03. Shelter Bed & Unit Check-Ins

Overview

Some larger emergency shelters use a custom workflow in HMIS to track bed check-ins and check-outs for overnight or extended-stay shelter beds. This article will explain how to receive a reservation and check-in a client to a bed or unit in a shelter. This article is part of a series on custom shelter workflows.

• More About This — Further important information is found in this section.
• Details — Specific details and/or step-by-step workflows will be described in this section.
• Video — Any relevant videos will be posted in this section.

More About This

If you are unsure whether or not your shelter uses bed and unit check-ins in HMIS, please contact your program supervisor, or email the MN HMIS Helpdesk.

NOTE: If a client has had a reservation made for them, but is a No-Show at the shelter that night, they will simply be auto-exited in the system if they do not have a bed night created for them within 7 days.

Details

Whenever you are completing data entry for a custom shelter workflow, you should first always confirm that you are working under the correct Workgroup and Organization!

1. Click on your user icon to open the Settings sidebar, then make the following selections:

• Workgroup: Emergency Shelter Staff
• Organization: Your agency’s shelter organization

2. When finished, click on Apply.​

Check-in from a Reservation - Singles or Families

1. Navigate to the Housing/Facilities workspace and in the menu group, select Reservation Check-in:

2. On the Current Reservations form, the clients displayed in the list below have reservations for the current facility for today's date:

3. Click on the reservation row for each client checking-in to the shelter and confirm that the following looks correct:
   1. Check-in Begin Date: Today's date, the day the client is checking-in to shelter.
   2. Check-in End Date: Add this date now if you know when the client will be checking-out!
   3. Enrollment: Select the client's shelter project enrollment for this stay. (An Intake/Enrollment into the shelter project must created for the client prior to check-in! If there is no matching enrollment, select Cancel and complete an Intake/Enrollment first.)
4. If applicable, you may be able to assign the client to a specific room and/or bed here as well.
5. Click on Save & Close when finished.

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Check-in Without a Reservation - Singles

1. Navigate to the Housing/Facilities workspace and in the menu group, select Current Residents:

2. On the Current Facility Residents form, click the Add New Check-in button:

3. Complete the following information for the client's check-in:

• Facility: Select the shelter project into which the client is checking-in.
• Room & Bed: Assign if applicable to your shelter.
• Check-in Date: Today's date, the day the client is checking-in to shelter.
• Check-out Date: Add this date now if you know when the client will be checking-out!
• Client: Confirm that the correct client name is listed.
• Enrollment: Select the client's shelter project enrollment for this stay. (An Intake/Enrollment into the shelter project must created for the client prior to check-in! If there is no matching enrollment, select Cancel and complete an Intake/Enrollment first.)

4. Click Save to finalize the client's check-in.

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Check-in Without a Reservation - Families

1. NOTE: An Intake and Enrollment into your shelter project must created for the family's head of household prior to check-in! If there is no matching enrollment, select Cancel and complete an Intake/Enrollment first.
2. Navigate to the Housing/Facilities workspace and in the menu group, select Family Check-in:

3. On the Family Check-in form, locate the Find a Client in the Family section. If you know the head of household's ClientTrack ID number, you can enter it in the Client ID field. Or you can utilize the head of household's scan card instead.
4. You can also search for the head of household by first and last name, and perform a search of the system by clicking on the magnifying glass icon on the Last Name field:

5. If you are checking in a family,  repeat steps 2-4 for each individual family member.
6. Next, in the Selected Client/Family section, confirm the basic information about the head of household you selected in the previous section, including the number of family members checking-in. If the family information is not accurate or current, click the Edit/Update Family button to update the information:

6. Next, complete the required fields in the Selected Enrollment section:

• Enrollment: Select your shelter project from the drop-down field. If a matching enrollment, select Cancel and complete the Intake and Enrollment first.
• Checked-in from: Confirm the Check-in Date of the family's shelter stay, and also record the Check-out Date now if you know when the family will be checking-out!
• Room: Assign if applicable to your shelter.

7. When all sections on the form are complete, click the Check-In button in the bottom left corner of the screen:

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Video

Under construction, coming soon!

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Related Articles & References

Under construction, coming soon!

Core HMIS Workflow How-to Guides:

HMIS Fundamentals

ClientTrack Basics

Client Intake

Program Enrollment

Questions? Email the Helpdesk: MNHMIS@icalliances.org