Table of Contents

• 2024 User Survey Analysis
• Spring into Summer 2025 HMIS User Survey
• Upcoming Events - HMIS Office Hours
• Special Announcements from Housing for Health (H4H)
  • Contracts Metrics Dashboard
  • Data Quality Lead Reports
  • CalAIM Invoicing in HMIS
• Data Quality Dashboard and Report Content
• Explore the New Clarity User Interface
• New Clarity User Interface: June Feature Updates
• Clarity Human Services: June Feature Updates

The 2024 HMIS User Survey Results Are In!

We’ve got the scoop on how folks are using HMIS, what tools they love most, and where we can keep improving.

Spring into Summer 2025 HMIS User Survey

Haven’t taken the HMIS User Survey yet? No worries, there’s still time. We really want to hear from you about what’s working, what’s not, and how we can better support your HMIS Journey. The survey is anonymous (unless you want to enter to win a $25 gift card). The HMIS User Survey should take less than 10 minutes, and helps us create the tools and training you need. 

Raffle Eligibility:

• Complete it by July 9th
• Finish the full survey - we hope you to take the time to respond thoughtfully
• Share your name so we know where to send your prize!

Don’t miss your chance. Quick, easy, and possibly rewarding!

Fill out the HMIS User Survey here

Upcoming Events

Housing for Health - HMIS Office Hours: Monday, July 28th, 2025 | 1p-2:30p

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.

Special Announcements from Housing for Health (H4H)

Contract Metrics Dashboard

Housing for Health has published a Contract Metrics Dashboard to assist agencies with tracking their progress or status in meeting the HMIS metrics outlined in their contracts with the County of Santa Cruz.

To access the dashboard, please follow these steps:

1. Click on the "Reports" icon.
2. Go to the "Data Analysis" tab.
3. In the "Santa Cruz Clarity System Reports" category, you'll find it under "Shared Folder."

Once on the dashboard, you can set it to display data for contract metrics for a specific program you need to report on by adjusting the filters in the top left corner.

Data Quality Reports for Agency Leads

The Data Quality Agency Lead Reports, which have been in development for some time, are now ready. These reports will be sent out automatically to all Agency Leads at the beginning of every month.

It will then be up to the Leads to review the Data Quality Report and collaborate with their HMIS users to correct any errors. The County of Santa Cruz’s HMIS Lead, Loren White, will be contacting Leads with the highest number of data quality issues to work directly with them on resolving these issues and improving workflows. This includes doing regular quarterly assessments and updating expired ROIs. If you have any questions please reach out to HMIS Lead, Loren White, at loren.white@santacruzcountyca.gov.

CalAIM Invoicing in the HMIS

Housing for Health has been actively working on building out and expanding HMIS’s CalAIM invoicing system. Currently, Clarity is set up to log and create invoicing reports for Community Support and Enhanced Care Management (ECM) services. We are also in the process of building out Housing Deposit tracking. Several agencies are already using various components of this CalAIM system. 

The process itself is very straightforward and includes:

1. Submitting a CalAIM Setup Request form to indicate which programs you will be logging billable services, and which services you would like set up.
2. Meeting with H4H and Bitfocus to discuss your needs and to go over any open questions on the setup and/or to demo the CalAIM invoicing process.
3. Building things out in the HMIS Training Site for you to test out.
4. Once your agency confirms everything is correct, we will activate the applicable services, assessments, and invoicing reports in the HMIS Live Site.

After everything is turned on, in order to start billing the Alliance for services rendered, you will follow the below steps:

1. Submit an Authorization Assessment for each CalAIM billable service that you will be invoicing for and which the Alliance approved.
2. Begin logging the services that were provided, and for which you submitted an Authorization Assessment for (as per step 1 above).
3. When all the services and assessments have been entered and you are ready to submit your invoice, you will pull the CalAIM invoicing report and upload it into the Alliance’s system.

Data Quality Dashboard and Report Content

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

Explore the New Clarity User Interface

We encourage all users to explore the New Clarity Interface. Need a quick refresher? You can always watch the demo. Below are resources to get you started.

• Clarity Human Services - New Look: Demo
• Clarity Human Services - New Look: Common Functions

To switch between the old and new interface, click on this icon in the top left corner next to your name. To switch back just click on the same icon.

You can also switch on dark to give your eyes a break!

New Clarity Interface: June Feature Updates

1. New! Client Files

We are excited to announce that with this update, the new Clarity Human Services interface will include Files functionality. End users can now view, edit, and upload files at both the client and program levels. The video below provides an example of how to search for a client, and add and delete personal identification files. For more details refer to the Help Center article here.

Watch the Demo:

2. New! Alerts and Warnings

The new Clarity Human Services interface now includes public alerts and warnings. These alerts and warnings will appear in the top right corner of the client profile screen.

Public Alert Warning 

A public alert offers a convenient way to inform staff members about crucial client-specific information by displaying a dedicated public alert button. The badge count on this button indicates the number of active alerts for a particular client. 

⚠️Important: Santa Cruz only utilizes Public Alerts for emergencies only. If an alert is created the maximum duration of that alert should be for 30 days

Note: Clicking on the Public Alerts button will redirect users to the current Clarity Interface.

If a user hovers over the Public Alert button, a list of alerts for the client will be displayed.

Users can click the drop-down arrow to see additional information about a specific alert. 

A new Help Center article is available with details on all functionality here.

Release of Information (ROI) Warning

For clients who are missing an ROI or have an ROI that is about to expire, an alert will be visible on the top right corner of the client profile. The alert will indicate if the ROI is missing or expired.

ROI is Missing

The ROI Alert button will appear in red like in the image below.

Users can hover over the ROI Alert button to see a note stating “Release of Information is missing. Please review to ensure compliance.” Users can click on the ROI Alert to go to the Privacy Tab and manage ROIs from there.

ROI is Expiring

When an ROI is expiring the ROI alert button will display in yellow like in the image below.

Users can hover over the ROI Alert to see a note stating “Release of Information expires in (number) of days. Please review to ensure compliance.” Users can click on the ROI Alert to go to the Privacy Tab and manage ROIs from there.

3. New! Privacy

On the Client profile there is a lock icon in the top right hand corner which indicates if a client record is public or private. A friendly reminder that Santa Cruz does not use private profiles, so no profiles should ever be marked as private.  

4. New! Reopen Client Program

The new Clarity Human Services Interface will include the option to reopen a client’s program enrollment for users with the Clear and Restore All Exit Data Access Rights. 

To Reopen a client’s program complete the following steps:

From the Programs Tab, select the designated closed program.

Click on the Exit Tab

Select the 3 dots and click Reopen Client Program

When the pop-up window appears, you will be prompted to clear all exit data. To do so, please toggle on the "Clear all exit data" button. If you prefer not to clear the exit data, leave the button as is and then click "Save."

Then confirm the Reopen by hitting the save button.

Clarity Human Services: June Feature Updates

Check-in Button for Client Profile

A Check In button has been added to the client profile that allows users to quickly check-in a client on the Community Queue without accessing their referral.

The Check-In button has been added to the client profile screen below the client’s unique identifier.

The Check-In Button Appears When:

• The client has at least one referral to a community queue or a direct program.
• At least one "View Detail" link is available.
• The user has "Edit Agency Referral" or "Edit Any Agency Referral" permissions.

Functionality:

Hovering over the button shows a tooltip explaining that clicking it will keep all pending referrals active.

Clicking the button:

• Resets the referral clock (client will remain active in pending community queue referrals).
• Updates the “Last Activity” date to today for all pending referrals.
• Logs the action in the Client Profile audit log.

Please Note: This will only be visible to users who are responsible for managing referrals in the HMIS. If you are not responsible for managing HMIS referrals, then you should not expect to see the check-in button on the client profile. However, this button will not have any impact on your workflow since it is only applicable to pending referrals on the community queue.