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      Clarity Human Services: 2020 Data Standards Feature Updates

       

      Release Date for All Training Sites: September 10, 2019

      Release Date for All Production Instances: October 1, 2019

       

      Bitfocus is excited to announce new feature updates for Clarity Human Services! These updates are summarized below.

      This set of feature updates supports the systematic changes needed to maintain compliance with the 2020 HMIS Data Standards. The 2020 HMIS Data Standards section of the Help Center provides additional information about these changes.

      The article 2020 HMIS Data Standards: Summary of Changes includes information about the items in this feature release, as well as includes additional items related changes that will be seen with the 2020 System screens and fields.

      System Administrators: there are System Administrator tasks associated with updates in this feature release. Please see the 2020 HMIS Data Standards: System Administrator Checklist for more details for the items released in the feature updates, as well as additional items related to changes that will be seen with the 2020 System screens and fields.

      In the following weeks, we will be updating existing Help Center content to reflect these changes.

       

      2020 Data Standards Feature Updates

       

      Victim Service Provider

      The 'Victim Service Provider' field is being moved from the 'Program Set Up' page to within the 'Agency Overview' page as a toggle. Mapping is taking place if any currently-active project of the agency has 'Victim Service Provider' = Yes on the program set up, the 'Victim Service Provider' toggle will be enabled on the 'Agency Overview' page.


      Program Setup: Program Type Picklist

      Within the 'Program Type' picklist on the Program Setup page, picklist value 'Coordinated Assessment' is being renamed to 'Coordinated Entry'.


      Program Setup: HMIS Participating Project

      The 'HMIS Participating Beds' field is being mapped and moved from the 'Bed/Unit Inventory' records to the Program Set Up page as 'HMIS Participating Project' field. For existing residential programs, if there is at least one current HMIS participating bed in the Bed/Unit Inventory, the 'HMIS Participating Project' field will be set to 'Yes', otherwise it will be set to 'No'. For existing non-residential programs, the 'HMIS Participating Project' field will be set to 'Yes'.


      Program Setup: Site Type Field Retirement

      'Site Type' is no longer a required Data Standards field, and will be removed from the Program Set Up screens. The 'Auto-Exit' functionality located in the Program Setup will now utilize Program Types (residential or non-residential) to determine when a client should be automatically exited from a program if utilizing this functionality.

       

      Program Setup: Funding Sources

      Three new Funding Sources will be added to the Funding Source dropdown:

      • VA:Grant Per Diem - Case Management/Housing Retention
      • HUD: CoC - Joint Component TH/RRH
      • Local or Other Funding Sources

      Any existing custom funding values will be moved under 'Local or Other Funding Sources' from the 'N/A' value, and custom funding values can be selected from the new 'Local or Other Funding Sources' value. Picklist value "VA: Compensated Work Therapy Transitional Residence" will be retired and will be mapped to new picklist item: 'Local or Other Funding Sources'.

       

      Program Setup: Bed and Unit Inventory Information

      This will be a restructuring of the Bed and Unit Inventory record page, with additional dedicated and undedicated bed field categories listed for input, and mapping will take place from the previous records. Additional information is located here: '2020 HMIS Data Standards Bed and Unit Inventory Changes'.


      Prior Living Situation Updates

      • Interim Housing is being retired from the 'Type of Residence' field.
      • There are a few picklist values changing within the 'Type of Residence' picklist. These field values will be automatically mapped.
      • There will be new picklist options added for the 'Type of Residence' field.
      • Additional details on the field updates can be found here: '2020 HMIS Data Standards: Field Adjustments'.


      Current Living Situation

      This is a restructured data element of the previous 'Contact' service data element. 'Current Living Situation' will live as an assessment within the program 'Assessments' tab in client program enrollments in order to record 'Current Living Situation' occurrences.

      • The Current Living Situation Assessment will appear within program enrollments that are assigned a program template that has Current Living Situation set as an "Additional Status Screen." "Additional Status Screen" will be a new dropdown option within the Program Template Setup in which the Current Living Situation screen can be selected.
      • In the screen setup, the "Status" Screen Editor will have a new dropdown option called "Status Screen Type." When "Current Living Situation" is selected, the Current Living Situation screen will appear for selection with the "Additional Status Screen" on the Program Template set up. Within the screen setup, there will be a standard system Current Living Situation screen automatically set in your system as a "Current Living Situation" Status Screen Type.
      • All previous Program "Contact" service transactions with the service category of "RETIRED (Outreach Contact)" and "RETIRED (Outreach and Engagement)" will be mapped to a new unique Current Living Situation assessment associated with the client program enrollment. The "Service Name: Service Item Name" of the retired "Contact" service transaction will also be mapped to the [Location Detail] field in the Current Living Situation assessment for reference purposes. To view the mapped 'Current Living Situation' assessments, the 'Program Assessments' toggle should be enabled on applicable program's 'Program Setup' page. Please note: The mapping will take place even without the 'Program Assessments' toggle enabled.
      • There will be a new hierarchical field type within the 'Current Living Situation' assessment that appears for Coordinated Entry program types (field data name: continuum_project_list). This field will automatically populate active programs where Continuum Project = Yes, and is sorted by CoC > Program Type > Agency > Program Name, as well as searchable. Agency program sharing settings are also taken into account when generating the program list within the field dropdown.
      • Within the 'Assessment History' section of the Program 'Assessments' tab, there is now the ability to filter client program assessments by date range parameters as well as by type: 'Current Living Situation', 'Program Assessment, 'Status Assessment', or 'All'.
      • There will be an 'Auto Exit' logic update, which applies to program enrollments where the 'Auto Exit' toggle is enabled. In addition to service transactions, the 'Auto Exit' logic will now also include Status, Annual, Current Living Situation, and Program Level assessments provided.
      • Additional information and next steps regarding this data element can be found here: '2020 HMIS Data Standards: Coordinated Entry Data Elements Details - 4.12 Current Living Situation'.


      Coordinated Entry Assessment

      When editing an Assessment screen, there will be a new "Coordinated Entry" toggle in the Assessment screen configuration. When this toggle is turned on, the assessment will be considered a "Coordinated Entry Assessment."

      By turning the "Coordinated Entry" toggle on, the following Coordinated Entry Assessment data element fields will be automatically added to the applicable Coordinated Entry Assessment Screen:

      • Assessment Location
      • Assessment Type
      • Assessment Level

      The new [Assessment Location] field will be available for System Administrators to add [Assessment Location] field options within the Field Editor. The [Assessment Location] field options added will then be available system-wide for any screens using the [Assessment Location] field.

      Additional information regarding this data element, next steps, and how inferred values such as 'Prioritization Status' will be collected can be found here: '2020 HMIS Data Standards:Coordinated Entry Data Element Details - 4.19 Coordinated Entry Assessment.'

       

      Coordinated Entry Event

      The new data element Coordinated Entry Event will be implemented through a combination of service items, as well as inferred values (to eliminate the need for duplicate data entry).

      1. Events Tracked Through Service Item Transactions: There will be a new Service Category available 'Coordinated Entry Event' with 9 associated service item categories available for configuration. These service item categories will be the non-housing Event types (Event values 1-9).

      For two Events that will be collected as Service Item transactions, there will be dependent fields associated with the Event value:

      • Event Service Item "Problem Solving/Diversion/Rapid Resolution intervention or service" will have two additional fields appear when providing the service item transaction:
        • Fields [Result: Client housed/re-housed in a safe alternative] and [Result Date]
      • Event Service Item "Referral to post-placement/follow-up case management" will have two additional fields appear when providing the service item transaction:
        • Fields [Result: Client Enrolled in Aftercare Project] and [Result Date]

      The additional fields on these two Service Transactions will not be required to be inputted at the time of the service transaction if the result outcome is not known. When the outcome is later known, the additional fields connected to these two Service Transactions should be updated from within the completed client service transaction by navigating to the "History: Edit" page, editing the Service Item transaction, updating the fields, and clicking Save Changes.

      2. Inferred Event Values: The Housing Event values 10-15 will be inferred with the exception of value 12. Value 12 will be based on Funding Source (i.e. "Referral to Joint TH-RRH project/unit/resource opening"), and these Event values will be pulled when:

      • After providing a Program Assessment with the Eligibility Engine turned ON to the client within a program enrollment, that client is referred directly to a program from the Assessment Eligibility Determination page, or
      • The client is reassigned to a program from the Community Queue. For this to occur, after providing a Program Assessment with the Eligibility Engine turned ON to the client within a program enrollment, the client should be referred to the Community Queue from the Assessment Eligibility Determination page, and then reassigned to a program from the Community Queue.

      There will be an additional field 'Denied By Type' when within the Referrals 'Pending' tab and the 'Status' equals 'Denied' in order to collect the specific Referral Result when it is an 'Unsuccessful Referral'.

      For additional details related to setup, next steps, mapping that will be able to take place, and how the service transactions and inferred values will be collected for this data element, please review this page: 2020 HMIS Data Standards: Coordinated Entry Data Elements Details - 4.20 Coordinated Entry Event.

       

      New SSVF Services and Financial Assistance Service Items

      There will be additional SSVF service items available within the 'VA SSVF Service' category:

      • Rapid Resolution
      • Extended Shallow Subsidy
      • Returning Home
      • Financial Assistance: Extended Shallow Subsidy -- Rental Assistance

      Please review this article for additional details and next steps: SSVF Services Provided and Financial Service Updates Guidance.

       

      Housing Move-In Date Mapping & 'Remove from Community Queue' Logic Update

      For enrollments within permanent housing program types, to better align with the HUD HMIS Data Standards, 'Housing Move-In Date' will be removed from the new 2020 System 'Status' and 'Exit' screens, and should only be collected and updated on the client program Enrollment screen beginning on October 1. Bitfocus will map the 'Housing Move-In Date' value from the program screen that has the greatest screen program date/information date with a non-null 'Housing Move-In Date' to the Enrollment screen in the client program enrollments. Please refer to the 'Housing Move-In Date' Looker guidance to assist in determining if there are any program enrollments with different Housing Move-In Dates entered, and before October 1, for enrollments that have different Housing Move-in Dates entered, update all screens in the program enrollment with a 'Housing Move-In Date' inputted to the correct date to ensure a clean mapping.

      • Logic Update to 'Remove from Community Queue' function: The 'Housing Move-In Date' from the Program Enrollment Screen is where the data will be pulled for HUD reporting. Because of this, we have made the following logic change: When utilizing the Community Queue, and the 'Automated Removal from the Community Queue' is enabled in the Referral Settings, the client will be automatically removed from the Community Queue if they are enrolled in a permanent housing program type and there is an inputted 'Housing Move-In Date' on the Enrollment screen when any screen is saved within that program Enrollment. Previously, the 'Remove from Community Queue' logic regarding 'Housing Move-In Date' occurred if there was an inputted 'Housing Move-In Date' within permanent housing program types on any screen in the program enrollment.

       

      2020 CSV Export


      The updated HUD CSV export, aligned with the 2020 HUD HMIS Data Standards, is on schedule to be released on October 1, 2019, along with the HUD HMIS Data Standards update release.

      Additional Resources Related to this Update:

       

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