Privacy Policy

The Extension Notice of Privacy Practice

This notice describes how privacy information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully. The privacy of your information is very important to us.

Purpose of this Notice

The Extension is a member of the Pathways Community Network, a homeless management information system that allows participating organizations to collect data, produce statistical reports, and share selected information with partner organizations if a “signed release of information” form is signed by the client.

This notice tells you how we will use your private personal information. It tells you about your rights and our responsibilities to protect the privacy of your personal information. It also tells you how to complain to us or to the HMIS developer if you believe we have violated and your rights or any of our responsibilities. We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this Notice at any time, provided such changes are permitted by applicable law.

We reserve the right to make the changes in our privacy practices and the new terms of our Notice effective for all private personal information we maintain, including private personal information we created or received before we made the changes. Before we make a significant change in our privacy practices, we will change this Notice and we will make the new Notice available upon request.

We are required by applicable federal and state law to maintain the privacy of your personal information and to provide individuals with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected personal information. If a use or disclosure is prohibited or materially limited by other applicable law, the description of such use or disclosure must reflect the more stringent law.

We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this notice while they are in effect. This Notice takes effect immediately, and will remain in effect until we replace it.

You may request a copy of this notice at any time. For more information about our privacy practices, or for additional copies of this Notice, please contact us using the information contained at the end of this Notice.

 

How We May Use or Disclose Your Private Personal Information

To Provide Services

We will use private personal information about you to provide you with services. We may share this information with members of our staff or others involved in your support. We may also disclose your private personal information to a member of your family or other person who is involved in your care upon your approval.

For Administrative Operations

We may use or disclose your private personal information for operational purposes. For example, we may use your private personal information to evaluate our services, including the performance of our staff in caring for you. We may also use this information to learn how to continually improve the quality and effectiveness of the services that we provide to you.

There are some services that are provided for us by our business associates such as accountants, consultants, and attorneys. Whenever we share information with our business associates, we will have a written contract with them that requires that they protect the privacy of your private personal information.

Service Alternatives

We may use and disclose private personal information about you to contact you about other services that are available to you. If you do not want to receive these communications, please notify our Complaint Officer in writing.

Related Benefits and Services

We may use and disclose private personal information about you to contact you about other benefits or services that may interest you. If you do not want to receive these communications, please notify our Complaint Officer in writing.

Individuals Involved in Your Care

With your approval, we may disclose private personal information about you to a family member, other relative, close friend or any other person identified by you if they are involved in your care. We may also use or disclose private personal information about you to notify those persons of your location, general condition, or death. If there is a family member, other relative, or close friend to whom you do not want us to disclose private personal information about you, please notify our Complaint Officer in writing. For Administrative Functions We may use or disclose your private personal information to carry our administrative functions of our office.

Academic Research Purposes

We may use or disclose protected personal information to individuals performing academic research who have a formal relationship with The Extension.

Required By Law

We may use or disclose medical information about you when we are required to do so by law.

Public Health Activities

We may disclose private personal information about you if the HMIS user or developer, in good faith, believes that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public and is made to a person or persons reasonably able to prevent or lessen the threat, including the target of the threat.

Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence

We may disclose private personal information about you to a government agency if we believe you are a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence.

Legal Activities

We may disclose private personal information about you in response to a court proceeding. We may also disclose private personal information about you in response to a subpoena or other legal process.

Disclosures for Law Enforcement Purposes

We may disclose private personal information about you to law enforcement officials for law enforcement purposes:

  • as required by law
  • in response to a subpoena or other legal proceeding.
  • to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person
  • when information is requested about an actual or suspected victim of a crime
  • to report a death as a result of possible criminal conduct
  • to investigate allegations of criminal conduct that may have occurred on our premises
  • to report a crime in emergency situations. Funeral Directions, Coroners, and Medical Examiners We may disclose protected personal information about you as necessary to allow these individuals to carry out their responsibilities.

National Security and Intelligence

We may disclose protected personal information about you to authorized federal officials for national security and intelligence activities.

Protected Services for the President and Others

We may use protected personal information about you to authorize federal officials for the provision of protected services to the President of the United States or other foreign heads of state.

Uses or Disclosures That Require Your Authorization

Other uses and disclosures will be made only with your written authorization. You may cancel your authorization at any time by notifying our Complaint Officer in writing of your desire to cancel it. If you cancel an authorization it will not have any effect on information we have already disclosed. Examples of uses or disclosures that may require your written authorization include the following:

  • A request to provide your private personal information to an attorney for use in a civil lawsuit

How to File a Complaint

You may file a complaint with The Extension or with the HMIS developer, Pathways Community Network Inc., if you believe your privacy rights have been violated or that we have not lived up to any of our responsibilities. You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.

  • To file a complaint with The Extension, write a brief description of how you feel your rights have been violated or how we have not maintained our responsibilities and send it to: The Extension, c/o Complaint Officer, P.O. Box 793, Marietta, GA 30061 or email your concerns to:ComplaintOfficer@theextension.org
  • To file a complaint with Pathways Community Network at 404-584-6591.

For further information concerning this notice, contact Tyler Driver, Executive Director, The Extension, at 770-590-9075.

Effective Date: February 15, 2006