
5. If you intend to keep an Outreach program enrollment open, you must regularly document at least one of the following activities in HMIS:  



1. Services 
2. Program-level assessments, including Annual, Status, Current Living Situation, Custom assessments, and Coordinated Entry (CE) assessments 
3. Adding or editing a location on the Location tab 
4. Adding or editing a contact on the Contact tab 
5. Editing a Coordinated Entry (CE) assessment. 
   

Open enrollments that have no recorded activities from the list above for 90 days will automatically close. A new enrollment will need to be created if/when the participant is contacted again in the future. 

Questions? 

If you have further questions about this process, please submit an HMIS Support ticket via LAHSA Enterprise Ticketing System. Click here to access the LAHSA Enterprise Ticketing System Job Aid.