In HomeKeeper, each agency has a unique Agency Profile in HomeKeeper, which contains information about your organization. This data is reported to HUD HCS (for HUD-approved agencies) and is updated infrequently. Each Housing Counseling Program Staff member should also have an Agency Contact record in HK.
Every time a new staff member joins or leaves the Housing Counseling Program as your agency, the HomeKeeper Lead Contact must update the Agency Profile and create a new Agency Contact record (for new staff members) or update the existing Agency Contact record for departing staff members with their employment and removal as a HUD Contact, if applicable (do not delete any Contact records).
This page serves as an instructional guide for maintaining, creating, and updating Agency Profile and Agency Contact records. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]
Agency Profile
To locate your organization’s Agency Profile record, use the App Launcher (or App Waffle), then click on the blue agency name to navigate to the Agency Profile record in HomeKeeper. If you do not see your agency in the list view results, switch the list view to “All” instead of the default “Recently Viewed”:
Agency Details Review the information in the Details tab for completeness and accuracy. Use the pencil icon to edit or update any fields that need to be corrected:
Agency Contacts Agency Contact records that have already been created in HomeKeeper can be found in the Agency Contacts tab of the Agency Profile:
The Agency Contact record will contain relevant information about the staff member, including contact information, employment start/end dates, and relevant HUD info fields for HUD-approved agencies:
New Staff When a new staff member joins the Housing Counseling program at your agency, please inform your Member Support Specialist as soon as possible – on or before their first day if possible. To create an Agency Contact record for new staff members, navigate to the Contacts tab in the Agency Profile, then click “New”:
Complete the fields for a New Agency Contact. The ‘Agency’ field should automatically populate with your agency’s name, but if not, type in the agency name and select the correct result to complete this field.
For HUD-approved agencies, first select the HUD Contact Type if applicable (and ‘Current HUD Contact’ checkbox if a HUD Contact Type is chosen), then check the ‘Report to HUD as Counselor’ box, and enter the date that the new staff member received their HUD certification:
For ALL agencies, complete the remaining sections with as much information as you have available (use agency address and the new staff’s work phone number, not personal information). Remember to list the Status as ‘Current’ and enter the Employment Start Date.
Next, enter languages spoken (if applicable – default is English), and if a HUD agency, select the services the new staff member will be providing. Click “Save” to save the new Agency Contact record.
Please refer to the “HomeKeeper Lead Contact” section of this document (on pg. 7) if the new staff member will also be the new HomeKeeper Lead Contact for your agency.
Departing Staff When a staff member leaves the organization (or leaves the Housing Counseling program at your agency), please inform your Member Support Specialist as soon as possible – ideally before the staff member’s last day. After the staff member’s departure, their Agency Contact record in HomeKeeper will need to be updated. Navigate to their Agency Contact record, then click on any pencil icon of the Details tab to begin editing. Change the Status (under the ‘Information’ section) from “Current” to “Former” and enter the Employment End Date:
For HUD-approved Agencies: In the HUD System Information section of the Details tab, if the Agency Contact had a ‘HUD Contact Type,’ remove that from their record by selecting the type and clicking the left arrow icon to remove it. The ‘Current HUD Contact’ checkbox will also need to be unchecked.
Review the Agency Contact record changes (Status, Employment End Date, HUD information if applicable), then click “Save” at the bottom of the screen.
HomeKeeper Lead Contacts
Click the “x” to the right of the current Contact’s name, then type in the new Contact’s name to search for and select their record. Once the new Contact is selected, click “Save” at the bottom of the screen. If the name of the person who will be the new HomeKeeper Lead Contact does not show up, please review the “New Staff” section earlier in this instructions document to create their Agency Contact record first, then return to this step to add them as the HomeKeeper Lead Contact.