On September 13th, the Data Analysis Tool was upgraded to Looker version 26.12 during the early-morning maintenance window. No action was required from users as a result of this upgrade.
New features now available:
Clarity's new user interface is live for all communities! We're still working on some pieces around reports and day-to-day case management, but we're looking forward to hearing how the transition into this modern structure works for you!
HUD's Longitudinal Systems Analysis (LSA) is the annual, system-level report that replaced the AHAR's data component back in the 2018 reporting year. Where the APR/CAPER looks at individual projects and System Performance Measures (SPMs) track CoC-wide benchmarks, the LSA sits in between: a system-level look at households and individuals served, broken out by household type and population, that feeds HUD's national homelessness estimates.
Prep season for the LSA and its companion SPM report kicks off in October. Here's what's new for this year's submission and how your agency can get ahead of it.
What's new in the FY2026 LSA specifications:
How to prepare your agency's data:
We will be reaching out over the next several weeks to verify or correct program and client data — please look out for those emails and respond promptly. In the meantime, Agency Leads should review their own data ahead of the federal reporting deadline.
This review takes about 30 minutes for someone familiar with the program, and the same cleanup benefits both the LSA and the SPM.
Where communities commonly lose usability:
The most common causes of "unusable LSA" reports are: utilization outliers (zero, or unusually low/high), missing projects or enrollments, overlapping bed nights within the same project type, and invalid or missing SSNs. Addressing these now is the best way to ensure a strong reporting year for your community's homeless response system!
Want more detail? Visit HUD's LSA HUD Exchange Page.
This report summarizes available bed and unit inventory — by housing project type and program — as of the night before the report is run.
Want more information? Check out our Help Center Article.
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. 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.
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.
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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