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Orange County HMIS

Author: 211OC

FREE LGBT Sensitivity Training Scheduled for 6/30/17

211OC will host a FREE LGBT Sensitivity Training for all Orange County homeless service providers on Friday June 30th from 10AM to 12PM. A representative from the Long Beach LGBT Center will conduct the training which will consist of a presentation and Q&A session.

Where? CASA Training Room (Upstairs) 1505 E 17th. St Santa Ana, CA 92705
When? Friday, 6/30/17, from 10AM to 12PM.

We are hoping at least one representative from each of our agencies can attend this important training. According to HUD “[m]embers of the LGBT community are more likely to become homeless, and once homeless, more likely to endure discrimination and harassment that extends their homelessness.” We want Orange County’s CoC to be a safe and welcoming place for all LGBT clients experiencing homelessness, and we hope that this training will help us serve this marginalized population better!

There is no need to RSVP for this event, please just show up ready to learn!

OC LGBT History Fun Fact: In April 1972, Costa Mesa resident John Rule installed a pink mail box outside his house to mark the founding of what eventually became the Orange County Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center, one of the first in the nation. Because it was not safe to advertise the purpose of Rule’s house, the pink mailbox let community members know that they were in the right place.

Free LGBT Sensitivity Training Offered by 211OC!

Did you know that according to HUD “[m]embers of the LGBT community are more likely to become homeless, and once homeless, more likely to endure discrimination and harassment that extends their homelessness”? LGBT people are not protected under the Fair Housing Act, however, HUD’s Equal Access Rule “makes it illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals and families in any housing that receives funding from HUD or is insured by the Federal Housing Administration, regardless of local laws.” Orange County is positioned to lead the way in providing safe, compassionate, and equal housing opportunities to members of the LGBT community.

In order to better serve our LGBT population experiencing homelessness, 211OC will provide a FREE training on LGBT sensitivity and best practices. We hope to have at least one representative from each of our HMIS participating agencies attend this upcoming event. In order to book an appropriate venue, we need to get a rough idea of how many attendees we can expect.

If you would like to attend, please send an email to Casey Parnis with answers to the following questions:

How many staff members from your agency would you like to send?

Are there any specific sub-populations you would like more information about (i.e. youth, transgender, LGBT parents)?

Are there any weekdays in June that you would be unavailable for training?

Thank you so much! We hope to see you there!

Intake forms have been updated!

All HMIS Intake Spanish Forms have been updated to make them flow better and sound more natural, as well as to incorporate the recent changes to the Data Standards. There are separate forms for projects that receive PATH, RHY, SSVF, and VASH funding, as these projects require additional questions to be answered. In addition, small corrections were made to the English Intake Forms.

NEW HMIS Help Desk Procedure!

Awesome news! We are implementing a new HMIS Helpdesk software called HappyFox, which will allow us to respond to your HMIS issues much more quickly and accurately. Woohoo! HappyFox also provides us with “Knowledge Base” software, which is a collection of articles written by 211OC HMIS Staff about common HMIS problems. Checking the Knowledge Base before submitting a ticket can help you solve some issues on your own without having to wait for a reply from HMIS Staff!

IMPORTANT: Client names, dates of birth, and social security numbers should NEVER be sent through HappyFox, including in screenshots. Check ALL screenshots for visible client identifying information and use Paint or other image editing software to block it out before attaching.

As a reminder, only designated Agency Administrators should be contacting 211OC through the new Helpdesk software. However, all users can search for help using the online Knowledge Base.

In addition, 211OC Staff will not be responding to emails sent to the HMIS helpdesk email (hmis-helpdesk@211oc.org), and we will no longer be responding to HMIS questions sent to our individual email addresses. Please submit all questions or concerns to the new HMIS Help Desk ticketing system.

See submission instructions here.

NEW HMIS Help Desk Ticketing System Instructions

NEW HMIS Help Desk Ticketing System Instructions (only certified Agency Administrators are allowed to submit tickets):

Click the teal “HMIS Help Desk” button in the right sidebar

Type a few key words related to the issue you’re having or the error message you’re experiencing into the search box to see if there is an available Knowledge Base article that can solve your problem.

For example, if you are enrolling a family and not all family members appear in the pop-up on the Program Entry page you could type “family program entry” into the search box. The “Family Members Not Appearing in Pop-Up Window” Knowledge Base article, which contains instructions to solve this common problem, would appear on the page!

If no appropriate Knowledge Base articles appear, click the “Submit a Ticket” link beneath the search field to submit a ticket to the HMIS Help Desk. Note that under the “Message” section, there is a link that says “Add Attachment” if you need to attach a screenshot or report to your ticket.
When you submit your ticket you will need to select a Category from the Category dropdown menu:HMIS – Data Request: When you need to request data that you are not able to pull from HMIS yourself.

HMIS – Pages: When you encounter an issue on any page in HMIS, excluding reports and exports. You will be asked to specify which page you encountered an issue on in a dropdown menu, then you will fill out a subject and message just as you would over email. We also have a space for you to enter the text of any error message you might receive. When we know exactly which error message you’re receiving, we can much more quickly solve your problem.

HMIS – Reports (Including repository exports and corrections): When you have a question about HMIS reports or corrections files sent to you by 211OC. You will be asked to provide the name of the report you need help with plus the start and end date of the reporting period. Please include all other parameters in the message section of the ticket submission page.

HMIS – Setup: When you need to complete any project setup tasks, such as adding or taking away a milestone or service. You should also use this category if you need to deactivate or create a new project (in which case you will also need to attach a Project Setup or Project Close Out form).

HMIS Users and Trainings: When you have a question about user access or user trainings. For example, if you need to revoke a user’s access (in which case you would also need to attach a User Revocation of Access form) or if you have questions about the results or contents of a training.

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