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The Extension, Inc.
Notice of Privacy Practices
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 release of information form has been 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 The Extension or
to the HMIS developer if you believe we have violated your rights.
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.
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 Executive Director 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 law suit.
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 Director of Recovery 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 Director of Recovery.
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, or other
relative, or close friend to whom you do not want us to disclose private
personal information about you, please notify our Director of Recovery
in writing.
For Administrative Functions
We may use or disclose your private
personal information to carry out the 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.
Disclosure 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 Directors, 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 authorize 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.
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 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 to: The
Extension, Inc. P. O. Box 793, Marietta, GA 30061 or email your
concerns to: info@theextension.org
_________________________________________________________________
·
To file a complaint with Pathways Community Network:
404-584-6591
_________________________________________________________________
For Further Information
For further information concerning
this Notice, contact the Executive Director for The Extension, Inc., at
770-590-9075.
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.
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