April 2020 Agency Admin Meeting

Date: Thursday, April 2nd, 2020
Time: 2:00PM– 3:30PM
Place: ZOOM Only Meeting

Agency Admin. Lead and/or Representative in Attendance:

Slides from the presentation are here:

Please use this link to download slide deck if desired. 

Agenda

• COC|Coordinated Assessment|UPLIFT Updates
• HMIS Newsletter
• Security Officer Document
• Coordinated Entry (CE) Changes
• COVID-19 Processes
• COVID-19 Resources
• Reminders

CoC|Coordinated Assessment Updates

• Updates regarding OSH Operations
• Updated guidance re: client signatures
  • HMIS client consent form – e-signature okay
  • Intake forms – signature requirement waived
• General guidance for housing programs
  • Extend assistance as needed
  • Be as flexible as possible to meet client needs

2019 CoC Awards

• Preliminary CoC Award Announcements made on 3/13/2020
• SCC Total award = $28,752,759
• ARD Increase is over $2.5 million 
• SCC’s project awards include:
  • 19 Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) projects
  • 5 Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects
  • 2 Transitional Housing (TH) projects
  • 2 TH-RRH projects
  • 1 HMIS projects
  • 1 Coordinated Entry project

CoC Business

• CoC 2020 NOFA still on track
• All local CoC meetings being held remotely, some postponed
  • RRH and Employment Initiative – 4/9 and 4/23
  • Performance Management Work Group – 4/9
  • RRH Workshop – changing to virtual, dates and registration to be announced
  • VI-SPDAT trainings conducted virtually – starting 4/14
  • CoC NOFA Subcommittee – date and time TBD
• Questions?

UPLIFT Updates

Please be aware of the following Updates with the VTA.

There is No Fare Collection for all VTA transportations, your clients may use VTA transit free of charge.

• https://www.vta.org/blog/vta-service-updates-rear-door-boarding-no-fare-collection-rapid-500-suspended?fbclid=IwAR1eC1sD6r9MiSkZqEgH3S6UDtO6Yt1gTp48nPBj5-zikp_YtqxTdray8bA

Beginning Monday, March 30, VTA will offer reduced service during the shelter-in-place order.

• Blog:  https://www.vta.org/blog/vta-offering-reduced-service-during-shelter-place-order

Reduced service map: 

• https://www.vta.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/COVID19%20Reduced%20Transit%20Service%20Map.pdf

We have reached out to each participating agencies UPLIFT Point of Contact to set up delivery.

• 1131 passes have been delivered out of the 1264 passes processed. If you have not received your any passes, please send us your mailing details to set up delivery

Please note:

• This means there will be no pick-up option for your clients’ badges and/or stickers through at least April 7, 2020.  The building at Charcot will be closed to the public.
• Delivery will require a signature.
• Your agency should have protocols in place to ensure that the badges and stickers are safely and securely received, stored, and distributed.
• Additionally, in an abundance of caution, the policy regarding affixing stickers to your client’s badges is suspended for this quarter. Clients may affix their own sticker to their badge, within the presence of staff if possible.

If there are changes who your UPLIFT Point of Contact is – please inform us @ UPLIFT@hhs.sccgov.org

For all UPLIFT related inquiries please email UPLIFT@hhs.sccgov.org

HMIS Newsletter

March 2020 Newsletter included:

• Responding to COVID-19: Strategies for Managing Infectious Disease Outbreaks Using HMIS
• POSTPONED: Change to coordinated Entry (CE)
• New and Upcoming Features in Clarity Human Services

• Report Spotlight: [OUTS-106] and [OUTS-105] Client Demographic Reports

• Upcoming Events

Web link to the newsletter

Security Officer Quarterly Compliance

• The due date for Q1 Has been extended to July 1, 2020
• Canned and Looker (data analysis) reports are available to get list of staff
• An HMIS Privacy Statement must be visibly posted at each HMIS intake desk (or comparable location). If the workstation is not in a fixed location HMIS Privacy.  Statement must be provided as a handout.

Coordinated Entry (CE) Changes

POSTPONED: Changes Coming to Coordinated Entry 

• Changes to Coordinated Assessment data entry were scheduled to go live on April 1st to comply with the 2020 HUD Data Standards. 
• Due to COVID-19, HUD has postponed these required changes until October 1st, 2020. 
• Over 250 HMIS users in Santa Clara County attended the required Coordinated Entry Changes webinars in March. Thank you!

Tentative plan to implement these changes July 1st, 2020.  

• Webinars will be scheduled in June, 2020. Dates will be announced in May.
• If you completed a webinar in March, you will not need to complete the webinar again in June.

COVID-19 Processess

“We have received several questions regarding challenges with collecting client consent during the Shelter in Place restrictions across Santa Clara County.  

We have developed the attached guidance in response, which includes guidelines for collecting consent electronically for assessors,  housing providers, and homelessness prevention providers. 

While the County is unable to waive legal requirements, even during this crisis, we understand that your first priority is serving your clients.”

Temporary Guidance for HMIS Data Entry During the COVID-19 Emergency

VI-SPDAT Updates

VI-SPDAT trainings are being conducted remotely. Please use the following link to be redirected to the Eventbrite Registration for upcoming dates. 

Revised Admin. Meeting Attendance

• Agency Admin meetings will continue to be held remotely during the health crisis.
• We recommend all agencies attend the meetings to stay up to date.
• Meeting attendance policy is being waived temporarily to ease administrative burden. 

Report Spotlight

[GNRL-220] Program Details Report

Type of Report

This report is based on project enrollments. Clients without an enrollment will not be included in the Program Details Report

Purpose

The Program Details Report returns all the fields and corresponding responses for selected screens. Additionally, the report provides some profile and Housing Service information, depending on the screen selected

Format

This report is only available in Zip with xlsx files format. There will be a separate workbook for each program and screen type selected

Please refer to the slide deck for further details on how to pull this report and examples.

COVID-19 Resources

Expensify.org is going to temporarily redirect all of its charitable funds to Expensify.org/hunger. 

• With its ability to reimburse volunteers directly in real-time, Expensify.org is uniquely positioned to help families in need immediately. 
• Until today, this fund was focused on paying off kids’ “lunch debts” , but with schools closed around the nation, that isn’t the top priority. Instead, we’re devoting everything to a new program: matching SNAP grocery purchases up to $50 per family.

How it Works:

1. Purchase food as normal with your SNAP card
2. Download Expensify on iOS or Android, for free
3. Join the Expensify.org/hunger policy
4. SmartScan the receipt, which will tell us how much you paid and show that it was paid for with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card
5. Submit it to volunteer@expensify.org
6. Set up your bank account to receive the funds
   • So long as we have funds available, we will reimburse up to $50 per family (one time), the very next day.

Santa Clara County Public Health Website

Addressing COVID-19 in the Homeless Community

HUD.GOV Resources

HUD COVID-19 Resources and Fact Sheets

CPD Program Formula Allocation and Cares Act Supplemental Funding for FY 2020

SCCGOV.ORG

Updates Regarding County Services During Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Working from Home Tips

Equipment Recommendations

Headphones- Single ear headset with a mute button. Any regular headphones/earbuds with a mic will work for your video calls.

Blue Light Filters- Blue light filters help prevent eye strain. I recommend purchasing blue light filter glasses or blue light filter screens to put on your monitors if you already wear glasses. Adjust brightness on your phone and monitors in the display settings.

Mouse- Using a mouse instead of a touchpad will make your home workstation feel more like your work workstation.

Chair- a good chair or cushion will allow you to work with fewer interruptions. 

Monitor Options:

• Use a TV or projector as a second monitor with an HDMI cord.

Video Call Reminders

• Cover your laptop camera to avoid unintentional video access.
• Try a video call prior to joining a scheduled call so you are aware of how you/your environment will appear to the other participants.
• Wear appropriate clothing.
• Ensure there is no visible PII in your camera view. 
• The people hosting the meeting usually have the ability to download chat logs and run attention reports to see if you are paying attention to you screen.

Healthy Tips

• Get the largest water bottle you can. Water is important and a large water bottle may stop you from visiting the refrigerator as often.

• Keep no/low prep veggies available to encourage healthy snacking.

• Do not go more than 2 days without showering, brushing your teeth, or wearing the same clothes.

• Try not to work in silence all day everyday. This may decrease feelings of isolation.

• If you feel inexplicably sad, it’s time to connect with friends and family.

Helpful Resources

Do you ever have questions about what entails being an Agency Lead? 

Here’s a document to help identify what the Agency Lead Role encompasses 

Resources and Helpful Documents

Clarity HMIS & Looker Office Hours

At this time we are offering two different types:

1. Looker Office Hours

    

    

   • Ongoing support 
   • Space to ask general questions
   • Receive assistance on questions you may have about a Looker related report or a report you want to create
   • Other questions as they arise
2. Clarity (HMIS) Office Hours
   • Ongoing support 
   • Assistance with running reports
   • Ask questions related to data entry
   • Or maybe a refresher on data entry
   • Other questions as they arise

SCC Virtual Suggestion Box

We value your opinion and insight. Please share with us your suggestions by using our new SCC Virtual Suggestion Box. You can access it by using the link above or directly from the HMIS Support page under the CONTACT tab and scrolling to Virtual Suggestion Box option.

Next Agency Admin Meeting

Meeting Location: TBD

When: Thursday, May 7th, 2020

Time: 2:00pm – 3:30pm

Dates and locations for 2019 meetings are listed on the OSH website:

https://www.sccgov.org/sites/osh/continuumofcare/osh-events/pages/home.aspx

Bitfocus Contact Information

Bitfocus System Administration Team: scc-admin@bitfocus.com 

Janel Fletcher (janelf@bitfocus.com)

Alison Wilson (alisonw@bitfocus.com)

Trevor Mells (trevorm@bitfoucs.com)

Lesly Soto (leslys@bitfocus.com)

Support Team: sccsupport@bitfocus.com