Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA)
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Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA)

Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA) Process and Results

Every year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) submits an Annual Homeless
Assessment Report (AHAR) to the United States Congress. The AHAR is a national-level report that provides
information about homeless service providers, people and households experiencing homelessness, and various
characteristics of that population. It informs strategic planning for federal, state, and local initiatives designed to
prevent and end homelessness.

The LSA data provided by CoCs contains community-level information on people and households served by
continuum projects over the course of one year. Formerly, these data were simply referred to as “AHAR data.”
However, the scope of data collection expanded significantly in fiscal year (FY) 2018, and CoCs are now expected
to submit much more granular data that will be used to inform the written AHAR to Congress. For those people and households served by continuum projects during the fiscal year, the LSA includes:

Demographic characteristics like age, race, gender, and veteran status;
Length of time homeless and patterns of system use;
Information specific to populations whose needs and/or eligibility for services may differ from the broader homeless population, such as veterans and people and households experiencing chronic homelessness; and
Housing outcomes for those who exit the homeless services system

Both the Longitudinal Systems Analysis (LSA) and the System Performance Measures (SPM) provide Continuums of Care (CoCs) with a look at their overall system functioning. The SPM report is a summary and year-to-year comparison of system wide counts, averages, and medians related to seven areas of performance. The LSA upload also includes data related to several of the same areas of performance, but the business logic defined by HUD for the two reports differs substantially. This brief document describes the differences. For information related to our CoC’s system performance, please refer to this page.

Our LSA Results

FY2023-Detailed Summary