Mecklenburg Open Door provides two types of housing:  transitional, or short-term housing and long-term housing.  Short-term housing is covered under our program Friendship Flight.  Long-term housing is covered here.

We work in partnership with the Mecklenburg Local Management Entity (LME), otherwise known as the Area Mental Health Authority, to provide a smooth pre-application, screening and application process. 

Long-Term Housing  Although most of our long-term housing programs have waiting lists, if you follow these instructions the process will go very smoothly:

• Review your consumer's situation against the level of care criteria.  If you feel your consumer meets criteria for a specific level of housing (or will in the next six months) then you should complete the AMHA Clinical Referral for Housing Supports and mail it (or fax) to:

• Ms. Setti will contact you to schedule for you and the applicant to meet with the LME Residential Screening Committee.  The committee will provide a brief overview of the residences available and will assess your consumer's clinical appropriateness for housing.  This interview will take approximately 30 minutes.

• The Residential Screening Committee will either: (1) approve the applicant; (2) decline the applicant; or (3) defer a decision on the application for a future date pending the need for additional information or the need for the applicant to achieve additional milestones in pursuit of their housing.

• If your consumer's case is approved by the Residential Screening Committee, your consumer's name will be referred to Mecklenburg Open Door.  We will schedule time within 10 days for you and the consumer to meet with us to begin a HUD housing application.  The application seeks information on assets, income, disability, ADA requirements and other items, which then must be verified though primary source verification.  It is important that you or your consumer bring the following items to this appointment: HUD Item Checklist.  This HUD application meeting will take about one hour.

• The HUD application process will take about 14 days.  During that time, you and the consumer will be required to provide additional information and our agency will also seek information on behalf of the consumer to verify the information provided in the HUD housing application meeting.

• If there is a waiting list for a property, the consumer will be placed on this waiting list on a first come basis.  At the end of the waiting period, we will then resume the application process.

• We will schedule for the consumer to visit the property and to meet the program staff of the residence.

• An applicant may decline an offer on a unit if they do not like the location or for other reasons. The consumer can do this up to three times, then their application is placed at the bottom of the waiting list.

• Once the application is completed, it is forwarded to an HUD intermediary in Raleigh.  The intermediary will either approve the application or decline it based on the information provided.  If an application is declined, it is usually due to a negative criminal background check.  It is important that you and your consumer are truthful in discussing these issues with us so we can provide additional research that may be beneficial to your consumer.  Declined application decisions can be appealed.

• The application approval process in Raleigh will take about two weeks.  At some point, your consumer will need to identify a move in date.  You will need to help the consumer on any security deposit or rent payments that need to be addressed at move-in.  This document gives you some guide as to what is required for each level of care:  Monetary Requirements for Housing.

• In preparation for move in, and prior to move in, we must establish housing goals and interventions for your consumer's person centered plan/crisis plan.  We at this time are now part of the person centered planning team.  You should invite us to participate in team meetings for any annual or update planning regarding housing goals and interventions.  Please do not commit our agency to perform interventions on the plan that we have not agreed to provide.

• Please note the community support information requirements below.  If you do not adhere to these requirements, your agency may be charged for any monies lost by Mecklenburg Open Door for your failure to provide adequate information that may impact us financially or from a compliance standpoint:

  • The person centered plan must be modified to include our services.  These state definitions must be used:  Group Living Moderate (group home); Supervised Living Moderate (Apartments); Supervised Living Low (Condominiums).  The service name should be listed both as a " Recommended Service" and as an intervention on the plan (two places).

  • The person centered plan submission and review form must be entered into the LME eCura clinical management system under "Clinical Events".

  • A current target pop must be entered into the LME eCura clinical management system.  This target pop must cover at least the move in period.

The above procedures are for consumers moving into a HUD facility.  For consumers moving into our sole non-HUD facility, the procedures are very similar.

INFORMATION

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