ODDC- HUD - Delivering on the Promise

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TITLE: Delivering on the Promise: Department of Housing and Urban Development Self-Evaluation to Promote Community Living for People with Disabilities

AUTHOR: Specific author unknown (KACW 4/16/03)

HUD OFFICES: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is responsible for national policy and programs to create opportunities for homeownership; provide housing assistance for low-income persons; create, rehabilitate and maintain the nation’s affordable housing; enforce fair housing laws; help homeless persons; spur economic growth in distressed neighborhoods; and help local communities meet their development needs.

Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD): The Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) seeks to develop viable communities by promoting integrated approaches that provide decent housing with all levels of government and the private sector. The involvement of political jurisdictions is key to achieving the objectives of the Olmstead decision. The CPD proposes to issue a notice informing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement and State grantees of Olmstead, Executive Order 13217, the New Freedom Initiative, and its six goals. These goals are to increase access to assistance and universally designed technologies; expand educational opportunities; promote homeownership; integrate Americans with disabilities into the workforce; expand transportation options; and promote full access to community life. The HUD consolidated plan requires that each political jurisdiction, while preparing the consolidated plan, consult with public and private agencies that provide assisted housing, health services, and social services to persons with disabilities. The regulations also require that each jurisdiction take actions to encourage participation of persons with disabilities during the development of their consolidated plans. The notice will provide guidance concerning the manner in which jurisdictions are to incorporate the objectives of Olmstead and the New Freedom Initiative during the development of their consolidated plan.

Barriers and Solutions - The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program provides grants to jurisdictions to implement a wide variety of activities directed toward neighborhood revitalization, economic development and improved community facilities and services. CDBG program funds can assist activities that promote the ability of persons with disabilities to live in home and community-based settings, including down payment assistance to support home ownership; public services to expand transportation options; rehabilitation of housing units to enhance accessibility; and providing improved accessibility within the community. The jurisdiction must consider the needs of persons with disabilities and encourage their participation during the development of the consolidated plan. CPD is also committed to reforming the consolidated planning process to develop more meaningful methods for citizen participation by 2003.

Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO): The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) enforces the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws by taking proactive steps to identify and combat discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunities and free and fair housing choice. FHEO also enforces Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disability Act and the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968. FHEO seeks to further fair housing in HUD programs, promote geographic mobility for low-income and minority households, and integrate fair housing plans into HUD’s Consolidated Plans.

Barriers and Solutions - Successful achievement of Olmstead’s objectives depends on the availability and accessibility of HUD-assisted and private housing. FHEO will take steps to assure that complaints that may have Olmstead implications are referred to the appropriate agencies. FHEO will ensure that such complaints are filed at HUD. HUD will investigate and take enforcement action to eliminate discriminatory housing practices that deny reasonable structural modifications to housing units, disqualify persons with disabilities from living in certain types of housing, or impose discriminatory conditions of residence/use on persons with disabilities. HUD will work with DOJ to enforce the Federal Housing Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. HUD’s Section 504 regulations treat private housing providers participating in the Section 8 housing voucher program as "contractors" rather than as "recipients" of federal financial assistance, not requiring them to meet the same obligations for assuring accessibility of their programs or services, limiting the housing choices available to persons with disabilities. Although the entity that administers the voucher program, usually a public housing authority (PHA), must take several steps with respect to private landlords participating in the program to assure basic nondiscrimination, assisting in locating accessible units, requesting exceptions to the Fair Market Rents, and other requirements, persons with disabilities often do not know about this requirements and might not request assistance. To address this barrier, FHEO proposes to enhance HUD guidance to remind recipients of their responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities in the housing choice voucher program and to inform persons with disabilities of their rights to reasonable accommodations under the program. There is a considerable need for guidance on fair housing/Section 504 issues such as reasonable accommodation rights, eligibility for certain HUD programs, overlapping accessibility requirements of the laws, and other issues. Such guidance would make it easier for individuals leaving institutions to know what housing programs they may apply for, how their fair housing rights relate to such programs, and what their rights are in relating to reasonable accommodations and similar issues.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA): The Office of Housing, also known as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) oversees aid for construction and financing of new and rehabilitated housing. The Office underwrites single-family, multifamily, property improvement, and manufactured home loans; administers assisted housing programs designed specifically for the elderly and people with disabilities; and the chronically mentally ill; administers assisted housing programs for low-income families who are experiencing difficulties affording standard housing; administers grants to fund resident ownership of multifamily housing properties; and protects consumers against fraudulent practices of land developers and promoters.

Barriers and Solutions: The Department will encourage housing counseling agencies to work with existing state organizations, such as the state protection and advocacy entities, the state developmental disability councils and Centers for Independent Living, to provide fair housing counseling and services. FHA issued a mortgagee letter encouraging lenders to be flexible with compensating factors and other underwriting considerations when reviewing applications of the disabled. When including income from sources not subject to Federal tax, lenders may add tax savings or "gross up" income. The letter advises that lenders should examine the overall pattern of credit behavior of applicants with disabilities. FHA proposes to issue another mortgagee letter advising lenders on how they may treat Section 8 subsidies as income in determining a homebuyer’s qualifying ratios for underwriting purposes.

Office of Policy Development and Research (PDR): The Office of Policy Development and Research’s (PD&R) primary mission is to provide reliable facts and analysis to form policy decisions by maintaining and expanding information on housing needs and market conditions, by evaluating HUD programs, and by conducting research on a wide range of housing and community development issues, including advances in housing technology.

Solutions: The Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) has plans for one study, and another study already underway, that will assist in addressing certain aspects of the housing needs of persons with disabilities. The first study, "Assessment and Analysis of Multifamily Buildings’ Conformity with Fair Housing Accessibility Provisions," is intended as a quantitative assessment of the extent of conformity with the accessibility provisions of the Fair Housing Act, as amended in 1988, and an examination of the reasons for the extent of conformity, including explanations for patterns of non-conformity. Under the second study, HUD will conduct a "Housing Choice Voucher Tenant Accessibility Study", which will assess the feasibility of conducting an ongoing nationwide mail survey of successful voucher program enrollees with physical disabilities about their experiences in searching for accessible units, and examine the quality of the experiences that these enrollees have in their search for accessible units.

Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH): The aim of HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) is to ensure safe, decent, and affordable housing; create opportunities for residents’ self-sufficiency and economic independence; and assure fiscal integrity by all program participants. Funds appropriated by Congress and administered by PIH enable Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to provide affordable housing to approximately 2.7 million low-income families nationwide. PIH’s programs include: the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program Coordinators proving funding to PHAs to pay the salaries of FSS Coordinators, the Public Housing Program, which addresses public housing developments and their residents through programs and activities such as the HOPE VI Revitalization Program.

Barriers and Solutions: PIH determined that the following programs present barriers for individuals with disabilities to be successfully integrated into the community.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program: PIH will send a Notice addressing implementation issues for the New Freedom Initiative, the Executive Order on "Community-Based Alternatives for Individuals with Disabilities," and the Olmstead decision and discuss how Federal, state, and local governments can work together to successfully implement the actions set forth in the them. Rather than defining "qualified family" as a family whose head, spouse, or sole member is disabled, a qualified family is any family with a disabled adult.

HUD announced "Project Access," a pilot program designed to facilitate the successful transition of non-elderly persons with disabilities from nursing homes to community living. PHAs and State Medicaid Agencies in 11 states will coordinate and work with other resources to facilitate the use of the initiative’s vouchers.
HUD issued its Housing Search Assistance Program (HSAP) NOFA announcing the availability of $10 million to provide counseling and supportive services funding for PHAs operating in difficult rental markets regarding the ability of housing choice voucher holders to locate affordable, decent and safe housing at an affordable price. Disabled families and individuals are specifically identified as being in the first-tier priority group.
HUD issued an interim rule that implemented a three-year homeownership pilot program for disabled families authorized by Section 302 of the American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000. Under the "Pilot Program for Homeownership Assistance for Disabled Families," a PHA may provide tenant-based homeownership assistance to a disabled family residing in a home purchased and owned by a family member. The pilot program provides disabled families with certain benefits in comparison with the basic homeownership option under the Housing Choice Voucher Program, such as admitting disabled families whose annual income is greater than 80 percent of the area median into the pilot program. A PHA may provide homeownership assistance for a family in the form of a single grant to be used toward the down payment required in connection with the purchase of a home.
HUD issued a final rule that disregarded certain increases in earned income to persons with disabilities served by several different HUD programs, including the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Some PHAs may not realize that Housing Choice Voucher regulations allows them discretion to grant a family "one or more" extensions of the required initial term of at least 60 calendar days to lease an apartment. These regulations also state that if a disabled family requests an extension as a "reasonable accommodation," then the PHA must extend the voucher term up to the term "reasonably required for that purpose."
Targeted Vouchers under Housing Choice Voucher Program are "targeted" solely for families with disabilities.
PHAs have agreed to use at least 15% of Fair Share vouchers for persons with disabilities and at least 3% of these vouchers for disabled families covered under a Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services waiver.

Designation of Public Housing Projects: PIH proposes to review the requirements and practices for the designation process to determine whether PHAs are requesting an adequate number of vouchers to meet the housing needs of non-elderly disabled families affected by designated housing plans. HUD has approved some PHAs’ designation plans that have included accessible units, thus having the effect of reducing the supply of these already scarce units that disabled families may need. In reviewing a PHA’s designation plan, PIH will explicitly take into account whether the units to be designated are accessible for families with disabilities.

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