Current Living Situation

INTRODUCTION.

The Current Living Situation data element is used in CMIS record each contact with people experiencing homelessness by various projects. This data element provides information on the number of contacts taken to engage with a client as well as to document a current living situation each time the client is contacted by an access point in our system.

WHAT IS A CURRENT LIVING SITUATION?

The Current Living Situation, in our CoC, refers to the sleeping location where the client stayed the night before the interaction is being recorded. Current Living Situation options align with the options available in the "Prior Living Situation" data element, therefore being familiar to all CMIS users.

For example, if a client reports that they slept in a car the previous night, the Current Living Situation would be recorded for the date that this information was collected, and the Current Living Situation would be recorded as "Place not meant for habitation".

The Current Living Situation data element is only needed to record sleeping situations at specific times, during interactions with a service provider. CMIS users do not need to enter any additional past sleeping situations if they are missing from the system. This would just signify that the client was not interacting with another service provider on those missing dates (unless a shelter or transitional housing program enrollment is in the client's Entry/Exit tab).

The Current Living Situation is to be collected for all Heads of Households and Adults (18+). Current Living Situations do not need to be recorded for children (under the Age of 18), unless they are the Head of Household in a RHY-funded project.

APPLICABLE PROJECT TYPES.

In Delaware's Continuum of Care, the Current Living Situation data element is required to be updated by the following project types:

Coordinated Entry
Street Outreach (all funding sources)
Supportive Services Only (PATH-funded)
Additional Service Only access points, as assigned by Housing Alliance Delaware (such as certain intake projects, and at drop-in centers)

However, it is recommended that all project types that have the capacity to to update the Current Living Situation when they interact with a client. This allows the system to continue building a more comprehensive history of where clients are living as they move through our system.

DATA ENTRY FOR CURRENT LIVING SITUATION SUB-ASSESSMENT

The Current Living Situation is available in the following areas of CMIS:

Entry Assessment
Interim/Update Assessment
Exit Assessment
Client Profile

To accurately record a Current Living Situation, the CMIS user must either be in Back Date Mode (to the accurate date/time of the interaction), or doing real-time data entry (such as Coordinated Entry does).

SUB-ASSESSMENT INFORMATION.

The Current Living Situation is a sub-assessment. This means that several questions are answered for each record. To start a new record, click the "Add" button.

A new record must be entered/added into the Current Living Situation sub-assessment for every interaction that the provider has with the client. This means that multiple Current Living Situations can be recorded for the same date.

For example, in the screenshot above, three separate Current Living Situations were recorded by Centralized Intake of Delaware on 08/18/2026, meaning that Centralized Intake interacted with the client on three separate occassions on that day. In total, this client has interacted with applicable access points 13 times.

Previous Current Living Situations should not be edited/updated after they are initially entered into the client's profile or assessment.

Let us repeat: A new record must be entered/added into the Current Living Situation sub-assessment for every single interaction that the provider has with the client.

RECORDING A NEW INTERACTION/CURRENT LIVING SITUATION.

As a reminder, make sure that you have updated Enter Data As Mode (if needed for PATH-funded projects) and/or Back Date Mode (for later data entry) as needed.
After clicking the "Add" button at the bottom-left corner of the sub-assessment, the following blank Recordset will appear. The top section of the recordset must be completed for every recorded Current Living Situation.

a. Start Date - This date will auto-populate with the "current" date of the system. This date should match the date that corresponds with when the client's Current Living Situation was recorded, based on the previous night's living/sleeping situation.
b. Information Date - This date must be completed to match the Start Date (Hint: use the calendar icon on the right-hand side to fill the "current" date of the system).
c. Current Living Situation - Use the drop-down to select the option that best matches where the client reports having slept the previous night.
FAQ: WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I DO NOT KNOW WHERE THE CLIENT SLEPT?
The goal is to build an accurate, comprehensive history of where a client is residing/sleeping through the Current Living Situation data element. If the client does not directly tell you where they slept the night before, additional interviewing or trust-building may be necessary.
In programs like Coordinated Entry, the staff person may be required to attempt interacting with the client again (by calling the client back, or asking multiple times) for an answer.

If appropriate measures were taken by the staff member and a Current Living Situation was not provided by the client, the Current Living Situation should still be recorded, as "Worker unable to determine". Do not use the "Other", "Client doesn't know", "Client prefers not to answer", or "Data Not Collected" options.
d. Is the client currently staying in a hotel/motel paid for by ES voucher, SSC voucher, or similar funding source? - This Yes/No question is used to confirm if a client was sleeping in a hotel or motel paid for through a State Service Center voucher. Answer this question accordingly.
e. Living situation verified by - Use the drop-down or Lookup to select the project that collected this Current Living Situation, so that reporting will give that project credit for the interaction in reporting. Street Outreach and Coordinated Entry projects, specifically, will want all CLSs recorded under their projects, as it is a crucial aspect of their quarterly and annual reporting.

All projects in CMIS will appear in this question, so a search is necessary.

1. Click the "Lookup" button.
2. Use the Search to locate your project. This can be done by searching part or all of your organization's name (for Centralized Intake of Delaware, searching "centra" will narrow down options) or the Provider ID# (for Centralized Intake of Delaware, searching "464" will narrow down options). Use the "Search" button or the Enter key to search for available Providers in CMIS.

3. When the needed project is available in the Search Results, click the plus sign.

If the "Living situation verified by" field is left blank, the "credit" will be recorded under the default Coordinated Entry project in CMIS.

3. Click "Save" to save the record for Current Living Situation. The Recordset will populate in the sub-assessment.

Current Living Situations recorded by any Provider will be visible to all CMIS users.

ADDITIONAL GUIDING QUESTIONS.

While the remaining questions in the Current Living Situation sub-assessment is not required, these could be seen as helpful questions to guide conversation with the client to determine homelessness status, project eligibility, and/or if there are other resources or supports for diversion purposes. At this time, data entry is optional.

SUBSEQUENT CURRENT LIVING SITUATIONS.

Current Living Situation records are visible depending on the timing of data entry.

For example, if a client is being enrolled in a project on 10/01/25, any Current Living Situations dated 10/01/25 and sooner will be visible in the entry assessment. However, any Current Living Situations recorded after 10/01/25 will not be visible in the entry assessment.

To see (and record) Current Living Situations dated after project enrollment, a project Interim or the Client Profile tab (when not in Back Date Mode) will make these subsequent CLSs visible to the end user.