How to add family members

Author: ICA | Date Created: July 7, 2024 | Date Updated: June 5, 2025

What this is

Do you need to add a family member to a family in HMIS? This article will introduce you to the Family Members form and you'll learn how to add someone to a new or existing family.

What you need to know

Family Members allows for clients who have some association with one another to be linked to each other in the HMIS system, for tracking and reporting purposes. Users can view the "Associated Family Members" within an existing enrollment to see any family relationships.

Best Practice: Family members should be added to the system when the head of household’s initial HMIS record is created.

Follow these steps

Adding a Member to a New Family

On the Family Members form, click the Add a Record plus sign icon to add additional rows:

Selecting the icon to add a record
In a blank row, enter the name of the family member you want to add. the field will prompt you to search HMIS for the client to prevent duplicates.

Depending on the results of your search:
1. If the client is already in HMIS: scroll right to complete the Relationship to Head of Household field.
2. If you need to create a new client in HMIS: scroll right to complete all the Basic Client Information questions, including the Relationship to Head of Household field

Adding the required data for the new family member

Once finished, click the Save button to save what you have entered so far. Click Save & Close to move on to the next step in the guided workflow.

Adding a Member to an Existing Family

On the Client Dashboard, locate the Client Enrollment section:

Selecting the Client Enrollments section

Find the project enrollment to which the new family member will need to be added. Select the action button to the left of the enrollment, and select Add Household Member.

Using the Action Button to add a household member

You will be taken directly to the Family Members form, where you can add a household member (steps 2-4 above).

When you are done:

Program Participation: If the new family member will be participating in your program and receiving any services, they should be added to the program enrollment with their own enrollment start date.
New Child or Addition: If the new family member is a new child or another new addition to the family, their enrollment start date would not match the head of household’s enrollment start date.
Error Correction: If this family member is being added to correct an error and did start receiving services at the same time as the head of household, their enrollment start dates should be the same.