(408) 596-5866, Ext. 2
sccsupport@bitfocus.com

HMIS Newsletter: July 2026

Announcements

 

SCC HMIS Quarterly Compliance Certification Checklist - DUE!

Due Date: Friday, July 31, 2026.

• Scope: Quarter 2 tracking (covering staff added between April and June).

• Action Required: Agency leads must run the report in the "Data Analysis" tab to certify new end users.

Coordinated Entry and ECM providers without tab access should have received their direct email list to sign

and return.

Submission Note: Return forms directly to Lesly Soto Bright or Santa Clara Admin. Going through the general help

desk adds unnecessary processing delay.

New Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Platform Coming July 28th

 

Why We Are Making This Change

Bitfocus is upgrading Clarity Human Services to a new authentication platform called Auth0. This upgrade modernizes our security foundation to better protect sensitive client data and changes how you log into your account. For more details check out this Help Desk article: Auth0 for Clarity Human Services: Toolkit.

Security Check

 

The Rollout Timeline

To ensure your team is prepared, this transition will happen in two distinct phases:

  • Training Site Rollout: July 14th, 2026
  • Live Site Rollout: July 28th, 2026

We recommend that you use the training site launch to familiarize yourself with the new authentication process before it hits the live site.

Checklist: What to Do Before July 28, 2026

  • Verify Your Account Email: Log into your HMIS account. Ensure the email address listed on your staff profile is valid and that you have direct access to it.
  • Ensure Email Uniqueness: Every user must have a unique email address on file.
  • Whitelist the Recovery Email: Ask your IT department to whitelist noreply@bitfocus.com so recovery notifications aren't blocked by spam filters.

Checklist: What to Have on Hand

  • Smartphone or Tablet: An authenticator app (Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator), or the Auth0 Guardian app for push notifications.
  • Phone: A mobile phone or desk line that can receive SMS or voice calls with login codes.
  • Desktop Authenticator (no-phone option): A desktop/browser-based authenticator such as Proton Authenticator, installed before launch day. 

 

What to Expect on Day One

  • Username Retirement: You'll sign in with your unique email address instead of a username. Shared/generic mailboxes (e.g., admin@agency.org) can't be used across multiple staff.
  • Mandatory First-Time Enrollment: You'll be required to pair an MFA method (app, push, SMS, or voice) on your first login.
  • Future Email MFA Option: Email isn't available for initial setup, but becomes available as a secondary method after you've enrolled your primary factor.

Simplifying Your Daily Login: "Remember This Device" 

Check “Remember this device” after your first MFA verification to skip the second-factor prompt for 30 days on that device. Only use this on your regular, secure work computer — never on a shared or public machine.

 

Need Help or Locked Out?

Check spam folders first, and confirm your IT department whitelisted noreply@bitfocus.com. Then contact your community's Bitfocus Help Desk: sccsupport@bitfocus.com or scc-admin@bitfocus.com. 

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 sccsupport@bitfocus.com or scc-admin@bitfocus.com. 

July 2026 Feature Focus  

 

Released July 1st Clarity Human Services logo small

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

 

The Evolution of the Clarity User Interface (UI)

Clarity is rolling out a redesigned, mobile-first interface optimized for tablet and smartphone field use. It features "fewer clicks" by bringing hidden navigation into a vertical accordion design and guarantees accessibility compliance under WCAG 2.1 and Section 508.

Interface Timeline

August 26, 2026: Feature goes live on all training sites for staff to practice.

• September 9, 2026: Live production sync across active sites.

• October 1, 2026: Official Permanent Cutover. The old layout will disappear entirely.

• Key Design Changes Demonstrated:

o Horizontal top menus are shifting to a vertical layout on the left-hand side.

o The "Recent Clients" drop-down cache is expanding from a max limit of 5 to 25 clients.

o Client profiles compress detail cards (Program Enrollments, Services, Care Teams) into

expandable blue "carrots."

o GPS location flags can now be pinned automatically using mobile devices out in the field.

• Missing documentation prompts (like an expired Release of Information/ROI) will flag via visible alert

colors on the upper right side of the client profile.

*Have questions or want a demonstration, be sure to drop into HMIS or Looker/Report Office Hours!

Upcoming Events

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Technical Administrator (TA/Agency Lead Meeting) | August 6, 2026 2:00pm - 3:30 pm

These meetings discuss the Agency Administrator reports and data collection requirements in HMIS. Additionally, updates regarding changes and/or upcoming changes to HMIS are explored in an effort to ascertain impacts on programs and/or end users. Furthermore breakout sessions allow for exploration of the understanding of ongoing data updates, and/or challenges being experienced by end users.

 

SCC HMIS Looker - HMIS Report Spotlight Office Hours | August, 17 & 31, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm Register here

We know that lots of issues and questions can arise when using Clarity (HMIS) and Looker. 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.

 

HMIS Clarity Office Hours | August 13, & 27 2026 10:00am - 11:30am Join here

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.

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.  

Questions?

Your HMIS Administrators are happy to help.

Photos of Lesly and Bryanna

Phone: 408.596.5866 Ext. 2

Email: sccsupport@bitfocus.com

SantaClara2

 

A Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is an online database that enables organizations to collect data on the services they provide to people experiencing homelessness and people who are at risk for homelessness.

 

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