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St. Joseph County Housing Consortium <br />• To identify service gaps and obstacles. <br />• To provide an opportunity for problem-solving and resolution. <br />• To advocate for the needs of homeless individuals and families. <br />• To explore opportunities for funding homeless service programs. <br />The CoC has developed discharge coordination policies for foster care, health care, and <br />mental health systems of care. <br />Foster Care: The Indiana Division of Child Services case managers are responsible for <br />creating individualized plans for each youth being discharged from foster care. They are <br />responsible for case planning, and reunification conferences with providers including foster <br />parents, birth parents, children (when age appropriate), and Court Appointed Special <br />Advocates. Discharge planning does not include use of McKinney-Vento funded shelters. <br />Youth aging out of foster care receive independent living services that cover areas such as <br />financial independence, educational needs, vocational needs, mental health and substance <br />abuse treatment. The Division of Child Services has a written protocol and partners with <br />appropriate community providers to ensure that youth discharged from foster care are not <br />discharged into the streets. <br />Health Care: Memorial Hospital and Health Care Systems and St. Joseph Regional Medical <br />Center are the two major health care centers in the community. Both have written <br />protocols concerning the Discharge Planning and Process in place. Discharge planning <br />begins at the time of admission. The protocols state that the social worker/case manager <br />shall provide assistance when identified or requested. Both health care facilities will be <br />meeting with the St. Joseph County Continuum of Care to discuss abetter-coordinated <br />discharge plan for homeless or potentially homeless individuals. Future revisions of their <br />policies will specifically address the hospitals not discharging to McKinney-Vento funded <br />shelters. <br />Mental Health: Madison Center and Hospital have numerous written policies, protocols, and <br />Memorandums of Understanding involving discharge of homeless or potentially homeless <br />individuals. If this is the case, the protocol instructs the social worker to contact Center for <br />the Homeless and/or other shelters to find out whether the individual is banned, timed-out <br />or needs to go to the grievance board. The social worker also is to administer a STAT urine <br />drug test to establish that the patient has no drugs in his/her system and is able to go to <br />Center for the Homeless per their requirements. Madison Center maintains a Center for the <br />Homeless Discharge Tracking Sheet to track discharges to the center and the sheet is <br />reviewed monthly by the Director of Clinical Services on the last day of the month. A <br />release of information is also available if the patient chooses to utilize Hope Ministries as the <br />next step. MOUs are in existence with both Center for the Homeless and Hope Ministries. <br />Neither Center for the Homeless or Hope Ministries are recipients of McKinney-Vento <br />funding. <br />2010-2014 Housing and Community Development Plan 56 <br />