HMIS Newsletter: July 2026

Announcements

Quick Guide: How Additional Agency Access Works in Clarity HMIS

To help everyone better understand how data sharing and cross-agency workflows operate in Clarity Human Services (HMIS), we’ve put together a quick breakdown of Additional Agency Access (often called "Switch Agency Access").

Here is everything you need to know about what it is, how it’s managed, and when it’s used.

💡 What is Additional Agency Access?

Additional Agency Access allows specific staff members to switch into and work within one or more agencies outside of their primary (home) agency.

Once granted, staff will see a drop-down menu next to their name in the top-right corner of Clarity, allowing them to seamlessly switch between agency profiles without logging out.

🔑 Key Guidelines & System Rules

To maintain data integrity and security, the following rules apply:

  • Administrator Managed: Only System Administrators can grant additional agency access.
  • Role Level Restrictions: The access role assigned for an additional agency must be equal to or lower than the user's primary agency access role. This rule also applies to Data Analysis (Looker) access.

🛠️ What Changes When Switched into Another Agency?

  • Data Operations: Users can view, create, and edit data directly within the additional agency’s programs.
  • Data Analysis (Looker): Reporting permissions extend to include data from any granted additional agencies.
  • Full Transparency: When viewing a client record, any data entered while switched into another agency will display a tooltip with the staff member's name and their primary (home) agency.

📂 Common Use Cases & Policies

Additional Agency Access is typically granted under three main scenarios:

  1. CoC / HMIS Lead Functions: Staff needing oversight for contract compliance or managing Coordinated Entry.
  2. Funder Oversight: Funders monitoring programs or agencies they directly fund.
  3. Cross-Agency Partnerships: Two organizations agreeing to share data operations (e.g., Agency A assisting with data entry for Agency B’s program).

If you have any questions regarding your current agency permissions or need to request additional access, please reach out to your HMIS System Administrator at solano-admin@bitfocus.com.

New Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Platform: We're Live!

As of July 21st, 2026, our HMIS community is now live on Bitfocus's new Auth0-based multi-factor authentication platform. If you haven't logged in since the switch, here's what's different and how to get help.

Security Check

  • Sign in with your unique email address — usernames are retired.
  • You'll enroll in MFA (app, push, SMS, or voice) the first time you log in, if you haven't already.
  • Check “Remember this device” on your regular work computer to skip MFA prompts for 30 days.
  • Still locked out? Check spam for the recovery email, confirm noreply@bitfocus.com is whitelisted, then contact support@bitfocus.com.

Full details: Auth0 for Clarity Human Services: Toolkit.

We've Moved to a Single Bitfocus Training Hub

To give you a more unified learning experience, we've consolidated our training portals into a single hub: learn.bitfocus.com. As of Friday, July 17th, the legacy training.bitfocus.com eLearning site has officially shut off, and your training courses have moved entirely to the new domain.

What Changed and What You Needed to Do 

Your course progress and learning history carried over safely, but logging in required migrating your credentials to the new site:

  • You should have received an official invitation email from learn@bitfocus.com reading: “Welcome to Bitfocus! We've created an account for you. To complete your signup, please follow this link: [LINK].”

  • Clicking that link logged you into learn@bitfocus.com and carried your existing username and password over automatically.

  • Haven't done this yet? Check your inbox (including spam) for that email from learn@bitfocus.com, or contact your usual support channel for help getting set up.

What Happened to Your Bookmarks? 

If you had bookmarked the training homepage or specific course pages, a safety net was already in place:

  • Automatic redirects: Since training.bitfocus.com shut down on July 17th, 1-to-1 redirects have been active — an old link like training.bitfocus.com/your-course-url now automatically forwards to the same page on learn.bitfocus.com.

  • Recommended: If you haven't already, update your personal browser bookmarks to swap training.bitfocus.com for learn.bitfocus.com.

If you're running into any issues logging in or navigating the new hub, please reach out through your usual support channels support@bitfocus.com or (800) 594-9854.

June 2026 Feature Focus

Clarity Human Services logo small

Released July 1st

Clarity CSV Export Update: The Clarity CSV export now includes ClientServiceEndDate, and DateProvided has been relabeled ClientServiceStartDate, aligning the export with the Clarity CSV schema and Data Import Tool (DIT).

Coming July 15th (available on training sites July 13th) 

  • System Performance Measures Report — Measure 4: Updated so null income is handled correctly in comparisons, and Annual Assessments within the anticipated +/-30 day window qualify for income comparisons.
  • Annual Performance Report (APR) & ESG CAPER: Updated for alignment with clarified HUD guidance — minor clients with the same Project Start Date as the Head of Household are now counted correctly in Length of Time Prior to Housing (also affects the related Youth-filtered table).
  • Profile, Assessment, and Program Details Reports: Standardized field-type handling — Hierarchy Select (Continuum Project List) now returns the program name instead of an ID, and the Location field type aligns with the new Clarity interface.
  • Staff Activity Report: Fixed an Excel export issue where duplicate staff names caused tab-naming conflicts; the report now uses Staff ID alongside Staff Name for unique tabs.
  • Chronic Homeless at Point-in-Time Logic: Corrected a double-counting issue for clients entering Emergency Shelter (Entry/Exit) or Safe Haven projects on the first of the month.
Want more detail on any of these? Read the full release notes or watch a Feature Focus webinar recording in the Past Bitfocus Webinars library.

Report Spotlight: Homeless Status Timeline Report [CLNT-127] 

This month we're spotlighting the Homeless Status Timeline Report, a report that's especially useful given the Chronic Homeless Point-in-Time logic update in this issue's Feature Focus.

What It Does

This report gives you a graphical, month-by-month timeline of a client's HMIS enrollments, showing which months their homelessness (or housed status) is documented — and which months can't be determined from the data on file. It's a helpful tool for reviewing and supporting chronic homelessness documentation (though it doesn't constitute that documentation on its own).

Where to Find It and Who Can Run It

Run it directly from a client's Profile screen. Any staff member with access to that client can run it — results are automatically limited to what your access level allows.

How to Read It

  • Choose a date range and output format (Web Page to explore drilldowns, or PDF to print), then run the report.
  • Each colored square represents one month of an enrollment — dark green for Emergency Shelter/Safe Haven/Street Outreach, dark or light blue for Permanent Housing (depending on whether a move-in date is on file), grey for Transitional Housing, and yellow for other program types.
  • The SUMMARY row translates all of that into a simple Y / N / ? for each month — Homeless, Not Homeless, or Unable to Determine per the HUD definition.
  • Underlined Y/N/? results are clickable — drill in to see the exact service or living-situation record behind that month's answer.

Tip: A lot of “?” months usually points to a data entry gap (like a missing bed-night service or living situation status) worth cleaning up before your next HUD report. Full details, including the complete color/status legend, are in the Help Center article linked above.

In Our Community

New Clarity Interface Coming October 1st, 2026!

We are so excited to share this news with you. Mobile-optimized and built on a super-responsive infrastructure, the new look and feel minimizes clicks and brings you a top-notch user experience.

 

Please note that many users in Solano already have the ability to toggle between the two Clarity interfaces, but come 10/1/2026, we will fully transition to only the new Clarity interface.

 

Rollout Toolkit

We understand you will not only need to learn to navigate the new UI, but also update training materials and train your end users. We’ve got you covered and are prepared to provide you with the following at launch:

  • Change management recommendations
  • Rollout checklist
  • Communications resources
  • Screenshots and training resources
 
We are eager to help you make this transition; let us know how we can help at any time throughout this process!
 

Review the Rollout Toolkit

Upcoming Events

Solano HMIS Clarity Office Hours

calendar-icon-navyWhen: Third Tuesday of Each Month

Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm

What are "Office Hours?"

We know that lots of issues and questions can arise when using Clarity (HMIS). Office Hours are a great opportunity to get your questions answered, see demos of anything you can't figure out or can't remember how to do, find out how to fix things that might have gotten messed up, and participate in discussions with other users around solutions to common challenges.

Please note this is not an actual training that is taking place, but a space for you to drop in, ask a question and then drop off if you choose to. But as stated above, we can definitely do demos if needed.

Clarity HMIS Office Hours Include the Following Topics:

  • Reports & Report Library
  • Data Entry
  • ROI
  • General Questions
  • Demos (including new Clarity UI)

Not Sure About Something...Come Join Us!

Register Here!

Bitfocus is Hiring

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Join our Team!

  • Work with us at Bitfocus! Join a team committed to innovation, collaboration, and real-world impact in human services. 

Need Help?

Your HMIS Administrators are happy to help.

Microsite Signature_Bryanna

Bryanna Corsbie

Phone: 888-866-1533 x 809

Email: solano-admin@bitfocus.com

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