On December 4, 2015, HUD published a final rule titled “Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing: Defining “Chronically Homeless.” This final rule establishes the definition of “chronically homeless” that will be used in HUD’s Continuum of Care Program, and in the Consolidated Submissions for Community Planning and Development Programs. The final rule also establishes the necessary recordkeeping requirements that correspond to the definition of “chronically homeless” for the Continuum of Care Program.
This rule is effective on January 4, 2016. Continuum of Care recipients must comply with this rule as of January 15, 2016. The rule will apply to all program participants admitted after January 15, 2016. The rule does not apply retroactively to program participants admitted to a Continuum of Care program project prior to January 15, 2016.
Definition of “Chronically Homeless”
A “chronically homeless” individual is defined to mean a homeless individual with a disability who lives either in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter, or in an institutional care facility if the individual has been living in the facility for fewer than 90 days and had been living in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter immediately before entering the institutional care facility. The individual also must have been living as described above continuously for at least 12 months, or on at least four separate occasions in the last three years, where the combined occasions total a length of time of at least 12 months. Each period separating the occasions must include at least seven nights of living in a situation other than a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter.
Stays in institutional care facilities for fewer than 90 days will not constitute a break in homelessness, but rather such stays are included in the 12-month total, as long as the individual was living or residing in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter immediately before entering the institutional care facility.
Chronically homeless families are families with adult heads of household who meet the definition of a chronically homeless individual. If there is no adult in the family, the family would still be considered chronically homeless if a minor head of household meets all the criteria of a chronically homeless individual. A chronically homeless family includes those whose composition has fluctuated while the head of household has been homeless.
Recipients and subrecipients of Continuum of Care program funds are required to maintain and follow written intake procedures to ensure compliance with the “chronically homeless” definition. The procedures must establish the order of priority for obtaining evidence as third party documentation first, intake worker observations second, and certification from the individual seeking assistance third.
Benefit of New Definition
This final definition is designed to ensure that communities are consistently using the same criteria when considering whether a person is chronically homeless.
Failure to maintain appropriate documentation of a household’s eligibility is the monitoring finding that most often requires recipients of HUD funds to repay grant funds. This rule establishes recordkeeping requirements.
Recordkeeping Requirements
The recipient must maintain and follow written intake procedures to ensure compliance with the chronically homeless definition. The procedures must require documentation at intake of the evidence relied upon to establish and verify chronically homeless status.
In addition to the documentation required to demonstrate homelessness, the procedures must require documentation at intake of the evidence relied upon to establish and verify the disability of the person applying for homeless assistance. The recipient must keep these records for five years after the end of the grant term. Acceptable evidence of disability includes:
- Written verification of the disability from a professional licensed by the state to diagnose and treat the disability and his or her certification that the disability is expected to be long-term or of indefinite duration and substantially impedes the individual’s ability to live independently;
- Written verification from the Social Security Administration;
- The receipt of a disability check (e.g., Social Security Disability Insurance check or Veteran Disability Compensation);
- Intake staff recorded observation of disability that, no later than 45 days from the application for assistance, is confirmed and accompanied by evidence as noted above.
The final rule is long and complex and recipients or subrecipients of Continuum of Care grants should obtain and carefully review a copy of the rule.