Pulse Report Tech Lab

Presenters

• Christopher Blaine – Abt Associates• Lauren Dunton – Abt Associates

Learning Objectives

• Learn about the reporting requirements in the PulseProject

• Enter sample data into the HDX• Identify common problems with data• Understand the causes of data errors• Learn how to fix data problems

Homelessness Pulse Project

– Goal: To provide timely data on homelessness• Current data (AHAR and PIT) only collected annually• HUD wants to know how homelessness is changing in

response to ongoing national events

– The Pulse project is gaining attention from:• HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan• US Interagency Council on Homelessness• White House Domestic Policy Council

What data are collected for Pulse

• Annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count of homeless people• Quarterly PIT count of sheltered homeless people• Three month count of “new clients”

– Total number of “new clients” during the quarter– “New client” veteran and disability status– “New client” prior living situation and stability

• Bed count for the date of the quarterly PIT count

We will talk more about who “newclients” are in the remaining slides

Three Reporting Categories

AHAR:Individuals

AHAR:Persons inFamilies

Newly Homeless Clients

• Definition: A “newly homeless” client is someone whoreceives services during the quarter but had notreceived services during the prior 15 month period

• Families are included if one member is “newlyhomeless”

• Limitations: Some “newly homeless” clients may notbe new to the shelter system if they come from:– Non-HMIS participating shelters– Shelters outside of the CoC

New Client Exercise(Q3 2010) Person 1 Person 2

Age 17 37

Date entered shelter July 15, 2010 August 1, 2010

Entered shelter alone? No Yes

Other family members? Infant son None

Prior living arrangement Staying with familyStaying withfriends

Prior episodes of homelessness? No Yes

If yes, most recent exit from homelessfacility? July 1, 2009

Does this person qualify as "New"?

If yes, under what category?Persons inHouseholds withOnly Children

Yes

Persons inHouseholds withOnly Children

Yes No

July 1, 2009

No

July 1, 2009

New Client Exercise(Q3 2010)

Person 3 Person 4

Age 24 29

Date entered shelter August 16, 2010 July 5, 2010

Entered shelter alone? No Yes

Other family members? 22-year old spouse None

Prior living arrangement Rented housing unit Prison

Prior episodes of homelessness? Yes Yes

If yes, most recent exit from homelessfacility? April 19, 2009

January 23,2010

Does this person qualify as "New"?

If yes, under what category?Persons inHouseholds withoutChildren

Yes

April 19, 2009

Persons inHouseholds withoutChildren

Yes

April 19, 2009

No

2010

No

2010

Differences in Quarterly PIT Count and New Client Count

• Quarterly PIT count all sheltered persons:– Count according to the status of the person on the day of the

PIT count.

• New client 3-month count:– Count the status of the person when they entered the shelter

during the quarter.

Some clients may start out as individuals and haveother people join them later, or vice versa…

New Client Exercise: Special Case(Q3 2010, PIT Count July 28, 2010)

Person 5 (Mother) Person 6 (Daughter)

Age 30 10

Date entered shelter July 15, 2010 September 20, 2010

Entered shelter alone? Yes Joined mother

Other family members?Five-year olddaughter joined later Mother

Prior living arrangement Staying with family Staying with family

Prior episodes of homelessness? No No

If yes, most recent exit fromhomeless facility?

Does this person qualify as "New"?

If yes, under what category? Individual

Yes

Individual

Yes

Persons in Households withat least one Adult and oneChild (Family size of 1 person)

Yes

Persons in Households withat least one Adult and oneChild (Family size of 1 person)

Yes

Bed Counts

– Year-round beds• Included in count

– Seasonal beds• Included (as whole beds) if they were available on

the night of the PIT count

– Voucher/overflow beds• Include vouchers and overflow beds if used on the

night of the PIT count

– Temporarily offline year-round beds/shelters• Do not include

– Beds under development• Do not include

Pulse bed counts: All beds available in the CoC on the day of the PIT Count.

Bed Count Validation• From the Housing Inventory (pre-populated):

1. Decide which shelters to include2. Determine which seasonal beds were open for the PIT

count

• From other data sources (need to add):3. Count the number of overflow beds and vouchers used

the night of the PIT count4. Add additional information from shelter providers about

changes in bed availability

Bed counts will be pre-populated in the HDX according to theHousing Inventory. The pre-populated bed count does not includeoverflow or voucher use or changes in shelters that took place afterthe Housing Inventory was created.

Bed Counts: Example(Q3, 2010; PIT Date: July 28, 2010)

Last TH Shelter temporarily closed (includingduring the PIT count) due to fire damage.

Note: 16 vouchers for persons in familiesand 12 individual vouchers were used onthe night of the PIT count, all were in HMIS

Exclude shelters that are under development, serve DV victims, or are not emergencyshelters or transitional housing.Exclude seasonal beds that were unavailable on the PIT count dateAdd overflow beds and voucher beds that were used on the PIT count date

Alter bed count to account for other changes in bed availability

HDX Sandbox Site:http://sandbox.hudhdx.info

• Click login from the Home Page• Log into the site using the username and password provided on the

data entry worksheet

Using the HDX for Pulse

Navigating the Pulse tab in the HDX

Go to Pulse tab, clickon Quarter 2 count.

The Pulse tab has 7sub-tabs for data entry.

Navigating the Pulse tab in the HDX

– A: Annual PIT count– B: HMIS Bed Counts– C: Quarterly PIT Count, all clients– New Clients:

• D: Quarterly PIT count• E: Disability and veteran status (adults)• F: Prior living arrangement (adults)• G: Prior living arrangement stability (adults)

Entering Pulse Data: Tabs A and B

• Start new quarter (Q3)• First: Review tab A for accuracy• Second: Alter bed counts on tab B

– Bed counts are pre-populated with information from theHousing Inventory

– Pre-populated bed counts do not include voucher or overflowbeds

– Enter notes about changes in bed count

Entering Pulse Data: Tab C

• Enter sheltered PIT count on the specified day(matches AHAR Quarterly PIT counts):– Q3: July 28, 2010– Q4: October 27, 2010

• Data Checks:–– Family size cannot be less than 2 and is typically less than 6Family size cannot be less than 2 and is typically less than 6–– Bed utilization is typically between 65%Bed utilization is typically between 65%--105%105%–– Increase or decrease of 20% in total ES or TH clients fromIncrease or decrease of 20% in total ES or TH clients from

last quarterlast quarter–– Large number of households with only children (10%+ of total)Large number of households with only children (10%+ of total)–– High missing rate **does not appear as an error on HDX**High missing rate **does not appear as an error on HDX**

Entering Pulse Data: Tab D

• New client quarterly count– Bed utilization is not applicable– Unrelated to Quarterly PIT count– Longitudinal count (count of number of clients who entered at

any time during the quarter, not on a single day)

• Data Checks:– Family size are typically between 2 and 6 people– Increase or decrease of 20% in total ES or TH clients from

last quarter– Large number of households with only children (10%+ of total)– High missing rate **does not appear as an error on HDX**

Entering Pulse Data: Tabs E - G

• Enter additional information about new clients• Only include adults• Data Checks:

– The total number of clients should equal the total number ofadults in tab D

– Enter explanation for new clients coming from an ES or TH• Clients came from non-HMIS participating provider• Clients came from outside jurisdiction

–– High missing rate **does not appear as an error on HDX**High missing rate **does not appear as an error on HDX**

Additional Data Checks

Do the numbers make sense?• Talk with shelter staff about results

– Do changes in bed utilization match what shelter staff have noticed?– Is the distribution of prior living situations similar to what you have

reported in prior quarters of the Pulse report?

If the numbers do not make sense, why not?

• Were there any unusual circumstances on the day ofthe PIT count?– Shelters closed temporarily– Bad weather– Staffing problems in shelters

• Was the report run correctly?– Are all new clients counted correctly? (Check several client

records listed as “new.”)– Were all HMIS participating shelters included in the report?

If the numbers do not make sense, why not?

• Have the data been entered properly?– Have all shelters entered all clients who entered the shelter

and exited all clients who left? (Check bed utilization rates byshelter.)

– Are there high missing data rates in any single shelter?

• Use notes to explain unusual circumstances

Improving Future Pulse Submissions

• Frequent data checks

• Communication with shelter staff

• Accessing technical assistance

• Using your data

Pulse Project Resources

• Past Pulse Reports:– http://hudhre.info

• Pulse sandbox site (for training purposes):– http://sandbox.hudhdx.info

• Please email questions about the Pulse Project to yoursite contact or:– AHAR@abtassoc.com– Christopher Blaine (Christopher_blaine@abtassoc.com)– Lauren Dunton (Lauren_dunton@abtassoc.com)