Do you need housing, health care, or other services?
Dial 2-1-1 or 949-646-4357 to be connected to a referral specialist, or click here to view resources.

Orange County HMIS

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.

Register Today: CoC APR: Sage HMIS Repository Trainings

On April 1, 2017, Continuum of Care (CoC) Program grant recipients (including recipients of funds under the CoC Program, Supportive Housing Program, Shelter Plus Care, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program) stopped reporting their Annual Performance Reports (APRs) in e-snaps and began submitting them in Sage HMIS Reporting Repository (Sage). Sage is an online repository that allows greater flexibility to recipients, CoCs, and HUD to report and search CoC Program APR data.

HUD is offering a webinar on the Sage HMIS Repository on both April 18th and April 19th. These are two offerings of the same training, so please only register for one of the webinars.

Participants will learn:

  • How to access Sage, including a brief overview of the various user levels
  • How to complete the CoC Program APR in Sage
  • How to access additional resources and guidance on the CoC Program APR and Sage

Registration is now open for the following April Trainings:

Webinar Title Date and Time Registration Link
Sage Training: Submitting your CoC APR Tuesday, April 18th
11 AM – 12 PM EDT		 Register Now
Sage Training: Submitting your CoC APR Wednesday, April 19th
3 PM – 4 PM EDT		 Register Now

PLEASE NOTE: Registration is required.

Who Should Attend?

This webinar, Sage Training: Submitting your CoC APR, is relevant to CoC program grant recipients, as well as CoC and HMIS Lead agency staff. However, lines are limited for these calls. Please limit registration to 1 per organization; we encourage staff to listen together on one line (and use one registration), if possible. Attendance is limited to 1,000 participants for each webinar.

Training Series Point of Contact:

Thuan Huynh | 301.347.5841 | Thuan_Huynh@abtassoc.com

Registering for Sage Training: Submitting your CoC APR

Access the registration page using the link listed below and then select Register Now on the right side of the page.

You should receive an email confirming your registration. You will also receive reminder emails 24 hours and one hour before the webinar begins. All of these emails will include links to join the training at the time of the event.

If you have not yet registered for a HUD Exchange Learn account:
Create an Account on the HUD Exchange

  1. Go to the HUD Exchange (www.hudexchange.info).
  2. Click Log In (at the upper right).
  3. Click Create an Account.
  4. Fill out the form, and click the Create Account button.

Your account has been created. You will receive a confirmation email.

If you have already registered for a HUD Exchange Learn account:

  1. Enter your Username and Password; select Log in
  2. If prompted to fill out additional information, please do so, and select Update
  3. You will be brought directly to the course detail page in HUD Exchange Learn
  4. Select the checkbox next to the class name and location and then select Enroll in this Class

If you are unsure if you have a HUD Exchange Learn account:

  • Go to the HUD Exchange Login page, and enter your email address into the field: Forget Username or Password?
  • If a username for that email address already exists, you will receive an email with a temporary password that you can use to follow the steps above. If not, you’ll receive an error message.

Additional Instructions

To find out more information about upcoming trainings and access materials from previously held trainings, go to HUD Exchange Trainings.

HUD’s original email

Scroll to top