The BIG Disconnect

1

• The BIG Disconnect
• Housing

Disability Human Services Community
2
Community Living Exchange Collaborative

• A national Technical Assistance Program Funded by
  the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  In A Technical Assistance Guide for Housing
  Resources and Strategies March 2003 said this

3
Community Living Exchange Collaborative

• The affordable housing delivery system is
  comprised of a myriad of programs administered by
  a large number of agencies mainly units of
  government at the federal, state and local
  levels. It is often difficult for the disability
  community to know where to begin because there
  are so many players that could potentially be
  involved in crafting strategies to help expand
  housing options for people with disabilities. It
  is important to understand who the various
  housing players are and learn which programs they
  administer before beginning to develop effective
  strategies for meeting the housing needs of
  people with disabilities.

4
The Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD)

• The majority of federal housing programs and
  policies are administered through HUD
• Community Development Block Grant Emergency
  Shelter Grant Federally assisted housing HOME
  Program Housing Opportunities for People with
  AIDS Public Housing Section 202 Supportive
  housing for the Elderly Section 8 Housing Choice
  Voucher Program Section 8 Moderate
  Rehabilitation SRO Section 811 Supportive
  Housing for People with Disabilities Shelter
  Plus Care Supportive Housing Program.

5
At the state and local level

• the majority of HUD programs are administered
  by state and local housing and community
  development officials, state housing finance
  agencies and Public Housing Agencies.

6

• In order to access federal affordable housing
  resources to meet the housing needs of people
  with disabilities and the aging community, it is
  important to be aware of the planning processes
  that control these valuable public resources.

7

• There are four federally-mandated strategic
  planning initiatives that seek to ensure
  community-wide coordination and comprehensive
  planning regarding the use of federal resources
  to develop, renovate and preserve and/or create
  housing opportunities for low and moderate-income
  people.

8

• In addition to providing the planning
• framework for communities on how
• housing resources will be used
• these plans provide the means to
• access federal housing resources.

9
Federally Mandated Planning Initiatives

• Consolidate Plan (ConPlan)
• (DHCD and localities)
• Public Housing Agency Plan (PHA Plan)
• (VHDA and local PHAs)
• Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP)
• (VHDA)
• Continuum of Care
• (DHCD and localities)

10

• The ConPlan is the master plan for affordable
• housing in local communities and states. It is a
  
• long-term housing plan that controls access to
• HUD funds used to expand affordable housing
• opportunities. The ConPlan controls valuable
• federal affordable housing programs including
• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
• Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG)
• HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
  (HOPWA)

11
The PHA Plan

• describes the agencies overall mission for
  serving low-income and very low-income families,
  and the activities that will be undertaken to
  meet the housing need of these families. The PHA
  Plan is part of a federal policy to give PHAs
  increased flexibility to determine who will
  receive housing assistance. Through the PHA Plan
  process, the PHA decides the policies and
  procedures to be followed for the public housing
  units and Section 8 rent subsidies controlled by
  the PHA.

12
Link between the ConPlan and the PHA Plan

• When Congress created the PHA Plan they included
  a very important requirement to link the PHA Plan
  to the ConPlan. The needs, goals, and activities
  detailed in the PHA Plan must reflect the needs
  and priorities documented in the ConPlan.
• This linkage can provide more opportunities for
  the disability community to participate in the
  process to set housing priorities. The
  disability community may review information
  available to the planners and submit additional
  data that may not have been considered during the
  plans development. Planners may not always be
  aware of the housing needs of people with
  disabilities and the aging community, this
  process gives the disability community the
  opportunity to inform the policy and priority
  setting process.

13
Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP)

• When Congress created the Low Income Housing Tax
  Credit Program in 1986, they included the
  requirement that states develop a strategic
  housing document describing how LIHTC would be
  utilized to meet the housing needs and priorities
  of the state. The QAP outlines the states
  affordable housing priorities and how to apply
  for tax credits. The QAP must be consistent with
  the state ConPlan and solicit public comment.

14
Continuum of Care Plan

• In 1994, HUD introduced the Continuum of Care
  model to encourage communities to address the
  problems of housing and homelessness in a more
  coordinated, comprehensive, and strategic
  fashion.
• Through the Continuum of Care, communities can
  create a comprehensive plan for the housing needs
  of homeless people with disabilities an other
  homeless individuals and families.

15
Continuum of Care Plan

• Since 1999, Congress directed HUD to ensure that
  at least 30 percent of the funds awarded through
  the Continuum of Care process be utilized for
  permanent housing. To ensure this outcome, HUD
  has made a bonus of funds available to those
  Continuum of Care communities that rank a new
  permanent supportive housing project as the first
  priority for funding.

16

• By using resources in the Continuum of
• Care, ConPlan, PHA plan, and QA,
• communities can improve their overall
• housing and service delivery systems.
• Together, these plans control flexible
• resources and opportunities to develop
• quality, integrated, community programs and
• housing.

17
State Examples

• Iowa
• Iowas housing Finance Authority has a number of
  innovative housing proposals, including (A) 25
  of its Low Income Housing Tax Credits are given a
  preference or set aside for accessible units in
  the States Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP).
  Under the set aside, 853 units were constructed
  or rehabilitated to be accessible, and (B)
  developed a rent subsidy program for 402
  persons who avoided institutionalization in a
  nursing home or ICF-MR and were on a Waiver.

18
State Examples

• Texas
• The Tenant Based Rental Assistance program is
  provided through a contract with the Texas
  Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The
  program is modeled after the Housing Choice
  Voucher program. Program participants must
  qualify as low-income and need a rent subsidy to
  transition from an institution to a community
  residence, which is usually an apartment.
  Program participants can receive a subsidy for up
  to 24 months, and must participate in a plan to
  achieve long-term self-sufficiency.

19
State Examples

• Maryland Bridge Subsidy Demonstration Program
• A recommendation of the Governors Commission on
  Housing Policy, the Bridge Subsidy Demonstration
  Program is a PILOT program that provides
  State-funded short-term rental assistance (up to
  three years) for a limited number of eligible
  individuals with disabilities who are receiving
  SSI or SSDI cash payments, while these
  individuals await permanent housing assistance.
  The goal is to assist 75 to 100 participants.

20
State Example

• Arkansas leads in low-income assisted living
• Arkansas among the poorest and most rural
  states in the nationis miles ahead of most
  states in providing low-income seniors the same
  kind of long-term care wealthier elders enjoy in
  their twilight years, but at prices covered by
  Medicaid. See handout for more details.
• When we talked to housing people about the
  project, they understood until we mentioned
  health care, and they would get all nervous.
  Then we talked to health care provides, and they
  understood until we started talking about
  low-income housing tax credits and their eyes
  would glaze over. We had to get two separate
  parties together and try to get them to strike up
  a partnership

21
NCBDC and TAC Report

• A review of some of the Consolidated Plans
  submitted to HUD from Virginia cities, counties
  and the State confirmed what disability advocates
  have often stated that, , in many communities,
  the ConPlan often works better in theory than in
  practice. For example, a minority of the Virginia
  ConPlans reviewed included a clear statement on
  the housing needs of people with disabilities.
  Those plans that did include this type of
  information usually limited the description to
  the housing needs of people with physical
  disabilities or homeless people. This lack of
  data suggests that there is no coordinated
  strategy to collect data about the housing needs
  of all people with disabilities and ensure that
  it is included in the development of ConPlans.

22
The TAC/NCBDC review

• found that - with several exceptions the
  ConPlans did not include a clear commitment of
  resources to address the housing needs of people
  with disabilities or frail elders. Even those
  ConPlans that documented a need for housing among
  these groups did not usually allocate resources
  to meet this need. For example, the HOME program
  could be a core resource for the financing of
  affordable rental housing for people with incomes
  below 30 of median income. However, information
  from ConPlans suggests that most HOME
  jurisdictions administering the HOME program can
  change current policies to create a higher
  priority for housing development for extremely
  low-income

23
Study of Funding for Housing Serving People with
Disabilities SD 12, SJR 159 2000

• The available data on unmet housing needs did not
  provide reliable information on either the level
  of consumer need/demand for specialized group
  housing with on-site services or the likely
  demand by housing sponsors for funding should
  additional capital resources be made available.

24
Study of Funding for Housing Serving People with
Disabilities SD 12, SJR 159 2000

• On Income any broad-based effort to assist
  people with disabilities in obtaining adequate
  affordable housing must address the need for
  operating subsidies and/or client income supports
  in addition to the need for subsidized housing
  capitol

25
Study of Funding for Housing Serving People with
Disabilities SD 12, SJR 159 2000

• Some unmet needs could be served by redirecting
  a portion of existing VHDA and DHCD resources.
  This would require a broad review of current
  funding priorities and the concurrence and buy-in
  of other impacted resource users. The
  development of a new Consolidated Housing and
  Economic Development Plan for Virginia in 2000
  provides the opportunity for such a review to
  occur.

26
Strategies that Work

• In states and communities that have made progress
  
• there are two common elements to their success
• The creative use of all available affordable
  housing programs to expand housing options
• Strong partnerships and collaborations between
  the affordable housing system and the disability
  and aging communities to ensure that the housing
  created will meet the needs and preferences of
  people with disabilities and the aging.

27
What can you/we do?

• 1)Form a workgroup (or designate an already
  developed workgroup) to focus on expanding
  affordable housing opportunities for people with
  LTC support needs. This group should have a
  broad-based membership including key leaders in
  the disability and aging communities. An action
  step of this workgroup might be to review past
  ConPlans.

28
What can you/we do?

• 2)Learn the basics. Get a clear picture of how
  the process works for your community or area.
  Find out what agencies prepare these strategic
  housing documents, how often they are prepared,
  and how you can be a part of the planning process
  develop positive relationships. Get copies of
  the plans and review them thoroughly. Ask to be
  placed on a list of interested parties.

29
What can you/we do?

• 3)Gather useful needs data about the housing
  needs of people with disabilities and the aging
  and ensure that this information is provided to
  housing officials preparing the ConPlan, PHA
  Plan, QAP, and Continuum of Care.

30
What can you/we do?

• 4)Take advantage of all opportunities to give
  input into these plans, such as testify at public
  hearings, submitting written comments, joining a
  PHAs Resident Advisory Board, and meeting with
  staff responsible for preparing these plans to
  discuss mutual concerns.

31

• Information and guidance for this presentation
  was gathered from A Technical Assistance Guide
  for Housing Resources and Strategies March 2003.
  The report can be found at
• http//www.shanj.org/resources/guide.htm