Adding Additional Family Member Mid-Stay (Shelters Module)

There are times when additional family members may join a household currently being served by a project, such as when a baby is born. This tipsheet is designed to assist HMIS users with adding additional family members to a household and to a project entry for which service is already in progress.  This tipsheet is specific for projects using the Shelters module.

Adding a new client to a Household

1. Search for and open the Head of Household's record.
2. Back Date Prompt: list the date the new household member joined and click Set New Back Date
3. Click on the Households tab

If a household already exists:

1. Click on Manage Household to edit the existing household
2. Update the Household Type, if appropriate
   
3. Click arrow in front of Previous Household Members
   1. If the individual is in the list, click the circular blue arrow in front of client’s name
      • Fill in the date the client rejoined the household and the relationship
      • In the list of household members on the left-hand side, click on the individual’s name and fill in any missing answers
   2. If the individual is not in the list, click Add/Delete Household Members
      • Click the arrow in front of Add Clients to the Household
      • Fill in the individual’s name, name data quality, SSN, SSN data quality, and veteran status, then search
        • If the client appears in the search results, click the green button to add them to the household
        • If the client does not appear in the search results, click Add new Client with this Information
        • Repeat for each individual joining the household, then click continue. 

   
   
   
   

4. Fill in the relationship to head of household for each household member
   
5. In the list of household members on the left-hand side, click on each new individual’s name
6. Fill in any missing demographic answers for each household member
7. After the last new individual, click Save & Exit 

If there is no household on the household tab:

1. Click Start New Household
2. Answer the Household Type
3. Fill in the new individual's name, name data quality, SSN, SSN data quality, and veteran status, then search.
   1. If the individual appears in the search results, click the green button to add them to the household
   2. If the individual does not appear in the search results, click Add new Client with this Information
   3. Repeat for each individual joining the household, then click continue.

   
   
   

4. From the top table ("Household Members"), identify the Head of Household by selecting "Yes" from the Head of Household Column.  Then fill in the relationship to head of household for each household member
   

5. In the list of household members on the left-hand side, click on each new client’s name
   
6. Fill in any missing demographic answers for each household member
7. After the last new individual, click Save & Exit

Adding the new client to the existing Shelter Entry

1. Click on Shelters and click "View All" to see all clients entered into a shelter bed.
2. Click on the Head of Household's name from the shelter bed list.
3. From the pop-up box, scroll down to the Household Member's table and click "Check In Additional Family Members".
4. Type in the Date In field with the date the additional family member entered the project. 
5. Click the checkbox next to the family member's name that is joining the household in the project.
6. If the additional family member needs to be assigned a specific bed, click "assign unit" and select a specific bed from the bed list and click select.  Otherwise, the family member will default to an overflow bed.
7. Click Save at the bottom of the screen.
8. Scroll back to the top of the Shelter Stay Entry pop-up box and click on the Entry/Exit tab.
9. Click the pencil for the entry to which you need to enter the additional family member's entry information.
10. Click Save & Continue
11. Click on the new client(s) name on the left-hand side and complete applicable assessment questions.
    1. If the project is a permanent housing project and the Head of Household does have a Housing Move-In Date, the newly joining client(s) should have the Housing Move-In Date listed as the same Housing Move-In Date listed for the Head of Household
12. Once all entry assessments have been completed for the newly joining client(s), click Save & Exit

If you like this tipsheet, you might find this brief training video Adding Additional Family Membershelpful too!

Copyright 2023 Institute for Community Alliances. All Rights Reserved.