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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 29. PUBLIC WELFARE |
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Chapter 29-25. SHELTER AND SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES |
Section 29-2521. TRANSFER OF INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES IN SHELTER AND SUPPORTIVE HOUSING
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2521.1Providers are strongly encouraged to use transfer as the primary mechanism for assisting clients to find the most appropriate placement and services within the Continuum of Care, including making reasonable efforts to transfer a client prior to taking action to terminate services to a client.
2521.2A Provider may transfer a client to another Provider to ensure the client receives the most appropriate services available within the Continuum of Care whenever:
(a) The client consents to the transfer, including a transfer requested by the client;
(b)The Provider identifies and secures for the client a placement with another Provider that more appropriately meets the client’s medical, mental health, behavioral, or rehabilitative service needs in accordance with the client’s Service Plan. If the client is being transferred because of domestic violence or other urgent need, the Provider shall expedite the transfer; or
(c)The client is a non-LGBTQ-identified youth occupying a bed established pursuant to Section 28(c)(1) of the HSRA (D.C. Official Code § 4-755.01(c)(1)) and an LGBTQ-identified homeless youth has presented a need for shelter; and
(d) For purposes of this subsection, a more appropriate placement may include transfer to a different level of service or type of program based on the circumstances upon which the transfer is based, including a transfer when the facility or program in which the client is currently receiving services is ending operations.
2521.3In addition to the provisions for transfer in Subsection 2521.2, a Provider may transfer a client when a client fails or refuses to comply with the Provider’s Program Rules and the client responsibilities set forth in Section 2514, provided, that:
(a) The client has received proper notice of the approved Program Rules as required by Subsection 2515.20; and
(a) The Provider has made a good-faith effort to enable the client to comply with the Program Rules so that the client is able to continue receiving services without a transfer.
2521.4Notwithstanding Subsection 2503.3, a low barrier shelter may agree to guarantee a bed for a client for one week to meet the requirements of Subsection 2521.5.
2521.5For purposes of Subsection 2521.2(b), a low barrier shelter shall have secured a placement for a transferring client pursuant to Subsections 2521.2 and 2521.3 when the shelter has agreed to guarantee a bed for that client for one (1) week. The decision whether or not to provide a guaranteed bed to facilitate a transfer shall be at the discretion of the Provider. For purposes of this subsection, to guarantee a bed at a low barrier shelter means:
(a)The Provider shall hold a bed for the transferee each night for up to a week following the effective date of the transfer;
(b)Each night when a bed is to be guaranteed, the Provider shall hold a bed for the transferee for a minimum of two (2) hours beyond the shelter’s intake period;
(c)If the transferee has not arrived at the shelter by two (2) hours past the shelters intake start time, the Provider may give the held bed to another client who needs a bed; and
(d)If the transferee does not stay at the shelter for two (2) consecutive nights without prior approval from the Provider, the Provider is under no obligation to continue to hold the bed for the remainder of the original one (1) week period.
2521.6If a Provider determines that an individual or family, based on existing or reasonably expected change in circumstances such as reunification with children, change in child care, legal or physical custody arrangements, childbirth, or other similar change in the client’s circumstances, is eligible and more appropriate for other shelter or supportive housing, the Provider may initiate a transfer of the resident to a more appropriate placement, pursuant to Subsection 2521.2.
2521.7 If a family no longer meets the criteria for family shelter or supportive housing due to the removal of a child or children by the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), or loss of custody pursuant to an agreement or Court order, and there are no children remaining in the home, then the parent(s) may be transferred in accordance with Subsection 2521.2 to a shelter or program that assists parents with reunification, if appropriate, based on the circumstances, and if a placement is available; or, to an individual adult shelter(s), if a placement that assists parents with reunification is not available or appropriate.
2521.8In the case of CFSA removal, transfer may be initiated in accordance with Subsection 2521.7 after the decision to remove the child or children has been made at an adjudicatory hearing on the matter, or thirty (30) days, whichever is sooner, taking into consideration, after consultation with CFSA and others as applicable, the possibility of reunification. If after transfer the decision is made to allow reunification, and placement in family shelter or supportive housing would materially support the reunification goal, then the family may apply or re-apply for family shelter or supportive housing and may be given priority for placement, in accordance with Subsection 2509.3(d).
2521.9For the purpose of Subsections 2521.2 and 2521.3, a Provider has secured a placement in temporary shelter or supportive housing for the client when the program with the new placement has agreed to accept the transferee and confirmed that a bed or unit is available and will be held through the effective date of transfer, subject only to reasonable requirements by the new placement on the transferee.
2521.10A Provider has secured a placement in a low barrier shelter when the low barrier shelter Provider has agreed to guarantee a bed as of the effective date of a transfer in accordance with Subsection 2521.5. If the client requests to be allowed to transfer prior to the effective date, the receiving low barrier shelter shall attempt to provide the guaranteed bed prior to the effective date of the transfer to the extent possible.
2521.11Providers may transfer clients through direct arrangements with other Providers or through coordination with a central intake center or other central transfer mechanism.
2521.12A Provider shall give written and oral notice to clients of their transfer to another Provider at least fifteen (15) days before the effective date of the transfer, except for emergency transfers pursuant to Section 2524.
2521.13The Provider shall not issue a notice of transfer until a placement is secured as defined by subsection Section 2521.9 or Subsection 2521.10.
2521.14Any written notice of transfer issued pursuant to this subsection shall be mailed to or served upon the client and shall include:
(a)A clear statement of the placement to which the client is being transferred and the effective date of the transfer;
(b) A clear and detailed statement of the factual basis for the transfer, including the date or dates on which the basis or bases for the transfer occurred;
(c)A reference to the statute, regulation, or Program Rule pursuant to which the transfer is being implemented; and
(d) A clear and complete statement of the client’s right to appeal the transfer through a fair hearing and administrative review, including the appropriate deadlines for instituting the appeal.
2521.15The client shall move to the new placement by the effective date of the transfer. The client may consent to move to the new placement any time before the effective date of the transfer in coordination with the new placement, except as provided by Subsection 2521.10.
2521.16If the new placement requires certain procedures or paperwork in order for the transferred client to access the placement, the new placement shall communicate such requirements to the client, either through the originating placement, the client’s coordinating case manager, or directly to the client. The client shall comply with the Provider’s requirements to access the new placement. A client’s failure to comply with the requirements for accessing the new placement shall not invalidate the transfer or allow the client to remain in the original placement.
2521.17If a client does not consent to the transfer, the client may appeal the transfer pursuant to Section 2550, but the client shall move to the new placement while awaiting the outcome of the appeal. The client shall not have the right to remain in the original placement pending the outcome of the appeal.
2521.18If the client appeals the transfer, and the Provider’s transfer decision is not upheld, the client shall be returned to the original placement unless the program or facility has closed.
2521.19If, following a client’s successful appeal, the original placement has no available unit or bed, the client shall receive the first available opening at the original placement, unless a placement elsewhere is available and the client consents to the alternate placement.
2521.20If the original program or facility is closed, the client shall receive the first available placement in a program providing services as comparable to the pre-transfer placement as possible.
2521.21When a Provider or the Department closes a severe weather shelter at the end of the severe weather season, the Provider shall give clients using the program or facility at least fifteen (15) days’ notice before the impending closure and information regarding alternative shelters.
2521.22When a Provider or the Department closes a shelter program or facility other than a severe weather shelter at the end of the severe weather season, the Provider shall give clients using the program or facility at least thirty (30) days advance notice of the impending closure, where feasible, and in no case less than fifteen (15) days advance notice of the impending closure. Clients using the program or facility may be transferred pursuant to Subsection 2521.2.
2521.23Transfers made pursuant to Subsection 2521.22 shall be made based on each client’s assessment and Service Plan to the extent allowed by client participation, taking into consideration the number and type of available placements. The order of transfers may take into account the length of time in the program specifically or shelter system generally, or some other manner of allocating the necessary transfers in an equitable and objective manner. For low barrier shelter programs, priority may be given to those persons who have the highest utilization rate over a certain period of time prior to transfer. When a low barrier shelter closure potentially involves large numbers of individuals who may be transferred during the same time period, such transfers shall be balanced with the need to ensure that the large majority of beds in other low barrier shelter remain available on a first-come, first serve basis.
2521.24Clients transferred pursuant to this section shall take all their personal belongings to the new placement. A Provider may assist the client in the relocation of the client’s property. The Provider shall treat any property left by the client at the originating placement in accordance with Section 2520.
2521.25Providers may not use the transfer authority provided under this section in any way that interferes with a client’s tenancy rights under a lease agreement governed by Title 14 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations.