Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, any agency or office of the Commonwealth providing residential or custodial services to minors, including services provided to minors in custody of the Department of Children and Families, Clinically Intensive Residential Treatment, Intensive Residential Treatment Programs, Continuing Care Inpatient Services or other programs administered through the Department of Mental Health, and juvenile detention programs administered by the Department Youth Services, or entity funded by the Commonwealth to provide the same, shall not discharge any minor in their care or custody or adult in their care or custody who was a minor at the time of their placement, without a transition plan. A transition plan shall address discharge procedures comprehensive on the following subject matters, including but not limited to, housing, continuity of care, health insurance, employment, benefits, and community resources. The agency or office shall take all means necessary to ensure placement into appropriate housing upon discharge. Appropriate housing shall include but shall not be limited to the following: single room occupancies (SROS), transitional housing, rest homes or nurses homes, as well as housing obtained through housing and rental voucher programs and the Family Unification program. Emergency shelters shall not constitute appropriate housing. No later than January 1, 2020, each such agency or organization shall establish or improve the process by which each minor receives a comprehensive transition plan that identifies and addresses the specific needs of each minor  in their care. Furthermore, no later than January 1, 2020, any such agency shall implement transition plans and amend any existing relevant regulation or policy inconsistent with this Act as set forth hereunder.