The NEWSWIRE - April 2018


                                                           

The NEWSWIRE
Mediware Housing and Community Services 
April 2018
In this Issue:

Housing and Homelessness

HMIS Data Dictionary Changes
HUD released the 2017 HMIS Data Standards Data Dictionary v1.3. This version includes an SSVF program data collection update.

The VA will now require that SSVF Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing projects collect element R6 "Employment Status" at Project Start for all heads of households and adults. These three fields are already available in ServicePoint; System Administrators can make them available to SSVF Providers immediately.

ServicePoint Fields:
  • Employed? (HUD)
  • If Yes, Type of Employment
  • If No, Why not Employed

Vendors will be required to reflect the additional fields in the SSVF Export Report in time for the June 2018 upload process. We will send out an announcement in the future when these changes have been made.

Point In Time, Housing Inventory Count and System Performance Measures
HUD opened the Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX) on March 1, 2018 for communities to begin submitting their Housing Inventory Count (HIC), Point In Time Count (PIT) and System Performance Measures (SPM) data. HIC and PIT data must be submitted by April 30, 2018 at 8:00 PM ET. SPM data must be submitted by May 31, 2018 at 8:00 PM ET.

Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) Spring 2018 Vendor Testing and Grantee Submission
The RHY vendor testing period is April 16 – 27, 2018. There is nothing grantees need to do during this period. As your vendor, we will be performing the tests on your behalf. The RHY grantee submission period is May 7 – 25, 2018. In preparation, grantees may use the 0263 - RHY Data Completeness-Quality – v3 report in your ART Gallery with the following parameters:

• Report Prompt - Start Date: 10/1/2017
• Report Prompt - End Date PLUS 1 Day: 4/1/2018
• Allowable Project Types are ES, TH, HP and SO only
• Each Project Type should be exported separately

Information and Referral
As noted in last week's customer announcement, there was an AIRS Taxonomy update on all standard-hosted ServicePoint sites this morning, April 4, 2018, at 4:00 AM CT. The update will also be applied to CommunityPoint sites this afternoon. The AIRS Taxonomy crosswalk and information on the impact of this update to your site can be found in the Customer Community Library in the HACS AIRS Taxonomy folder.


Development News

ServicePoint 5
SSVF Data Quality Report

Updates to the SSVF Data Quality Report are underway. These updates will reflect the 2017 HMIS Data Dictionary 1.3 data collection requirements. We anticipate the new version of the report to be available by April 30, 2018. We will send an announcement once that version is available.

211 Counts Data
To support new functionality on the 211counts.org website, our most recent ServicePoint upgrade, version 5.12.59, included the following updates to the 211 Counts export:
  • Age
  • Gender
  • US Military Veteran
The export uses our standard Age, Gender and US Military Veteran fields, so please ensure that you are using these fields to collect this data.

ServicePoint 6

We are pleased to announce the addition of Brandon Crespino to our Product Management team. Brandon has over 15 years of experience as a Product Manager for a variety of software companies. He will be working on ServicePoint 6 and is excited to meet many of you at Boot Camp!

ServicePoint 6 Feedback Period
Many thanks to all who participated in last month's Feedback Period. We received great input regarding what we have completed to-date. We are compiling the comments now and intend to incorporate as much feedback as possible before Boot Camp. We had over 40 people provide over 300 comments, compliments, and suggestions! Many of these follow similar themes, and we are excited to focus on implementing changes based on a wide array of user experiences.

Qlik Sense

We are planning a Qlik Sense update within the next several weeks. The update will include user friendly Assessment and Sub-assessment fields, as well as improvements to Entry, Exit, Interim and Follow Up Calendar fields. Stayed tuned for more information!

Qlik Sense Coffee Call
We hope you were able to join the Qlik Sense Coffee Call on March 7, 2018! Our Qlik Sense team reviewed the changes and highlights of the recent Qlik Sense upgrade and Mediware Qlik Sense development updates. If you were unable to attend, you can view the webinar recording in the Customer Community Library by searching "Qlik Sense Coffee Call" or using the Qlik Sense tag.


ART Gallery Updates
As noted in last week's customer announcement, the 0628 – HIC Supplement – v8 and 0630 – Sheltered-Unsheltered PIT 2018 – v21 ART Gallery reports were released on March 26, 2018. The 0629 – Housing Inventory Count – v16 report was released on April 2, 2018.

The Reporting Team is currently updating the following ART Gallery reports:
  • 0640 – HUD Data Quality Framework report
  • 0701 – Exits to Permanent Housing with Return to Homelessness, Metric 2
  • 0706 – Permanent Housing Placement-Retention, Metric 7
  • 0252 – Data Completeness Report (EE)
We expect these reports to be available in your ART Gallery by the end of April 2018. We will send an announcement when the revised reports have been completed.


Focus On

CommunityPoint
CommunityPoint is a publicly searchable website that provides access to community resources, such as agency, program, and service information. Integrated with your ServicePoint site, CommunityPoint resources are generated from your ServicePoint Provider Profiles. CommunityPoint visitors can request changes to existing profiles, as well as submit new profiles for consideration, ensuring that your resource data is always current. CommunityPoint offers built-in administrative reports and access to Google Analytics. Mobile apps are available for both Apple and Android devices, making CommunityPoint ideal for researching resources in the field. Contact your CCA for more information!
Client Services
Did you know we offer System Administrator services for your local implementation? Let us assist you with HMIS administrative duties, including:

  • End User support
  • Technical assistance
  • End User training
  • Agency Administrator training
  • Data security and quality training
  • Business analysis of programs
  • End User onboarding
  • Agency onboarding 
  • Workflow development 
Email newswire@mediware.com for more information.


Customer Spotlight: St. Johns CoC Brings New Thinking to the Intersection of Healthcare and Homelessness

This month we are spotlighting St. Johns County CoC in eastern Florida. This visionary community is using local social determinants of health data to drive an innovative approach to serving those most at-risk. Leveraging research on the cost of homelessness and proven interventions for success, the St. Johns CoC has rallied partners from the nonprofit, government and healthcare industries to solve this problem. Read more here about how they leverage ServicePoint to strengthen these partnerships and create a coordinated system of care.


Save the Date
National Human Services Data Consortium Conference
April 17 – 19, 2018 at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA. More information here.

Collaborate Oregon for Everyone Everywhere (COFEE) 2018
April 23-24, 2018 in Salem Oregon. Contact Wendy Smith at wendy.smith@portlandoregon.gov for more information.
The first annual COFEE data training is a conference for Oregon CAP and HUD-CoC Agencies, their sub-grantees and all other ServicePoint Participation agencies in Oregon. The training is presented by Oregon Housing & Community Services, Community Action Partnership of Oregon, Rural Oregon Continuum of Care, Lane County and Portland Housing Bureau.
2018 Mediware Boot Camp
May 15 and 16, 2018 at the AT&T Conference Center in Austin, TX.

Mediware Boot Camp registration is now open! Join us May 15 and 16, 2018 in Austin for two full days of training and collaboration. This year's agenda features three tracks:
  • ServicePoint 6 – Explore Workflow Administration, Conditional Logic Engine, Entry/Exit Linkages and more
  • Qlik Sense – Delve into Master Items, new Visualizations, and Expressions and Assessment reporting
  • Spero – Learn about the Accounting module, back-end configuration and reporting and more
We are at 110 attendees and climbing! The block of rooms at the AT&T Conference Center is now sold out, but we have reserved another block of rooms at a near-by hotel. We can't wait to see you there!
Volunteers of America National Conference
June 2 – 5, 2018 in New Orleans, LA. More information here.

40th Annual AIRS I&R Training and Education Conference
June 3 – 6, 2018 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas. More information here.

Join us for a special Mediware I&R User Group meeting on Sunday, June 3, 2018 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Reserve this time to meet with your fellow ServicePoint customers to share best practices and learn about recent product enhancements. You can also participate in focus groups where you can offer your feedback and suggestions on upcoming product development. Learn about some of the innovative ways your peers are connecting with community partners to increase funding and grow their footprint in their community. This is your only opportunity at the conference to focus on the mission-critical software that drives your daily I&R operations. The meeting will break from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM for lunch on your own or with colleagues.
Space is limited so please pre-register to ensure your place here. Contact info@mediware.com with any questions.

Association of Gospel Rescue Missions Convention
June 12 – 15, 2018 at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center in Milwaukee, WI. More information here.


ServicePointers 
SSVF Service Tip
Make sure that your SSVF Providers are not using both the Type of SSVF Service and the SSVF Financial Assistance Type in the same Service Transaction. Doing so will result in the SSVF Financial Assistance Type being excluded from the SSVF Export Report. If they are providing both a financial service and a non-financial service, please instruct your Providers to use two separate Service Transactions, one for Type of SSVF and another for SSVF Financial Assistance Type.
Move-In Date for Additional Household Members with a Project Start Date After the Head of Household
HUD AAQ confirmed that there is only one Move-In Date per household and that date should be the Move-In Date recorded for the Head of Household. This is true even in instances where the additional household member is a newborn and the Move-In Date is prior to their Date of Birth.
Entering Data for the New Operating Start and End Date Fields
The Operating Start Date should reflect the first day on which a project provided, or will provide, services and/or housing. For projects that began operating prior to October 1, 2012, the Start Date may be estimated. Projects that are fully funded, but have not yet begun operating, may be entered with a future Operating Start Date that reflects the date the project will begin providing services.
Operating End Date should reflect the last day on which the project provided, or is expected to provide, services and/or housing. It may be a date in the future; it may also be blank if the project is expected to continue operating indefinitely.