Data Standard Overview

HMIS data element 3.917 Prior Living Situation is required for all street outreach, nigh-by-night emergency shelters, services only, and coordinated entry programs. End uses should refer to the HMIS Data Standards Manual for further understanding. This is an occurrence point data element and should be recorded as it occurs according the data standards.

To identify the type of living situation and length of stay in that situation immediately prior to project
start for all adults and the Head of Household. This data element is used with other information to
identify whether a client appears to meet the criteria for experiencing chronic homelessness at various
points of enrollment (i.e., at the point of project entry, at a point during a project enrollment, or at any
point over the course of a specified reporting period).

The responses are intended to reflect the client’s last living situation immediately prior to the ‘Project
Start Date’. For projects that do not provide lodging, the ‘prior’ living situation may be the same as the
client’s current living situation.

Prior Living Situation Data Elements

To accurately record Prior Living Situation there are five pieces of information that is needed.

1. Prior Living Situation (Where did the client stay last night?)

There are three categories of Prior Living Situation Types:

• Homeless,
• Institutional,
• Temporary/Permanent.

2. Length of Time (How long did the client stay there?)

3. Approximate Date Homelessness Started (What was the first date of this episode of homelessness?)

4. Number of Times Homeless in 3 Years (How many times have they experienced homelessness in the last 3 years?)

5. Total Number of Months Homeless in 3 Years (How many total months have they experienced homelessness in the last 3 years?)

• When calculating total months homeless round up to the nearest whole month.
• In calculating the total of number months, it is important to also determine “episodes of” and “breaks in” homelessness the client may have had.
  • Episode is an experience of homelessness, that may include multiple literal homeless living situations, with no breaks of homelessness between situations.
  • Break in Homelessness is any time a client stays in a place not considered a “homeless situation”, OR
    • 90 days in an instituional situation, OR
    • 7 nights in transitional/permanent situation (exceptions: veterans in VA-funded TH)

NOTE: The phrases “on the street” or “the streets” are used as shorthand for any place that meets the statutory definition of “place not meant for human habitation” and means a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground.

Common Error – “Missing Homeless Months”

Missing Homeless Months can be a complex error to troubleshoot because it is caused by contradicting
data recorded for HMIS data element 3.19 Prior Living Situation. This data element records the answers to
5 questions listed below. To correct the error, consider the following common inconsistencies.