Family/Household Info

Updated December 12, 2024 19:28

The Household Composition feature allows you to manage household changes, including adding, editing, or removing household member information in client records. This feature is available for programs that are set to display the "Household Composition" button (or section) on client face sheets. You can access the feature from within a client's face sheet or during the admission process.

Permissions Required

Permissions required to use the Household Composition feature are as follows:

Program Chart Access
Display Any Chart Records Buttons
Display Chart Records Profile Button
Display Chart Records Intake/Admission Button
Referrals Data Entry
Program Admission/Discharge

Accessing the Household Composition Feature

The Household Composition feature can be accessed in the following ways within AWARDS:

Click the Household Composition button on a client's face sheet
Complete a new admission in a program set to display the Household Composition button on client face sheets

To access from the Household Composition feature:

Click Census > Profile > Face Sheet. The Client Profile/Face Sheet Update Settings page will display.
Select the client from the Client drop-down menu.
Click Continue. The Face Sheet page will display.
Click View Household Composition. The Household Composition page will display.

Adding a New Household Member

You may need to add a new household member to an existing household; for example, if a child joins the household of a mother.

Access the Household Composition feature.

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Image: Household Composition Feature

Click Add a New Household Member. The Household Search page will display.

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Image: Household Search page

Enter the information of the client being added. Click Continue. The Household Search Results page will display.

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Image: Household Search Results

Click the radio button next to the client being added, or select "New Record" to create a new member record.
Indicate if the member will be Living With Household, including start date. Click Continue.
You will see a pop-up confirmation for admitting the new member to the household.

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Image: Confirmation to Admit Household Member

If the new household member is receiving services within the selected program, click Yes in the pop-up window. A pre-populated admission form (for single-step programs) or referral form (for multi-step programs) will display for the selected program. Use this form to admit the household member into the program and complete the process.
If the new household member is not receiving services within the selected program, click No in the pop-up window. The Global Household Composition page will display, and the "Global Household Composition" tab is shown containing the newly added household member.
Click Update Relationships icon for the individual you just added.

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Image: Update Relationships icon

Note: The Update Relationships icon is green for the individual through whose records the household was accessed. For all others the icon is black.
The Relationships for [new household member] pop-up will display.
Click each of the drop-down arrows on this page and select the appropriate relationship designation to reflect how the new household member is related to the existing household members.
Click Save to apply your changes.

Editing Household Member Information

The information being edited and the admission status of the household member (admitted into an agency program or not admitted) determines where in AWARDS you complete updates:

If a household member is admitted as receiving services within an agency program, their service information can be edited in their program records as usual. This may include the client's face sheet, admission form, service records, or housing records. However, to update household-specific information (like the member's relation to the primary client), this is done within the Household Composition feature.
For household members who are NOT admitted into agency programs, all edits are completed within the Household Composition feature.

To edit household member information within the Household Composition feature, complete the following steps:

Access the Household Composition feature. By default the "Global Household Composition" tab will display, listing all current household members (as of today's date).
If the household member you are editing is not a current household member, click the "Complete History" radio button and the contents of the table will be refreshed to reflect the full household history.
Locate the household member you are editing. To edit ONLY the household member's relationship to other members of the household, skip ahead. To update anything else for that household member, click their name. The Household Composition page will display. Edit the client's details. Click Continue.
To update the household member's relationship with other household members, click the Update Relationships icon for the individual whose relationship information is to be edited. NOTE: The Update Relationships icon is green for the individual through whose records the household was accessed. For all others the icon is black.

The Relationships for [Household Member] window will display.
Make changes needed from the drop-down list.
Click Save.

Changing the Primary Client in a Household

To change the primary client in a household, you must designate a new Head of Household, and then specify the relationship of the other members to the new Head of Household. To do so, complete the following steps:

Access the Household Composition feature.
Click the Household Program Enrollment tab. The current program enrollment for the selected household will display.
The Primary Client column is used to designate the Head of Household for each program enrollment. Click that radio button for the new head of household.
Note: A warning icon is displayed in the Primary Client column for anyone who is not eligible to be made the primary client. Hover over that icon to view any related details.
The Relationships for [household member] pop-up is displayed for the newly selected primary client, with any previously specified relationships pre-populated.
If any relationship information is missing on this pop-up, use the available drop-down selection lists to specify the relationship of each existing household member to this new head of household.
Click Save. The Household Composition page is re-displayed, with "Household Program Enrollment" tab visible and the updated primary client and relationship information reflected there.

Family/Household Information FAQs

Q. Can a client be in more than one global household at the same time?

No. A client must be given a Household End Date in one household before they can be added to a different household.

Q. Can a global household include two primary clients?

Yes. While only one primary client can be designated per household program enrollment, each household program enrollment can have a different member of the global household as the primary client. For more information, see Changing the Primary Client in a Household.

Q. Can two members of a global household both be primary clients for the same program enrollment?

If both individuals are in the same global household and they are enrolled in the same program simultaneously, only one of them can be specified as the primary client.

NOTE: Contact your Foothold Customer Success & Advocacy team representative if you would like guidance on your households workflow.

Q. Does discharging a household member from a program automatically remove them from the household?

No. The household member will remain in the household post discharge. If you need the household member to leave the household upon discharge, manually enter a Household End Date for him or her on the Household Composition page. See Editing Household Member Information for more details.

Q. How do households display in Client Search results?

Each admitted member of the household has their own record in Client Search that describes their program enrollment status and the global household they are part of. All admitted household members are hyperlinked to their own program records page. If the database is set to search for household members then global household members without admission records also display with a hyperlink to the primary client's program records.

When conducting a search for a primary client, all of the household members admitted for each household program enrollment display as part of that primary client's program enrollment information.

NOTE: If your database is not currently set to include household members without admission records in the Search results and you would like to turn this feature on, please contact the Help Desk.

Q. How do I change the primary client in a household program enrollment?

Click here for detailed instructions on the process of changing the assigned primary client in a household program enrollment.

Q. How do I correctly admit a household member to a program other than the one in which he/she was first added as an unadmitted household member?

To be sure that the individual is not duplicated in this instance and remains attached to the correct global household, you must collect Social Security Number information for household members. Further, you must have a social security number recorded for the individual as part of his/her original record as an unadmitted global household member.

NOTE: If you do not see the SSN field when adding a household member (into which you can place all 9s in the event that you are not actually collecting the SSN), please contact the Help Desk for assistance.

To correct admit the individual to another program, process a fresh admission for that individual from within the Intake/Admission module. If the admission is processed with the same First Name, Last Name, DOB, and SSN, AWARDS will recognize that the client is already assigned to a household.

Q. How do I link two clients as one household when they each have their own household already?

To link two clients when they are both already members of individual households, first the client who is not the primary household client should be removed from (or disassociated from) the household he or she is currently in. To do this, go to that client's Household Composition page, and from the "Global Household Composition" tab, click the client's name. To remove the household member from the household as if they were never there, click the Delete checkbox that appears for each household stay. When the page is saved, AWARDS displays the option to create a new household for the client or have him or her join an existing household. Select the option to join an existing household and click CONTINUE, then search for the other household member and follow the prompts to add the client to that global household.

Q. How is a household defined in AWARDS?

In the context of AWARDS a household (also referred to throughout AWARDS and Online Help as a "global household") is an affiliated group of clients that are not necessarily in the same program(s), and in fact some of them may not be enrolled in any program. They are linked together in AWARDS by a global household ID.

Whether or not a household is additionally defined as individuals who live together is up to the agency. Some agencies choose to apply that to the definition, while others may simply consider a household to be people who are involved in other household members' lives.

Q. How should we document non-custodial children?

AWARDS provides the option to add a household member and note them as not living with the household. To do this, when adding (or editing) a household member's information on the Household Composition page's "Global Household Composition" tab, select "No" for Living with Household. See Editing Household Member Information for more details on this process.

Q. If a household member joins the household after the primary client, does that member's start date have to match the primary client's start date?

The system allows for tracking unique start and end dates for all individual members of the household; however, for programs set to collect HMIS data elements, note that:

If the newly added household member is an adult and that adult is enrolled with an admission date that is earlier than that of the primary client, AWARDS will force you to re-assign the primary client.

If the household member is a child and that child is enrolled with an admission date that is earlier than that of the primary client, the admission dates should be correcting using Program History Corrections.

Q. If there is a couple with children in a program and one spouse moves out, should that spouse's record be changed to "Not Living With Household" when inputting an end date? Or should the status remain as living with the household?

This depends on how each program defines a "household." If a program still considers the spouse as part of the household, even though he or she might not be physically present, then we suggest putting an End Date on the history listing "Yes" for Living With Household, and entering a new history with "No" checked and a corresponding Start Date, equal to the End Date entered on the previous record. The household member then remains an active member of the household, but is noted as a non-resident.

For example, if a household was formed 1/1/12 and the spouse was living with the household on that date, then moved out on 1/15/12, enter:

Yes - 1/1/12 - 1/15/12

No - 1/15/12 - present

Here there is no "gap" in household relation, and we can see the periods in which the spouse was living with the household, and not, without overriding historical information.

If a program considers the spouse to no longer be a member of the household when he or she moves out, then we suggest entering an End Date on the record.

Q. Is it possible to collect information about race, ethnicity, and Medicaid for household members who are not admitted?

Yes, there is an optional feature that Foothold can turn on behind-the-scenes that will enable users to collect this information for household members by redirecting them to an additional data entry page after household composition data entry has been completed for them. To request that this optional feature be turned on in your AWARDS database, please contact the Help Desk for assistance. Please reference cfg-house-race-ethnic in your request.

Q. Is the composition of a global household specific to a program?

No. A global household can be made up of a single person or a group of people admitted into a single program, several programs, or not admitted into any agency program. When viewing the Household Composition page, the "Global Household Composition" tab reflects the full household structure, while the "Household Program Enrollment" tab only details those household members with an enrollment into that specific program. So while household members may have varying program enrollments, as reflected in the "Household Program Enrollment" tab within each of those programs, the "Global Household Composition" looks the same across programs.

Q. Is there a difference between "Self" as used on the Global Household Composition tab vs the Household Program Enrollment tab?

Yes, the "Self" designation on the Household Composition page's two tabs may be different based on the client through whose records you accessed the Household Composition feature. Specifically:

On the Global Household Composition tab - "Self" displays in the Relationship to [client] column to indicate the row of the client whose face sheet you are currently connected to (in other words, the client whose face sheet you accessed in order to navigate to the Household Composition feature). As a result, if you navigate to this tab from the face sheets of different household members, the "Self" indicator will be different for each of those household members on the "Global Household Composition" tab.

On the Household Program Enrollment tab - "Self" displays in the row of whoever is the primary client/head of household for a given program enrollment. As a result, if you navigate to this tab from the face sheets of different household members, the "Self" indicator will indicate the program's primary client, regardless of the face sheet you enter from.

Q. What is the correct process for adding to a household?

If you're admitting a new household in its entirety - Begin in the Intake/Admission module and admit the client who will be labeled as the Head of Household. After the admission is complete, use the Household Composition button on the face sheet of that client to continue adding household members, and follow the prompts on that page to admit them. If you're unable to admit the entire household at once and you need to add another household member at a later date, see the next two bullets.

HMIS programs - If you're adding or admitting new household members to an existing household - Begin on the face sheet of the Head of Household of the household to which the new members are being added. Use the Household Composition button there to continue adding household members, and follow the prompts on that page to admit them, if needed. Do not admit the new household members by starting at the Intake/Admission module and then linking them to the household, as that may cause more data to be captured for the new members than necessary.

Non-HMIS programs - If you're adding or admitting new household members to an existing household - Begin on the face sheet of the Head of Household of the household to which the new members are being added. Use the Household Composition button there to continue adding household members, and follow the prompts on that page to admit them. Alternatively, you can begin at the Intake/Admission module and admit the household member, then follow the prompts to add them to the existing household.

Q. When a head of household is discharged, how do I make another member of the family the new head of household and primary client?

In the event that a head of household leaves and is discharged from the program, you must first process that individual's discharge. Once that has been done, you must create a client record for the new head of household by entering a referral record for him/her and processing his or her admission into the program. There is no way to complete this process without discharging the family and re-admitting them with the new head.

Q. When processing an intake/admission for an HMIS household member, are any fields pre-populated on the admission form based on the data entered for the primary client?

Yes, in addition to the household member's demographics (name, gender, DOB, SSN) the following fields will be pre-populated on the admission form, based on the data entered for the primary client: Housing Status, Primary Worker, Residence Prior to Program Entry, Homeless Duration, Episodes of Homelessness, Length of Stay at previous residence, Zip of last permanent address, Zip code quality, and Services Sought.

In order for this pre-population to occur, the household member's admission must be processed either a) from within the primary client's face sheet, Household Composition feature, by clicking the Create Admission icon on the "Global Household Composition" tab, or b) following the primary client's admission, choosing to add and immediately admit additional household members.

Q. When two or more youth (under 18) without children present at an HMIS RHY program together, should they be enrolled in the same global household?

Each youth should be entered in his/her own household. In this way, all elements required to be collected for youths by RHY will be visible for data collection in HMIS as each youth will be his/her own head of household.

Q. Why am I seeing a warning message that a client cannot be the primary client for a program enrollment?

This warning, displayed when you hover over the warning icon on the Household Composition feature's "Household Program Enrollment" tab, indicates that the enrollment dates for the household member in question prevent him/her from being made the primary client. A primary client designation requires that the individual was present for the entire program enrollment. If necessary you can use the Program History Corrections feature to adjust the program enrollment information for the client if his/her admission and discharge dates are not accurate.

Q. Why does someone I added to a protected program show up in global household composition in a non-protected programs?

Protections only apply to individuals once they are admitted. As a result, household members are displayed on the "Global Household Composition" tab of the Household Composition feature in non-protected programs until they are admitted. Once admitted to a protected program, they will cease to display to anyone that does not have program chart access permission for that protected program.

Q. Why is a household member being incorrectly identified as the Head of Household?

If a household member is incorrectly identified as the Head of Household in AWARDS, it is most likely because a new application was created for that individual using the Intake/Admission module rather than from within the face sheet's Household Composition feature, described here. The full set of rules for when you should use Intake/Admission for household data entry versus when you should use the face sheet is as follows:

Q. Why is AWARDS hiding social security numbers and DOBs for clients who do not have any program enrollments or who don't have enrollment in a program I have chart access to?

Global households are not associated with programs. Because this will often result in a global household including members that are enrolled in programs to which you do not have chart access, security features exist to limit the amount of data you see on those individuals. Specifically, to make data more secure, DOB and SSN are hidden (****) by default unless/until the household member has an enrollment in the current program or another program you have chart access to. To have the DOB and SSN of unadmitted household members display throughout your database, please contact the Help Desk to have this default feature removed.