UDEs_PSDEs and Others

More and more, HMIS data are used to make decisions that affect not only agencies, but they affect clients themselves. If the data in HMIS is not an accurate reflection of reality, at the community level or at the client level, then decisions are made that can negatively affect the community and clients themselves.

Universal Data Elements (UDEs) are data elements that are required to be collected and entered into HMIS, regardless of what funding a project does (or does not) receive. Even projects that enter data into HMIS voluntarily are asked to attempt to collect and enter the UDEs into HMIS. This is because the UDEs assist in de-duplication of client records and estimate the number of clients experiencing chronic homelessness across the CoC. The UDEs include the following data points:

Name                                                                 Social Security Number

Date of Birth                                                     Race

Ethnicity                                                            Gender

Veteran Status                                                 Disabling Condition

Project Start Date                                            Project Exit Date

Destination                                                       Relationship to Head of Household

Client Location                                                 Housing Move-in Date

Prior Living Situation

Program Specific Data Elements (PSDEs) are data elements that are required to be collected and entered into HMIS if the project is funded by certain funding streams. There are some common PSDEs that are required to be collected and entered into HMIS for the majority of HUD and Federal Partner funding streams. The common PSDEs include the following data points:

Income and Sources                                      Non-Cash Benefits

Health Insurance                                            Disabling Condition Types

Domestic Violence                                          Current Living Situation

Date of Engagement                                      Bed-Night Date

Coordinated Entry Assessment                   Coordinated Entry Event

HUD and the Federal Partners establish baseline requirements for HMIS and what it is required to do and report. However, many communities utilize HMIS beyond the baseline requirements and use it to collect locally important data about clients at-risk of and experiencing homelessness that can be used for local decision-making and data analysis. Some of the local data elements that agencies are collecting include:

•       Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT)
•          County
•          Region