Below is a detailed list of the questions located on the PATH ARS and the data they contain.  To jump directly to the information for a specific question, press <Ctrl+F> to access your browser's search field and enter the name of the question you'd like to view.  

Generally speaking, the best troubleshooting tool for PATH ARS data is the Individual Details table available when the Show Individual Detail? checkbox is selected during the report generation process.  When combined with Inline Details (underlined links in the report that give you a filtered version of the Individual Details isolating clients counted in that number), you are able to troubleshoot based on who is or is not included in the report data.  Two individual detail columns for whether the client was active in programming and whether they were enrolled in PATH services are also useful to this process.

Please keep in mind that some questions are specific to PATH Enrolled and PATH Eligible clients, and ALL questions apply only to active clients.  As a result, it is important to understand how that terminology is defined.

  Active Clients - All ARS questions look only at active clients, which are defined as having at least one contact or service during the report period or having a PATH Status Determination Date that falls within the report period.  Active clients must also have an admission date before the end of the report period, and clients who are discharged before the start of the report period are excluded.  Additionally, for "Street Outreach" projects, only clients with at least one outreach encounter during the reporting period are considered active.

  PATH Eligible - Most of the questions on the PATH ARS apply only to clients who are PATH Eligible.  To be considered PATH Eligible the client must have a serious mental illness, and be experiencing homelessness or be at risk of homelessness.  To determine if someone has a serious mental illness the client must answer "Yes" to Mental Health Problem at admission AND they must answer "Yes" to Disabling Condition.  Answering "Yes" to the first follow-up question under Mental Health Problem will also result in the client being considered to have a Disabling Condition.  

  PATH Enrolled / Enrolled in PATH - Several questions on the PATH ARS apply only to clients who are PATH Enrolled.  Enrollment in PATH is based on the "PATH Status" questions found at intake, discharge, or in the HMIS Info portion of the face sheet.  (Updating the information in one of these locations will overwrite the information in the others as well.)  To be considered enrolled in PATH the client must have an answer of "Yes" to Currently Enrolled in PATH, and must have a Status Determination Date on or before the report's end date.  Clients who are enrolled in both PATH Outreach and PATH Services projects must answer the PATH Status questions noted here in BOTH projects to be correctly counted on the report.

If you've chosen to include individual detail in the report, be aware that not every client listed in the detail table is necessarily counted under every question because of the question requirements around Eligible and Enrolled, as addressed in more detail below.

  NOTE: In general, the PATH ARS uses data entered into AWARDS under Intake/Admission, outreach contacts, HMIS info records on client face sheets, services data from contacts log records, service referrals, discharge records, and PATH Grant Information from System Setup > Agency Program Information > PATH Information.  Specifically, the following data elements are used in the report:

- Gender
- Date of Birth
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Veteran Status
- Disabling Condition
- Special Needs (Mental Health)
- Living Situation at Project Start
- Length of Stay in Prior Living Situation
- PATH Status (Status Determination Date, Currently Enrolled in PATH, and Reason Not Enrolled)
- Outreach Encounter Dates
- Admission and Discharge Dates

Questions 1 through 7 - Budget Information

The Budget Information at the top of the report comes directly from the PATH Information entered under System Setup, which needs to be updated each year.

If a grant includes both a Street Outreach and a Services component, the PATH contract data only needs to be filled out for one of the projects.  If the PATH ARS is run for multiple projects and information is found for more than one of the projects, the report adds up the values from each project included in the report.

Questions 8 through 16 - Report Details

  8. Number of persons contacted by PATH-funded staff this reporting period

  9. Number of new persons contacted this reporting period in a PATH Street Outreach project

  10. Number of new persons contacted this reporting period in a PATH Services Only project

  11. Total number of new persons contacted this reporting period (#9 + #10 = total new clients contacted)

  12a.  Counts the number of contacts between first contact and the date of enrollment using the following methodology:

• Start with the universe of active clients.
• Of those project stays, further restrict the universe to only stays that have a PATH status - date of status determination dated during the reporting period where Client became enrolled in PATH =  Yes. Note that this may result in more than one project stay for some clients who were present at a project more than once in the report date range.
• Using data from all of those project stays, count the total number of contacts that occurred >= project start date and <= date of enrollment.
• A person may have more than one contact on a given date and each contact should be included in the count.
• Use any of the records in Determining Which Clients to include - 1. Active as a "contact" with the client.  This includes a normal current living situation record (formerly known as "contact") as well as other date fields described in that section.  For example, a worker meets with a client, formally engages the client, and enrolls them:
• current living situation on 6/1/2021
• date of engagement on 6/1/2021
• PATH status - date of status determination on 6/1/2021

These three records count as three contacts.

12b.  Counts the number of contacts between report start date and report end date using the following methodology:

• Start with the universe of active clients.
• Of those project stays, further restrict the universe to only stays that have a PATH status - date of status determination dated during the reporting period where client became enrolled in PATH = yes. Note that this may result in more than one project stay for some clients who were present at a project more than once in the report date range.
• Using data from all of those project stays, count the total number of contacts that occurred >= report start date and <= report end date.
• A person may have more than one contact on a given date and each contact should be included in the count.
• Use any of the records in Determining Which Clients to include - 1. Active as a "contact" with the client.  This includes a normal current living situation (formerly known as "contact") as well as other date fields described in that section.  As explained in 3e. above, each different record counts as a separate contact even if they are on the same date.

  13a.  Number of new persons contacted this reporting period who could not be enrolled because of ineligibility for PATH

13b.  Number of new persons contacted this reporting period who could not be enrolled because unable to locate client

  14.  Number of new persons contacted this reporting period who became enrolled in PATH

  15.  Number with active, enrolled PATH status at any point during the date range

  16.  Number of active, enrolled PATH clients receiving community mental health services through any funding source at any point during the reporting period.  (A client is counted as having received the "PATH Community Mental Health" service if they are enrolled in PATH services and have either a) a supportive services checklist entry within the reporting period with this service type, or b) a referral recorded in the Service Referrals feature with this service indicated under "Purpose/Need.")

Question 17 - Services Provided

This question counts the services provided to all clients who were eligible, active and enrolled in PATH.  The only services that are counted are those services found on the Supportive Services Checklist (Contacts Log) that start with the "PATH" acronym.  For each service type a count of persons receiving service is given.  This is an unduplicated count of all the clients who received each service.

Question 18 - Referrals Provided

This question counts the referrals provided to all clients who were eligible, active and enrolled in PATH.  The only referrals counted are those recorded within the Service Referrals feature as having a Purpose/Need selection that starts with "PATH Referral."  

The data table for this question contains the following columns:  

  Number Receiving Each Referral - An unduplicated count of all the clients who were given a referral, regardless of the outcome.

  Number who attained the service from the Referral - An unduplicated count of all the clients who were given a referral and who selected "Attained" under PATH Referral Outcome.

Questions 19 through 24 - Income, Benefits, and Insurance

These questions are based upon data collected on the Intake/Admission, HMIS Info Update, and Discharge forms. 

More specifically, the "At Project Entry" column reflects data collected on the Intake/Admission form for the clients who were served during the project year. The count of "yes," "no," and "other" values in the "At Project Entry" column for each question 19-25 will total the value in Q15: Number with active, enrolled PATH status at any point during the date range.

The "At Path Project exit (leavers)" column reflects data collected at Discharge for clients who left during the reporting year. The "At report end date (stayers)" column reflects data for clients who continued to be enrolled in PATH Services past the report end date, as collected on their Intake form or their HMIS Info Update form if one has been completed. The count of "yes," "no," and "other" values from the "At Path Project exit (leavers)" and the "At report end date (stayers)" columns together will total the value in Q15: Number with active, enrolled PATH status at any point during the date range.

Question 25 - Housing Outcomes

This question counts the destination at exit for the enrolled clients who were discharged during the reporting period.

Question 26 - Demographics

Section 26 looks at the demographic breakdowns for all clients who were contacted or deemed active during the reporting period.  This section contains eleven sub-questions, each representing a different data element found on the Intake/Admission form: 

  Gender - If a client has indicated "Questioning" they are counted as such no matter what other genders have been selected.  If a client has NOT indicated "Questioning" and HAS indicated any of the "Transgender" selections they are counted as such no matter what other genders have been selected.  All other instances of multiple gender selections are counted as "No Single Gender."

  Age - Based on the client's age on either his/her admission date, or the start date of the report (whichever is more recent).

  Race - An individual who identifies as multiracial will be counted in all applicable categories; as a result this demographic element does not sum to the total persons enrolled.

  Ethnicity

  Veteran Status

  Co-Occurring Disorders - Counts clients who have a "Mental Health Disorder" as well as a "Substance Use Disorder" at admission.

  SOAR

  Living Situation at Project Start

  Length of stay in prior living situation (emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation only)

  Chronically Homeless (at project start)

  Domestic Violence History (adults only)

 Each of these questions counts enrolled clients.  

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