Navigating Length of Time Homeless

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Homeless History Calculator- See bottom of article for instructions and Calculator.

The answers to these questions help determine whether a client is homeless or chronically homeless. Please refer to the living situations guide if you are not sure how to categorize a given living situation. If you are completing a Front Door Assessment, make sure the answers provided in this section match the information provided in the 3 Year Housing & Homeless History.

Green (Client's Current Residence) should be where the client is currently staying, even if unhoused. For a FDA, this should match the most recent line in the 3 year housing history.

Orange (Prior Living Situation and Length of Stay in Previous Place) refers to where the client was sleeping the night before entering your project and how long they have been in that living situation. Remember to check the living situations guide if you are not sure how to categorize a given living situation. For a FDA, this is the most recent entry in the 3 year housing history OR the most recent group of entries with the same Housing Type.

The remainder of the questions will only appear if the Prior Living Situation was a homeless situation.

Blue (Approximate date current homelessness episode started) refers to the date the current homeless episode began. An episode is a period of time where the client was in any type of homeless situation. The episode ends when the client is housed for 7 days or more, or they spend at least 90 days in an institutional situation. 

Red (final two questions) refers to the overall total within the last 3 years. Number of times homeless means number of episodes. Number of months means the number of calendar months the client was homeless for at least one day of that month. You may need to add the months from different episodes to get the total sum within the last 3 years.

Examples

A client was in a rental for 3 years. Then they spent 6 months in a place not meant for habitation, then 30 days in the hospital, and 5 days ago returned to a place not meant for habitation. 

• Prior living situation is place not meant for habitation. Length of stay in previous place is Two to six nights.
• Approximate date current homelessness episode started is the day the client left the rental and became homeless (Hint: hospital stay was not a break in homelessness)
• Number of times homeless in the last 3 years is One time. (Hospital stay was not a break in homelessness because the institutional stay was less than 90 days)
• Total number of months homeless in the last 3 years is 7 months

A client was homeless for 10 years, then was in Permanent Supportive Housing for 5 years. They left PSH and entered an Emergency Shelter at the beginning of last month

• Prior living situation is Emergency Shelter. Length of stay is One month or more, but less than 90 days
• Approximate date current homelessness episode started is the day the client left PSH
• Number of times homeless in the last 3 years is One time. 
• Total number of months homeless in the last 3 years is 2 months (last month and this month)

A client was homeless for 3 years, then entered prison for 1 year, and as of last night is living on the streets.

• Prior living situation is place not meant for habitation. Length of stay in previous place is One night or less
• Approximate date current homelessness episode started is yesterday
• Number of times homeless in the last 3 years is Two times
• Total number of months homeless in the last 3 years is More than 12 months.

A client was homeless for 2 years. They have been staying with family for the last 2 weeks

• Prior living situation is Staying or living in a family member's room, apartment or house. Length of stay in previous place is One week or more, but less than one month
• Other questions about homelessness will not appear because this client is not homeless right now

Click here for practice using the Length of Time Homeless section:

Available under the "Specific Skills" section