OCTOBER 24, 2012

P R E S E N T E D BY R E N E E L A M B E R J A C K , R E S E A R C H & E VA LUAT I O N A SS I STA N T

Annual Homeless Assessment ReportPresentation to Safe Harbors Partners

1

What is the AHAR?

The Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) is a report to the U.S. Congress on the extent and nature of homelessness.

It is an effort to use administrative data to produce national estimates of homelessness.

The AHAR is also a good tool for communities to assess the quality of their data in HMIS.

2

Why is it important?

HUD has placed increased emphasis on HMIS to learn more about people who are receiving homeless assistance.

AHAR participation is used in the scoring of the Continuum of Care (CoC) funding application for “McKinney” funds. The greater the number of accepted table shells the higher the CoC score.

3

What programs are included?

Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Permanent Supportive Housing programs are included

Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Programs (HPRP), Safe Havens, Permanent Housing, and Service Only programs are NOT included

Domestic violence programs are NOT included

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AHAR Reporting Categories

ALL & VETERANKing County

Emergency Shelter – Individuals Emergency Shelter – Families Transitional Housing – Individuals Transitional Housing – Families Permanent Supportive Housing – Individuals Permanent Supportive Housing – Families

Seattle Emergency Shelter – Individuals Emergency Shelter – Families Transitional Housing – Individuals Transitional Housing – Families Permanent Supportive Housing – Individuals Permanent Supportive Housing – Families

5

Time Frame

Report Period: Oct 1, 2011–Sept 30, 2012

Report Draft Due to HUD: November 15th

Final Report Due to HUD: January 15th

6

Data Quality

Enter and exit people from programs as timely as possible

For Emergency Shelter programs, be sure clients have an emergency shelter service for every night they were served

Enter ALL clients served by your program into HMIS

Ensure records are as complete as possible (Universal data elements are the most important for AHAR)

Permanent Supportive Housing programs report on program specific disability questions (mental health, physical disability…)

7

How to check your Data

Data Quality Report for all programs Look at your utilization rate on each of the four AHAR nights.

Confirm that your program served that # of people on each night. Look at your data completeness. Is there any way to improve your

data?Universal Data Elements_Details for all programs

Use the AHAR report period for your dates (10/1/2011-9/30/2012) Make sure everyone you served during this time is on the report Find clients who have missing universal data elements

Bed Night Report for ES Use the AHAR report period for your dates (10/1/2011-9/30/2012) Make sure everyone you served during this time is on the report

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Safe Harbors Help Desk

Phone: 206-386-0030E-mail address: SafeHarborsHMISHelp@Seattle.gov

Website: www.safeharbors.org