11/18/2020
Communities should now be receiving Flag files from their initial LSA submissions. To assist with resolving flags, Bitfocus has made a spreadsheet available for communicating the last known information.
This spreadsheet can also be used by communities to crowdsource strategies for solving data quality problems that cause some flags.
The basics for using this spreadsheet and more generally the HDX provided flag files:
- Read the Instructions tab
- Communities are responsible for solving flags on the Flags - CoC tab
- Communities should follow instructions included in the flag file to try to resolve the issue
- Only after trying to resolve the issue unsuccessfully, should communities reach out to the Bitfocus help desk
- Bitfocus is actively working to resolve flags on the Flags - HMIS Vendor tab
The crowdsource spreadsheet can be found here.
10/19/2019 - Part 2
Two years worth of LSA must be accomplished this cycle. The report should be run two times:
- 10/01/2018-09/30/2019
- 10/01/2019-09/30/2020
Also, please refer to [HUDX-231-AD] LSA Quick Guide for more details on running the export report.
10/19/2020
The LSA export will be available on 10/19/2020. Prior to running the full report, Bitfocus recommends running [HUDX-236] LSA - Project Descriptor HDX Upload Test. There is also an Admin version of this report available.
This report can be used to prepare for HDX upload without running client data. The purpose is to identify project descriptor issues.
- Run the report for the selected CoC
- Upload to HDX per instructions received from HUD.
- An error report will be returned in HDX:
- Ignore the missing_files error, this is intentional because the client data was not run
- Review and repair any project descriptor errors that are reported in the error report
Once all project descriptor errors are corrected, then run the main LSA report: [HUDX-231-AD] LSA Export - Systemwide [FY 2020].
A complete, initial upload, must be done by 10/30/2020. Additional coordination will be required with the community's AHAR representative.
10/6/2020
The long anticipated LSA submittal process is set to begin on 10/19. An updated timeline message went out from HUD on 10/1/2020.
Bitfocus has been working with other vendors and HUD TA to ensure the submittal process will be much smoother this year. We have been testing HDX with real data and checking the LSA validation flags for accuracy. Ideally, by the time communities begin uploading exports, the problems reported will be real problems with the data and need correcting locally.
8/21/2020
Yesterday, our partners at HUD confirmed HDX will be available for vendor testing beginning on 8/24. Vendor testing will take about a month. So, the LSA export is targeted to be ready by 9/24.
A message went out from HUD on 8/3/2020 with a revised reporting timeline.
6/19/2020
The reporting team is continuing to work with our partners at HUD and the other HMIS vendors to develop LSA for this reporting year. There have been significant changes since last year, although the end result should be easier reporting for communities.
HDX
HDX is still not available for vendor testing. As of yesterday, the target is 7/6/2020. After that, vendors will have 4 weeks to test their LSA exports and correct problems or notify HUD of issues with HDX.
Tentative Reporting Date
TENTATIVELY, the LSA export should be ready for uploading to HDX starting 8/6/2020. There are a lot of moving parts that may result in delays, but as of now, this is what we know.
Meanwhile, please review 2020 LSA Preparation Actions for steps that can be taken before the export report is available.
2020 LSA Preparation Actions
RRH Bed Inventories
For the LSA, the export does not use a PIT count. It is an average over the entire reporting period.
Action Needed:
All RRH Bed Inventories should be updated to show average bed availability during the 2018-2019 reporting period.
Refer to Recording and Reporting Bed and Unit Inventory for Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) Projects for more information on this requirement.
Households
For the LSA, all enrollments MUST have the same HoH from Project Start to Project Exit. To identify the problem enrollments, create the following Look.
- HMIS Performance Model
- Dimensions and Measures to include:
- Enrollments, Household ID
- Clients, Number of Clients
- Filter:
- Reporting Period: is in range: 2018-10-01 until (before) 2019-10-01
- Entry Screen, Head of Household (Yes/No) is Yes
- Programs, Project Type Code is equal to:
- Emergency Shelter
- PH - Housing Only
- PH - Housing with Services
- PH - Permanent Supportive Housing
- PH - Rapid Re-Housing
- Safe Haven
- Transitional Housing
- Run the report
The report should be sorted in descending order by Number of Clients. Any Household ID with more than 1 HoH should be corrected.
To do this, one by one,
- Filter on the Household ID
- Add in Enrollment ID, run
- Using the link go to the Enrollment in Clarity
- Correct the head of household from the Enrollment screen:
- Back in Looker, Remove Enrollment ID, then repeat the process for any remaining enrollments with two Heads of Household.
Project Descriptor Data Elements
HUD has reminded the following needs to be correct for all CSV Exports:
- Organization Name - must be the full legal name of the agency
- There must be only one organization name for each organization in the HMIS implementation
- Common Issues and examples:
- Abbreviations instead of full names - BCMW
- Names with code in them - "Economic Opportunity Agency (EOA)- NEC (no data entry)
- Names identifying it is the agency name: Salvation Army (agency)
- Creating a separate organization for each operation/project of the organization - Catholic Charities Hope House, Catholic Charities Sojourner House and then a single Catholic Charities
- For statewide implementations ONLY it is understandable that a single organization can have multiple locations across the state, and you need to be able to separately identify them.
- This should be done by CoC number
- For readability, an implementation may add a "-location" to the name to facilitate privacy settings when the same organization has locations in different areas of the state. - "The Salvation Army a Georgia Corporation - xyx county" or "The Salvation Army a New York Corporation - ABE City."
LSA Data Quality Flag Resolution
LSAReport
Scope
Run the System-wide export found in the Administrator section of the Report Library.
Report Period
Correct report periods are 10/01/2018-09/30/2019 AND 10/01/2019-09/30/2020.
Geography
Geocode
Geocodes must be exactly 6 digits. To identify sites with an issue, create a Look to review the project descriptors/geocodes. As needed, correct on the appropriate Site screen in Clarity Human Services. Re-run the export.
Zip Code
Zip codes must be exactly 5 digits. To identify incorrect zip codes, create a Look to review the project descriptors/geocodes. As needed, correct on the appropriate Site screen in Clarity Human Services. Re-run the export.
Inventory.csv
All the upload errors for Inventory.csv are the result of a problem with project descriptors on the inventory screen. For an overview of how to find the projects/inventories with problems, refer to: Additional Project Information Look.
Additional Bed Inventory Guidance
For further information concerning bed inventories and reporting, please refer to HMIS Bed Inventories, Occupancy and Reporting. This article shows which Clarity screen the various project descriptors are pulled from. Programs are recommended to check specifically for set up for:
- Geocode on Site screen
- Correct zip code on Site screen
- CoC code on Inventory screen
Updated: 12/20/2023