Effective community planning on homelessness must take into account the rights and responsibilities of the people who will be served by the overall system of care as well as by individual programs. HomeBase provides legal advice on a range of issues including: confidentiality and privacy rights as they pertain to the development of Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), balancing tenancy rights of homeless people in shelters and transitional housing programs with programmatic requirements, development of appropriate client grievance procedures, and strategies for involving clients in agency decision-making and evaluation. We also provide advice on ensuring that programs comply with basic health and safety standards and with federal laws prohibiting denial of housing for refusal of services and limiting inquiries as to mental health status or HIV/AIDS diagnosis. In addition, we work with communities to develop constructive alternatives to anti-homelessness ordinances, which seek to criminalize sleeping in public places, panhandling and other activities associated with homelessness and we advocate with school systems to recognize the rights of homeless children to education.
