United States Department of Veterans Affairs

Welcome to the HMIS Repository and
the Veteran Status Query and Response Exchange System (SQUARES)


The Repository is a secure web-based application. Its primary functions are to:

  • Process uploads of data exported from HMIS and uploaded by SSVF grantees
  • Verify that the uploaded data sets meet VA data upload and integration specifications
  • Combine the data sets from all SSVF grantees into a single database
  • Enable HMIS users to search VA records by name, Social Security number, and date of birth to check veteran status for program participants.

Veterans Status Query and Response Exchange System (SQUARES) - Terms and Conditions of Use

This secure Web site enables authorized SQUARES users to identify clients who have served in the United States (U.S.) military through a real time query of a client’s personal identifying information (PII) to the VA Department of Defense Identity Repository (VADIR). The result will not contain PII about the client. To use the site, you will provide the following information on the individuals whose history of military service you wish to inquire about: Note: * denotes a required field

  1. First Name
  2. Middle Name
  3. Last Name *
  4. Social Security Number *
  5. Date of Birth *
  6. Gender
  7. Zip Code of last permanent address

VA will use the information you provide to identify individuals for whom it has a record of military service.

VA makes the following assurances about its use and handling of such data:

  1. Data Protection and System Security: VA will protect PII on the VRSS in accordance with all applicable federal laws and regulations, VA policies and procedures, and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements and guidelines, including, but not limited to, the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a), the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA, 44 U.S.C. §§ 3541-49), 38 U.S.C. § 5701, and VA Directive and Handbook 6500.
  2. Breach Notification. VA complies with federal statutes and regulations in reporting data breach and loss of PII, in particular 38 U.S.C. §§ 5721-27.
  3. Administrative Safeguards. VA will restrict access to the data transmitted to it via this Web site to only those authorized employees and officials who need it to perform their official duties in connection with the uses of the information described above.
  4. Limited Use. VA will use data transmitted to it via this Web site to identify individuals for whom it has a record of military service, and for no other purpose. VA will not use the information in any determination of benefits nor will the PII be added to a Privacy Act system of records.
  5. Disposition of Data. VA may retain data pertaining to your use of the HMIS and SQUARES applications for lawful purposes, such as to perform tests and to conduct and facilitate audits of the use of the HMIS and SQUARES applications.
  6. Data disposal. For cases where a match was found, the system shall only store an identifier linking the Veteran back to a record in the database used for the match. The system shall immediately purge all personally identifying information for Veterans and non-Veterans and any other data included in the query and not included in the audit trail after the response is provided. VA will dispose of PII and data pertaining to your use of the SQUARES application in accordance with NARA approved records control schedules.