Background

The Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program is meant to assist households in Orange County that are at behind on rent and/or utilities as a result of COVID-19. This funding will assist clients with up to $10,000 in arrears payments. Clients complete an application through 211OC, and they are referred to a Service Provider based on the city where they are currently housed. Clients in North Service Planning Area (SPA) are referred to Pathways of Hope, clients in Central SPA are referred to Volunteers of America, and clients in South SPA are referred to Family Assistance Ministries. Clients in Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Irvine are not served through this process, as these cities are receiving their own funding for rental assistance.

 

Data Import

Clients can submit their application at era.211oc.org. Data submitted through the application will be imported into HMIS. These imports will occur on Tuesdays and Fridays excluding holidays, and will continue until an API can be implemented, or the ERA Program ends. This import will create a Client Record for the client if one doesn't already exist, and all other data from their application will be imported into the ERA Assessment. Any files uploaded by the client at the time their application is submitted will be entered into HMIS by the 211OC team.

 

Client Profile

The Service Providers are responsible for ensuring the data imported into the Client Profile page is accurate. They must review these fields with their clients and make edits as necessary. If the Client Record already exists in HMIS a new client record will not be created. However, if the client's first name, last name, date of birth, or social security number in HMIS are different from the data submitted in the client's application, a new record will be created. Please enter a ticket with the HMIS Help Desk to request merges for duplicate client records.

 

Below are common issues to review on the client's Profile screen.

• SSN: Clients are only entering their last 4 SSN on the ERA application. It is the Service Provider's responsibility to collect the full SSN if possible.
• SSN Code: Some clients enter 0000 for their last 4 SSN, but the SSN Code is set to Approximate or Partial. If the client's last 4 SSN is 0000, the SSN code should be changed to Data Not Collected.
• DOB Code: Some clients do not enter a Date of Birth, but the DOB Code is set to Full DOB Entered. If the client's DOB is blank, the DOB Code should be changed to Data Not Collected.

 

Service Providers are also responsible for entering a Release of Information (ROI) for the client. Please review the Accessing and Completing Release of Information Page for instructions on how to add the ROI. If the client does not want to sign the Consent to Share Protected Personal Information form, please review the Refusing/Revoking Consent to Share Personal Information article for instructions on removing the client's identifying information from HMIS.

Files

An ERA category has been added to the Files page. The types of files that can be uploaded by the user are below. Any documents that the 211OC team receives from the client will be available on this screen. Please review the Adding Documents to a Client Profile knowledge base article for instructions on how to add or view Files.

 

• Declaration of COVID-19 Related Financial Distress

• Rental or Lease Agreement

• Utility Bills

 

Assessment

The ERA Assessment is created when the client's application is uploaded to HMIS. In addition to the client's application, this assessment should be used to track milestones related to the assistance the client receives, as well as any financial assistance provided to the client. Users must use the existing assessment in order to track this information; a new assessment should not be created by the user.

 

The ERA Assessment can be viewed and edited using the steps below.

1. Navigate to the Assessment page under the client record.
2. Click on the Edit button next to the ERA Assessment.

 

The assessment has been divided into the sections below.

 

Emergency Rental Assistance Application

This section reflects the application completed by the client. The Service Providers are responsible for reviewing all data in this section with their clients for accuracy. Any data incorrectly entered must be corrected by the Service Provider. Below is a list of the fields most commonly entered incorrectly by the client in the ERA Application.

• Address 1 and Address 2
• Eviction Notice Date
• Current Monthly Income
• Monthly Rent
• Current Monthly Utilities
• Preferred Language: This field was not added when the ERA application launched, so this field is English for all applications submitted within the first couple weeks of the launch.
• Other, please explain: This is a write in field that is only answered if the client answers other to 'Can you or any of the members of your household demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability?'. Some clients responded to this field in a language other than English. It is not required to correct this data, but the user may need to use Google Translate or some other resource to read the response.

 

If the client's city of their current address is edited and that client no longer should be served by the SPA they are assigned to, the Service Provider is responsible for notifying the correct Service Provider of the SPA the client is living in. If clients are living in the cities of Santa Ana, Anaheim (excluding unincorporated areas), or Irvine, please redirect the client to the resources below.

 

Santa Ana Rental Assistance: https://www.santa-ana.org/covid19/rental-relief/cares-for-tenants

Anaheim Rental Assistance: https://www.anaheim.net/5532/Emergency-Rental-Assistance-Program 

Irvine Rental Assistance: https://www.cityofirvine.org/news-media/news-article/city-irvine-emergency-rental-assistance-program 

 

Milestones

This section must be completed by the Service Provider as the client reaches different milestones in the process. The date fields in this section include definitions, which can be reviewed by hovering over the field text. This section is also where the user answers whether or not the client is accepted into the project, and if not, why not.

This section is also where users will enter whether or not a client has been approved for processing by United Way. Only certain users at each agency will have access to enter this data. To enter this data, the users will need to change their agency to 211OC, and navigate to the client's assessment. To request access to this field, please enter a ticket with the HMIS Help Desk. Clients that have been approved for processing will be sent to United Way on a daily basis; however, it is the Service Providers responsibility to be in communication with United Way and ensure the client's assistance is being processed.

Financial Assistance Information

This section is where the user should enter information related to the financial assistance the client is receiving. There are separate sections for rental assistance, water/sewer utility assistance, trash utility assistance, gas utility assistance, electric utility assistance, and energy utility assistance.

 

Below are the fields that must be collected if the client is receiving rental assistance or any utility assistance. If the amount covered for rental assistance or any utility assistance changes, the Amount Covered field on the assessment should be updated to reflect the new total, and a note regarding the change should be entered into the Payment Processed Notes under Milestones. A Change Request service should also be entered under the ERA enrollment (see the services section below).

 

If the client is receiving utility assistance and their provider is Southern California Edison (SCE) or San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) please update the client's account number that was included on their most recent bill, as this information has recently changed.

 

 

Enrollment

Once the client has reached the Inform Household Disposition milestone on the ERA assessment, the user must enroll the client and all household members into the Emergency Rental Assistance project for their agency. Please review the Managing the Global Household article for instructions on how to add additional household members to a household. After adding additional members to the household, review the Enrolling Clients in a Project knowledge base article for instructions on enrolling the clients. Once the household is no longer receiving assistance through the Emergency Rental Assistance project, all members of the household must be exited.

 

South SPA: The ERA project has been set-up under Family Assistance Ministries. Users at other agencies participating in the ERA program in the South SPA will need to change their agency to Family Assistance Ministries in order to enroll clients in the ERA project. Review the Additional Agency Access article for instructions on changing agencies in HMIS. Any users that needs access to Family Assistance Ministries should submit a ticket to the HMIS Help Desk through their Agency Administrators.

 

Services

The following categories and services have been set-up for the ERA project. The Case Management and Financial Assistance services are optional, but may be helpful to track the work the Service Provider is completing with the client. The United Way Change Request service should only be used if the Financial Assistance information entered on the ERA Assessment has changed. This service should reflect the date the change was made, the change in amount, and a note explaining the difference in amount. Please review the Adding Services article for instructions on how to add services.

 

Case Management

• Case Management

Financial Assistance

• Electric Utility Payment
• Energy Utility Payment
• Gas Utility Payment
• Rental Assistance
• Trash Utility Payment
• Water/Sewer Utility Payment
• United Way Change Request

Reports

The following reports are available for the ERA Assessment. Users can run these reports in HMIS by switching their agency to 211OC. Review the Additional Agency Access article for instructions on changing agencies in HMIS. Any users that needs access to 211OC should submit a ticket to the HMIS Help Desk through their Agency Administrators. Please review the Running Saved Looks knowledge base article for instructions on running these reports.

• Emergency Rental Assistance Assessment - Client Level Data: This dashboard has been created for each SPA, and can be filtered by Assessment Date. There are three spreadsheets in this dashboard with client-level data. One includes all data from Application section of the ERA assessment, one includes all fields from the Milestones section of the ERA Assessment, and one includes all fields from the Financial Assistance section of the ERA Assessment.

• Clients with First Contact Only: This report has been created for each SPA and allows the user to see those clients whose last milestone completed is First Contact, and excludes any clients that were not accepted into the ERA project. The report is meant to help the Service Providers identify clients that may have stalled in the process once the First Contact was completed.

 

The following reports are available in HMIS under the Service Provider's agency. Please review the Running Saved Looks knowledge base article for instructions on running these reports.

• ERA Program Enrollments: This report includes households enrolled in the ERA project, and includes household size and AMI information.
• Clients Approved for United Way: This report has been created for each SPA, and lists the clients that have been approved for processing by United Way. The report includes the common missing fields that are sent to United Way (AMI and SPA). The following instructions provide guidance on troubleshooting this missing data. Please also review the recorded training below.
  • Missing AMI
    • Number of household members is missing
      1. If the client’s Project Entry Date is the same as the date the report was run, this is likely a delay in the data appearing in Looker. The data should be available within a few hours. Please run the report the following day to ensure the data is populating.
    • Household Annual Income in missing
      1. If the client’s Project Entry Date is the same as the date the report was run, this is likely a delay in the data appearing in Looker. The data should be available within a few hours. Please run the report the following day to ensure the data is populating.
      2. If the client’s Project Entry Date is before the date the report was run, either the client reported Don’t Know/Refused/Data Not Collected for Income, or the user stated that the client has income, but did not enter an amount received monthly for any income source. Navigate to each adult’s Enrollment screen for the ERA enrollment, and either change income to No, or enter an income source and amount.
    • Household members and annual income are filled, but AMI is missing
      1. Household Annual Income is more than 80% AMI, so the household does not qualify for the project. In most cases, is appears that the user entered the client’s annual income on the Enrollment screen rather than monthly income. Navigate to each adult’s Enrollment screen for the ERA enrollment, and enter the monthly income for each client. If the household’s income is correctly entered, the household is not eligible for ERA. In this case the ERA enrollments should be deleted, and on the ERA assessment approved for United Way should be changed to No and accepted into the project should be changed to No.
  • Missing SPA
    • This translates to the Program Name being blank in the Clients Approved for United Way report. This means that the client doesn’t have an ERA enrollment, or the client has an ERA enrollment in another SPA. Either enroll the client in the ERA project, or change the client’s city on the ERA assessment so they appear on the correct SPA report.