HUD Universal Assessment Updates

The HMIS Team will be revising the language of several questions on the HUD Universal Assessment. The questions slated for revision are those used to determine chronic homelessness.

Modifying the wording of these questions is intended to enhance clarity for both the assessor and the client. This change is expected to improve the quality of data collected for determining chronic homeless status.

The HMIS Team will conduct training sessions addressing both the Data Quality Thresholds and the amendments to the HUD Universal Assessment on February 11th from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and on February 12th from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Calendar invitations will be distributed shortly. The revised HUD Universal Assessment will be implemented on March 1st.

The questions that will be changed on the HUD Universal Assessment are:



• Prior Living Situation Type of Residence will be changed to “Where did you sleep last night?"

• Length of stay in the prior living situation will be changed “How long have you been sleeping there?”



• Approximate date this episode of homelessness started will be changed to “What is the most recent date that you began sleeping in a shelter or a place not meant for habitation?”

HMIS Data Standards Updates

The FY2026 HMIS Data Standards Manual was officially released by HUD on December 16, 2025.

In accordance with their previous messaging, data quality for the new data elements will be considered beginning March 16, 2026. Agencies are encouraged to review the document by clicking the button below for guidance on how to collect and enter new data elements.

Please reach out to the HMIS Team by submitting a ticket if you have any questions or concerns.

FY25 System Performance Measures

Agency HMIS data cleanup due Friday, Feb 27, 2026. This year's FY2025 report due date to HUD is Wed. Mar 4, 2026.

The SPM Report is a HUD-mandated report which is run on the fiscal year of Oct. 1 to Sept 30 and is submitted annually. The report consists of seven measures that show how our community is collaborating on a system-wide level to prevent and end homelessness. These reports are used to make data-driven decisions to better serve the homeless population. Most measures include both HUD-funded and non-HUD-funded projects. The measures in the report are as follows:

· Measure 1: Length of time persons remain homeless.

· Measure 2: The extent to which persons who exit homelessness to permanent housing destinations return to homelessness within 6, 12, and 24 months.

· Measure 3: Number of homeless persons.

· Measure 4: Employment and income growth for homeless persons in CoC Program-funded projects.

· Measure 5: Number of persons who become homeless for the first time.

· Measure 6: Homelessness prevention and housing placement of persons defined by Category 3 of HUD's homeless definition in CoC Program-funded projects.

· Measure 7: Successful placement from Street Outreach and successful placement in or retention of Permanent Housing.

Data Quality Tips and Tricks

In an effort to make this a successful SPM submission, please run the following reports for your project(s) using the reporting period of 10/1/2024 to 9/30/2025:

· HUD Data Quality Report

· Project Annual Assessments Due Report

· Client Exit Destination Report

· Missing Move-in Date

Report Areas of interest are:

· Review Enrollments to ensure Entry and Exit Dates are accurate for all clients.

· Add any missing or incorrect Living Situation data

-Type of residence and Length of stay at prior living situation.

-Approximate date this episode of homelessness started

-Number of Times and Number of Months homeless in the past three years

· Verify Client’s Move-In Dates are entered correctly.

· Review and correct any missing or indeterminant Exit Destinations.

· CoC-funded projects: ensure all Annual Assessments are completed for clients who have been in the project for one year or longer.

-Ensure that the Income Amount entered on the HUD Financial Assessment is rounded to the nearest dollar; do not include cents in this assessment.

-Don’t forget to document annual Cost of Living increases from SSI, SSDI, and other federal income.

Our HMIS Data Quality Analyst team is currently reviewing data in the SPM reports. We will be reaching out to all projects in need of data corrections. If you have any questions or need any assistance completing data corrections, please submit a ticket to the HMIS Team at HMIS.Support@havenforhope.org .