Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a)
Referrals.
Any homeless adult who applies to a social services
district for temporary housing assistance may be considered for referral to a
shelter for adults or a small-capacity shelter; and, any homeless adult family
that applies to a social services district for temporary housing assistance may
be considered for referral to a shelter for adult families. A homeless adult
family may not be referred to a shelter for adults or a small-capacity shelter
unless the family can be provided with an individual room with a door
containing a working door lock and with the minimum square footage per family
member as required by the applicable State or local regulation or
code.
(b)
Assessments.
(1) When an
individual adult or adult family applies for temporary housing assistance, the
social services district or the social services district's designee shall
commence to evaluate the adult or adult family to assess the individual adult's
or the adult family's housing and housing-related public assistance and care
needs pursuant to section
352.35
of this Title, and the suitability of the individual adult or adult family for
placement in a shelter, by the end of the next business day. The assessment
shall be completed by the social services district or its designee as soon as
possible thereafter.
(2) An
individual or adult family must cooperate in and complete an assessment. When
an individual or family fails to cooperate in and complete the assessment, the
social services district must deny the individual's or family's application for
temporary housing assistance unless non-compliance is due to a physical or
mental impairment. When such a physical or mental impairment appears to be
present and interfering with an individual's ability to cooperate in and
complete an assessment, the social services district must refer the individual
or the family member with the apparent physical or mental impairment for an
evaluation by an appropriate professional. When an individual states that they
have a physical or mental impairment that interferes with their compliance,
they must provide documentation of this impairment, unless the physical or
mental impairment is known or apparent to shelter or intake staff, in which
case the individual shall not be required to provide documentation of the
physical or mental impairment. If they do not have such documentation and
cannot obtain it with or without the assistance of the social services
district, the social services district may refer the individual to an
appropriate qualified professional for an evaluation and/or for such
documentation. The social services district also may refer the individual to an
appropriate qualified professional for an independent medical examination if
the social services district believes additional information is necessary to
confirm that the individual has a physical or mental impairment that is
interfering with their ability to cooperate in and complete an
assessment.
(c) A social
services district shall not, without the approval of the office, place any
person in a shelter for adults, a small-capacity shelter, or a shelter for
adult families who:
(1) has a mental or
physical condition that makes such placement inappropriate or otherwise may
cause danger to himself/herself or others;
(2) requires services beyond those that the
shelter is authorized to provide by law and regulation, and by an operational
plan approved by the office;
(3) is
likely to substantially interfere with the health, safety, welfare, care or
comfort of other residents;
(4) is
in need of a level of medical, mental health, nursing care or other assistance
that cannot be rendered safely and effectively by the facility, or that cannot
be reasonably provided by the facility through the assistance of other
community resources;
(5) is
incapable of ambulation on stairs without personal assistance, unless such a
person can be assigned a room on a floor with ground level egress or the
facility is equipped with an elevator;
(6) has a generalized systemic communicable
disease or a readily communicable local infection which cannot be properly
isolated and quarantined in the facility.
(d) When a person cannot be referred to a
shelter for adults, a small-capacity shelter, or a shelter for adult families
for any of the reasons set forth in subdivision (c) of this section, the social
services district must ensure that action is taken which is appropriate to the
health, safety and needs of that person. Such action may include, but is not
limited to, referral for appropriate medical or clinical services where a
person is determined to be in need of treatment for physical or mental health
issues, or to an appropriate adult protective or law enforcement agency or
similar entity.
