Orange County HMIS

The APR Training: Overview of the Sage HMIS Repository Webinar will provide an overview of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) new reporting system for the submission of its Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Annual Performance Report (APR). Effective April 1, 2017, the new system, Sage Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Repository, will now be the portal for all CoC Program recipients to submit their APR to HUD.

Registration is now open for the following March Training:

Webinar Title	Date/Time	Registration Link
APR Training: Overview of the Sage HMIS Repository	Thursday, March 16, 2017 3:30-4:30 PM EDT	Register Today

Who Should Attend?

The APR Training: Overview of the Sage HMIS Repository Webinar is relevant to CoCs and CoC Program recipients. Attendance for this webinar is limited to 1,000 participants.

Training Series Point of Contact

Lily Rosenthal | 617-520-2435 | Lily_Rosenthal@abtassoc.com

Registering for the APR Training: Overview of the Sage HMIS Repository Webinar

Access the registration page below and then select Register Now for the desired class.

• APR Training: Overview of the Sage HMIS Repository Webinar

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 Login (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

HMIS Users must access HMIS using the Internet Explorer browser. As Mozilla Firefox no longer supports the Silverlight plug-in required to load HMIS, Internet Explorer is now the only browser capable of loading HMIS. Please use Internet Explorer to access HMIS until further notice.

On April 1, 2017, Continuum of Care (CoC) Program grant recipients will stop reporting their CoC Program Annual Performance Reports (APRs) in e-snaps and will begin 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.

Who Must Submit CoC Program APRs in Sage?

Communities will no longer submit APRs in e-snaps. This change in systems will apply to all CoC homeless assistance grants (e.g., Supportive Housing Program, Shelter Plus Care, Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program, CoC Program) administered by the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS) – regardless of when they were initially funded. This includes recipients that submit APRs due to a 15-year or 20-year use restriction.

• Recipients will be required to upload CSV data from their HMIS to fulfill the APR reporting requirement in Sage. Recipients will not be able to manually enter data about who they served. HUD expects all HMIS softwares and all comparable databases to be able to support this requirement.
• HMIS Dedicated grant recipients will also have a new APR that will not require a data upload or report generated from the HMIS.
• For SRO recipients, HUD is changing the reporting requirements. Instead of a full APR, SRO recipients will report basic information about the recipient and its appropriate contact, answer some basic questions, report the total number of persons served, and the total units it funded. More information will be provided in the APR guidebook on what exactly the SRO recipients need to report.
• HUD will not be updating anything in e-snaps to support APRs for grants funded in FY2015 and later CoC Program Competitions. APRs in process in e-snaps should make every attempt to be completed by March 30, 2017.
• The reason HUD is requiring all recipients, regardless of funding year, to begin using Sage is because local HMIS softwares are also changing and will no longer support the APR that is submitted in e-snaps beginning in April. Recipients need to contact their HMIS Administrators to find out when exactly this change will occur in their local HMIS. If recipients have an open APR in e-snaps on April 1, 2017 or need to amend an old APR, they need to work with their HMIS Administrator to determine if they are able to report the data about clients for those updates.

When Should Sage Users Create Their Accounts?

In anticipation of these APR reporting changes, HUD has now opened Sage for recipients to create their Sage accounts.

• Recipients must identify the persons they want to access the Sage portal and have them create an account by going to www.sagehmis.info and entering the contact information and the recipient affiliation (i.e., CoC). HUD is requiring the CoC Primary contact to approve the users for their CoCs. The Primary Contact, who is the person identified by the Collaborative Applicant in the FY2016 CoC Program Registration as the Primary Contact, will be able to designate someone else in their CoC to authorize users but until they do that they will be required to approve all users. HUD is requiring this because CoCs should know which recipients should be reporting and they should also have access to APRs, which has historically been limited. HUD has prepopulated Sage with the contact information of all of the CoC Primary contacts. If the Primary Contact information submitted to HUD via e-snaps is out of date CoCs need to notify HUD immediately via the Ask A Question (AAQ) portal and also update the Applicant Profile in e-snaps. The CoC Primary contact will be notified when a user requests access and the user will be notified when the CoC authorizes that user’s access.

What Training Resources Are Available?

• HUD will host a webinar on March 16, 2017 at 3:30 PM EDT to provide a basic overview of Sage, demonstrate how to access Sage, and answer questions. You will receive a separate listserv message with registration information.
• HUD will release a short training video to show users how to create a Sage account next week. We anticipate that it will be ready prior to the webinar.
• HUD will host another webinar in April to provide more information about using Sage along with other training resources.

This is an exciting change that should make reporting easier for recipients and expand the ability for CoCs to access and use APR data.

HUD’s original email.

The HUD Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS) is pleased to announce the release of a new video: CoCs and Con Plan Jurisdictions: Collaborating to Reduce Homelessness. This video focuses on the purpose and benefits of collaboration between Continuums of Care (CoCs) and Con Plan Jurisdictions.

Participants will learn:

• Collaboration-related responsibilities of CoCs and Con Plan Jurisdictions
• The significance of coordinated entry, written standards, performance measurement, and strategic resource allocation in facilitating collaboration
• How collaboration contributes to success in reducing the length and incidence of homelessness

This video targets CoC leadership, as well as Con Plan Jurisdiction staff involved in developing the Consolidated Plan or administering Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) funds.

To explore this new training video and other related CoC resources, please visit the CoC Toolkit – CoC Governance and Structure.

View the Marketing Flyer announcing the release of this new video.

Additional CoC Program tools and resources are located on the CoC Program Toolkit Page. Resources are provided in a variety of formats, including online self-paced trainings, broadcasts, podcasts, videos, and presentations.

HUD’s original email.

When? February 15th, 2017 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Where? The CASA Training Room (1505 E 17th Street Santa Ana, CA 92705)

If you have any agenda items you would like discussed, please send an email to hmis-helpdesk@211oc.org.

We hope to see you there!

The Chronically Homeless Determination Tool has been updated to match the new HUD Data Standards. To use the tool, please click here. We appreciate your patience while we completed the updates to the tool, and we hope you continue to find it useful!

As a reminder, 211OC has also created a Family Type Determination Tool, which can be found here.

How often do you use either of these tools? Are there other kinds of tools you would like to see on ochmis.org? Please send your feedback to hmis-helpdesk@211oc.org

Data continues to be an important component of making progress towards the goal of ending homelessness. With this increased focus, HUD is working to provide more tools for communities to better assess the quality of their data and provide more data for both national and local data analyses. Your community will need to review the following deadlines and resources to prepare for the Housing Inventory Count (HIC), Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, System Performance Measures (SPM) report, new data quality reporting framework, and Annual Performance Report (APR) requirements.

New Data Quality Resources

HUD expects communities are monitoring data quality on a continuous basis in collaboration with their Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Lead and end users. To assist with this, HUD recently provided HMIS vendors with detailed instructions on programming tables for a new data quality framework. This framework will form the building blocks of data quality for all systems. Communities will see this data quality framework throughout many HUD reports, including the SPM submission, APR, and future reports.

• The specifications for the framework have been built into a forthcoming version of the HMIS Standard Reporting Terminology Glossary. Vendors are expected to have completed programming by April 1, 2017.
• Communities will be able to run all tables in the data quality framework for varying time periods and for individual projects, various projects types, and across the entire Continuum of Care (CoC).
• HMIS Leads should work with their vendors to determine when they can access this new data quality framework.
• Once available, HMIS Leads should familiarize themselves with the framework and incorporate it into their Data Quality monitoring plans and processes.

Data Submission Activity	Dates
The Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX) open for PIT and HIC data submission	March 1 – May 1, 2017
New Data Quality Framework available (HMIS vendors expected to have completed programming of new HUD-approved Data Quality Framework)	April 1, 2017
New APR requirements in effect (HMIS vendors expected to have completed programming of new report; new submission portal to be activated)	April 1, 2017
HDX open for SPM data submission	April 3 – May 31, 2017

• CoCs: Review the list of timelines and resources. Work with CoC Program recipients and HMIS Leads to prepare for annual and new reporting requirements.
• HMIS Leads: Work with your vendor to ensure you have access to the necessary reports and materials for your CoC to meet the upcoming deadlines. Communicate regularly with the Continuum and CoC Program recipients to ensure stakeholders are informed and prepared.
• CoC Program Recipients: Participate in PIT/HIC, monitor your project’s data quality, and prepare for new APR requirements.

APR Updates

Beginning in April 2017, HUD will begin requiring CoC Program grant recipients to submit their APR data through a new online database – the Sage HMIS Reporting Repository (Sage). Communities will no longer submit APRs in e-snaps. This change in systems will apply to all CoC homeless assistance grants (e.g., Supportive Housing Program, Shelter Plus Care, Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program, CoC Program) administered by the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS) – regardless of when they were initially funded. The APR has been updated to do the following:

• Allow CSV imports of aggregate data about persons served;
• Integrate project-level performance data into the body of the report;
• Update the data quality components to be consistent with the new HUD-approved Data Quality framework; and
• Provide programming specifications for population-specific questions, among other updates.

HMIS Leads should work with vendors to access necessary reports and materials in preparation for these APR resources on April 1, 2017. HMIS Leads and CoC Program grant recipients should be working together now to prepare for changes to the APR format and submission process. More details, including training and resources, about the new report and system will be released shortly.

System Performance Measures Updates

For the second year, CoCs will be asked to submit their SPM reports via HDX for the fiscal year 10/1/2015 – 9/30/2016.

• Based on concerns raised during last year’s data submission process, CoCs will have the opportunity to re-submit their SPM for the period 10/1/2014-9/30/2015. Instructions will be provided in both HDX and data submission guidance about how to accomplish this.
• A new Data Quality tab has been added to the SPM module in HDX. This tab will require manual data entry of some results from the newly created Data Quality framework.
• Data submission webinars and System Administrator office hours will be held and announced via separate listserv notices.

Questions?

If you have questions about these reporting requirements, please submit them through the HUD Exchange Ask a Question (AAQ) portal. On Step 2 of the question submission process, select the appropriate report or reporting system in the “My question is related to” dropdown.

To read HUD’s original email, please click here.

We are aware of the multiple extra pages on the Program Entry Page, Questions tab, and are working to fix the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience. We will post an update when the tab has been fixed.

The Program Entry Page, Questions tab, is now displaying the correct number of questions and pages.

To continue to meet the evolving needs of homeless Veterans, the VA’s Homeless Providers GPD Program is undergoing a transformation which involves implementing a competitive and time-limited grant process that will require currently funded GPD community providers to reapply for funding so that GPD grantees are located where their services are needed most by homeless Veterans. The GPD program provides nonprofit organizations, state and local government agencies and tribal governments with the resources they need to develop and sustain supportive programs and/or services that help homeless Veterans find stable housing, gain skills to increase their income and achieve independence. The new competitive process will give VA greater flexibility to allocate resources and the agility to respond to evolving best practices for homeless services and programs.

Applications will be rated based on a variety of factors including the extent in which the agency is a part of an ongoing community-wide process and how it is interacting with the local Continuum of Care (CoC). GPD providers have been encouraged to reach out to CoCs and CoCs are equally encouraged to proactively reach out to local GPD providers to discuss how to better integrate their efforts into the CoCs overall efforts to end Veteran homelessness.

For more information regarding the new GPD Program NOFA, please go to: Grant and Per Diem Program page.

Message from VA Secretary Robert McDonald

The VA recently released a video-message from VA Secretary Robert McDonald announcing a concentrated 30-day effort by VA staff and partners to house as many homeless Veterans in their communities as possible. To accomplish this, Secretary McDonald charged VA’s network of federal, local, and nongovernmental partners to target available housing and supportive services to the nation’s most vulnerable Veterans. Some of the actions highlighted included prioritizing unsheltered Veterans for immediate placement into safe housing and organizing homeless stand downs and rapid rehousing events.

For more information on how to help Veterans in your community find permanent housing over the next 30-days, please download this one-page overview of the 30-day surge and contact your local VA medical center to find out about specific needs of homeless Veterans in your community.

To read HUD’s original email, please click here.

HUD has posted HOPWA Performance Profiles for the fourth quarter of the Federal Fiscal Year 2015-2016. An updated set of profiles for the first, second, and third quarters has also been posted with the most current drawdown/balance available.

The Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) performance profiles are generated for all agencies receiving HOPWA formula or competitive grants. Performance Profiles are available at the national level and by individual grantee. In particular, the reports provide a grant summary of beneficiary outcomes data and output data for activity types (housing assistance, housing development, supportive services, housing information services, and administration and management services).

Note – Data collection and validation actions are pending with some reports. A performance profile with no data indicates that the grantee has not submitted its performance report.

To see HUD’s original email, please click here.