HMIS Newsletter: January 2026

Table of Contents

• CalAIM Housing Deposit Training Announcement
• CalAIM in HMIS
• Data Quality Dashboard
• LSA Submission
• 2026 Point-in-Time Count: January 28, 2026
• February Feature Release
• Upcoming Events 
• Bitfocus is Hiring

CalAIM Housing Deposit Training Announcement

We are pleased to announce that the CalAIM Housing Deposit, Authorization Assessment and Invoice Reporting are now live both in the training and live HMIS Sites.

What You Need to Know: While Invoicing for this service is largely the same as Community Supports (CS) and Enhanced Care Management (ECM), there are some distinct differences including:

• New Invoicing Report: Housing Deposits now use a separate report from the standard CS/ECM Service Invoicing Report.
• Workflow Update: Separate steps within the HMIS have been updated to accommodate the Housing Deposit functionality.

Join our Training Session: To help agencies transition smoothly, H4H is hosting a remote training session for all HMIS users and Leads who would like to attend.

Date: February 12th

Time: 1:00p - 2:00p

Registration: Please register here for the training.

Please reach out to Loren White at loren.white@santacruzcountyca.gov if you have any questions.

CalAIM in HMIS

Streamline Your CalAIM Billing: HMIS Invoicing System

Housing for Health (H4H), in partnership with Bitfocus and Focus Strategies, has recently developed and launched a new system for using HMIS to invoice the Central California Alliance for Health (CCAH) for CalAIM covered services. While we continue to build out additional functionality and CalAIM billable services, currently the system supports:

• Enhanced Care Management (ECM)
• Community Supports (CS)
• Housing Deposits

This invoicing system includes:

• Authorization Assessment: Easily capture CCAH - required client data
• Service Logging: Real-time tracking of billable agency services
• Instant Invoicing: Generate a "readymade" template that populates automatically for direct upload into the Office Ally platform for reimbursement.

Impact: Depending on your current system, this process has been reported to be shrink down a process that used to take a couple days into a couple hours.

Get Started or Get Help: At present we have 6 agencies successfully implementing or are in the process of implementing this workflow. If you are interested in seeing if our HMIS billing system would work for your agency, or if your agency is already using it and you have questions, please reach out to the Santa Cruz County HMIS Lead Loren White at loren.white@santacruzcountyca.gov.

Data Quality Dashboard

Please see below for the agency-level data quality dashboard and report content updates. This is updated monthly check it out here.

LSA Submission

The Longitudinal System Analysis, better known as the LSA, is finally done, and was submitted to HUD on January 16, 2026! We would like to extend our sincere thanks for your hard work on the data cleanup. We truly appreciate the time and effort you’ve dedicated to this process and for your prompt responses throughout.

As a recap, the LSA is an annual report produced by Continuum of Care’s (CoC) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and provides HUD and the CoC with critical information about how people experiencing homelessness use their system of care. The LSA is essentially a massive export of information and includes: 

• Demographic data such as age, race and ethnicity, veteran status, etc. Please note that this year’s LSA is not reporting Sex or Gender data, however you may have local reporting that include one or both of these demographics.  
• Length of time homeless and patterns of system use 
• Information on special populations, such as veterans and people/households 
  experiencing chronic homelessness
• Housing outcomes for those who exit the homeless services system  

The LSA also provides information about patterns of system use prior to exit, destination types, and, for those who were served again later by continuum projects, lengths of time between exit and re-engagement or returns to homelessness.  
 
Thank you again for helping us ensure this year’s LSA submission was successful!  

2026 Point-in-Time Count: January 28, 2026

The Annual Point-In-Time (PIT) Count is a one-night snapshot of people experiencing homelessness. This year Santa Cruz County conducted a sheltered count on the night of January 28, 2026 across Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Safe Haven project types. Santa Cruz also conducted an unsheltered count in the early morning hours of January 29, 2026. Alongside the sheltered PIT count, we will conduct the Housing Inventory Count (HIC). This report provides HUD with a comprehensive look at available beds and the total number of clients served across these program types:

• Transitional Housing 
• Rapid Re-housing 
• Permanent Supportive Housing 
• Safe Haven (not applicable in Santa Cruz County)
• Permanent Housing Types

The HIC includes all programs, regardless of whether they use HMIS. To ensure our community’s data is complete: 

• Non-HMIS Providers: You will receive a Non-Participating Program form to record your data for the night of the count.
• HMIS-Participating Providers: Please prioritize data cleanup to ensure HUD receives the highest quality information. 

What HMIS information should be reviewed?  

• Client Information: To ensure our community provides HUD with the highest quality data, please verify that all relevant client records—including profile demographics, enrollment/exit dates, move-in dates, and housing services—are complete and up-to-date for the PIT count date. 
• Program Information: For all housing projects, please confirm that project start/end dates, available beds and units, and voucher counts are accurate. 

Helpful Reports for Preparing for the HIC/PIT: 

• [GNRL-106] Program Roster: This report outlines program stays and relevant inventory information, based on dates you include when you run the report. The report will include a list of all clients who were enrolled, exited, or remained active during the reporting period.
• [GNRL-220] Program Details Report: This report is a detailed review of all relevant profile, enrollment, exit, and housing service data in one place. 
• [HSNG-108] Housing Census: This report provides bed occupancy rates by date, with the ability to drill down and see a client list for those dates.  
• [HSNG-200] Current Housing Availability: This report summarizes (by housing project type, then program name) the amount of available bed and unit inventory on the night before the report is run. This is most helpful for ensuring your program configurations are accurate. 

Thank you for your diligence and commitment to data quality, which ensures the success and accuracy of our annual PIT Count. If you have any questions, please let us know by emailing us at santacruz@bitfocus.com.

Bitfocus Feature Release

In February, we’re releasing several updates to help your community get the most out of Clarity. Here are some of the key changes you should know about:

• Enrollment Screens: We will be updating the enrollment screens and warnings around disabling conditions.
• New Interface: We are adding more functionality to the new Clarity interface and updating the messaging across Care team members will become easier! A “documentation requirements” section will be added to the referral screen, streamlining eligibility steps. And a Coordinated Entry analysis tab will be added with more clear ways to review all of the ways we work with referrals.

See it in action: Join our Feature Focus on February 5th at 10am PT.

Read the details: Check out the February 2026 Features article for a deep dive into these changes.

Try it yourself: These updates will be available in your Training Site starting January 27, 2026. If you need help exploring them, reach out to your Bitfocus Administration team: santacruz@bitfocus.com.

Upcoming Events

Housing for Health - HMIS Office Hours | February 23, 2026 at 1-2:30PM Register here

Housing for Health and Bitfocus host office hours every fourth Monday of each month (in lieu of HMIS Workgroup meetings). Drop-in for as long or as short as you’d like to ask any and all questions related to the HMIS. All users are welcome. Please join us within the first 15 minutes or we will assume nobody will be joining us for Office Hours

Want more details?

Check out our full events calendar.

Bitfocus is Hiring

Join our Team!

• Visit bitfocus.com | Jobs | About Bitfocus 

• Work with us at Bitfocus! Join a team committed to innovation, collaboration, and real-world impact in human services.  

Questions?

Your HMIS Administrators are happy to help.

Phone: 831-713-2288

Email: santacruz@bitfocus.com