The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is a computerized data collection application designed to capture client-level information over time on the characteristics and service needs of men, women, and children experiencing homelessness. The HMIS provides an unduplicated count of clients served within a Continuum of Care (CoC) – the community’s system of homeless services. Additionally, the HMIS application is used to configure, facilitate, and protect data integrity and sharing among Partner Agencies for the purpose of coordinated service delivery and reporting in the CoC region. The City of Wheeling/The WV Coalition to End Homelessness is the HMIS Lead Agency for the Northern Panhandle Continuum of Care as defined by HUD and Wellsky's Community Services is the HMIS application (for details and terminology see the 2022 HMIS Data Standards Manual).
The purpose of this License Agreement is to ensure proper use of HMIS licenses issued to Partner Agencies. The steps required for acquiring, maintaining and terminating HMIS licenses are listed below.
Issuing New License
HMIS Licenses are available only to participating Partner Agencies who sign and abide by the HMIS Agency Participation Agreement and the Policies and Procedures Manual.
To receive access to the HMIS statewide network system, potential Partner Agency must:
1. Complete one electronic HMIS End User Request Form for each potential End User.
2. Provide each potential end user with a copy of the WV Statewide HMIS Policies and Procedures Manual. This manual should be read before the end user attends HMIS training.
3. Have a signed HMIS Participation Agreement between the WVCEH Executive Director and the participating agency Executive Director (or designated representative) regarding details and compliance with HMIS policies and procedures on file.
4. Attend the New User training series, which will include a review of the HMIS Policies and Procedures manual and privacy and security training.
A user license will only be issued upon successful completion of the HMIS end user training and receipt of practice data entry exercises demonstrating HMIS competency.
Community Services training site login information will be provided by e-mail to the new user within three workdays of completed training. The User shall log into Community Services using the temporary password and change it according to provided instructions. Any issues with login, User ID, password, etc. must be reported immediately to hmishelp@wvceh.org.
Maintaining a License
It is HMIS policy that each end user:
1. Never shares User ID or password information with any other individual.
2. Change their HMIS password every 45 days, as prompted by the ServicePoint system.
3. All users are required to attend annual security training to retain their user license.
4. All users are required to attend at least two general HMIS trainings annually. New user training will not count toward the general training requirement.
Note: End Users who have not logged into the system in the previous 90 days will be flagged as inactive. Inactive End Users may have their ServicePoint accounts locked or removed to maintain the security, confidentiality, and integrity of the system. In order to have license reinstated, end users will be required to retake the new User training.
Terminating a License
The Partner Agency’s Executive Director or Agency HMIS Administrator must submit an electronic End User Account Request Form within one hour of the employee’s separation. Any other changes in personnel or end user accounts should be communicated to the CoC System Administration Staff within a timely manner.
The WVCEH HMIS staff may terminate a user license for a number of reasons, including but not limited to: fraud, misuse, negligence, license sharing, inactivity, client duplication, etc, per the WV Statewide HMIS Policies and Procedures Manual. The Agency Administrator will be notified of any potential license terminations. A user license may be reactivated in some rare cases.