Background

To participate in the Orange County HMIS, all agencies must meet the minimum standard requirements outlined in section IV of the OC HMIS Policies and Procedures.

 

Agencies that do not receive funding that requires HMIS participation and don't have housing projects that target the population that experience homelessness will be required to complete the HMIS Access Application. 

Please review the Agency Access Application Flowchart for additional information regarding the process. 

Within This Article

Required Setup Documentation

Annual HMIS Agency Audit

HMIS Agency Administrator

HMIS User Training and Documentation

Minimum Data Collection Requirements

Technical Standards

HIC and Sheltered PIT

Required Setup Documentation

Digital forms to be filled out (the HMIS Help Desk automatically receives a notification upon completion of these forms so there is no need to enter a ticket):

• Agency/Project Setup Form

PDF documents to be filled out by your agency's Executive Director or equivalent officer and submitted as part of the Agency/Project Setup Form:

• HMIS Participating Agency Agreement
• Inter-Agency Data Sharing Agreement

HMIS Participation Fees

Each agency is required to pay HMIS participation fees based upon CoC board approved fee structure. Agencies that receive state and/or federal funding that require HMIS participation will be charged for the number of licenses the agency has active at the end of the calendar year. Agencies are allowed up to two active Agency Administrators at a time.

HMIS Agency Administrator

Each agency is required to designate at least one HMIS Agency Administrator, and ideally one Backup Agency Administrator. This user must complete the Agency Administrator training in addition to the required HMIS User training outlined below, and fulfill all Agency Administrator responsibilities which are as follows and can be found on pages 10-11 of the OC HMIS Policies and Procedures. Check out the Agency Administrator ELearning video to learn more about HMIS agency administrator responsibilities.

• Agency Administrators and Backup Agency Administrators do not need to be supervisors, managers, directors, or have any special job title. You can select any HMIS User at your agency to fill either of these roles, however the staff member selected should not be a temporary hire or someone who may not be with your agency long term
• An effective Agency Administrator will:
  • Have great attention to detail
  • Have at least basic Excel skills (filtering, simple equations)
  • Be computer literate and enjoy working with computers
  • Check their email often
  • Be able to provide basic technical support and training to other users
  • Be available to attend monthly HMIS User Meeting webinars and quarterly in person HMIS User Meetings
  • Be available to attend quarterly in person HMIS Data Quality meetings with members of 211OC’s HMIS Staff

HMIS User Training and Documentation

To gain access to HMIS all new users must complete the following training on the OC HMIS Training Site:

• HMIS Part 1
• HMIS Part 2

Agencies that receive certain federal funding sources may require additional supplemental trainings.

All HMIS Users must sign a User Agreement during their first log-into HMIS via a digital form that is completed within the HMIS.

 

Annual HMIS Agency Audit

HMIS Staff will contact you to schedule and complete your annual audit. The initial scheduling email will be sent one month prior to the audit and will include the checklist to be used as the audit rubric. All HMIS participating agencies are required to complete an annual audit to ensure agency-wide compliance with OC HMIS Policies and Procedures. 211OC will audit all HMIS Participating Agencies on a yearly basis, regardless of funding source. The CoC Collaborative Applicant may also attend audits. 211OC will include the audit checklist in the scheduling email sent to the Agency Administrator two (2) weeks prior to the audit. An Agency Administrator must be present during the audit.

 

Quarterly Minimum Participation Requirements Review

Agencies must comply with Orange County’s minimum participation requirements for HMIS usage. 211OC will conduct a quarterly review to ensure all agencies are meeting the minimum participation requirements.

• January - March
• April - June
• July - September
• October - December

If any of the findings listed below are true at the time of the review, the agency will have one month to rectify the issue. If the issue is not resolved after one month the HMIS Agency Access Working Group will be notified to determine whether or not the agency should continue to have access to HMIS. If the agency is found to not meet the minimum participation requirements during the quarterly review at least three times in a year the HMIS Agency Access Working Group will also be notified:

• Agency does not have at least one active user
• Agency does not have at least one active enrollment
• Agency does not have activity in HMIS in the past 30 days. Activity includes enrollments, services, assessments, files, or exits.
• Agency did not submit the HIC and/or PIT for appropriate project types
• Agency does not have at least one Agency Administrator that is an active HMIS user
• Agency has not had staff representation for at least one User Meeting during the previous quarter

Minimum Data Collection Requirements

All agencies participating in HMIS must collect the minimum data elements required by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for that project type. Below are the minimum Data Collection Requirements for projects by Street Outreach and Non-Street Outreach project type designation. Note that these are the minimum data elements that must be collected for projects that DO NOT receive federal funding, projects with federal funding may need to collect additional data.

• Data Collection Requirements (All Project Types, excluding Street Outreach)
  • Name
  • DOB
  • SSN
  • Race
  • Ethnicity
  • Gender
  • Veteran Status
  • Relationship to Head of Household
  • Disabling Condition
  • Destination
  • Income at Entry, Annual Assessment, and Exit
  • Non-Cash Benefits
  • Health Insurance
  • Prior Living Situation Questions
  • Housing Move-in Date (PH Projects only)
  • Domestic Violence Survivor
  • Mental Health
  • Substance Abuse
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Chronic Health Condition
  • Bed Nights (Emergency Shelter Night-by-night projects only)
  • City Immediately Prior to Entry
  • Referred from CES (PH projects only)
  • Current Living Situation (CES and PATH projects only)
  • Date of Engagement (Emergency Shelter Night-by-night projects only)
  • Coordinated Entry Assessment (CES projects only)
  • Coordinated Entry Event (CES projects only)
• Data Collection Requirements for Street Outreach Projects
  • Needed for HUD and Local Reporting
    • Date of Contact
    • Date of Engagement (if it occurs)
    • City Immediately Prior to Entry
    • Destination
    • Current Living Situation 
  • Only Needed for enrollments with Date of Engagement
    • Name
    • DOB
    • SSN
    • Race
    • Ethnicity
    • Gender
    • Veteran Status
    • Relationship to Head of Household
    • Disabling Condition
    • Income at Entry, Annual Assessment, and Exit
    • Living Situation Questions