CoC & ESG Reporting & HMIS Guide

The Homeless Assistance Reporting Landscape

Reporting for CoC and ESG programs is more complex and interconnected than most federal grant programs. Rather than a single annual report, homeless assistance recipients must contribute to multiple overlapping data collections that feed into HUD's understanding of homelessness at the project, community, and national levels. All of these reports are generated from or informed by HMIS data, making data quality the foundation of your entire reporting infrastructure.

Annual Performance Report (APR) in SAGE

The APR is the primary project-level performance report for CoC grants. Each CoC grant recipient must submit an APR through the SAGE HMIS Reporting Repository within 90 days of the end of each operating year. The APR is generated directly from HMIS data and includes:

The APR is the single most important document for renewal scoring in the CoC competition. Projects with strong APR performance — high exits to permanent housing, good income growth, low returns to homelessness, and high utilization — are ranked higher in the local competition.

HMIS Data Quality Standards

HMIS data quality is not just a reporting concern — it is a compliance requirement and a competitive scoring factor. HUD's HMIS Data Standards Manual establishes the data elements, collection requirements, and quality benchmarks that all projects must meet.

Data Quality Benchmarks

HMIS data quality is a shared responsibility between the project (entering accurate and timely data) and the HMIS lead agency (monitoring data quality, providing training, and maintaining the system). Projects with persistent data quality problems risk lower ranking in the local competition and potential monitoring findings.

System Performance Measures (SPMs)

HUD's System Performance Measures evaluate the CoC's homeless response system as a whole, not individual projects. However, every project contributes to the system's performance through its HMIS data. The seven SPMs are:

• SPM 1: Length of time homeless — Measures the average and median length of time people experience homelessness (in emergency shelter and transitional housing). Lower is better.
• SPM 2: Returns to homelessness — Percentage of people who return to homelessness within 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months of exiting to permanent housing. Lower is better.
• SPM 3: Number of homeless persons — Total number of people experiencing homelessness (from PIT count and HMIS data). Decreasing counts indicate system improvement.
• SPM 4: Employment and income growth — Percentage of adults who increase income (earned and total) during their enrollment. Higher is better.
• SPM 5: First-time homelessness — Number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time. Fewer first-time entries indicates better prevention.
• SPM 7a: Successful placements from street outreach — Percentage of people exiting street outreach to emergency shelter, safe haven, transitional housing, or permanent housing.
• SPM 7b: Successful exits/retention in permanent housing — Percentage of people in ES, TH, SH, and PH who exit to or retain permanent housing.

SPM data is generated from HMIS and submitted by the HMIS lead agency. CoCs that show improvement on SPMs score higher in the CoC Application. Projects that contribute positively to system performance strengthen the entire CoC's competitive position.

Point-in-Time Count (PIT)

The Point-in-Time Count is a community-wide data collection activity, not a project-level report, but it affects every CoC-funded project. The PIT count is conducted during the last ten days of January and produces the most widely cited national homelessness statistics.

• Sheltered count (annual): Enumeration of all people in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and safe haven on the night of the count. This data comes primarily from HMIS.
• Unsheltered count (biennial): Enumeration of people sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. This requires street-based enumeration and is conducted in odd-numbered years (though many CoCs conduct it annually).

Projects contribute to the sheltered PIT count through their HMIS data. Accurate bed inventory in HMIS and timely data entry are essential for a complete sheltered count. Projects that do not have their beds accurately reflected in HMIS undermine the PIT count.

Housing Inventory Count (HIC)

The HIC is an annual inventory of all beds and units available for people experiencing homelessness in the CoC, including emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, and other permanent housing. The HIC is submitted to HUD annually and is used to calculate bed utilization rates that affect CoC competition scoring.

Projects must ensure their bed/unit inventory is accurately reflected in the HIC. Discrepancies between the HIC and actual capacity (or between HIC and HMIS bed data) create data quality issues. The utilization rate (number of people served divided by inventory capacity) is a key performance metric — projects with utilization below 85% may face scrutiny during the local competition.

Longitudinal Systems Analysis (LSA)

The LSA is a system-level report generated from HMIS data that provides a comprehensive picture of the CoC's performance over time. The LSA replaces the older Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) methodology and provides HUD with longitudinal data on patterns of homelessness, service utilization, and housing outcomes. The HMIS lead agency generates and submits the LSA.

While individual projects do not submit the LSA directly, the quality of project-level HMIS data directly determines the quality of the LSA. Projects with poor data quality create gaps in the system-level analysis and can distort the CoC's performance picture.

ESG CAPER

The Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) is the primary performance report for ESG recipients. ESG recipients must submit the CAPER within 90 days of the end of their program year. The CAPER includes:

• Number and demographics of people served by ESG component
• Expenditure data by component (shelter, outreach, prevention, RRH, HMIS, admin)
• Performance outcomes including exits to permanent housing and returns to homelessness
• Coordination with CoC, including coordinated entry participation and HMIS coverage

ESG subrecipients typically provide data to the ESG recipient, who compiles and submits the CAPER. Subrecipients should understand what data is required and ensure their HMIS data supports accurate CAPER reporting.

Financial Reporting

In addition to performance reporting, CoC and ESG recipients must submit financial reports to HUD:

• SF-425 (Federal Financial Report): Required annually for CoC grants. Reports on expenditures, obligations, and unobligated balances. Must be submitted through e-snaps.
• Single Audit: Required for organizations expending $750,000 or more in federal awards. CoC and ESG expenditures count toward this threshold. Must be submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.
• Match documentation: CoC grants require annual documentation of the 25% match. ESG requires documentation of the 100% match. Match records must be maintained for audit purposes.

CoC Competition Data for Renewal Scoring

Performance data from the APR and HMIS directly affects renewal scoring in the local competition. CoCs evaluate renewal projects on key metrics, and projects that underperform risk being ranked lower or reallocated. The primary metrics used for renewal scoring include:

Strong performance on these metrics is essential not only for renewal but also for the overall health of the CoC. For detailed guidance on competition scoring and application strategy, see the Application Guide.

Reporting Calendar