Looker Field Spotlight

Homeless System Reentry Project Type Filter

HUD System Performance Measure #2 analyzes the number of clients who are returning to homelessness after being exited to a permanent destination.  These returns to homelessness are broken down by the exiting project type and by the length of time between the clients’ exits to permanent housing and their new reentry into the homeless response system.  Not all new enrollments would qualify as a return to homelessness, rather only new enrollments that indicate a clients' recidivism to a literal homeless situation.  This includes new enrollments in Street Outreach, Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Safe Haven, and Permanent Housing programs (with some caveats to account for transfers for TH and PH programs).  This logic has been coded into the ‘Outbound Recidivism- Homeless System Reentry' fields in the Looker HMIS Performance model to allow for custom analyses of those clients returning to homelessness.

Customer feedback indicated that additional flexibility around analyzing returns to homelessness was desired.  Despite not being included in the HUD SPM specifications, many communities desired to include a new enrollment in Coordinated Entry as a project type through which a client could be counted as returning to homelessness.  In order to fulfill this need, the Homeless System Reentry fields in Looker have been updated and broken out into their own “Outbound Recidivism Homeless System Reentry” view label. 

Homeless System Reentry Fields

This update includes the addition of a new “Reentry Project Type Filter”.  This new filter-only field allows users to pick what project types to include for analysis when identifying clients that are reentering the homeless response system.  This filtering can be helpful when constructing a custom inflow/outflow analysis around an actively homeless population.  If communities view clients enrolled in Coordinated Entry as actively homeless, this new filter allows for an accurate capturing of the inflow route of clients returning from housing back to a homeless situation.  The “Reentry Project Type Filter” is not limited to any specific project types, but gives the user the option to analyze whatever project types they desire.  When this new “Reentry Project Type Filter” is not utilized, the Homeless System Reentry fields will function in the same manner as they currently do and they will align with the System Performance Measure definition for returning to homelessness.

Sample Look - Custom Recidivism Look with Community Defined Project Types

The Look outlined below contains a table visualization with recidivism data including project types that were included in an example community-specific recidivism analysis. In this particular example, the community includes Coordinated Entry unlike the default logic within the fields. 

Capture 2022-06-13 at 11.10.11

  • Filters
    • Enrollments - Reporting Period Filter: is any time
    • Outbound Recidivism Homeless System Reentry - Reentry Project Type Filter: is Coordinated Entry, Emergency Shelter, PH - Housing Only, PH - Permanent Supportive Housing (disability required for entry), PH - Housing with Services (no disability required for entry), PH - Rapid Re-Housing, Street Outreach, Transitional Housing
    • Outbound Recidivism Homeless System Reentry - Reentry Enrollment Start Date - Date: is in the year 2021 
  • Dimensions
    • Clients - Personal ID
    • Outbound Recidivism Homeless System Reentry - Exiting Program Name
    • Outbound Recidivism Homeless System Reentry - Exiting Project Type
    • Enrollments - Project Exit Date - Date 
    • Update/Exit Screen - Destination
    • Outbound Recidivism Homeless System Reentry - Reentry Enrollment ID
    • Outbound Recidivism Homeless System Reentry - Reentry Start Date - Date
    • Outbound Recidivism Homeless System Reentry - Reentry Program Name