SERVICE

One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.		  
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  FAMILY

Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."		  
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  COMMUNITY

A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.		  
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  CULTURE

The customs, habits, values, skills, technology, beliefs, and religious, social, and political behaviors of a group of people in a specific period of time.		  
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  CASE

A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.		  
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  PERSONNEL

The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards		  
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  PROCEDURES

Written instructions that outline the steps for performing a task(s) or operationalizing an administrative or service delivery process. A procedure can be written as a step-by-step set of instructions or as a narrative description of a process. A procedure tells someone how to do something not just what to do.

Unlike policies, procedures do not need to be approved or reviewed by the governing body, and need not be associated with a specific policy. For example, whereas a broad anti-discrimination policy requires grievance or other procedures in order to be operationalized within an organization, assessment procedures do not require a governing body approved assessment policy.

Note: Procedures are sometimes referred to as administrative policies.

  
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  INTAKE

The client's entry point for services at which eligibility is assessed against established criteria and a preliminary evaluation of the presenting problem occurs.		  
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Shelter Services
  
Private Org Public Agency  

SH 5: The Rights of Shelter Residents

 
The shelter respects the rights and dignity of residents.

SH 5.01

 
Stays in the shelter are voluntary, unless legally mandated.

SH 5.02

 
The use of services beyond the provision of shelter is voluntary and is not required as a condition of stay.
Interpretation: Enhanced shelters can require that residents use services as a condition of stay.

SH 5.03

 
Shelter staff respect the dignity, culture, values, goals, and sexual identity of shelter residents.

SH 5.04

 
Shelter rules are developed with residents and are consistently enforced.

SH 5.05

 

The organization does not open mail received by a resident unless a previous incident involving the resident indicates that:

  1. the mail is suspected of containing unauthorized, dangerous, or illegal material or substances, in which case it may be opened by the resident in the presence of designated personnel; or
  2. receiving or sending unopened mail is contraindicated.

SH 5.06

 

The shelter has written policies and procedures for expelling individuals or families that:

  1. are provided at intake to the individual or family served;
  2. define reasons or conditions for expulsion;
  3. include timely due process provisions;
  4. are clear and simple, avoiding overly rigid and bureaucratic language and rules;
  5. describe the conditions or process for re-admission to the shelter; and
  6. require all reasonable efforts be made to provide an appropriate referral.

SH 5.07

 

Organization policy prohibits:

  1. corporal punishment;
  2. the use of aversive stimuli;
  3. interventions that involve withholding nutrition or hydration, or that inflict physical or psychological pain;
  4. the use of demeaning, shaming or degrading language or activities;
  5. unnecessarily punitive restrictions including cancellation of visits as a disciplinary action;
  6. forced physical exercise to eliminate behaviors;
  7. punitive work assignments;
  8. punishment by peers;
  9. group punishment or discipline for individual behavior; and
  10. unwarranted use of invasive procedures and activities as a disciplinary action.
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PURPOSE: Shelter services meet the basic needs of individuals and families who are homeless or in transition, set them on the path toward stable family or independent living, and provide a point-of-entry to the continuum of community care.
 
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