AHTF Data Collection Guide

This guide was developed in order to provide assistance to grantees of the St. Louis City Affordable Housing Commission (AHC) who utilize HMIS to generate their Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) Grantee Reports. It lists the required data elements, and includes guides on which services to record and how to record them. As always, if you have any questions, please contact our helpdesk.

For AHTF Grantees who utilize the non-HMIS report (in an Excel Macro-Based Workbook), a separate guide and technical support are available directly from the Affordable Housing Commission. 

Data Elements

In addition to the HMIS Universal Data Elements, AHTF grantees must collect the following data elements.

Street Address and Zip Code

Multi-site and tenant-based projects

All projects which are multi-site or tenant-based must document the current street address and zip code for each head of household in HMIS in order for it to be included in the billing report. If a client is in a multi-unit complex (e.g., an apartment building), the apartment number or equivalent must be included in the street address. 

For clients who are unhoused (e.g., living on the streets or in shelters) while being served by a housing project (e.g., rapid rehousing or permanent supportive housing), the location where the household is staying while unhoused must be documented. Once the individual becomes housed, the address must be updated via an interim review. 

• If the household is staying in an emergency shelter, the name of the shelter or street address of the shelter may be utilized for the street address, and the zip code must be the zip code of the shelter. 
• For those living on the streets, please provide an approximate address or landmark and zip code for the place they most frequently spend the night.

This information is collected on the ICA St. Louis - AHTF Report & Client Location or ICA St. Louis - AHTF Client Location assessments within an Entry/Exit.

Single site-based projects

For single-site projects, this information is automatically pulled from the information stored in the system about the site-based project. If the report populates this information incorrectly, please contact the helpdesk for assistance. 

Include in AHTF Report

Projects which assist only specific clients using AHTF funds must indicate whether the client should or should not be included on the AHTF Grantee Report. Any projects that have indicated to ICA that all clients are served by the project will not see this particular question. 

This information is collected on the ICA St. Louis - AHTF Report & Client Location or ICA St. Louis - AHTF Report assessments within an Entry/Exit.

Services Provided

All services paid for in part or in whole using AHTF dollars must be documented within ServicePoint/HMIS in order to be included in the AHTF Grantee Report. While bed nights provided will be reported through Entry/Exits, all other services must be documented using the Service Transactions module within ServicePoint/HMIS. There are two different types of services and they're recorded in a very similar manner: financial assistance services and supportive services. 

Financial assistance services are any services that provide financial assistance to a client, directly or indirectly. Some examples of financial assistance services are below. All AHTF-funded financial assistance services must be documented within the system. The items that must be recorded within the system include that the service must be marked as AHTF-funded, the amount of financial assistance provided, and the name of payee (the entity receiving the payment, such as a landlord or utility company). 

Supportive services are any services that do not provide any financial assistance to a client. Some examples of supportive services are below. All AHTF-funded supportive services must be documented within the system, and must be marked as AHTF-funded in order to ensure they appear on the report.

Recording services

1. Make sure you've set your Enter Data As and your back date. The client's entry into the project should have been recorded in the HMIS prior to recording any service transactions. 
2. Within the client record, click on Service Transactions.
3. On the Service Transaction Dashboard, click Add Service.
   Do not use "Add Multiple Services" when recording financial assistance services, as the required "Payee" field will not appear. 
4. At the top of the Add Service screen, select all clients in the household as of the date the service is provided.
5. Ensure that the correct Service Provider is displayed and that your Start Date and End Date are correct. 
   1. Financial Assistance Services: The start and end date fields should match the day the client was approved for this particular financial assistance. 
   2. Supportive Services: The start and end date fields should match the day the client received the supportive service.
6. Select the correct Service Type from the dropdown menu. Leave the Provider Specific Service field blank. 
7. Click Save & Continue.
8. Financial Assistance Services: Scroll down to Payee and enter the name of the person/organization to whom the payment is being provided (e.g., name of utility company, name of landlord). 
9. Scroll down to Funding Sources and click Add Funding Source.
10. Click the green plus icon to the left of Affordable Housing Trust Fund - St. Louis City.
11. Click inside the Amount box.
    1. Financial Assistance Services: Enter the amount of financial assistance paid by AHTF. 
    2. Supportive Services: Enter "0" in the amount box.
12. Scroll down to Need Information and update the Need Status and Outcome of Need according to the client's situation.
13. Click Save & Exit.

AHTF in HMIS Training Video

If you do not have the password for this video, please contact the helpdesk for it.

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