State and federally-funded homeless and housing service providers use HMIS to collect and manage data gathered while providing housing assistance to people already experiencing homelessness and households at risk of losing their housing.
- Explanation of Washington’s HMIS (PDF)
- Frequently Asked Questions About HMIS (PDF)
- RCW 43.185C.180 Washington homeless client management information system (HMIS consent law)
Training requirements
Our Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) trainings are for staff working for agencies already set up with HMIS access through Commerce. Commerce administers HMIS for the Balance of State in Washington State. See our Explanation of Washington’s HMIS (PDF) for more information. To see which agencies use HMIS through Commerce and which projects they have in HMIS, visit our Agency Look Up Dashboard.
If your agency is within the WA Balance of State and interested in using HMIS, please fill out an HMIS Help Desk Ticket Form and select “My agency is interested in using HMIS.”
For agencies already using HMIS through Commerce, any new staff requiring HMIS access must complete an approval process and HMIS training. New staff training applications should be submitted by HMIS Agency Leads only. Please allow ample time for this process. The approval process takes a week for us to process but may take longer, depending upon application-specific circumstances. Once approved, the new user’s process to complete trainings can take anywhere from a week to a month.
Please read our HMIS Training & Approval instructions for more information.
Please follow the HMIS Training & Approval instructions for new users. HMIS Agency Leads are responsible for submitting new user HMIS Training applications. The Balance of State HMIS vendor, Bitfocus, provides our New User and Basic HMIS training. We provide additional trainings as needed and for specific topics. If you are a current HMIS user interested in additional HMIS training, view our HMIS Calendar (PDF) for dates and times.
Resources
Need help with HMIS? Submit your HMIS help requests using the HMIS Help Desk Ticket Form.
- For help filling out a ticket, use the HMIS HelpDesk Ticket Cheat Sheet (PDF)
- HMIS Technical Assistance Staff is not available on official state holidays.
Feedback on HMIS
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- HMIS Agency Partner Agreement- Updated 12/2023 (PDF)
- HMIS Informed Consent Form – Updated 6/7/2018 (PDF)
- HMIS Consent Form in Spanish – Updated 6/26/2018 (PDF)
- HMIS Interagency Data Sharing Agreement (PDF)
- HMIS Revocation of Consent Process (PDF)
- HMIS Client Revocation of Consent Form – Updated 6/7/2018 (PDF)
- HMIS Client Revocation of Consent Form in Spanish – Updated 6/26/2018 (PDF)
- HMIS Client Privacy Rights — Notice of Uses & Disclosures (Word)
- HMIS User Policy Example — Updated 12/20/2023 (PDF) (The actual agreement is an electronic form in HMIS.)
- Case Conferencing Confidentiality Agreement (PDF)
- Case Conferencing Universal Release of Information (PDF)
- Universal ROI FAQs (PDF)
Sample Forms/Templates
- HMIS User FAQ (PDF)
- Balance of State HMIS User Manual (PDF)
- HMIS Data Suppression Guidance (PDF)
- HMIS Night-by-Night (NBN) Guide (PDF)
- Guide to entering Consent Refused and Domestic Violence Client Information in HMIS (PDF)
- Clarity HMIS Help Portal
- HMIS Basic Steps Cheatsheet (PDF)
- Rapid Re-Housing: Project & Housing Move-in Date Guide (PDF)
- Permanent Housing: Project & Housing Move-in Date Guide (PDF)
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Data Standards:
HUD manuals to assist HMIS Lead Agencies and Continuums of Care (CoCs) in correctly setting up projects in HMIS can be found on each of these HUD web pages:
- Data Quality Report Resources Info Sheet (PDF)
- Clarity Management Reports Details/Crosswalk (PDF)
- Clarity Annual Performance Report (APR) Instructions
- Our web-based public portal provides one-stop information on homelessness assistance, spending, and performance via Tableau dashboard and informational graphics.