977
Background
To calculate the number of times homeless for all adults and heads of households you count all the different episodes the client has been on the streets, in emergency shelters, or in safe havens in the past three years, including today. This data element is to be used with other information to identify whether a client appears to meet the criteria for chronic homelessness at various points of enrollment (i.e., at the point of project entry, at a point during a project enrollment, or at any point over the course of a specified reporting period.) For additional information, please refer to the HMIS Data Standard Manual.
An episode of homelessness = A period of time spent in a HUD classified literal homeless living situation.
HUD defined literal homeless living situations
- Places not meant for human habitation
- Emergency Shelters
- Safe Havens
If the client leaves a literal homeless living situation to stay in a temporary living situation such as a motel room they paid for, couch surfing or staying in the hospital for seven nights or more, they experienced a break in homelessness.
If the client left their literal homeless living situation to rent a room or live somewhere with the intent to stay (even if they did not pay rent), they were permanently housed and experienced a break in homelessness.
Once a client leaves a temporary or permanent housing situation to stay in (even for one night) in a literal homeless situation, they have established a new episode of homelessness.
Clients who report ONE episode of homelessness have had no breaks in their homelessness since the start date of the current episode. Clients who report more than one episode of homelessness are stating that they have experienced one or more breaks in homelessness followed by a new episode.
Helpful Tips:
- Households may go from the street to emergency shelters or safe haven multiple times during a single episode of homelessness. Only count the number of episodes of homelessness.
- The response to the entry question, “Approximate Date Homelessness Started,” should reflect the date of the first night spent in the homeless living situation for the current episode.
Data Element 3.917 Number of Times Homeless
In this Knowledge Base article, we will take a closer look at Field 4 within the Prior Living Situation Data Element, Number of times the client has been on the streets, in ES, or SH in the past three years. For a full list of responses, please refer to HMIS Data Standard Manual.
- Project Type Applicability: All Programs - All Components
- Data Collected About: Head of Household and Adults
- Collection Point: Project Start
- Screens in HMIS: Enrollment Screen
When enrolling a client into a project, the Number of times the client has been on the streets, in ES, or SH in the past three years will be recorded within the enrollment screen. The response to this data collection point should be including today, count all the different episodes client was in a homeless situation in the last 3 years, where there are full breaks in between (i.e., breaks that are 90 days or more in an institution or 7 nights or more in permanent or transitional housing).
