Case Management Guide

Clarity Human Services

by Bitfocus · HMIS / coordinated entry

A specialized cloud HMIS and coordinated entry platform for homeless response systems — HUD-compliant, community-wide, multi-agency — used by major Continuums of Care including San Francisco, Los Angeles County, and King County.

Vendor site:
www.bitfocus.com (external link)
Pricing:
not published by vendor
Last reviewed:
August 20, 2026

Solution model

What kind of system is this?

How to choose a model

Highly Configurable vendor reported

Implementation approach:
Implementation project
Configuration depth:
Workflows & programs
Implementation burden:
Substantial
Typical scope:
Multi-agency, Government, Enterprise scale
Specialization:
Homelessness / HMIS, Community health

Purpose-built specialized HMIS: system-wide customizable screens, custom assessments with scoring processors, and eligibility rules, deployed community-wide under a certified system-administrator model.

Categories are descriptive, not a ranking — the right model depends on your organization's requirements, resources, and implementation capacity. Verified August 20, 2026.

Overview

Clarity Human Services is purpose-built Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) software: community-wide client records, coordinated entry with a Community Queue and automated vulnerability scoring, an eligibility engine, built-in VI-SPDAT assessments, and the full HUD reporting suite (APR, CAPER, LSA, System Performance Measures, PIT/HIC, CE APR) with CSV/XML exports for federal partners.

Its specialization is a strength, not a limitation: HMIS carries federal data standards, privacy rules, and multi-agency governance that general-purpose case management systems do not attempt. Clarity documents 2026 HMIS Data Standards support, 175+ prebuilt reports, field-level audit trails, and two REST APIs.

Deployment follows a system-administrator model: communities (CoC lead agencies, counties, cities, states) designate administrators whom Bitfocus trains and certifies, or contract Bitfocus itself for full community administration. Documented deployments include San Francisco (ONE System), Los Angeles County, Santa Clara County, San Diego, King County, Boston, Ohio Balance of State, and the State of Nevada. A "Whole Person Care" offering extends the platform toward county health and human services beyond housing.

Editorial analysis

Best suited for

Case Management Guide analysis

Communities and lead agencies running HUD-funded homeless response systems that need coordinated entry, federal reporting, and multi-agency data sharing at community scale.

Considerations

Case Management Guide analysis

A community-scale HMIS is governed infrastructure, not an individual agency tool: it requires designated system administration (in-house certified or contracted) and community data-sharing agreements. Pricing requires a quote.

Capabilities

Assessed against our 48-capability taxonomy. Supported and Partial reflect cited evidence; Unclear means the evidence is ambiguous; and Not yet verified means we haven't completed research on that capability — it does not mean the product lacks it.

Administration & Technology 7 supported · 1 unclear
  • Role-based permissions Supported vendor reported

    Role-based access protecting client privacy; audit logs restricted by access rights (HMIS page).

  • Audit trails Supported vendor reported

    Field-level audit logs capture previous and updated values, timestamp, and user across 17 record types (help center).

  • Security controls Supported vendor reported

    SOC 2 certification; HIPAA and HITECH supported via configuration; VAWA confidentiality; Auth0 authentication migration in 2026 (HMIS page, release notes).

  • API Supported vendor reported

    Two RESTful APIs (Clarity API with HUD HMIS and custom field imports; Data Analysis API) plus an Operational API early-access program (integrations page).

  • Integrations Supported vendor reported

    Scheduled/automated integrations; Esri ArcGIS/Survey123 PIT import; DirectTrust secure messaging (integrations page).

  • Mobile access Supported vendor reported

    Mobile-ready tools for frontline teams on smartphones and tablets, with geospatial outreach mapping (HMIS page).

  • Configuration Supported vendor reported

    System-wide customizable screens, custom assessments with scoring processors, configurable eligibility rules (HMIS and coordinated entry pages).

  • AI capabilities Unclear vendor reported

    No AI-specific features found in marketing pages or 2025–2026 feature announcements.

Case Management 2 supported · 3 partial
  • Case notes Supported vendor reported

    Client and referral-specific case notes, covered by audit trails (case management page).

  • Contacts Partial vendor reported

    Contacts records exist in the client record (audit trail coverage list).

  • Case assignments Partial vendor reported

    Case management suite for caseloads; explicit assignment mechanics not documented on fetched pages (case management page).

  • Case status Partial vendor reported

    Program enrollments, statuses, exits, and coordinated-entry prioritization status tracked (help center).

  • Service and care plans Supported vendor reported

    Custom housing and treatment plans with goal management and progress tracking (case management page).

Client Management 5 supported
  • Client profiles Supported vendor reported

    Comprehensive client history overview of enrollments, services, and assessments (case management page).

  • Household and family relationships Supported vendor reported

    Household creation and family assessments (VI-F-SPDAT) supported (help center).

  • Demographics Supported vendor reported

    Full HUD HMIS Data Standards data collection, updated for FY2026 (help center).

  • Documents Supported vendor reported

    Upload, store, and share client documents and electronic signatures (case management page).

  • Client history Supported vendor reported

    Client HISTORY tab plus a data warehouse for longitudinal client tracking (HMIS page).

Follow-ups & Workflow 2 supported · 2 partial · 1 not yet verified
  • Tasks Not yet verified

    No affirmative evidence located in current official documentation. Absence from marketing materials is not treated as absence of the capability.

  • Reminders Partial vendor reported

    Automatic Release of Information expiration reminders (help center).

  • Alerts Supported vendor reported

    Public alerts on client profiles; referral hand-off alerts (help center announcements).

  • Follow-ups Partial vendor reported

    Referral hand-off coordination with notes/alerts and full referral histories (coordinated entry page).

  • Workflow automation Supported vendor reported

    Auto-populating screens, cascade enrollment, automated eligibility screening (case management page).

Intake & Assessment 5 supported
  • Intake Supported vendor reported

    Streamlined intake, assessments, and service referrals; touchscreen-compatible intake (HMIS page).

  • Eligibility Supported vendor reported

    Program eligibility requirements drive Clarity's eligibility engine with automated screening (coordinated entry page).

  • Assessments Supported vendor reported

    VI-SPDAT V3 and VI-F-SPDAT V3 built in; custom assessments with scoring processors (help center).

  • Consent management Supported vendor reported

    Release of Information management with de-identification of non-consenting clients and an ROI audit log (help center).

  • Enrollment Supported vendor reported

    Program enrollments central to the record; cascade enrollment automation (case management page).

Needs & Goals 2 supported · 1 partial
  • Needs identification Partial vendor reported

    Automatic vulnerability calculation and prioritization; needs-assessment dashboards (coordinated entry page).

  • Goals Supported vendor reported

    Goal management with progress tracking; goals auto-assigned on program entry (case management page).

  • Progress tracking Supported vendor reported

    Goal progress tracking; client portal gives clients visibility into goals and progress (HMIS page).

Outcomes 3 supported · 1 partial
  • Outcome measures Supported vendor reported

    HUD System Performance Measures report run system-wide per CoC (help center).

  • Progress over time Supported vendor reported

    Data warehouse for longitudinal client tracking (HMIS page).

  • Case closure and discharge Supported vendor reported

    Program exits are tracked record types feeding APR outcome tables (help center).

  • Longitudinal outcomes Partial vendor reported

    Client-level system use and length-of-time-homeless reporting; longitudinal warehouse (report library).

Referrals 3 supported · 1 partial
  • Internal referrals Supported vendor reported

    Real-time referral tracking to reduce bottlenecks (HMIS page).

  • External referrals Supported vendor reported

    Community Queue referrals across agencies in the coordinated entry network (coordinated entry page).

  • Closed-loop referrals Partial vendor reported

    Full referral histories, referral-specific notes and alerts, duplicate avoidance — loop exists, term not used (coordinated entry page).

  • Referral outcomes Supported vendor reported

    Referral history monitoring plus referral detail and CE APR reports (report library).

Reporting & Analytics 5 supported
  • Operational reports Supported vendor reported

    175+ prebuilt reports across administration, agency, program, service, and data-quality categories (HMIS page, report library).

  • Dashboards Supported vendor reported

    Custom analytics dashboards, SPM dashboards, and secure public-facing dashboards (integrations page).

  • Funder reporting Supported vendor reported

    HUD APR, ESG CAPER, LSA, SPM, PIT/HIC, PATH, CE APR; CSV/XML exports for RHY/VA/GPD/YHDP; Sage upload (report library).

  • Data exports Supported vendor reported

    HUD CSV/XML program data export; API-driven imports and custom exports (report library, integrations page).

  • Outcome reporting Supported vendor reported

    SPM and APR reports plus SPM dashboards report outcomes for funded projects (help center).

Services 4 supported
  • Services delivered Supported vendor reported

    Service items recorded in the client record at agency level or within enrollments (help center).

  • Programs Supported vendor reported

    43,489+ programs managed; program-based configuration, enrollments, and reporting (about page).

  • Attendance Supported vendor reported

    Attendance Module records daily and multiple-attendance services for many clients at once (help center).

  • Units of service Supported vendor reported

    Service items represent unique units of service with delivery types and time tracking (help center).

Implementation

System-administrator model: formal administrator training and a certification exam through Bitfocus's training platform, coordinated entry onboarding, and optional fully outsourced community administration where Bitfocus assumes HMIS lead-agency duties. Consulting lines cover coordinated entry support, compliance, and end-user training.

Sources

Facts on this page trace to the citations below, per our methodology.

Verification

Last reviewed: August 20, 2026. Product capabilities, plans, and pricing change; individual facts above carry their own verification dates. If something looks out of date, tell us and confirm current details with the vendor before purchasing.