The YWCA Crisis Hotline is one of our community's Coordinated Entry Access Points for housing opportunities. Although the Hotline Assessment is completed outside of Clarity, in order to add the client to the DV Prioritization List and document housing referrals, limited information is initially entered into Clarity. The YWCA instance of Clarity is not shared outside of system administrators and YWCA staff.
This help article includes:
- Entering a Hotline Client Record into Clarity
- Enroll the Client into the Hotline Prioritization Program
- Complete a Current Living Situation Assessment
- Complete a Hotline Assessment and Refer Client to the CQ
- Document a Housing Match
- Update Client Profile and Enroll the Client in the Referred to Program
Entering a Hotline client record into Clarity.
- Make sure you are logged into "YWCA Residential" agency in Clarity.
- Select "ADD CLIENT (+)"
- To maintain strict confidentiality, only enter the following information in Clarity.
- Social Security Number: 000-00-0000 (all zeros)
- SSN Data Quality Marker: Client doesn't know
- First Name: Hotline
- Last Name: ###### (Empower DB #)
- Name Data Quality Marker: Approximate or Partial
- Date of Birth: 01/01/1990 (Use January 1 for the month and day and the client's actual birth year)
- DOB Data Quality Marker: Approximate or Partial
- For all other data collection fields, enter "Data Not Collected." If there are additional household members, DO NOT create Clarity profiles at this point.
- Scroll to the top of the screen to complete the "Release of Information." Select "No."
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and select "ADD RECORD."
- After the client's placeholder has been saved, because the Release of Information was set to "No," the client profile must still be set to "Private."
- Select the privacy/shield icon and switch the client privacy to "Private." For detailed instruction, see this help article: Setting Clients to Private in Clarity : (freshdesk.com)
Enroll the client into the Hotline Prioritization program.
This will add the client to the DV Hotline Housing Prioritization List used by STEH Coordinated Entry to match clients with housing.
- Select PROGRAMS under the client's placeholder name.
- Scroll down to "Programs Available," and click on "Hotline Prioritization" and select ENROLL
The enrollment information is limited to only what is required for Coordinated Entry in order to make referrals.
Enter the following information to enroll the client in the program:
Type of Residence: Select the most appropriate answer from the drop down box.
Length of Stay in Prior Living Situation: Select the most appropriate length of time estimate from the drop down box
Disabling Condition: Select "Yes" if the client has a condition or barrier that is long term and/or impairs independent living
Select SAVE & CLOSE
Complete a Current Living Situation Assessment.
HUD requires the Current Living Situation assessment for all Coordinated Entry Access Points.
Date of Contact: Enter the date of contact with the Client or Household
Current Living Situation: Select the appropriate current living situation. A complete list of the living situation response categories can be found in Appendix A of the HMIS Data Standards Manual here: HMIS Data Standards - HUD Exchange.
Living Situation Verified By: Select the appropriate verifying agency and/or program you are affiliated with. If you are unsure, please consult with your supervisor.
Location Details: Add any location details or notes in this section.
Select SAVE & CLOSE
Complete a Hotline Assessment and Refer Client to the Community Queue.
This screen documents that a formal DV assessment was completed and the client is eligible for a housing match. This screen also details the family size (number of adults and children) to assist the STEH Coordinated Entry team when identifying a housing match.
From the program-level navigation, go to the "Assessments" tab.
Select START next to "Hotline Assessment."
After completing the documentation of the Hotline Assessment in Clarity, you will be automatically taken to the PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION screen. Toggle on "Community Queue" and click on REFER DIRECTLY TO COMMUNITY QUEUE. This step MUST be completed in order to successfully add the client to the community prioritization list.
Clarity will then direct users to the ADD TO CQ form. Make any applicable notes and select SEND REFERRAL. These notes are only shared within the YWCA.
Once matched. case managers will receive an email notification/email from the STEH Coordinated Entry Team that looks like this:
As the STEH Coordinated Entry team does not have access to the YWCA's Clarity, YWCA Case Managers will need to record the referral/housing match in Clarity. This is an important step as DV providers who use a HMIS Comparable Databases must submit their own Coordinated entry APR reports.
If a client finds housing and/or no longer needs to be on the prioritization list, exit the client from the Hotline Assessment program. This will remove the client from the STEH DV Prioritization List. They will not be matched with housing.
Document a Housing Mate (Create a Coordinated Entry Event in the Hotline Prioritization program)
Once the client is matched to a housing program, a Coordinated Entry Event is created in Clarity. The event must reflect if the client accepts or rejects the match.
To document a referral/housing match
- Make sure your agency is set to "YWCA Residential."
- Search for and open the client's profile.
- Go to the "History" or "Programs" tab and select the Hotline Assessment program enrollment.
- Click on the "Events" tab in the program level navigation.
Select the event that reflects the project type the client/household has been referred to:
To complete a referral to a YWCA program:
- Select OH-500
- Select the project type
- Select "YWCA Residential"
- Select the name of the project
Update Client Profile and Enroll the Client in the Referred to Program (if the match is accepted)
Add any additional household members and create a global household if working with a household. Also update the Release of Information.
The client will automatically be exited from the Hotline Prioritization program once a housing move-in date has been added to the housing project or after 30 days of inactivity.
To enroll the client/household into a program at the YWCA, go to PROGRAMS in the client-level navigation and select the appropriate program. Enroll the client/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.