KRS 194A.735: Homelessness Prevention Project -- Goals -- Support -- Timetables

-- Participation -- Discharge plan -- Administrative regulations -- Data

collection -- Reports -- Kentucky Interagency Council on Homelessness.

(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 the Homelessness

Prevention Project, which offers institutional discharge planning on a voluntary

basis to:

(a) Persons with serious mental illness, persons between the ages of

eighteen (18) and twenty-five (25) who may be at risk of developing

serious mental illness who are being released from a mental health facility

operated or contracted by the cabinet, or persons with a history of

multiple utilizations of health care, mental health care, or judicial systems;

(b) Persons who are being released after serving out a sentence from any

state-operated prison or persons who are being paroled from any

state-operated prison; or

(c) Persons who will be aging out of foster care or who have aged out of

foster care.

(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 prisons under supervision by the Justice and Public

Safety Cabinet, and mental health facilities operated or contracted 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 project shall be jointly supported by each of the cabinets and

managed under the direction of the Cabinet for Health and Family

Services, Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and

Intellectual Disabilities, Division of Behavioral Health.

(b) Subject to sufficient funding as provided by an executive branch budget

bill, the Division of Behavioral Health shall select the Homelessness

Prevention Project sites. These sites shall be in addition to and integrated

with the site located in and serving Jefferson County and the site located

in a community mental health center serving Clinton, Cumberland,

McCreary, and Wayne Counties.

(c) Within thirty (30) days of July 15, 2016, the cabinets shall supply the

project director at each site 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 project, the fees of each provider, contact names and

telephone numbers for each provider, and an emergency contact for each

provider.

(d) Within thirty (30) days of July 15, 2016, 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.

(3) The project shall operate on a voluntary basis. Persons eligible for discharge or

completing their sentence or who are being paroled from any state-operated

prison shall be offered the opportunity to participate in the project. 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 Homelessness Prevention Project

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 project shall

maintain a file containing appropriate forms completed and updated by

each person voluntarily participating in the 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 the

appropriate site where the volunteer participant chooses to locate

following discharge about the pending release of the volunteer participant

who is eligible for discharge from a foster home or mental health

facility,who will have served out his or her sentence in a state-operated

prison facility, or who is being paroled from any state-operated prison that

is participating in the project. The director shall visit the home or facility,

as appropriate, to assist with the preparation of the final comprehensive

discharge plan.

(c) The homelessness prevention director from the site where the participant

chooses to locate 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, or identification by a social

service provider of a person who meets the criteria listed in

subsection (1) of this section;

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;

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 project.

(4) The homelessness prevention director from the site where the participant

chooses to locate 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 project.

(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 project 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 project and make

recommendations for the benefit of the project. 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 project,

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 project. The annual

report also shall be forwarded to the Kentucky Interagency Council on

Homelessness.

(10)(a) The Kentucky Interagency Council on Homelessness is hereby

established to plan, develop, coordinate, and implement programs for the

purpose of improving the well-being of homeless Kentuckians. The

council shall be attached to the Homeless and Housing Coalition of

Kentucky for administrative purposes.

(b) The council shall include but not be limited to the following members:

1. The secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services;

2. The executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of

Kentucky;

3. The chief executive officer of the Kentucky Housing Corporation;

4. The commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans' Affairs;

5. The secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet;

6. The secretary of the Education and Labor Cabinet;

7. The secretary of the Transportation Cabinet;

8. The executive director of the Administrative Office of the Courts;

9. The state budget director;

10. A representative from the Kentucky Housing Association,

representing public housing authorities, appointed by the Governor

for a two (2) year term; and

11. An individual who has previously experienced homelessness and

addiction, appointed by the Governor for a two (2) year term.

(c) The chair of the council shall be appointed by the Governor for a two (2)

year term and the vice chair shall be elected by the members of the

council for a two (2) year term.

(d) Members of the council who are not state employees shall be reimbursed

for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties in

accordance with KRS 45.101 and administrative regulations promulgated

thereunder.

(e) The council shall have the following functions and duties:

1. To serve as the single statewide homeless planning and policy

development resource for the Commonwealth of Kentucky;

2. To review, update, and recommend changes to Kentucky's

Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness and monitor its

implementation;

3. To serve as a state clearinghouse for information on services and

housing options for the homeless population;

4. To conduct other activities as appropriate and necessary; and

5. To report to the Governor and General Assembly as requested.