Free HMIS intake forms, written to be asked out loud
Each question comes with the reason for it and the guidance staff need. It also shows the exact FY2026 HMIS field it fills.
Forms
Project Start: Guided Intake Interview
Basic facts about the person, where they have been staying (3.917A), and money coming in (4.02). A health question comes last, apart from the choice to take someone in. Each question carries its reason, its staff guidance, and its official mapping.
Open the formProject Exit: Where the Person Goes Next
The day each person leaves and where they go next (3.12). Every place HUD lists for this is here, in the same groups as HUD's own list. Then money coming in, other benefits, and health insurance at exit (4.02 to 4.04).
Open the formProject Start: Housing Programs
The same kind of interview, for people who are moving into housing or trying to keep it.
Street Outreach: Contact and Engagement
A one-page field sheet for outreach contacts, based on forms that worked in real CoCs.
Annual Assessment and Update
The yearly check on income, benefits, and health coverage. The person does not have to tell their whole story again.
Want a planned form sooner, or one that is not listed? Say so with the Feedback button. Requests shape what gets built next.
How every question is built
Say. The question in plain words, written to be asked out loud and answered honestly. Sensitive questions explain themselves before they ask.
Why. A reason you can share with the person: what the answer is used for, and what it never affects. Fear leads to bad data. Being honest about the purpose leads to better answers.
Record. The official FY2026 HMIS element, field, and answers, exactly as the Data Dictionary defines them. The talk can be natural, but the recorded data must be exact. Every question shows its mapping, so nothing is hidden.
Every question the person answers also has "Client doesn't know" and "Client prefers not to answer." Choosing not to answer never changes the help anyone is offered.
Nothing typed into a form here is saved or sent anywhere. Closing the page clears it.
What the site itself sends, and why. Cloudflare serves the pages. It sees your IP address and browser, as any web server does. It keeps request logs to stop attacks and counts visits with no cookies. If a script breaks, Sentry gets the error, the page address, your browser and your IP address. It is skipped if your browser asks for privacy (Global Privacy Control). When you leave a page, a small beacon tells gaithernews.com the site, the first part of the address, phone or desktop, and four timing numbers. No IP address. Kept 45 days. The Feedback button sends only when you press Send: your note, the form and question, the version, the page address and your browser details. Never a photo. If the page's security rule blocks something, the browser reports the page and blocked addresses to gaithernews.com.
Improved by the field
Anyone can flag a form, or a single question, from the page it is on. Every real report is read. Being read does not mean it is accepted, and a popular idea is not always a correct one. Accepted changes are credited by name in the changelog, but only when the person asks for credit. There are no scores and no leaderboards.
Use the Feedback button on any page. Each report arrives with the form version, so it always points to the exact wording it was about.