Hello System Administrators,
One of the most significant changes included in this year’s Data Standards update is the revision to the Gender field. On October 1, Bitfocus will automatically map the Gender field as described below.
Currently, the Gender field allows the user to select one of the following eight options:
To capture information that accurately describes the client’s self-identification, HUD is making two important changes to this field:
- The responses will reflect greater inclusivity:
- “Trans Female” and “Trans Male” responses are being replaced with a single “Transgender” response.
- “Gender Non-Conforming” response is being replaced with “A gender other than singularly female or male (e.g., non-binary, genderfluid, agender, culturally specific gender).”
- "Questioning” response is being added.
- Users will now be able to select up to five responses from the list, with the following exceptions:
- "Client doesn't know," "Client refused," and "Data not collected" are explanations for missing data; they cannot be selected in conjunction with any of the other responses. Selecting any of these three responses will deselect any other responses.
- “Questioning,” which indicates that the client is discovering and exploring their gender identity and/or gender expression, cannot be selected in conjunction with “Client doesn’t know.”
HUD provides the following instructions to vendors on how to map the Gender field:
| Current Value (2020 Data Standards) |
Will Map to These Values for 2022 Data Standards |
| 2 (Trans Female) | 0 (Female) AND 5 (Transgender |
| 3 (Trans Male) | 1 (Male) AND 5 (Transgender) |
| 4 (Gender non-conforming) | 4 (A gender other than singularly female or male) |
On October 1, Bitfocus will automatically map the Gender field. We have already reached out to customers who have any custom configuration that is impacted by this update; if we haven't reached out to you directly, no further action is required from you.
Please be sure to review the Data Standards Manual for guidance on incorporating this new language into your workflow.
Thank you for your continued cooperation as we work to implement the 2022 HUD HMIS Data Standards. Please feel free to reach out to our friendly Help Desk staff at support@bitfocus.com with any questions.