Special Bulletin: FY24 HMIS Data Standards Changes
Read on for important updates about the FY24 HUD and MN Data Standards changes that will take effect in Minnesota’s HMIS on October 1.
User Training Coming Soon!
Mark your calendars: Training materials will be available the week of September 25. Training on the Data Standards changes is required for all HMIS users, and they can begin preparing today by confirming that their username and password for the Moodle training site are still in working order.
Have an issue accessing Moodle? Check out the automated password reset feature or contact our Helpdesk at mnhmis@icalliances.org!
You can get a head start on learning about this year’s changes by visiting the FY24 Data Standards page on the MN HMIS website: https://www.hmismn.org/fy-2024-hmis-data-standards-changes.
Featured Resource: Data Standards Update Guide
The FY24 HMIS Data Standards Update Guide is now available. It's got all the info HMIS users need to prepare for the upcoming changes, including data entry requirements for clients currently enrolled in programs.
Reporting Updates
This year will see a major update to HUD’s HMIS Data Standards. The changes add new elements, retire others, and alter the available responses for most Universal Data Elements. As a result, the reports you run in BusinessObjects will require significant revisions.
The coding of every HMIS report will need to be edited to account for Data Standards updates. Until edited, most reports will be unable to complete correctly, and any data they return may not be accurate. Once the changes take effect on October 1, users should consider all custom reports to be out-of-order until they are updated by ICA.
Because reports cannot be edited in advance of the changes being applied to HMIS, ICA will begin updating reports as soon as possible after the Data Standards changes go live. Users should bookmark the REPORTcollection and check that page regularly for information about which reports can be used and which ones cannot.
Once the Data Standards changes are represented in reports, users will see important differences in data. For example, where Race and Ethnicity were previously reported separately, having the two combined into a single data element means that users will be able to more easily view summary information about program participants of different backgrounds.
To focus on planning for and implementing the necessary updates, ICA’s Reporting and Evaluation Team will cease taking new data and report requests for a time. We will continue to perform maintenance on existing reports, but no new requests will be reviewed during this period. That policy will be in effect from September 18 through December 31, 2023. We thank you for your patience while we work on the critical Data Standards changes.
Input Request: C4 Translation Assistance Needed
The ‘Translation Assistance Needed’ data element was added as part of the FY24 Data Standards for the purpose of learning how many clients served in projects funded by the CoC, ESG, & HOPWA programs need access to translation services, and to identify which languages most often require translation assistance.
This data element will be required for all data entry providers representing CoC-, ESG-, and HOPWA-funded projects. Importantly, because all ten CoCs have SSO-CE funding through the CoC program, the element will be added to the Coordinated Entry assessments in every CoC.
The list of options that appears in HMIS when selecting a client's preferred language is compiled at the discretion of the HMIS Lead Agency (ICA), in partnership with communities. Our goal is to have an inclusive list of the preferred languages of persons presenting in the homelessness response system in Minnesota that need translation assistance. (Per HUD guidance, this element refers to the need for translation assistance, regardless of the availability of that assistance).
The HMIS Release of Information is available in several languages - Spanish, Somali, Hmong, Russian, and Karen - each of which will be included. To identify what other languages should be options, ICA is reaching out to the HMIS community. Are there languages you'd like to see included in this list? If so, please complete this form!
We are looking to gather as much input as possible by September 25. That information will then be used to program the language list when the new data element goes live on October 1.