	Shelter Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

SH 9: Enhanced Shelter Services

Enhanced shelter services provide an array of services, directly or by referral, that help residents obtain housing and plan for reintegration into community life.

NA The organization does not provide enhanced shelters or shelters for homeless and runaway children and youth.

SH 9.01

The shelter provides case management and other services that are tailored to the needs of individual service recipients.

SH 9.02

Housing support includes:

assistance obtaining a safe, stable living environment;
information about available community housing options;
education on tenant rights and responsibilities; and
advocacy for safe, affordable, appropriate housing.

NA The service population is limited to children and youth for whom living independently is not an alternative.

SH 9.03

Education that promotes independence, and/or housing readiness, includes:

activities of daily living;
household management;
budgeting and money management;
credit and debt counseling;
the use of community resources;
information about public assistance; and
interpersonal communication.

NA The service population is limited to children and youth for whom living independently is not an alternative.

SH 9.04

Health services include, as needed:

routine medical care;
clinical services including substance use and mental health services;
medication management and/or monitoring;
age or developmentally appropriate information, including pregnancy prevention, family planning, and prevention of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases; and
harm reduction.

Interpretation: Medical and dental assessments for children and youth should be conducted in accordance with well-child guidelines. See also, RPM 3, Medication Control and Administration.

SH 9.05

Support services include, as needed:

transportation;
legal assistance;
case advocacy;
help with basic literacy;
parent education and family support; and
child care.

SH 9.06

Employment and vocational support includes helping residents:

develop the habits, skills, and self-awareness essential to employability;
write resumes, complete job applications, and prepare for interviews; and
find and access local employment resources and placement options, including on-the-job training.

NA The organization only serves youth under 16 years of age.

SH 9.07

Progress toward achieving service goals is reviewed with the resident every two weeks, or more often, depending on the needs of the person or family and/or expected length of stay.

QUICK JUMP TO


	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.

RELATED FILES


	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.


	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."


	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.


	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.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	ADVOCACY An act performed with or on behalf of others through direct intervention, empowerment, or representation. Case advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a particular individual consumer. Cause, social, or systems advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a common issue affecting a group of persons.


	SERVICE POPULATION A group or target population that the organization's services are designed to serve in accord with its mission, and which includes the organization's service recipients. An organization's service population may be defined by geographic location, specific problems or needs, religion, ethnicity, culture, or other factors.


	CLINICAL The study, assessment, and diagnosis of the client situation followed by direct treatment to help the client achieve prescribed goals.


	MEDICATION MANAGEMENT Ongoing review and oversight of a client's use of prescribed or over-the-counter medications by a physician or other prescribing clinician.


	MONITORING An evaluation involving a periodic review of consumer services, organizational activities, or conduct. Specifically, monitoring is an activity of case coordination, whereas more broadly, monitoring is an evaluation technique used in overall quality assurance.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	PREVENTION Actions taken to minimize and/or eliminate social, psychological, or other conditions. Prevention can occur at the individual, group, community, and societal levels and enhances opportunities to achieve positive fulfillment.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	MEDICATION A prescribed or over-the-counter drug that is injected, taken orally, applied topically, or otherwise administered.


	ADMINISTRATION The personnel responsible for management functions of the organization, including fiscal management, human resources, and service delivery. Such personnel determine organizational goals, acquire and allocate resources to carry out a program, coordinate activities toward goal achievement, and monitor, evaluate, and make needed changes in processes and procedures to improve the likelihood of goal achievement. The term is synonymously used with MANAGEMENT.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	SERVICE GOALS Broad, issue-oriented statements that reflect the realistic achievements to be accomplished in the short or long term. Goals are achieved through the accomplishment of specific quantifiable objectives.