The HMIS Bed Inventory feature is used to enter, update, and delete HMIS housing inventory records in HMIS residential programs. It is also used to view customizable bed inventory reports.
This feature is only available for HMIS programs with an HMIS Project Type set to one of the following (under System Setup > Agency Program Information > Add/Edit Entire Program > HMIS Settings > Continuum of Care):
- Emergency Shelter
- Transitional Housing
- PH- Permanent Supportive Housing
- Safe Haven
- PH- Housing Only
- PH- Housing with Services
- PH- Rapid Re-Housing
An Important Note Regarding HMIS Bed Inventory vs Residence Units
April 12th, 2019
The HMIS Bed Inventory feature is designed to give you a visual look at the information needed by HMIS to complete your Housing Inventory Chart. This is also important for the LSA as well as CSV exports and uploads.
Please keep in mind that the bed inventory does NOT replace the Residence Units functionality; rather, the two features serve different purposes. The Residence Units feature is used to create the beds that clients are assigned to. The HMIS Bed Inventory feature has no connection to clients and instead is used to keep the Housing Inventory Chart up-to-date. For projects that upload to an HMIS it is important that you keep the HMIS Bed Inventory records updated, because this inventory information is sent over to the HMIS during each upload and overwrites any previously stored inventory information.
The HMIS Bed Inventory feature is intended to be easier to update than the Residence Units feature because you need only add one record for each group of similar beds. For example, if you have 30 units that all became available on the same date and all serve individuals, you can enter a single record and mark it as having 30 units for individuals. If the same program also has 20 units for families with 5 beds in each unit, then you would add a second inventory record and mark it as having 20 units with 100 beds for families. Thus you only need two entries in the HMIS Bed Inventory, whereas you would need 130 different Residence Units entries.
Most projects will need to make sure they are keeping both the Residence Units and HMIS Bed Inventory records up-to-date. A message has been added to the Residence Units feature to remind people to also update the HMIS Bed Inventory feature.
Projects that do not participate in HMIS will only need to use the HMIS Bed Inventory feature. Projects that import from another database will have the HMIS Bed Inventory feature populated automatically during the import process.
Required Permissions
The HMIS Bed Inventory feature is available to users with the following permissions:
- Program Chart Access (not required for "Executive Officer" or "System Administrator" user groups)
In addition, unless you are in the "Executive Officer," "Local CoC Admin," or "System Administrator" user groups, you must have BOTH of the following permissions:
- Display Executive Administration Buttons
- Create Residence Units
Permissions are assigned using the Permissions Maintenance feature. If you do not have access to that feature and need a permission listed here, please contact your supervisor or your local Help Desk for assistance.
Working with HMIS Bed Inventory Records
To enter, update, or delete an HMIS bed inventory record, complete the following steps from the AWARDS Home screen:
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Click the Program drop-down arrow in the upper-right corner of the page and select the program for which the HMIS bed inventory records are to be worked with.
- Click Administration from the left-hand menu, and then click System Setup. The System Setup fly-out menu is displayed.
- Click Agency Program Information, and then click HMIS Bed Inventory. The HMIS Bed Inventory index page is displayed.
When working on the index page, inventory records are easily accessible using the following tools and navigation features:
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"Show Records" display options - By default the index displays all current inventory records (those with no end date, or with an end date that is in the future). To expand the display to include all existing inventory records for the program instead, click Complete Historyunder "Show Records" in the left-hand menu.
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Sorting options - By default the index is sorted numerically by inventory ID, from highest to lowest. To adjust the sorting click a column header in the table to sort by that data. Clicking a column heading a second time reverses the sort order.
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Navigation options - 10 records are displayed on the page by default. To access records on subsequent pages of the index (when applicable), click the arrows in the bottom-right corner of the table. To display 25 or 50 records at a time, click the Show drop-down to the left of the record count, also in the bottom-right corner, and make a selection.
Once you select records on the index, a count of how many total records are selected is displayed in the action bar. Selections are maintained while moving from one page of the index to the next; meaning, you can select records on the first page (showing records 1-10 by default) and move to the next page (displaying records 11-20) without losing the selections made on the first page. Links for Show all selected records and Uncheck All are available beneath the index table for easy navigation.
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Search and filtering options - A Search field is available on the action bar along with a corresponding Filter by drop-down list. To search the contents of the index (including those records not currently displayed on the page), enter a value in the Search field. The index is automatically updated as you type. To further narrow your search, use the Filter by selection to indicate whether the search should look at data in "All Columns" (the default) or a specific column.
- ReportBuilder access - The HMIS Bed Inventory ReportBuilder link on the left-hand menu bar provides a shortcut to access the ReportBuilder for this feature, which can be used to generate customized reports of detailed inventory information. Click here for instructions.
- At this time, complete one or more of the following tasks as needed:
Add a new HMIS bed inventory record - To do so, click the Add New icon from the action bar above the records table. A new data entry page is displayed. Configure the fields and options on this page as necessary, and then click Save. The record is saved, and a confirmation page is displayed.
For more information on each field/option available on the data entry page, see HMIS Bed Inventory Record Fields/Options.
Update an existing HMIS bed inventory record - To do so, click the record to be updated, or click the checkbox to the left of that record and then click the Edit icon from the action bar above the records table. The data entry page is displayed. Make changes to the information on this page as needed, and then click Save. The record is saved, and a confirmation page is displayed.
For more information on each field/option available on the data entry page, see HMIS Bed Inventory Record Fields/Options.
IMPORTANT! When working with existing bed inventory records, keep in mind that HUD treats a set of beds that start and end on the same date and have the same data settings as a record. As a result, there is not a one to one correlation between residence units and bed inventory records; however, the addition or removal of residence units does require changes to be made to the corresponding bed inventory record. For example, if you have a unit and bed inventory of 10 beds for 10 years and today one unit becomes permanently unusable, you would archive the residence unit in question, AND do the following in the Bed Inventory feature:
- Place an Inventory End Date on the bed inventory record so that the existing record about the 10 beds ends today.
- Create a new bed inventory record for the remaining group of 9 beds that starts today.
In this example you would NOT edit the existing bed inventory record to change the number of beds from 10 to 9. That type of edit should only be made in the event that the original record incorrectly identified the number of beds. In cases like the above, a new record should always be created to correctly reflect a change in the number.
View or print an existing HMIS bed inventory record - To do so, click the checkbox to the left the record to be viewed/printed, and then click the View icon from the action bar above the records table. A read-only version of the record is displayed and can be printed as needed using your browser's print option.
Delete an existing HMIS bed inventory record - To do so, click the checkbox(es) to the left of the record(s) to be deleted, and then click the Delete icon from the action bar above the records table. A confirmation message is displayed. Click OK to proceed with the deletion. The selected record(s) are deleted and the updated index is displayed.
Return to the HMIS bed inventory records index - To do so, click the To Index icon from the action bar while working in a bed inventory record to return to the index page. You can also return to the index page at any time by clicking HMIS Bed Inventory from the breadcrumbs trail below the AWARDS navigation bar.
The process of working with HMIS bed inventory records is now complete.
HMIS Bed Inventory Record Fields / Options
Below is an alphabetical list of the fields and options located on the HMIS bed inventory data entry page. To jump directly to the information for a specific field or option, press <Ctrl+F> to access your browser's search field and enter the name of the field/option in question.
In addition to the information captured using the fields/options detailed below, three additional values are saved behind-the-scenes for each bed inventory record and are available in reports and exports:
- Inventory ID - Read-only value assigned to each inventory record in each program for reference purposes. Displays on the record index and in reports and is not editable.
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Created Date - The date on which data is first entered into a record.
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Modified Date - The most recent date on which data was entered or modified for a record. Populates DateUpdated on the Inventory.csv in HMIS Exports and Uploads.
Availability
Only available when the HMIS Project Type for the selected program is "Emergency Shelter."
Click this drop-down arrow and choose the availability for the inventory being recorded: "Year Round," "Seasonal," or "Overflow."
Bed Type
Only available when the HMIS Project Type for the selected program is "Emergency Shelter."
Click this drop-down arrow and choose the bed type for the inventory being recorded: "Facility Based," "Voucher," or "Other."
Beds...
- Veteran Bed Inventory - In these fields type or make changes to the number of beds available for veteran occupancy:
- Beds dedicated to chronically homeless veterans
- Beds dedicated to youth-veterans
- Beds dedicated to any other veteran
- Youth Bed Inventory - In these fields type or make changes to the number of beds available for youth occupancy:
- Beds dedicated to chronically homeless youth
- Beds dedicated to any other youth
- Other Bed Inventory - In this field, type or make changes to the number of beds available for occupancy for Chronically Homeless persons who are not youth and are not veterans:
- Beds dedicated to any other chronically homeless
And in this field, type or make changes to the number of non-dedicated beds available (those not specified for veteran, youth, or chronically homeless use):
- Non-dedicated beds
CoC
Click this drop-down and select the CoC for which this inventory record applies. The selections available here are those that have been set up under System Setup > Agency Program Information > Add/Edit Entire Program for the selected program. If there is only one CoC for that program, it is selected by default.
Inventory End Date
In this field type or make changes to the date the beds stopped being available for residents (if applicable).
Inventory Start Date
In this field type or make changes to the date the beds started being available for residents.
Household Type
Click this drop-down arrow and select the household type for this inventory. Available selections include: "Households with at least one Adult and one Child," "Households with only Children," and "Households without Children." Because these selections are mutually exclusive, if some of the beds for a program are of one household type, and other beds are for a different type, they must be entered as separate HMIS bed inventory records.
Total Bed Inventory
In this field enter or make changes to the number of beds. The value specified here must be greater than or equal to the number of units for the inventory being recorded in the following seven bed fields:
- Beds dedicated to chronically homeless veterans
- Beds dedicated to youth-veterans
- Beds dedicated to any other veteran
- Beds dedicated to chronically homeless youth
- Beds dedicated to any other youth
- Beds dedicated to any other CH
- Non-dedicated beds
Total Unit Inventory
In this field type or make changes to the number of units for this inventory. Must be less than or equal to the Total Bed Inventory value.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What changes must I make in the HMIS Bed Inventory when I add or delete a bed under System Setup > Residence Units?
HUD treats a set of beds that start and end on the same date and have the same data settings as a record. As a result, there is not a one to one correlation between residence units and bed inventory records; however, the addition or removal of residence units does require changes to be made to the corresponding bed inventory record. For example, if you have a unit and bed inventory of 10 beds for 10 years and today one unit becomes permanently unusable, you would archive the residence unit in question, AND do the following in the Bed Inventory feature:
- Place an Inventory End Date on the bed inventory record so that the existing record about the 10 beds ends today.
- Create a new bed inventory record for the remaining group of 9 beds that starts today.
IMPORTANT! In this example you should NOT edit the existing bed inventory record to change the number of beds from 10 to 9. That type of edit should only be made in the event that the original record incorrectly identified the number of beds. In cases like the above, a new record should always be created to correctly reflect a change in the number.