Housing Exit Destinations

Guidance for Service Providers on Housing Exit Destinations

Exit destination data is vital for understanding service delivery and outcomes across the housing and homelessness response system. When service providers record exit destinations accurately and consistently in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), the Continuum of Care (CoC) gains a clearer picture of how individuals and families move through programs, what pathways lead to stable housing, and where additional supports may be needed.

This information helps communities track performance, monitor progress toward federal, state, and local goals, comply with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data standards, and advocate for resources aligned with local needs to improve outcomes for individuals and families experiencing homelessness

HUD Guidance

According to HUD’s HMIS Data Standards Manual, exit destination data should be collected for all clients at the point of project exit. In addition to recording the client’s exit date, programs should record where the client is expected to stay after completing or stopping participation in program activities and select the destination that most closely matches where the client will be staying after exiting the program. If the client later provides updated information, HMIS records can be revised to reflect the correct exit destination.

Key Considerations

It is important to select the client’s exit destination carefully to ensure accurate HMIS reporting:

Record where the client will be staying, not why: Clients exiting for school, military service, or certain jobs may have different destination responses depending on their housing situation.
Dorms or military-provided housing: Use “Rental by Client, with other ongoing housing subsidy”, since the unit is not client-owned and has tenancy conditions.
Living with a relative during schooling: Consider “Living with Family, Permanent Tenure”, as the client may stay for as long as needed to complete school.
Do not guess: If the destination is unknown, the client prefers not to answer, or an exit interview was not conducted, select the corresponding HMIS option.

Considerations when Conducting Exit Interviews

Exit interviews are structured conversations that help programs gather accurate data while supporting clients through a respectful transition. At a minimum, HMIS-participating programs should capture the exit date and destination.

A person-centered approach ensures that clients feel respected and understood. Providers should explain why data is being collected, allow clients to decline answering questions, and adapt the conversation to meet cultural, linguistic, and literacy needs. Being transparent about how information will be used is also important. This approach encourages participation, builds trust, and reduces the risk of retraumatizing individuals who may have had negative experiences with prior data collection.

When gathering exit destination data, providers should consider the following:

Explain Rights Clearly: Clearly explain an individual’s rights and allow them to refuse any questions. Highlight why the information is being collected to encourage participation (e.g., “This information helps us understand how well we’ve helped you and how to make the system stronger.”)
Pace Interviews Thoughtfully: Conduct the interview at a pace that is comfortable for the client, giving them time to respond without feeling rushed.
Adapt Communication: Adjust your communication to meet the client’s cultural, linguistic, and literacy needs to ensure understanding and comfort.

Exit Destination Options

HMIS exit destinations are organized into categories to reflect where clients will stay after leaving a program. For residential programs where clients are expected to leave at exit, such as Emergency Shelters, Transitional Housing, Safe Havens, or project-based Permanent Supportive Housing, document the client’s immediate next location. For programs where relocation is not expected, such as Rapid Re-Housing, Homelessness Prevention, or Supportive Services Only, document the expected ongoing location, which may be the same place where the client lived during enrollment. Exit destination information should be updated if the client provides new or corrected information.

Homeless Situations

Homeless situations include places not meant for habitation, emergency shelters, and Safe Havens.

Place Not Meant for Habitation: Select when the client is exiting to a vehicle, abandoned building, bus/train/subway station, airport, or anywhere outside. This also includes situations where clients are “squatting” in a space they do not own, rent, or have lawful permission to use.
Emergency Shelter: Select when the client is exiting to a facility whose primary purpose is to provide temporary shelter for individuals or families experiencing homelessness. This includes hotels or motels paid for with emergency shelter vouchers and Host Home shelters (crisis).
Safe Haven: Select when the client is exiting to supportive housing designed for hard-to-reach individuals experiencing homelessness with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders who have been unable or unwilling to engage in services. There are currently no Safe Havens operating in Washoe County, but this option may be used if the client is exiting to a Safe Haven in another location.

Institutional Situations

Institutional situations include foster care, hospitals or non-psychiatric medical facilities, detention facilities, long-term care or nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, and substance abuse treatment or detox centers.

Foster Care: Select when the client is exiting to a licensed foster home, formal placement with relatives, or a group home. Only select this if you know the client’s destination is foster care. Otherwise, choose the known destination, or indicate if the client doesn’t know, prefers not to answer, or if no exit interview was conducted.
Hospital or Other Non-Psychiatric Medical Facility: Select when the client exits to an acute care hospital for medical, non-psychiatric care. Examples in Washoe County include Renown, St. Mary’s, and Northern Nevada Medical Center.
Jail, Prison, or Juvenile Detention Facility: Select when the client exits to a detention facility. Examples include Washoe County Detention, state prisons, and Jan Evans Juvenile Justice Center.
Long-Term Care Facility or Nursing Home: Select when the client exits to a long-term care hospital, skilled nursing facility, rehabilitation center, or hospice.
Psychiatric Hospital or Other Psychiatric Facility: Select when the client exits to a psychiatric hospital or facility. Examples include Reno Behavioral Health, Northwest Specialty Hospital, and Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services Inpatient Unit.
Substance Abuse Treatment Facility or Detox Center: Select when the client exits to a substance use treatment facility or detox center. Examples include Reno Behavioral Health, Bristlecone Family Resources, and Ridge House.

Temporary Housing Situations

Temporary housing situations include transitional housing programs, residential or recovery housing without homeless eligibility criteria, self-paid hotels or motels, host home programs, temporary stays with family or friends, and certain HOPWA-funded housing transitions.

Transitional Housing for Homeless Persons: Select when the client exits to a transitional housing program specifically serving people experiencing homelessness, including programs for youth experiencing homelessness. See Appendix B for a list of transitional housing programs in Washoe County.
Residential Project or Halfway House with No Homeless Criteria: Select when the client exits to a sober living environment or residential project without lease rights or tenancy protections. These programs may or may not have time limits. Examples in Washoe County include Hosanna Home, Step 2, and BattleBorn.
Hotel or Motel Paid for Without Emergency Shelter Voucher: Select when the client exits to a hotel or motel they pay for on their own. If the stay is funded by an emergency shelter voucher, select Emergency Shelter instead.
Host Home (Non-Crisis): Select when the client exits to a host home program providing a stable but temporary living arrangement, commonly used to support youth.
Staying or Living with Family, Temporary Tenure: Select when the client will temporarily stay in housing owned by a family member. This option should be used only when the arrangement is expected to be short-term or when the family member has placed a time limit on the stay.
Staying or Living with Friends, Temporary Tenure: Select when the client will temporarily stay in housing owned by a friend. This option should be used only when the arrangement is expected to be temporary or limited in duration.
Moved from One HOPWA-Funded Project to HOPWA Transitional Housing: Used only by Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) programs when a client exits one HOPWA project and moves directly into a HOPWA-funded transitional housing program.

Permanent Housing Situations

Permanent housing situations include living with family or friends on a permanent basis, rental housing with or without a subsidy, housing owned by the client, and certain HOPWA-funded housing transitions.

Staying or Living with Family, Permanent Tenure: Select when the client will live permanently in a room, apartment, or house owned by a family member. This option should only be used if the arrangement is expected to be ongoing and not limited to a short-term stay.
Staying or Living with Friends, Permanent Tenure: Select when the client will live permanently in a room, apartment, or house owned by a friend. This should be used only when the arrangement is expected to be ongoing and not temporary.
Moved from One HOPWA-Funded Project to HOPWA Permanent Housing: Used only for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) programs when a client exits one HOPWA project and moves directly into another HOPWA-funded permanent housing program.
Rental by Client, No Ongoing Housing Subsidy: Select when the client moves into rental housing they pay for on their own without any ongoing subsidy. This typically involves a lease agreement outlining rent, terms, and the unit address.
Rental by Client, with Ongoing Housing Subsidy: Select when the client moves into rental housing supported by a subsidy. Subsidies may be tenant-, project-, or sponsor-based and can include programs such as Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), Rapid Re-Housing (RRH), Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV), or other HUD-funded housing subsidies.
Owned by Client, with Ongoing Housing Subsidy: Select when the client moves into housing they own but receive an ongoing subsidy to help maintain the housing.
Owned by Client, No Ongoing Housing Subsidy: Select when the client moves into housing they own and pay for without any housing subsidy. This may include returning to a home they owned before entering the program or purchasing a home during or after program participation.

Other Exit Destination Situations

This category is used for situations not captured elsewhere:

Deceased: Select if the client is known to have died before or at the time of exit.

Client doesn’t know: Select if the client’s destination cannot be determined even after an exit interview. Reasonable efforts should be made to understand the client’s destination after exit.

Client prefers not to answer: Select only if the client declines to provide destination information during the exit interview. Providers should still make reasonable efforts to understand the destination, and explaining why the information is collected may help encourage participation (e.g., “This information helps us understand how well we’ve helped you.”).

No exit interview completed / Data not collected: These responses are considered "missing data" by HUD for reporting and data quality purposes. Programs should make reasonable efforts to determine the client’s destination, but should not guess if the information cannot be obtained.

Other: Use only as a last resort when no other destination category applies. This option is not considered a positive outcome by HUD.

Washoe County Housing Programs

Emergency Shelters in Washoe County

The following emergency shelters operate in Washoe County. Select “Emergency Shelter” as the exit destination if a client is exiting to one of these programs:

Domestic Violence Resource Center – Motel Assistance
Eddy House – ESG Overnight / Overnight / Emergency Shelter
Karma Box Project – Safe Camp
Nation’s Finest – Northern Nevada – Veterans Respite Program
Safe Embrace – Emergency Shelter
The Children’s Cabinet – RHY Project BCP Emergency Shelter
The Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality (RISE) – Our Place Women’s Emergency Shelter / Our Place JOY Home / Our Place HOPE Home / Good Neighbors Emergency Shelter
Volunteers of America (VOA) – VA CERS Program / Nevada Cares Campus Emergency Shelter / Nevada Cares Campus Winter Overflow Shelter
VOA Our Place – Our Place Family Emergency Shelter / Our Place Women's Emergency Shelter / Our Place JOY Home / Our Place HOPE Home / Our Place Winter Overflow Shelter
Washoe County Housing and Homeless Services – RHA Motel Program

Transitional Housing for Homeless Persons in Washoe County

The following transitional housing programs operate in Washoe County. Select “Transitional Housing for Homeless Persons” as the exit destination if a client is exiting to one of these programs:

Domestic Violence Resource Center – Transitional Housing
Eddy House – TLC36 / Community Living
Hosanna Home – Transitional Housing Program
Nevada Youth Empowerment Project (NYEP) – Community Living Program / Sonder House
Reno Sparks Gospel Mission – Transitional Living
Safe Embrace – Transitional Housing
Step 1 – Transitional Housing Program
Steps to New Freedom – Transitional Housing
The Empowerment Center – Transitional Housing
Vitality Unlimited – Northern Nevada – Vitality Veterans Housing Program
Volunteers of America (VOA) – Sage Street Transitional Housing / Village on Sage / Anthem Housing
Washoe County Human Services Agency (HSA) – Men’s CrossRoads Transitional Housing / Women’s CrossRoads Transitional Housing / Women and Children CrossRoads / Family CrossRoads
Well Care Northern Nevada – Northern Nevada WC Health BH Program
WestCare Northern Nevada – VA Home Front Program

Permanent Housing Programs in Washoe County

Select “Rental by Client with Ongoing Subsidy” if a client exits to one of the following Permanent Supportive Housing programs:

Washoe County Housing and Homeless Services – Nevada Cares Campus PSH
City of Reno Housing Authority – HUD VASH PBV
Restart Homeless Services – Anchor Plus Expansion
Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services – Shelter Plus Care Program
Washoe County Human Services Agency (HSA) – Permanent Supportive Housing Program
City of Reno Housing Authority – Reno HUD VASH TBV Program

Rapid Rehousing Programs in Washoe County

Select “Rental by Client with Ongoing Subsidy” if a client exits to one of the following Rapid Rehousing programs:

Washoe County Housing and Homeless Services – Tenancy Support Shallow Subsidy Program
Safe Embrace – Rapid Rehousing
Nation’s Finest – Northern Nevada – RRH Program
Restart Homeless Services – Rapid Rehousing for Families
Catholic Charities Northern Nevada – Emergency Housing Voucher
City of Reno Housing Authority – MTW Project-Based Homeless Voucher
Health Plan of Nevada – Northern Nevada – Emergency Housing Voucher
Restart Homeless Services – Moving On Emergency Housing Voucher
Washoe County Housing and Homeless Services – Emergency Housing Voucher
Washoe County Human Services Agency (HSA) – Emergency Housing Voucher

(All program lists are updated March 2026.)