San Luis Obispo CoC HMIS Newsletter - Program Notifications in CE Enrollments

Notifications in CE Enrollment

Notifications help users be informed and efficient in HMIS. Be sure to assign yourself or your case managers as the "assigned staff" to receive notifications regarding clients. Review program notifications for CE enrollments in this Knowledge Base Article.

Data Workgroup

HMIS Staff and partner agencies have been hard at work developing a public-facing dashboard containing aggregate data from HMIS. The dashboards are intended to help illustrate the scope of homelessness and service provision in San Luis Obispo County. Stay tuned for the unveiling of dashboards, once approved by the HSOC Executive Committee.

HUD Webinar: HMIS Leads and System Administrators on

Wednesday, Nov 20 at 11AM

HUD webinars for HMIS Leads and System Administrators provide general federal partner updates, solicits feedback on working drafts of tools and products, and provides deep-dive content for the HMIS community. More information about the webinars, including materials and recordings from past webinars, can be found on the HUD Exchange here. No advance registration is required to attend these monthly webinars.

Click here to attend the November HUD HMIS Webinar.

HSOC Data and Performance

The Data and Performance subcommittee of the Homeless Services Oversight Council (HSOC) is the governing body for the HMIS Lead. The November meeting of Data and Performance was cancelled and the next meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 17 at 9AM.

HMIS Office Hours: Wednesday, December 4 at 3PM

Join the HMIS Support Team for the recurring monthly office hours happening on the first Wednesday of every month in the afternoon. Office Hours is an opportunity to build community among HMIS users across all agencies as well as ask questions direct to the HMIS Team.

HMIS Swag Opportunity! 🎉

The HMIS Team is giving thanks and celebrating more than 8 months in Clarity HMIS by sharing Bitfocus Clarity swag with HMIS users. Users who are active within the last 30 days are automatically eligible for this exciting opportunity. There is nothing additional you need to do - just be sure to check your email in the next few weeks for messages direct from HMIS Support with good news. Thank you to our HMIS users!

Image description: Bitfocus branded merchandise including notebooks titled "LOVE YOUR HMIS," pens, highlighters, sunglasses, padfolios, and a YETI mug.

Question: What if we are working with a client and we see in Clarity HMIS that the client is already enrolled in a different program and they can't be enrolled in both? How do we contact the other agency to remove the client's former enrollment?

Answer: While we try to catch these errors in Data Quality monitoring and user training, we know that sometimes HMIS users forget to exit clients, or depending on the type of program enrollment, we sometimes don't know that a client has moved on. We recommend that you use the direct messaging feature in Clarity HMIS to direct-message the agency's assigned staff for that particular client. Message notifications will be automatic for the assigned HMIS users, and they will be able to see immediately the client being referenced. Additionally, this limits any need to include client PII in outreach to colleagues at other agencies.

Question: What happens at HMIS Office Hours? Is it worth my staff taking time out of their day to attend?

Answer: Yes- please encourage your staff to attend Office Hours! Office Hours are a great opportunity to get individualized support and ask questions direct to the HMIS Support Team. We foster community among HMIS users by facilitating meaningful, topical conversation across all agencies. The next monthly HMIS Office Hours is scheduled for Wednesday, December 4 at 3PM. We look forward to seeing you there!

Question: Who do I contact if a staff member leaves and they no longer need access to HMIS?

Answer: If you have a staff member leaving their role for any reason, be sure to reach out to HMIS Support directly within three (3) business days of their last day, as per your agency agreement. Let us know the last day the staff member should access HMIS. And, if you are adding new users, be sure to follow the step-by-step process laid out in the Knowledge Base article for requesting new HMIS users.

Welcome California Rural Legal Assistance to HMIS!

The San Luis Obispo County HMIS is pleased to welcome California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc (CRLA) as the newest member of the HMIS network. CRLA is a nonprofit law firm serving low-income residents of California’s rural areas and small cities. As an awardee of HOME-ARP funds, CRLA is providing legal services for San Luis Obispo County residents experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

By joining the SLO County HMIS, CRLA strengthens our collaborative efforts to address and prevent homelessness in our community. Together, we are enhancing HMIS as a tool to expand service coordination, maximize our ability to make data-driven decisions, and ultimately further our collective impact in the shared goal of ending homelessness.

Please join us in welcoming CRLA as a new HMIS participating agency and learn more about their critical work on the CRLA website here.

A message from the CES Management Entity

The CES Management Entity works within the Continuum of Care to develop policies, coordinate care among service providers, and advance the core elements of Coordinated Entry: Access, Assessment, Prioritization, and Referral.

Tips from the CES Manager:

Please ensure your clients have updated status assessments in their Coordinated Entry enrollment so their eligibility for referrals is accurately measured. Learn more about Status Assessments in this newly created Knowledge Base Article.
Notifications are an important feature in Clarity HMIS and can be used to make client support more efficient. Read this Knowledge Base Article about CE Notifications to learn more.
Make sure you have a program-related activity or assessment at least every 120 days to keep your client active on the Community Queue.

Reminder:

The CES Collaborative Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 26 at 1:30PM. Users are invited to reach out directly to Nathan Rubinoff to be added to this calendar item, or if there are any questions.

Questions regarding best practices and CES user support

can be directed to the CES Management Entity

County Offices Closed

County offices will be closed on Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29. HMIS Support will be unavailable at that time and inquiries received then will be responded to as early as Monday, December 2 at 8AM.

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