Section 145.20  Definitions

 

Adult – An individual who is 18 years of age or older or a person who is emancipated pursuant to the Emancipation of Mature Minors Act [750 ILCS 30].

 

Agency – The local DHS or State contracted Service Provider.  An "Agency" may also be referred to as "Provider."

 

Annual Income Re-examination Review – The annual review of the tenant's annual income to determine continued eligibility for rent payments under the PSH models.  The annual re-examination is completed to determine the Housing Assistance Payment Contract by calculating applicant's rent share/30% of income toward their rent.

 

Area Median Income or AMI – The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) calculation of income limits for eligibility in a variety of housing programs.

 

Bridge Subsidy – Payment by DHS-DMH of a portion of the rent for a PSH unit through the Bridge Subsidy model of PSH until the tenant is able to secure a permanent housing subsidy through a local, State or federal program. 

 

Case Management Services – Assessment, planning, coordination and advocacy services for clients who need multiple services and require assistance in gaining access to and in using mental health, social, vocational, educational, housing, public income entitlements and other community services to assist the client in the community.  Case management activities may also include identifying and investigating available resources, explaining options to the client and linking the client with necessary resources.

 

Code – The Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code [405 ILCS 5].

 

Care Manager – A staff member of a State-contracted Service Provider who is assigned to monitor and/or provide support services to a tenant residing in a DHS-DMH Permanent Supportive Housing and/or Bridge Subsidized unit.

 

Community Vendor – A DHS contracted entity.

 

Confidentiality Act – The Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act [740 ILCS 110].

 

Consumer – An adult with a diagnosis of mental illness as defined in 59 Ill. Adm. Code 132 and/or other disability contributing to eligibility for long-term care.  For the purpose of this Part, all consumers who are living in a unit supported in whole or in part with DHS-DMH funding may also be referenced as "tenants".

 

DCFS or Illinois Department of Children and Family Services – The State child welfare agency responsible for:  protecting children who are reported to be abused or neglected and to increase their families' capacity to safely care for them; providing for the well-being of children in care; providing appropriate, permanent families as quickly as possible for those children who cannot safely return home; supporting early intervention and child abuse prevention activities and working in partnerships with communities to fulfill this mission.

 

Department or IDHS or DHS or The Illinois Department of Human Services – The State agency responsible for providing a wide variety of safety net services to Illinois residents in poverty who are facing other economic challenges or who have any of a variety of disabilities or health challenges.

 

DHS-DMH or DMH or The Illinois Department of Human Services-Division of Mental Health – A program division of DHS that, as the State Mental Health Authority pursuant to Department of Human Services (Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities) Law [20 ILCS 1710], is responsible for assuring that children, adolescents and adults throughout Illinois have the availability of and access to public-funded mental health services.

 

Employee – Any person who provides direct services or supports to a tenant of Permanent Supportive Housing at the direction of a DHS contracted vendor.  This includes staff on the agency payroll, contractors, interns and volunteers, regardless of number of hours or schedules worked or volunteered.

 

Engagement Services – Home-based or community-based visits that assist the individual with maintaining their housing, and providing other wrap-around support, including linkage to mental health or substance use recovery support services. Such engagement services shall align with Medicaid-covered tenancy support services, and Medicaid community-based mental health and substance use treatment services, including case management, to ensure alignment with any existing or future Illinois Medicaid benefits, waivers or State plan amendments that include these services, and to maximize any potential federal Medicaid matching dollars that may be available to support engagement services [405 ILCS 125/3]

 

Fair Market Rent or FMR – Maximum rental amounts payable in specific geographical areas established by HUD.

 

Family Support Program (FSP) – Formerly known as the Individual Care Grant program, this program of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) provides access to intensive mental health services and supports to youth with a severe emotional disturbance.  The goal of the FSP is to support eligible youth and their families by strengthening family stability, improving clinical outcomes, and promoting community-based services.

 

HIPAA – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (42 U.S.C. 1320 et seq.) (45 CFR 160 and 164 (2013)).

 

Homeless – An individual or family meeting the definition used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration in Section 330(h)(5)(A) of the Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 254(b)).  A homeless individual under this definition is an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.  This includes individuals who are doubled up with other households [405 ILCS 125/3].

 

Housing Assistance Payment Contract or HAP Contract – A contract executed between the Subsidy Administration or PSH Provider and the leasing agent (landlord or property management entity).

 

Housing Dwelling – A house rented according to the same Fair Market Rate as an apartment located in the same geographical area.  This type of PSH is applicable in rural areas.

 

Housing Quality Standards or HQS – HUD's specifications and guidance that outline inspection standards for all PSH units that fall under this Part.

 

HUD – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

 

Individual at High Risk of Overdose – A person with a substance use disorder who is homeless (or will be homeless upon hospital discharge or correctional facility release) who has:

 

had three or more hospital inpatient or inpatient withdrawal management or community-based withdrawal management stays for a substance use disorder within the most recent 12-month period;

 

had three or more stays in a State or county correctional facility in the State of Illinois within the most recent 12-month period; or

 

been incarcerated in a State or county correctional facility in Illinois for the most recent 12 consecutive months; or

 

had one or more drug overdoses in the last 12 months [405 ILCS 125/3].

 

Individual at High Risk of Unnecessary Institutionalization – A person who has a serious mental illness who is homeless (or will be homeless upon hospital discharge or correctional facility release) and who has:

 

had three or more psychiatric inpatient hospital admissions within the most recent 12-month period;

 

had three or more stays in a State or county correctional facility in the State of Illinois within the most recent 12-month period; or

 

been incarcerated in a State or county correctional facility in Illinois for the most recent 12 consecutive months; or

 

had a disability determination due to a serious mental illness and has been incarcerated in a State or county correctional facility in Illinois within the most recent 12 consecutive months [405 ILCS 125/3].

 

Landlord Property Management Entity – The owner of one or more units/apartments receiving or approved to receive rental payments from DHS‑DMH, inclusive of private market and not-for-profit housing providers.

 

Long Term Care Facility or LTC Facility – A facility designated as a nursing home under the Nursing Home Care Act [210 ILCS 45].

 

Open Round – The point in time when DHS-DMH allows applications to be submitted for consideration of a Bridge Subsidy, excluding a court order, lawsuit or settlement.

 

Permanent Supportive Housing or PSH – A self-contained (inclusive of kitchen and bathroom facilities) unit that is decent, safe and affordable community-based housing.  The tenant has rights of privacy and access; holds a lease, sublease, or occupancy agreement; and has full rights of tenancy under State and local landlord and tenant laws.  Any services or supports received are voluntary, flexible and designed to meet the tenants' needs and preferences.

 

Provider – The local DHS or State contracted Service Provider.  A Provider may also be referred to as "Agency."

 

PSH Provider – The DHS-DMH contracted entities responsible for conducting income verifications, unit inspections, development of HAP contracts or other agreements with landlords, and ongoing rental payments in accordance with Section 145.70 through a model of PSH other than the Bridge Subsidy model.

 

Rental Assistance – The DHS-DMH subsidized rental amount paid to a landlord for a unit occupied and leased by a tenant eligible and approved for a DHS-DMH Bridge Subsidy or PSH program utilizing a similar model of housing assistance.

 

Rental Payments – Any payments made to a landlord in accordance with a lease agreement for a housing unit in which an individual or family receiving services from a Provider is residing, whether the executed lease is between the landlord and the Provider (leasing) or between the landlord and the tenant (rental assistance).

 

Service Provider – An entity contracted by DHS or the State to provide publicly-funded support services to residents of Permanent Supportive Housing.

 

Serious Mental Illness – Meeting both the diagnostic and functioning criteria consistent with the definition of Serious Mental Illness in the most current edition of the Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Mental Health Community Mental Health Provider Manual [405 ILCS 125/3].

 

Site – Any building, under one continuous roof, in which a tenant receiving DHS‑DMH Bridge rental assistance lives.  This includes houses, apartment buildings, duplexes and other living arrangements owned, leased or managed by a rental agent, management company, property owner, landlord or development entity.

 

Subsidy Administrator or Subsidy Administration or SA – The DHS-DMH contracted entities responsible for conducting income verifications, unit inspections, development of HAP contracts with the landlord, and ongoing subsidized rental payments in accordance with Section 145.70 through the Bridge Subsidy model.

 

Substance Use Disorder – As defined in Section 1-10 of the Substance Use Disorder Act [20 ILCS 301].

 

Tenant – For the purpose of this Part, the words "tenant" and "consumer" are interchangeable.  The tenant must be a consumer of a DHS or State contracted Service Provider and be in one of the priority populations defined in Section 145.110(g).

 

Transition Assistance Funds or TAF – A one-time allocation, as determined by DHS‑DMH, for the specific purpose of paying security deposits and utility connections (but not for arrearages) and to assist the tenant in purchasing basic allowable household needs.  Transition Assistance Funds used for the purchase of obtaining allowable household goods are handled by the Care Manager (see Section 145.200).

 

Unit – A rental apartment (efficiency, studio, one bedroom or multiple bedroom apartments) or housing dwelling that receives DHS-DMH funded rental payments.  Housing intended as transitional or temporary housing does not qualify as a PSH Bridge unit.

 

(Source:  Amended at 47 Ill. Reg. 7096, effective May 15, 2023)