HMIS 101: What is The Difference Between 3.10 Project Start Date and 3.20 Housing Move-in Date?

3.10 Project Start Date

Per the HUD FY2024 HMIS Data Standards Manual for all HMIS project types, the Project Start Date (3.10) is the date the client was admitted into the project.

Street Outreach

Date of first contact with the client.

Emergency Shelter

Date of first night the client stayed in the shelter. NBN shelters will have a Project Start Date and will allow clients to reenter as necessary without exiting and restarting for each stay for a specified period.

Safe Haven and Transitional Housing (There are no Safe Havens in Alaska)

Date the client moves into the residential project (i.e., first night in residence).

Permanent Housing, including Rapid Re-Housing:

Date the client was admitted into the project. To be admitted indicates the following factors have been met: 1) Information provided by the client or from the referral indicates they meet the criteria for admission; 2) The client has indicated they want to be housed in this project; and 3) The client is able to access services and housing through the project. The expectation is the project has a housing opening (on-site, site-based, or scattered-site subsidy) or expects to have one in a reasonably short amount of time.

Other Service Projects (including but not limited to: Services Only, Day Shelter, Homelessness Prevention, Coordinated Entry)

Date the client first began working with the project and generally received the first provision of service.

More Details

• Project Start Date is recorded when a new entry is created in HMIS.
• The 3.10 Project Start Date data element is required for all clients enrolling in a project.
• This data element is required for all HMIS project types but is used differently across project types to address the differences in what starting means in the different project types. Refer to the HUD FY2024 HMIS Data Standards Manual for more information.
• Each individual client in a household will have their own Project Start Date. If a new client is added to a household after the original household members' start dates, the new client's start date should reflect the actual day that client started the project.
• If this client is a newborn baby, the Project Start Date would reflect the date the project started providing housing or services to the newborn, consistent with the responses for project types identified below, which may be any date on or after the baby's date of birth.

3.20 Housing Move-In Date

Per the HUD FY2024 HMIS Data Standards Manual: Housing Move-In Date (3.20) is the date that a household admitted into a permanent housing project moves into housing. This data element is only required for Permanent Housing projects, which includes Rapid Re-Housing. Though it is uncommon for Housing Move-In Date to be the same date as Project Start Date, it may be the same date as Project Start Date if the client moves into housing on the date they were accepted into the program.

More Details

• Housing Move-In Date must be a date between the clients Project Start Date and Project Exit Date.
• Move-in means a lease arrangement has been made, the client has a key or entry ability to the unit, and that the client has physically slept in the unit.
• The Housing Move-In Date data element must be entered for all clients in the household's enrollment that moved into housing.
• If the client vacates a housing situation and the project stops paying rental assistance, staff should exit the client from the project with an accurate Project Exit Date and Destination and create a new Project Start Date in a second enrollment for the client on the same or following day. The Prior Living Situation in the new enrollment must reflect the location where the client slept the night before the new Project Start Date. The project should continue working with the client until a new unit is found, at which point a new Housing Move-In Date would be recorded on the second project record. This will ensure that the clients history of housing is preserved.
• If the client moves directly from one unit into another unit, with no days of homelessness in between, it is not necessary to exit and re-enter them because their Housing Move-In Date would still accurately reflect the day they entered permanent housing within that enrollment record.
• Critical to point-in-time and housing inventory counts as it differentiates households that are enrolled but still literally homeless from households that have already moved into permanent housing.
• Necessary to calculate length of time to housing.
• Affects System Performance Measures (SPM) which are meant to provide a high level assessment whether a CoC is accomplishing the goals set down by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act:
  • SPM 1 Length of time persons remain homeless.
  • SPM 7 Successful placement from street outreach and successful placement in or retention of permanent housing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where in HMIS do I enter these data elements?

Project Start Date is entered when a new Entry/Exit is created.

THE HOUSING Move-In Date is entered at occurrence point and should be entered via the Interim function on the Entry/Exit tab, or in less common situations, on the Entry Assessment.

WHOOPS! I have not been doing that, now what?

The differentiation between Project Start Date and Housing Move-In Date went into effect on October 1, 2017. Note, however, that a move-in date has been required for Rapid Rehousing Housing projects since 2014. If the user has continued to use Housing Move-In Date for Project Start Date, change this practice immediately.

• DO start entering Project Start Date as the date that the client was admitted into the project.
• DO make sure you enter the Housing Move-In Date for all clients in your permanent housing project on an Interim.
• If entry records have not been created on the Project Start Date as defined above and if the user is interested in correcting previously entered data, contact the AKHMIS Help Desk for instructions before making any changes. If the Project Start Date is changed now, data entered on the Entry Assessment will no longer be associated with the Project Start Date creating a myriad of data quality issues.
• If Housing Move-In Date errors appear on reports for the organization, the Housing Move-In Date Error article provides steps to correct common errors.

Why change the Project Start Date from equaling Housing Move-In Date?

In 2017, the Project Start Date data element changed from Project Entry Date to capture more complete information about persons accepted into and residing in all types of Permanent Housing. Paired with Housing Move-In Date, it becomes possible to determine the length of time from project start to housing placement for all PH (Permanent Housing) clients, not just clients in RRH (Rapid Re Housing).