Add A New Client to an Existing Household

All members of a family, group, or household must have individual client profiles (including children) in Clarity before the creation of a Global Household. A Global Household must be created in order to enroll the group into a program together.  Newly created client profiles are not automatically part of a family or household.


Please watch the following videos or follow the detailed steps below to add a household member to an existing household.  

Creating a Global Household:



To add a new client to an existing household:


Bring up the client's profile. The right hand side of the screen shows the heading HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS. Click the MANAGE button.


There are two ways to add a client to a household:

  • From the sidebar
  • Client Search


Within the right sidebar, your 10 most recently accessed clients will appear under the section titled YOUR RECENT CLIENT SEARCHES ACCESSED.  Generally, family/household members are added to the system sequentially, therefore they will likely be conveniently listed here. If the household members are not listed in the recent search section, simply search for the client in search bar (search for a Household Member). 



Clients that currently are not members of any Family/Household will be displayed with the Add option which looks like a plus sign when you hover over their name. This is the most common scenario when adding members to a Family/Household. Simply selecting the plus icon will display a window requesting a Member Type and Start Date (the date a family member was added to the household).




Select the family Member Type for the selected client from the dropdown menu, select a Start Date, and then select SAVE. This client will be successfully added to the family/household. (It is possible for a client to have the "Not Set" member type, they are still apart of the household.  The member type is arbitrary to household status and is only used as information for agency staff. The original client will automatically be the HoH - and signified by an asterisk/star next to their member type.)








You may notice that some clients under YOUR RECENT CLIENT SEARCHES ACCESSED have a Join icon that looks like merging arrows button rather than a plus icon. This means that the client is already a member of a different household. The Join option allows for two unique functions based on the Family/Household status of the current client:


Scenario 1

Current client has no active Family/Household members. This option allows the current client to join an existing Family/Household. You can join the client to that household by clicking the Join button.




The JOIN HOUSEHOLD box will appear. Click the appropriate relationship, choose the effective date the action is taking place, and click "Save". 





Scenario 2

The current client is already a member of a Family/Household and cannot be added to the current household. A client cannot be a member of two distinct households at the same time, so Clarity allows you to make a decision. When you select Join, a pop-up will appear with the options:

  • Leave the existing Household to join another client's Household 
  • Transfer the household member from their existing Household to this Household

 

Select the appropriate option and enter the Existing Household End Date and New Household Member Type and Start Date. Then select Save. 





In this example, Clarence Demo already had a household with Doctor Demo and I want to connect Clarence to Demo Demo's household. A pop-up window appears allowing me to choose: 

  • If Clarence should leave his existing Household to join Demo Demo's Household 
  • Or if Demo Demo should be transferred from his existing household to Clarence Demo's current household.  


  • IF you choose to have Demo Demo leave his existing household to join Clarence's current household:
    • Enter an End Date, the date Demo Demo is leaving his current household. 
    • Enter Demo Demo's Member Type for Clarence's household.
    • Enter the Start Date for Demo Demo in Clarence Demo's household.


  • IF you choose to have Clarence transfer from his existing household to join Demo Demo's household:
    • Enter the End Date for Clarence from his current household.
    • Confirm the Head of Household for Clarence's existing household (for example, if Clarence is leaving his mother's household to join his father's household you would confirm Clarence's mother remains HoH in Clarence's existing or current household).
    • Enter Clarence's Member Type for Demo Demo's household. 
    • Enter Clarence's Start Date for Demo Demo's household.


Client Search

The Client Search function allows you to search the entire client database for a family/household member. Use the same Add and Join functionality stated above to join the target client to a Family/Household group.  Search results will include additional details to help ensure you choose the correct client to add to the household:

  • Details about the client's existing (current) group/household.
  • Client's date of birth
  • Last four digits of the social security number
  • Last date the client record was updated

 



See also the Bitfocus article on creating a household.


Contact Us

If you need help, or wish to offer suggestions or feedback, please contact the Cincinnati/Hamilton County HMIS support team at HMISsupport@end-homelessness.org or by calling 513-263-2790 9:00am - 3:00pm Monday-Friday (excluding holidays).


When contacting HMIS Support, please do not include any Personal Identifiable Information (PII) such as names, social security numbers, birth dates, etc. Please use the Clarity Unique Identifier found on the Clarity client profile page.