CoC-APR User Guide

Using the CoC-APR to
Preview Program Performance

The CoC-APR report is designed to capture data required for submission to HUD. However, all Entry Exit data entry based programs can run this report to check data quality and to review program performance. This report is referred to as “canned” reports, meaning the report runs in live time, produces live data, and any HMIS end user can access this report for the agency.
This guidebook offers suggestions for how to review, analyze, and utilize HMIS data already being entered into the system. The following provides a number of concrete steps any agency can take to make sense of its data and use it to improve client and program outcomes. 

Total Persons and Households Served

How many clients were served? How many clients were veterans, chronically homeless, or youth under 25? How many households were served? What types of households were served?

Total Clients Served

The reports validation table (5a) provides a quick snapshot of total counts of clients served by the project.  Projects should review this table through the lens of “Who is/does my project serve?” and does this match what is listed on this table.  

Possible questions for a project to consider
  • If the project is an adult only shelter, what number is reflected in line #3 (Number of Children)?  
  • If the project serves single veterans only, is the number on line #1 (Total Number of Persons Served) matching line #10 (Number of Veterans)? 
  • Does the project serve unaccompanied youth and does the number on line #15 reflect what population is served by the project? 
  • If the project is a short term program, are there clients appearing on line #16 (Heads of Households and Adult Stayers in the Project 365 days or more)? 
  • Does the project have the capacity to serve hundreds of people each night and have a high turn-over; if so, then does the total on line #1 (Total Number of Persons Served) really seem accurate?
Related “performance outcomes”
HUD System Performance Measure 3 and HUD System Performance Measure 5.  Special Populations.

Totals by Household Types

Tables 7a and 8a provide a breakdown on clients and households served totals by Household Types.  There are four household types listed: Households without Children, Households with Children, Households with Only Children, and Unknown Household Type.  Households without Children are clients and/or families for which all members are 18 years or over.  Households with Children are families for which at least one member of the household is under the age of 18.  Households with Only Children are clients and families for which all members of the group are under the age of 18.  Unknown Household Types are clients for which the system cannot determine a household due to the client being of an unknown age.
Number of Persons Served (7a) provides a breakdown by Household Type (column headers) of the total number of clients served that were adults, children, clients that refused or didn’t know responses to their age, and data not collected by the project. 
The last line provides details on the total number of clients served for any household type, total number of clients served in households comprised of adults only, total number of clients served in households comprised of families with minor children, total number of clients served in households with only minor children and total number of clients served for which a household could not be determined.

Number of Households Served (8a) provides a breakdown by Household Type (column headers) of the total number of Households served by the project. 

Possible questions for a project to consider 
  • Does the household types reflect the populations served by the project? 
  • If the project is a single, adult shelter, are there any clients appearing in the “with children and adults” or “with only children” categories by mistake? 
  • If the project only serves youth under age 18, are there any clients appearing in the “without children” or “which children and adults” categories by mistake?  
  • If the project served all households types throughout the reporting period, are all household types appearing with the appropriate distribution? 
Related “performance outcomes”

CoC specific.

Physical and Mental Health Conditions

Are health conditions changing after clients receive services? What conditions are present when clients enter and exit? Are the number of conditions increasing, decreasing or remaining stable throughout the service?

While there are no related “performance outcomes” related to physical and mental conditions measures, reviewing the information can be extremely helpful for projects. Projects required to work with persons with disabling conditions can use all six Table 13s to verify their clients do have disabling conditions (per project entry requirement). Additionally, the information can help all projects’ determine what resources and additional supports clients are needing.  

Tables 13a1, 13b1, and 13c 1 report the specific conditions all clients are reporting at entry and exit. Each table provides a breakdown on clients and households served totals by Household Types.  Physical and Mental Health Conditions at Start (Table 13a1) provides details on all client responses to specific health conditions at the time of entry into a project.  Physical and Mental Health Conditions at Exit (Table 13b1) provides details on responses to specific health conditions for all clients who exited during the time period. Physical and Mental Health Conditions of Stayers (Table 13c1) provides details on responses to specific health conditions for all clients who were remaining in the project as of the end of the reporting period.

Tables 13a2, 13b2, and 13c2 report the total number of conditions for each clients reported at entry and exit. Each table provides a breakdown on clients and households served totals by Household Types.  Number of Conditions at Start (Table 13a2) reflects the total number of conditions for each client reported at the time of entry into a project.  Number of Conditions at Exit (Table 13b2) reflects the total number of conditions for each client exited during the time period. Number of Conditions of Stayers (Table 13c2) reflects the total number of conditions for each client who were remaining in the project as of the end of the reporting period.

Possible questions for a project to consider
  • What are the predominant disability types for those served by the project? What proportion of persons have this disability? 
  • Based on the report, is the project able to provide specialized services to meet the needs of the persons with disability served? Are there any additional resources that could provide to better serve these clients?  
  • Are there opportunities to build community partnerships to guarantee clients are receiving all the tools needed for success in the project and beyond?
Related “performance outcomes”

Currently there are none.

Living Situations

Where were clients residing prior to entering services?

HUD funded projects are limited to serving clients who meet the homeless definitions; who can be served various by HUD project type. For all projects, understanding where clients are coming from prior to project entry can be useful.  Table 15 (Living Situations) breaks down various prior living settings into “Homeless Situations”, “Institutional Settings” and “Other Locations”. The information is also breakdown by Household Type.

Possible questions for a project to consider
  • Are clients coming from a prior situation for which the project can/should be serving? 
  • Are there a significant portion of clients coming from a specific location?
Related “performance outcomes”

Certain funders do have requirements for certain project types on who can be served by that specific funded project. There are no performance outcomes tied to this table.

Income Details

Are clients increasing income while in service? Are clients maintaining income during the time they are being served? Are more clients exiting with additional sources of income compared to when they entered? Are clients increasing their access to health insurance and non-cash benefits while being served?

Increasing or Maintaining Income

Table 19a1 (stayers) and 19a2 (leavers) and provides data for which a project can review what changes Head of Households and adult clients are experiencing with income. This table reviews client responses to income source types and income source monthly amounts at start compared to Annual Assessment (for stayers) or Exit (for leavers).

Possible questions for a project to consider
  • Based on what is known about the clients that exited, does the outcomes seem to reflect this? If not, were exited incomes recorded properly? 
  • Does the outcome reflect what is known about stayers remaining in the project for 365 days? 
  • Did all stayers with Annual Assessment due have them completed and were they completed properly? 
  • For the clients without income, what is the project doing to facilitate an increase income for those clients?
Related “performance outcomes”

HUD System Performance Measure 4 (for CoC Funded only)

Income Sources and Income Totals

Some projects may want to explore income in a more depth. Some may be curious as to cash income ranges or sources of income that clients report.  Table 16 (Cash Income- Ranges) and Table 17 (Cash Income- Sources) reflect the responses of adult clients at entry, adult clients at Annual Assessment, and adults clients at Exit. If a project is interested in knowing if their project helped to increase the number of clients within an income range or clients accessing certain income sources, the project can determine the percentage of clients at Start and at Exit with that data element. 

For example, the project’s internal goal is to assist clients with accessing SSI/SSDI. At start, 11 clients had either SSI or SSDI. This account for 14.9% of the clients (11 clients divided by 74 total adult clients served – from table 5a).  At exit, 12 clients had SSI or SSDI. This accounts for 16.7% of the clients (12 clients divided by 72 total adult clients exiting – from table 5a). This project achieved the internal goal in assisting clients with accessing SSI/SSDI since more clients exited with that income than originally came in with that income.

Related “performance outcomes”

Currently, there are no HUD or CoC specific required performance measures. Projects may have internal performance outcomes or performance outcomes written into contracts that would be applicable here.

Non-Cash Benefit Sources and Health Insurance

Some projects may want to explore client responses to non-cash benefits and health insurance. Table 20a (Type of Non-Cash Benefit Source) and Table 20b (Number of Non-Cash Benefit Sources) reflect the responses of adult clients at entry, adult clients at Annual Assessment, and adults clients at exit. Table 21 (Health Insurance) reflect the resources of all clients at entry, annual assessment, and at exit.   If a project is interested in knowing what impact it had on clients’ access to non-cash benefits or health insurance, the project can determine the percentage of clients at Start and at Exit those specific that data elements.  

For example, a project wants to review the impact it had on clients’ access to Health Insurance. At start, 87 clients had at least one source of income (78 had one source, 9 had more than one). This accounts for 53.7% of the clients (87 clients divided by 162 total clients served – from table 5a).  At exit, 88 clients had health insurance (74 had one source, 14 had more than one). This accounts for 46.8% of the clients (88 clients divided by 158 total clients exiting – from table 5a). This project had fewer clients with access to health insurance at exit than entry.

Possible questions for a project to consider:  
  • Is the project maximizing the effort to link appropriate services to the population served? 
  • If the project is a maternity home, are all the clients accessing WIC or being assisted in signing up before departure from the project? 
  • If the project serves children, are all children accessing health insurance or being assisted to sign up for CHIP? 
  • If a client has SSI or SSDI, is that client already accessing Medicare or Medicaid? If not, is the project assisting with the application for that client to receive that benefit? 
  • For the clients that have no health insurance, what can the project  do to assist the client with accessing healthcare.
Related “performance outcomes”

Currently, there are no HUD or CoC specific required performance measures. Projects may have internal performance outcomes or performance outcomes written into contracts that would be applicable here.

Length of Participation

How long are clients in service?

Table 22a1 (Length of Participation- CoC Projects) and Table 22b (Average and Median Length of Participation in Days) both can be utilized for projects to determine how long clients are staying in service. For Table 22a1, the table is broken down into three columns; the first column is how long all clients served have been in service, the second column is how long Leavers (clients with an exit date) received service, and the final column is how long Stayers (clients still in the program) have received service. Each row on this table is broken into a segment of days.

Table 22b compares Leavers and Stayers in the average and median length of time served.

Possible questions for a project to consider
  • Based on the project type, does the length of participation seem appropriate (e.g. the number of days in shelter, in theory, should be shorter than a permanent supportive housing project)? 
  • Is there an significant difference in the days a leaver stays vs. a program stayer?
Related “performance outcomes”

HUD System Performance Measure One

Length of Time until Housed 

How long does it take for Rapid Rehousing services to assist in the location and procurement of client housing?

For Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive Housing projects, clients are served prior to moving into housing. Table 22c (RRH Length of Time between Project Start Date and Housing Move-In Date) shows details on how long clients are enrolled in the RRH & PSH project prior to the clients securing permanent housing.

Possible questions for a project to consider
  • What is the most common length of time before a client is housed? 
  • Are certain Household types more likely to gain housing faster; is there a difference in how assistance is offered between household types? 
  • What is the average length of time between project start date and housing move in date? Does that seem reasonable? 
  • Are a significant number of clients being exited without a housing move in date? 
  • Is the “Data Not Collected” number accounting only clients we have not yet housed; if not, which clients need to have their housing move-in date added?
Related “performance outcomes”

Currently, there are no HUD specific required performance measures but encourages clients to be housed in under a month. The CoC, funders, or project may have written outcomes for the length of time from Rapid Rehousing project start to housing move-in date.

Exit Destination

Where are clients residing once exiting services? How many clients are entering into a positive destination, as defined by HUD?

All projects can benefit from knowing where clients are going once they leave the program. Table 23c (Exit Destinations – All Persons) show all clients who exited.  The table breaks down exit destinations into “Permanent Destinations”, “Temporary Destinations”, “Institutional Settings” and “Other Destinations” with subtotals for each exit destination category. The information is also broken down by Household Type. 

For each Exit Destination table, the bottom rows provide information on the total number of clients exited and the total number of clients exiting to a positive housing destination.

Possible questions for a project to consider
  • Are there differences in positive housing outcomes by Household types?  
  • Are there differences in positive housing outcomes for clients who are served for more than 90days compared to those served for three months or shorter? 
  • Is there a trend for where clients are exiting, if not exiting to a permanent destination?  
  • For our project type, are the destinations making sense; for example, if the project is a street outreach program, are many clients getting into permanent destinations or emergency service such as shelter or transitional housing?
Related “performance outcomes”

HUD System Performance Measure 2 and HUD System Performance Measure 7

Data Quality

Data quality is not a performance outcome but it does impact measure for items that are performance measure outcomes

The data quality tables (6a-6e) provides details on any data completeness or incongruences with entry responses. These tables contain the number of clients expressing the error and the % of error rate.  Projects do have the ability to review the errors and correct errors for missing or incongruent data.  

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