194A.735 Homelessness prevention pilot project -- Location of offices -- Goals -- Support -- Timetables -- Participation -- Discharge plan -- Administrative regulations -- Data collection -- Reports. - Kentucky Statutes

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Page 1 of 4 194A.735 Homelessness prevention pilot project -- Location of offices -- Goals -- Support -- Timetables -- Participation -- Discharge plan -- Administrative
regulations -- Data collection -- Reports. (1) Subject to sufficient funding, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, in consultation with any other state agency as
appropriate, shall develop and implement a homelessness prevention pilot project
that offers institutional discharge planning on a voluntary basis to persons exiting
from state-operated or supervised institutions involving mental health and foster
care programs, and persons serving out their sentences in any state-operated prison
in Oldham County. (2) The primary goal of the project shall be to prepare a limited number of persons in a foster home under supervision by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, state-
operated prison in Oldham County under supervision by the Justice and Public
Safety Cabinet, and mental health facility under supervision by the Cabinet for
Health and Family Services for return or reentry into the community, and to offer
information about any necessary linkage of the person to needed community
services and supports.
(a) The pilot project shall be jointly supported by each of the cabinets. One (1) office for the pilot project shall be located in a family resource center or
Department for Community Based Services building in Jefferson County, due
to its urban population, and one (1) office shall be located in Clinton,
Cumberland, McCreary, or Wayne County, due to its rural population. The
pilot project office in Jefferson County shall serve persons intending to locate
in Jefferson County who are being released from a mental health facility under
supervision by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and persons
intending to locate in Jefferson County who are being released after serving
out their sentences from any state-operated prison in Oldham County. The
pilot project office in Clinton, Cumberland, McCreary, or Wayne County shall
serve persons intending to locate in Clinton, Cumberland, McCreary, or
Wayne County who are aging out of the foster care program following
placement in Clinton, Cumberland, McCreary, or Wayne County. (b) Within thirty (30) days following July 13, 2004, the cabinets shall supply each pilot project director with the collection of information on available
employment, social, housing, educational, medical, mental health, and other
community services in the county. The information shall include but not be
limited to the service area of each public and private provider of services, the
capacity of each provider to render services to persons served by the pilot
project, the fees of each provider, contact names and telephone numbers for
each provider, and an emergency contact for each provider. (c) Within thirty (30) days following July 13, 2004, the cabinets and directors shall begin a program of education for each of the cabinet and foster home and
mental health and appropriate state-operated prison facility staff who will
participate in the development of a discharge plan for volunteer participants
under this section. Page 2 of 4 (3) The pilot project shall operate on a voluntary basis. One (1) of each five (5) persons eligible for discharge or completing their sentence shall be offered the opportunity
to participate in the pilot program. This offer shall be made at least six (6) months
prior to discharge. There shall be a cap on the number of persons served in each
office, to be determined by available funding and staffing requirements.
(a) The staff member designated as the homelessness prevention coordinator for each foster home or mental health facility shall maintain a file for each
volunteer participant in the foster home or mental health facility, relating to
the participant's employment, social, housing, educational, medical, and
mental health needs. This file shall be updated from time to time as
appropriate and pursuant to an administrative regulation promulgated by the
cabinet in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A that establishes standards for
the discharge summary. The staff member designated as the homelessness
prevention coordinator for the appropriate state-operated prison participating
in the pilot project shall maintain a file containing appropriate forms
completed and updated by each person voluntarily participating in the pilot
project, relating to the information provided under subsection (6) of this
section. All applicable privacy and confidentiality laws shall be followed in
assembling and maintaining this file. (b) Six (6) months prior to the expected date of discharge, the discharge coordinator for each foster home and mental health and state-operated prison
facility shall contact the homelessness prevention director for Jefferson
County or the homelessness prevention director for Clinton, Cumberland,
McCreary, or Wayne County, as appropriate, about the pending release of the
volunteer participant who is eligible for discharge from a foster home or
mental health facility or who will have served out his or her sentence in a
state-operated prison facility that is participating in the pilot project. The
director shall visit the home or facility, as appropriate, to assist with the
preparation of the final comprehensive discharge plan. (c) The director and the discharge coordinator for each participating foster home and mental health and state-operated prison facility shall work together to
develop a final comprehensive discharge plan that addresses the employment,
health care, educational, housing, and other needs of the person to be released,
subject to the consent of the person and the funding and staffing capabilities
of the director. Information provided by the coordinator may include and be
limited to, subject to the staffing and funding capabilities of the coordinator,
information provided by the person to be released on a form or forms made
available by the foster home or mental health or state-operated prison facility.
The discharge plan shall contain but not be limited to the following:
1. Estimated discharge date from the foster home, state-operated prison
facility, or mental health facility; 2. Educational background of the person to be released, including any
classes completed or skills obtained by the person while in the foster
home, state-operated prison facility, or mental health facility; Page 3 of 4 3. The person's medical and mental health needs; 4. Other relevant social or family background information; 5. A listing of previous attempts to arrange for post-release residence,
employment, medical and mental health services, housing, education,
and other community-based services for the person; and 6. Other available funding and public programs that may reimburse any
services obtained from a provider listed in the discharge plan. Every
effort shall be made in the discharge plan to refer the person to a
provider that has agreed to an arranged public or private funding
arrangement. No discharge plan shall be completed unless the written consent, consistent
with state and federal privacy laws, to compile the information and prepare the
plan has been given by the person eligible for release who has volunteered to
participate in the pilot program. (4) The director shall assist with the completion of a final comprehensive discharge plan that may include but need not be limited to the following:
(a) Availability of appropriate housing, including but not limited to a twenty-four (24) month transitional program, supportive housing, or halfway house.
Planning discharge to an emergency shelter is not appropriate to meet the
housing needs of the person being discharged from foster care, a state-
operated prison facility, or a mental health facility; (b) Access to appropriate treatment services for participants who require follow-up treatment; (c) Availability of appropriate employment opportunities, including assessment of vocational skills and job training; and (d) Identification of appropriate opportunities to further education. (5) Discharge planning shall be individualized, comprehensive, and coordinated with community-based services.
(a) Each discharge plan shall create a continuous, coordinated, and seamless system that is designed to meet the needs of the person. (b) Staff of the foster home or facility and staff of community-based services providers shall be involved in the planning. (c) Each facility shall utilize, wherever possible, community-based services within the facility to establish familiarity of the person residing in the facility
with the community services. (6) The Department of Corrections shall, through an administrative regulation promulgated in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A, develop a discharge plan that
addresses the education; employment, technical, and vocational skills; and housing,
medical, and mental health needs of a person who is to be released after serving out
his or her sentence in a state-operated prison facility participating in the pilot
project. Page 4 of 4 (7) Appropriate data about discharge placements and follow-up measures shall be collected and analyzed. The analysis shall be included in the interim and final
reports of the pilot program specified in subsection (8) of this section. (8) Each homelessness prevention director shall have regular meetings with appropriate state cabinet and agency staff to review the pilot project and make recommendations
for the benefit of the program. Each director shall be assisted by a local advisory
council composed of local providers of services and consumer advocates who are
familiar with homelessness prevention issues. Priority for membership on the
advisory council shall be given to existing resources and regional mental health and
substance abuse advisory councils at the discretion of the director. (9) Each cabinet shall collect data about the discharge plans, referrals, costs of services, and rate of recidivism related to the homelessness prevention program, and shall
submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission
no later than October 1 that summarizes the data and contains recommendations for
the improvement of the program. The annual report also shall be forwarded to the
Kentucky Commission on Services and Supports for Individuals with an Intellectual
Disability and Other Developmental Disabilities, Kentucky Commission on
Services and Supports for Individuals with Mental Illness, Alcohol and Other Drug
Abuse Disorders, and Dual Diagnoses, and the Kentucky Housing Corporation
Homelessness Policy Council. Effective: July 15, 2010
History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 141, sec. 10, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 220, effective June 26, 2007. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts
ch. 99, sec. 168, effective June 20, 2005. -- Created 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 147, sec. 1,
effective July 13, 2004. Legislative Research Commission Note (7/13/2004). 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 147, sec. 2, provides that "development and implementation of the homelessness prevention pilot
project in this Act shall be subject to sufficient funding for this project as provided in
the Executive Branch Budget Bill."