Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant Application

Instructions for Using HUD’s
Electronic Housing Inventory Chart (e-HIC)
The electronic Housing Inventory Chart, or e-HIC, uses Microsoft Office Excel to tabulate the
bed inventory information and streamline the reporting requirements. The e-HIC contains seven
(7) worksheets or tabs located along the bottom of the screen:
1. Emergency Shelter: Report bed inventory information about emergency shelters in this
tab.
2. Transitional Housing: Report bed inventory information about transitional housing
programs in this tab.
3. Permanent Housing: Report bed inventory information about permanent supportive
housing programs in this tab.
4. Safe Haven: A Safe Haven is a form of supportive housing funded and administered
under the Supportive Housing Program and serves hard-to-reach homeless persons with
severe mental illness who are on the streets and have been unwilling or unable to
participate in supportive services. In the past, Safe Havens were classified as either
Transitional Housing (SH-TH) or Permanent Housing (SH-PH). Beginning in 2008, Safe
Havens will no longer be classified as Transitional Housing or Permanent Housing.
Instead, each project that is currently designated as either a SH-TH or SH-PH will
identify itself as TH, PH, or SH project. Grantees will have an opportunity through the
2008 NOFA to change the classification of their project(s) without a grant amendment.
Accordingly, the 2008 Housing Inventory Chart includes a tab for Safe Havens as a
separate housing type. Communities must report bed inventory information about any
projects that have been identified as Safe Havens in this tab. Please review the
requirements in the 2008 NOFA for Safe Haven projects.
5. Unmet Need: Record information about unmet need in this tab.
6. PIT Data Entry: Report information about the January Point-in-Time (PIT) count in this
tab.
7. HMIS Bed Utilization Rates: Bed utilization rates will be calculated automatically in
this tab based on the community’s bed inventory and PIT count.
The e-HIC is color coded to ease the reporting process:
Cells shaded in green describe the reporting requirement. No data entry is required.
Cells shaded in yellow indicate places where data must be entered.
Cells shaded in gray contain information that is generated automatically. No data entry
is required.

1

Before using the e-HIC, users must change a default setting in
Excel as follows:
1. In the menu bar, click on “Tools” and go to the “Options” menu.
2. Click on the “Calculation” tab in the Options menu.
3. Turn the “Iteration” function ON by checking the iteration box.
The default values for maximum (100) and minimum (0.001)
iterations are correct. See Figure 1 below.
Communities that have Microsoft Excel 2007 should click the “Microsoft Office
Button,” click “Excel Options,” and then click the “Formulas” category. In the
“Calculation options” section, select the “Enable iterative calculation” check box.

Figure 1: Excel screen-shot for turning on the Iteration function in Excel.

2

1. Completing the Bed Inventory (Worksheets 1-4)
You must complete all of the columns in the e-HIC for all projects in your Continuum of Care,
with the following exceptions:
(1) Projects that do not target specific subpopulations—i.e., victims of domestic violence,
persons with HIV, or veterans—may leave the Target Population B column blank; and
(2) Projects that serve victims of domestic violence should not enter any beds into the HMIS
bed columns.
CoCs should not copy and paste old information from previous HICs into the e-HIC, rather,
HUD expects CoCs to update their inventories for 2008. HMIS bed coverage rates are calculated
automatically along the top of each bed inventory worksheet. The HMIS bed coverage rates
exclude beds in projects serving victims of domestic violence.
Instructions for completing Worksheets 1 – 4:
1. Provider: Enter the name of the housing provider here.
2. Facility Name: Enter the name of the facility here.
3. Geo Code: Enter the six-digit HUD-assigned Geo Code corresponding to the jurisdiction
in which the facility is located. A listing of Geo Codes by CoC can be found here:
http://hudhre.info/documents/FY2008_PPRNAmts.pdf
4. Inventory Type: Using the pull-down menu, determine if the bed inventory is current
(C), new (N), or under development (U). The “KEY: Inventory Type” box in the
worksheet provides information about these three codes.
5. Target Population A: Using the pull-down menu, identify the target population served
by each facility. The target population represents approximately 75 percent of the clients
served by the program. The “KEY: Target Population A and B” box in the worksheet
provides information about the different population codes in the pull-down menu.
6. Target Population B: Using the pull-down menu, identify the subpopulation served by
each facility. Projects that do not target specific subpopulations may leave the Target
Population B column blank. The “KEY: Target Population A and B” box in the
worksheet provides information about the different subpopulation codes in the pull-down
menu.
7. Does this facility receive McKinneyVento Funding? Select “Yes” or “No”
from the pull-down menu for each facility.
8. Data submitted to AHAR? Select “Yes”
or “No” from the pull-down menu to
indicate whether the project submitted
data to the third Annual Homeless
Assessment Report (AHAR), which
occurred from October 2006 through
September 2007.

Is it a PIT bed inventory?
The inventory information reported
in the e-HIC should reflect each
project’s bed inventory on the day
of the Point-in-Time count (or as
close as possible to this day).

9. Year-Round Family Beds: Enter the total number of year-round family beds that are
available for each project. If a project does not have beds for families, enter “0”. Further
3

guidance on reporting a project’s bed inventory accurately can be found in HUD’s
Housing Inventory Chart: Questions and Answers. (See resource box below.)
10. Year-Round Family Units: Enter the total number of family units available for each
project. If a project does not have family units, enter “0”. Further guidance on reporting a
project’s bed inventory accurately can be found in HUD’s Housing Inventory Chart:
Questions and Answers. (See resource box below.)
11. Year-Round Individual Beds: Enter the total number of year-round individual beds that
are available for each project. If a project does not have beds for individuals, enter “0”.
Further guidance on reporting a project’s bed inventory accurately can be found in
HUD’s Housing Inventory Chart: Questions and Answers. (See resource box below.)
12. {On Permanent Housing tab only}: Chronically Homeless Beds: Enter the number of
existing and new permanent beds that are readily available and targeted to house
chronically homeless persons (defined as an unaccompanied homeless individual with a
disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more OR
has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years).
13. Year-Round Family Beds Covered in HMIS: Enter the number of year-round family
beds that are in HMIS. A bed is considered “covered in HMIS” if the provider is entering
data in accordance with HUD’s Data and Technical Standards about the clients served in
the bed. If an agency is only reporting data for clients staying in a portion of its beds,
then only that portion of the beds should be counted as covered by HMIS. If none are
covered in HMIS, enter “0”.
14. Year-Round Individual Beds Covered in
HMIS: Enter the number of year-round
individual beds that are in HMIS. A bed is
considered “covered in HMIS” if the
provider is entering data in accordance with
HUD’s Data and Technical Standards about
the clients served in the bed. If an agency is
only reporting data for clients staying in a
portion of its beds, then only that portion of
the beds should be counted as covered by
HMIS. If none are covered in HMIS, enter
“0”.

What if I input the
wrong information in a cell?
Use the “Delete” key on your keyboard
to erase a mistake, and then input the
correct information.

15. {On Emergency Shelter tab only} Total Seasonal Beds: Enter the total number of
seasonal beds available for each ES project.
16. {On Emergency Shelter tab only} Number Available in HMIS: Enter the total number
of seasonal beds for each ES project covered in HMIS.
17. {On Emergency Shelter tab only} Availability Start Date: Select the month/year during
which the seasonal beds became available.
18. {On Emergency Shelter tab only} Availability End Date: Select the month/year during
which the seasonal beds became unavailable.
19. {On Emergency Shelter tab only} O/V Beds: Enter the total number of overflow and
voucher beds available for each project.

4

There are a few tabulations that occur automatically. These tabulations are shaded in
grey and include:
o Total Year-Round Beds: The total number of year-round beds is equal to the number of
year-round family beds plus the number of year-round individual beds.
o Percentage Family Beds Covered in HMIS: The percentage of family beds covered in
HMIS is equal to the total number of family beds covered in HMIS divided by the total
number of family beds available in the project.
o Percentage Individual Beds Covered in HMIS: The percentage of individual beds
covered in HMIS is equal to the total number of individual beds covered in HMIS
divided by the total number of individual beds available in the project.

2. Completing the Unmet Need Tab (Worksheet 5)
Instructions for completing Worksheet 5:
1. Family Beds: For each program type, enter
the total unmet need for family beds. Do not
enter negative values; if there is no unmet
need for family beds, enter zero. You may
use the HUD Unmet Need Formula to
calculate your unmet need. (See resource
box below).
2. Family Units: For each program type, enter
the total unmet need for family units. Do not
enter negative values; if there is no unmet
need for family units, enter zero. You may
use the HUD Unmet Need Formula to
calculate your unmet need. (See resource
box below).
3. Individual Beds: For each program type,
enter the total unmet need for individual
beds. Do not enter negative values; if there
is no unmet need for family beds, enter zero.
You may use the HUD Unmet Need Formula
to calculate your unmet need. (See resource
box below).

What do the messages in the
“Error Messages” box mean?
Each inventory worksheet contains three
error messages:
(1) Program Detail: indicates that there
is missing information about a
project.
(2) Family Beds/Units: indicates that
projects with family units (or beds)
must also report family beds (or
units).
(3) DV HMIS coverage: indicates that
DV beds should not be reported in
HMIS.

4. {For Emergency Shelters only} Total Seasonal Beds: Enter the total unmet need for
seasonal beds. Do not enter negative values; if there is no unmet need for seasonal beds,
enter zero.
5. {For Emergency Shelters only} Overflow/Voucher Beds: Enter the total unmet need for
overflow and voucher beds. Do not enter negative values; if there is no unmet need for
overflow and voucher beds, enter zero.

5

3. Completing the PIT Data Entry Tab (Worksheet 6)
Instructions for completing Worksheet 6:
1. Provider Name: This column populates automatically based on information provided in
worksheets 1-4.
2. Facility Name: This column populates automatically based on information provided in
worksheets 1-4.
3. January PIT – HMIS: For each project that uses HMIS to generate single-night PIT
counts of sheltered persons, input the total number of sheltered persons on a single night
in January (for 2008, the count was conducted between January 22nd through January
31st). A project may use HMIS or another method for generating a PIT count, but not
both. (See resource box for guidance on counting sheltered homeless persons.)
4. January PIT – Other Methods: For each project that uses other (non-HMIS based)
methods to generate PIT counts of sheltered persons (e.g., a bed registry or actual head
counts), input the total number of sheltered persons on a night in January (for 2008, the
count was conducted between January 22nd and January 31st). (See resource box for
guidance on counting sheltered homeless persons.)

4. HMIS – Bed Utilization Rates Tab (Worksheet 7)
No data entry is required on this tab. Bed utilization rates are calculated automatically based on
information entered in previous worksheets :
1. HMIS Based Rate: A bed utilization rate is calculated automatically for each project
based on the bed inventory and HMIS-based PIT counts provided in previous
worksheets. In general, utilization rates above 100 percent or lower than 60 percent are
potentially indicative of data quality issues.
2. Other Methods Rate: A bed utilization rate is calculated automatically for each project
based on the bed inventory and other methods PIT counts provided in previous
worksheets. In general, utilization rates above 105 percent or lower than 60 percent are
potentially indicative of data quality issues.
3. Average Bed Utilization Rates: Average bed utilization rates are calculated
automatically by program type and by HMIS participation status.

5. Troubleshooting the e-HIC
The most common error associated with the e-HIC occurs when the user does not turn the
iteration function on or, alternatively, when the iteration function defaults to the off position. In
most cases, a user will need to turn iteration on once (i.e., the first time he/she use the e-HIC),
but occasionally Microsoft resets a user’s preferences and iteration will be turned off.

6

If a user enters data about a program and receives an error message concerning “circular
references” (see Figure 2 below), this means that iteration has been turned off. The user should
press “Cancel,” and then turn iteration on as follows:
1. In the menu bar, click on “Tools” and go to the “Options” menu.
2. Click on the “Calculation” tab in the Options menu.
3. Turn the “Iteration” function on by checking the iteration box. The default values for
maximum (100) and minimum (0.001) iterations are correct. See Figure 1 below.

Figure 2: Common Error Message when using the e-HIC.

Resource Box
1. “HUD Housing Inventory Chart:
Questions and Answers”
2. “Calculating Unmet Need for Homeless
Individuals and Families”
3. “A Guide to Counting Sheltered Homeless
People”

www.hmis.info

www.hud.gov

www.hudhre.info

7