VI-SPDAT Assessment Questions 

The VI-SPDAT can be performed via Clarity HMIS. Entering the assessment directly in Clarity is the recommended method as it is less time consuming and reduces the chances of errors. The questions on the VI-SPDAT are organized into 4 or 5 categories, depending on the assessment type. 


Assessment Details (drop box answer selections)

  • Assessment Date
  • Assessment Location
  • Assessment Type
  • Assessment Level
  • Primary Language

COVID-19 Priority Factors (toggles)

  • Currently pregnant or breast feeding. 
  • COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) 
  • Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies 
  • Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant 
  • Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2) or severe obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2) 
  • Type 2 diabetes mellitus 
  • Chronic kidney disease 
  • Cancer

CHILDREN (section only in Family Assessment)

  • Total number of children under age 18 that are currently with you, or that you have reason to believe will be joining you when you get housed?
  • IF HOUSEHOLD INCLUDES A FEMALE: Is any member of the family currently pregnant?

History of Housing and Homelessness- these are questions about current living situation and length of time experiencing homelessness

  • Where do you sleep most frequently? 
  • How long has it been since you lived in permanent stable housing? 
  • In the past three years, how many times have you been homeless?

Risks - this includes questions on the risk to others and self, involvement in high-risk or exploitive situations, interactions with emergency services, and legal issues

  • In the past six months, how many times have you received health care at an emergency department/room? 
  • In the past six months, how many times have you taken an ambulance to the hospital?
  • In the past six months, how many times have you been hospitalized as in-patient? 
  • In the past six months, how many times have you used a crisis service, including sexual assault crisis, mental health crisis, family/intimate violence, distress centers and suicide prevention hotlines? 
  • In the past six months, how many times have you talked to police because you witnessed a crime, were the victim of a crime, or the alleged perpetrator of a crime or because the police told you that you must move along? 
  • In the past six months, how many times have you stayed one or more nights in a holding cell, jail or prison, whether that was a short-term stay like the drunk tank, a longer stay for a more serious offense, or anything in between? 
  • Have you been attacked or beaten up since you've become homeless? 
  • Have you threatened to or tried to harm yourself or anyone else in the last year? 
  • Do you have any legal stuff going on right now that may result in you being locked up, having to pay fines or that make it more difficult to rent a place to live? 
  • Does anybody force or trick you to do things that you do not want to do? 
  • Do you ever do things that may be considered to be risky like exchange sex for money, run drugs for someone, have unprotected sex with someone you don't know, share a needle, or anything like that?

Socialization and Daily Functions - this section includes questions on self-care and daily living skills and activities, personal and money management, and social relationships and networks


  • Is there any person, past landlord, business, bookie, dealer, or government group like the IRS that thinks you owe them money? 
  • Do you get any money from the government, a pension, an inheritance, working under the table, a regular job, or anything like that? 
  • Do you have planned activities, other than just surviving, that make you feel happy and fulfilled?* 
  • Are you currently able to take care of basic needs like bathing, changing clothes, using a restroom, getting food and clean water and other things like that? 
  • Is your current homelessness in any way caused by a relationship that broke down, an unhealthy or abusive relationship, or because family or friends caused you to become evicted?

Wellness - this includes questions on mental and physical health and wellness, medications, substance use or disorders, and any abuse or trauma experience

  • Have you ever had to leave an apartment, shelter program, or other place you were staying because of your physical health? 
  • Do you have any chronic health issues with your liver, kidneys, stomach lungs or heart? 
  • If there was space available in a program that specifically assists people that live with HIV or AIDS, would that be of interest to you? 
  • Do you have any physical disabilities that would limit the type of housing you could access, or would make it hard to live independently because you'd need help? 
  • When you are sick or not feeling well, do you avoid getting help? 
  • Are you currently pregnant?
  • Has your drinking or drug use led you to being kicked out of an apartment or program where you were staying in the past? 
  • Will drinking or drug use make it difficult for you to stay housed or afford your housing? 
  • HAVE YOU EVER HAD TROUBLE MAINTAINING YOUR HOUSING, OR BEEN KICKED OUT OF AN APARTMENT, SHELTER PROGRAM OR OTHER PLACE YOU WERE STAYING, BECAUSE OF: 
    • A mental health issue or concern? 
    • A past head injury?
    • A learning disability, developmental disability, or other impairment? 
  • Do you have any mental health or brain issues that would make it hard for you to live independently because help would be needed? 
  • Are there any medications that a doctor said you should be taking that, for whatever reason, you are not taking?
  • Are there any medications like painkillers that you don't take the way the doctor prescribed or where you sell the medication? 
  • Has your current period of homelessness been caused by an experience of emotional, physical, psychological, sexual, or other type of abuse, or by any other trauma you have experienced?

Family Unit

  • Are there any children that have been removed from the family by a child protection service within the last 180 days? 
  • Do you have any family legal issues that are being resolved in court or need to be resolved in court that would impact your housing or who may live within your housing? 
  • In the last 180 days have any children lived with family or friends because of your homelessness or housing situation? 
  • Has any child in the family experienced abuse or trauma in the last 180 days? 
  • IF THERE ARE SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN: 
    • Do your children attend school more often than not each week? 
    • Have the members of your family changed in the last 180 days, due to things like divorce, your kids coming back to live with you, someone leaving for military service or incarceration, a relative moving in, or anything like that? 
    • Do you anticipate any other adults or children coming to live with you within the first 180 days of being housed? 
    • Do you have two or more planned activities each week as a family such as outings to the park, going to the library, visiting other family, watching a family movie, or anything like that? 
  • AFTER SCHOOL, OR ON WEEKENDS OR DAYS WHEN THERE ISN'T SCHOOL, IS THE TOTAL TIME CHILDREN SPEND EACH DAY WHERE THERE IS NO INTERACTION WITH YOU OR ANOTHER RESPONSIBLE ADULT... 
    • 3 or more hours per day for children aged 13 or older? 
    • 2 or more hours per day for children aged 12 or younger? 
    • Do your older kids spend 2 or more hours on a typical day helping their younger sibling(s) with things like getting ready for school, helping with homework, making them dinner, bathing them, or anything like that?

FINALLY, I'D LIKE TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS TO HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND HOMELESSNESS AND IMPROVE HOUSING AND SUPPORT SERVICES. 

  1. Veteran Status
  2. Discharge Status
  3. Do you or any member of the family have a permanent physical disability that limits mobility? (i.e. wheelchair, amputation, unable to climb stairs)
  4. On a regular day, where is it easiest to find you and what time of day is easiest to do so?
  5. If available, would you be interested in living in a site based project? (Site based means shared common spaces, onsite staffing and services located on the premises).
  6. Do you owe a back amount for utilities?[ ie, gas, electric, water or sewage]? 
  7. Is there anything else that you believe I should have asked about your time homeless that we did not go over today?

**For the Family VI-SPDAT assessment, the questions are formulated to include "you or anyone in your household" in each question.