Going It Alone

The Struggle to Expand Housing Opportunities

for People with Disabilities

A publication of the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. and
Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force

Authored By:
Ann O'Hara
Emily Miller

Published By:

Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc
Boston, MA
(617) 742-5657
www.tacinc.org

Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force
Washington, DC
(202) 785-3388
www.c-c-d.org/tf-housing.htm

Introduction  

Independence and integration are among the most important values and goals shared by people with disabilities, their families, and advocates.  A home of one’s own – either rented or owned – is the cornerstone of independence for people with disabilities.  When a person with a disability has a decent, safe, and affordable home, then he or she has the opportunity to become part of the community.  With stable housing, people with disabilities are able to achieve other important life goals, including education, job training, and employment.   

Unfortunately, millions of people with disabilities today stand little chance of obtaining decent and affordable housing.  This is particularly the case for people with the most severe disabilities who receive federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.  Because of their extremely low incomes, people with disabilities receiving SSI cannot afford decent housing without some type of government housing assistance.  Despite this need, government housing officials and affordable housing providers have made little effort to acknowledge or address the extreme housing crisis confronting people with disabilities. 

The lack of response from the nation’s affordable housing system means that the disability community has been “going it alone” when seeking solutions to this housing crisis.  During recent years, many groups within the disability community – including consumer and self-advocacy groups, families, housing advocates, and non-profit disability organizations – have been trying to do what the affordable housing system has yet to do.  On their own, and with little help from the housing system, these groups have been struggling to expand affordable housing opportunities for people with disabilities in local communities.  Despite their best efforts, all of the evidence suggests that the disability community working alone cannot solve this problem.  We need the housing system to become actively involved! 

As housing advocates for people with disabilities, the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force (CCD Housing Task Force) and the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. (TAC) are very concerned about the lack of progress to expand affordable housing for people with disabilities.   To help understand these issues more clearly, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force set out to assess and document what is and isn’t working in local communities to expand affordable housing opportunities for people with disabilities.  The purpose of our work, which was partially funded through a grant from Fannie Mae (previously known as the Federal National Mortgage Association), was three-fold:   

1.       To document the barriers which have constrained the disability community’s housing efforts; 

2.       To identify existing examples of communities that have moved most successfully towards “best practices” to expand both homeownership and rental housing options for people with disabilities; and

3.       To assess the need for a comprehensive program of housing technical assistance targeted to the disability community.

 The results of this analysis are presented as the eight major findings in this report – Going It Alone:  The Struggle to Expand Housing Opportunities for People with Disabilities. 

·        Finding #1 – State and local housing officials do not give a high priority to the housing needs of people with disabilities. 

·        Finding #2 – Most Public Housing Agencies are not working with the disability community to expand housing options.   

·        Finding #3 – Most disability organizations have not established relationships or partnerships with affordable housing providers and funders.  

·        Finding #4 – The disability community’s knowledge of the key federal housing programs and policies that can assist people with disabilities is very limited. 

·        Finding #5 – The disability community has very limited knowledge of Fannie Mae housing programs targeted to people with disabilities.   

·        Finding #6 – Many disability organizations do not understand how participation in HUD’s Consolidated Plan process can help expand homeownership and rental housing for people with disabilities.   

·        Finding #7 – Most homeownership coalitions serving people with disabilities have only achieved modest results in terms of the number of people who have become homeowners.   

·        Finding #8 – With more housing knowledge, capacity, and technical assistance, disability organizations can help expand access to affordable housing. 

From these findings, it is clear that the disability community is at a critical point with respect to affordable housing.  People with disabilities are seeking independent housing in increasing numbers, but there is very little affordable housing available.  Most disability organizations do not have affordable housing expertise.  They have difficulty understanding the complexities of government housing programs and policies and are uncertain about how to approach the affordable housing system. 

Although successful examples of partnerships between the housing system and the disability community do exist, they are the exception rather than the rule.  Most housing advocates for people with disabilities still encounter major barriers – particularly discrimination – when trying to engage the affordable housing system.  Within the housing system, government officials and affordable housing providers have not yet demonstrated a commitment to make housing for people with disabilities a priority.  As a result, with some notable exceptions, the nation’s affordable housing funders and providers are not working in partnership with the disability community to address this housing crisis.

During the past four years, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force have worked together to sustain and expand the federal housing programs that can help people with disabilities obtain affordable housing.  Working as a broad-based coalition, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force have successfully advocated for over 40,000 new federal rent subsidies for people with disabilities.

New opportunities have also been created for non-profit disability organizations to directly receive and administer federal housing funds.  Through annual policy reports, the Opening Doors publication, and websites, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force disseminate important, timely, and “user-friendly” affordable housing information directly to the disability community. 

Throughout this effort, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force’s goals have remained the same: 

·        To ensure people with disabilities receive their “fair share” of government-funded affordable housing resources, based on their critical need for housing assistance; and 

·        To assist the disability community to successfully engage the nation’s affordable housing system in a partnership to expand housing opportunities for people with disabilities in every community. 

The findings from Going It Alone confirm that much more work needs to be done for these goals to be accomplished.   TAC’s housing publications and monographs posted on the Internet are certainly helpful – but cannot solve the fundamental problem of the “disconnect” between the disability community and the affordable housing system.  It is often remarked that these two systems “speak” different languages and have difficulty understanding each other’s programs and policies. The stigma and discrimination experienced by people with disabilities, and the Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) attitude of many communities, have also been major barriers to successful partnerships. 

The publication of Going It Alone is not intended to “point the finger” or affix blame for the severe shortage of decent and affordable housing for people with disabilities. Rather, its intent is to identify and understand the barriers to housing that do exist for people with disabilities, and propose practical and feasible solutions to overcome these barriers.  It is clear that a more effective strategy must be adopted – one that builds the capacity of the disability community to successfully engage and work within the affordable housing system.    

The findings in Going It Alone document the need for a new housing technical assistance initiative – the Housing Center for People with Disabilities – that can bring the two systems together.  The primary objective of the Housing Center for People with Disabilities will be to help the disability community develop the knowledge and skills needed to become a successful “player” in state and local affordable housing programs and decision making.  The target audience will include people with disabilities, their families, housing advocates, service providers, and affordable housing officials across the country. 

The outcome will be more collaborative partnerships between the disability community and the affordable housing system, leading to a significant expansion of homeownership and rental housing opportunities for people with disabilities.  To illustrate that these collaborations can work, this report summarizes two successful rental and homeownership strategies that have been implemented in Oakland County, Michigan and the State of Texas. 

In the end, innovation in affordable housing practices benefiting people with disabilities will also depend on intangibles, including a culture of innovation and change, and the leadership it takes to sustain the process of systems change.  However, the authors of this report firmly believe that these dynamics can be fostered and enhanced by providing more support and housing technical assistance to the disability community as they continue to work to achieve their housing goals.   The Housing Center for People with Disabilities can help make those goals a reality.

Chapter 1 – The Need 

Documenting the Housing Crisis Confronting People with Disabilities 

 Since the 1980s, people with disabilities and their housing advocates have made it clear that a home of one’s own – either rented or owned – means permanent and affordable housing in the community, including rental apartments, condominiums, and single family homes.  Today, the disability community knows that expanding permanent and affordable housing for people with disabilities is an essential need in every community in the United States.   Studies have clearly documented the enhanced quality of life and positive outcomes experienced by people with disabilities who have a home of their own.  Experience has also proved that people with disabilities living independently in permanent and affordable housing can be successful tenants and homeowners.  With this increased emphasis on both rental and homeownership options, it is no surprise that the demand for permanent and affordable housing for people with disabilities has increased exponentially during the past decade. 

Unfortunately, this demand is not well understood or acknowledged by most affordable housing funders and housing providers.  Many federal, state, and local affordable housing officials and housing providers are still unaware of the housing needs or housing crisis confronting people with disabilities.  Some affordable housing providers still think disability service providers – not the affordable housing system – should pay for housing for people with disabilities.  Many affordable housing officials and housing providers do not understand that recent innovations in Medicaid and other support service funding streams mean that:  (1) many people with disabilities no longer are forced to live in high density residential settings; and   (2) Medicaid does not pay for the costs of permanent housing in the community. 

Housing officials also need to be reminded that, for over 25 years, people with disabilities have been eligible for federal housing assistance.  However, until a few years ago, there was a lack of data on the nature and extent of the housing needs of people with disabilities.  Without good data it was difficult for the disability community to successfully engage federal housing policy makers and affordable housing providers and ensure people with disabilities received their “fair share” of government-funded housing resources.  Fortunately, good data is now available which accurately describes the severe housing problems experienced by people with disabilities, and it documents their priority need for government housing assistance. 

In March of 1999, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force published Priced Out in 1998, a comprehensive report on the housing crisis experienced by people with disabilities.  This report was significant because it documented that the poverty experienced by people with disabilities – including over 3 million adults with disabilities receiving SSI benefits – is the underlying cause of the housing crisis.  Priced Out in 1998 compared SSI benefit income to local housing costs in all 50 states and within 2,646 US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing market areas and concluded: 

·        People with disabilities receiving SSI benefits are among the lowest income households in the United States.  The national average income of an individual with a disability receiving SSI is only 24.4 percent of the typical one-person household (or median) income.  

·        In 1998 there was not one county or metropolitan area in the United States where a person receiving SSI benefits could actually follow federal guidelines for housing affordability and pay only 30 percent of their monthly income for rent.  Instead, as a national average, a person with a disability must spend 69 percent of his or her monthly SSI monthly income to rent a modest one-bedroom apartment at HUD’s Fair Market Rent.  The national average for a modest studio apartment is 58.5 percent of SSI monthly income. 

·        Virtually all adults with disabilities receiving SSI benefits who do not have government housing assistance qualify under federal guidelines as households with “worst case” housing needs.  “Worst case” housing needs are defined as paying more than 50 percent of income for housing costs or living in severely substandard housing.  A 1996 HUD report indicates that people with disabilities are more likely, than elderly or family households, to experience both these housing problems.[1] 

·        The information in Priced Out in 1998 was intended to be a wake-up call for both federal housing policy makers and the nation’s affordable housing officials.  During the early 1990s, the federal government made no effort to accurately assess the housing needs of people with disabilities.  Recent estimates have been more realistic, including a 1999 HUD report which documented that 25 percent of the 5.4 million households in the United States with “worst case” housing needs – approximately 1.4 million households – were people with disabilities.[2] 

The CCD Housing Task Force and TAC have estimated that as many as 1.8 million people with disabilities receiving SSI benefits may have severe housing problems.   In addition to SSI recipients, there are hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities who receive other disability benefits (i.e., Social Security Disability Income) who also qualify for government housing assistance.   Housing advocates in the disability community know first hand that millions of people with disabilities today are “at-risk” of homelessness because they live in severely substandard or inadequate housing, or pay most of their extremely limited income for rent.  In the United States today, people with disabilities are undoubtedly the most poorly housed of any group eligible for government housing assistance. 

Advocates for people with disabilities are also becoming more concerned about people with disabilities living with aging parents.  These adults with disabilities have had stable housing with their families because their parents challenged the system and choose to keep their child in the community instead of resorting to an institution.  These adults with disabilities have always been a part of community life.   Now their parents are in their 70s and 80s and community-based housing is a priority need for their adult children.  The Arc of the United States estimates that approximately 200,000 adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities are in need of housing and services in the community.  These parents are looking to the affordable housing system to provide them with an answer to the question “Where will my child live after I die?”  Thus far, there are few, if any, good answers to this question. 

Given the magnitude of the housing crisis confronting people with disabilities, why hasn’t the federal government – which funds over 4 million units of subsidized housing for low-income households – done more to address the housing problems which impact the most vulnerable of our nation’s citizens?  The answer to this question lies – at least in part – in major changes that have taken place in federal government housing policies and programs.  During the 1990s, just as greater numbers of people with disabilities were seeking housing, federal housing policies were actually exacerbating the housing problems of people with disabilities.  These changes are discussed in Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 – Policies, Barriers, and

Opportunities

The 1990s were a period of significant change in government housing programs and policies.  New federal housing policies fundamentally altered the affordable housing delivery system, including who controls federal housing funds spent at the state and local level.  For the most part, the disability community has been slow to adapt and respond to this new environment – which creates both barriers and opportunities for expanding affordable housing for people with disabilities.

New Federal Housing Policies

Devolution of Federal Housing Funding Decisions to State/Local Government 

During the 1990s, the federal government gave state and local housing officials and Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) more control over how federal housing funds are used in their jurisdictions.  This policy direction began with the enactment of the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 and culminated with the passage of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998.  Collectively, these new laws have fundamentally altered the landscape of affordable housing funding and decision making.  Now state and local housing officials and PHAs – not the federal government – decide which low-income populations will benefit from federally funded housing activities.  These changes are not well understood by many disability organizations that still think HUD is the only key player.   

The Consolidated Plan and the Public Housing Agency Plan 

In exchange for more control over federal housing programs, state and local government housing officials and PHAs must now develop and submit strategic housing plans to HUD each year.  These plans – the Consolidated Plan and the PHA Plan – contain the specific housing strategies and activities that will be implemented in the jurisdiction to meet affordable housing needs.  These plans control the expenditure of over $15 billion in annual federal housing funding which can be used for first-time homeownership programs, rental housing production, and tenant-based rental subsidies benefiting low-income households.  The plans also determine which population groups (e.g. elderly households, family households, disabled households) will have priority for federal public housing units and Section 8 rent subsidies. 

By law, both the Consolidated Plan and the PHA Plan should be developed with input from citizens, including the disability community.  However, the track record for meaningful participation by the disability community is poor.  Many disability organizations are unfamiliar with the Consolidated Plan and the PHA Plan, or aren’t sure how to influence the housing strategies included in these plans. 

Because the disability community is not adequately represented during the development of these plans, people with disabilities are not getting their “fair share” of the federal housing resources that these plans control.   

Despite a requirement that local and state officials consult with the disability community when preparing the Consolidated Plan, meaningful consultation rarely occurs.  Even when the disability community is asked to provide housing needs data for the Consolidated Plan, state and local housing officials usually do not allocate a “fair share” of the federal housing resources available to people with disabilities.  Because of the broad latitude given to state and local housing officials, HUD will not necessarily reject a Consolidated Plan simply because it does not address the housing needs of people with disabilities  – unless that issue is brought to HUD’s attention by the disability community. 

Barriers to Housing Opportunities for People with Disabilities

 A Complicated Housing System 

Unfortunately, the nation’s affordable housing programs are not organized or delivered systematically, but rather through a myriad of complicated programs and housing agencies that have no relationship to one another.  Navigating through this maze has proved very difficult for the disability community.  While there are some provisions in federal law and regulation designed to foster collaboration between government housing officials and the disability community – including the Consolidated Plan – housing advocates for people with disabilities have not learned how to capitalize on them. 

The disability community is severely constrained by its limited knowledge of federal housing policies and programs.  When disability housing advocates attempt to engage housing officials, they often report that the information they receive is either confusing or not useful to them.  Because every federal housing program is different, it is difficult to know exactly what questions to ask, or to learn how programs can best be used to expand housing for people with disabilities.   

Even local and state housing officials who administer certain federal housing programs are usually unfamiliar with the rules and policies that govern other programs outside of their administrative authority.  For example, PHAs have information on the public housing and Section 8 voucher program, but not on the federal HOME and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs.  Housing advocates for people with disabilities often ask, “If you can’t get useful and reliable information from the housing system, where can you get it?” 

HUD Budget Cuts  

For more than a decade, the federal government has dramatically reduced its financial commitment to affordable housing.  National housing advocates report that, after adjustments for inflation, HUD’s budget has been cut by more than 75 percent since the mid-1980s.  More than any other group eligible for housing assistance, people with disabilities have been negatively affected by the decline in federally funded housing and by cuts in the HUD budget. 

Because of the extremely low incomes of people with disabilities receiving SSI benefits, government housing programs that meet their needs must include a rental subsidy or an operating subsidy to ensure affordability.  Unfortunately these housing subsidies are expensive and have been most affected by the budget cuts at HUD.  Long-term rent subsidies for Section 8 project-based assistance, for the development of high quality public housing, and the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program (Section 811) have either been eliminated altogether or drastically reduced from previous funding levels. 

The Section 811 budget – which funds capital grants, operating subsidies, as well as tenant-based rental assistance for people with disabilities – has been cut by more than 50 percent since 1995.  This funding reduction has been a serious blow to non-profit disability organizations struggling to expand the stock of affordable housing.  Most non-profit disability organizations relied exclusively on the Section 811 program to expand housing for people with disabilities receiving SSI benefits.   As Section 811 funding was cut, and the cost of developing housing increased, housing production levels for people with disabilities have declined dramatically. 

Housing Affordability For People With Disabilities 

The extremely low income of most people receiving disability benefits is also a major barrier that federal housing policies have not addressed.  Simply put, it costs more to provide decent and affordable housing for people with disabilities than it does for other groups eligible (e.g. elderly households, families with children) for government housing programs.  Statistics published by HUD in March of 1998 document that people with disabilities assisted through HUD programs have an average annual income that is about 20 percent less than the income of elderly households receiving HUD assistance.[1] 

Because of their limited incomes, people with disabilities need more rent subsidy funding and down-payment assistance than low-income working families.   In these days of reduced government funding for housing, there are few incentives for government officials to “spend more for fewer units” – or to prioritize housing for people with disabilities in their Consolidated Plans – unless they are convinced to do so by the disability community.  

As stated above, long-standing HUD programs that provided “deeply” subsidized housing for the lowest income groups (i.e., Section 8 project-based assistance, public housing development, Section 811, etc.) have been reduced or eliminated from the federal budget.  Replacing them are housing programs and financing mechanisms more easily targeted to higher income households, including the HOME and CDBG programs, the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, and bond financing.  State and local government housing agencies are producing thousands of units of “affordable housing” with these programs.  However, in most instances, this new supply of housing is not affordable to people with SSI incomes of approximately $500 per month. 

Designation of “Elderly Only” Housing  

Since 1992, federal law has permitted public and private HUD assisted housing providers to restrict or exclude people with disabilities under age 62 from residing in studio and one-bedroom apartments with Section 8 project-based subsidies.  Prior to 1992, these units were available on an equal basis to both elderly and disabled applicants.   A TAC and CCD Housing Task Force report published in 1996 estimated that as many as 273,000 units of this housing would no longer be available to people with disabilities by the end of 2000 – an estimate that is currently on track as subsidized housing providers and PHAs continue to implement “elderly only” housing policies.[2] 

This loss of housing has occurred in thousands of communities across the country and has had a devastating impact on the supply of housing available to people with disabilities.  These properties often include the only subsidized housing units in a locality that are barrier-free or otherwise accessible to people with physical or sensory impairments.  The budget cuts to the Section 811 program discussed above have also prevented the development of new accessible housing properties that could begin to replace some of the housing lost through “elderly only” designation. 

Discrimination 

The stigma experienced by people with disabilities persists in many communities, and makes accessing or developing affordable housing difficult.  Often, PHAs, housing developers, and city officials would rather avoid serving people with disabilities than face the possible controversy.  In the worst cases, these housing providers and officials share the prejudices and fears of the community at large.  During the last decade, federal housing policies have been driven by a desire to exclude people with disabilities from certain federal housing developments and have therefore reinforced the stigma and discrimination experienced by people with disabilities every day.  

It is important to remember that, until the enactment of the Fair Housing Act Amendments (FHAA) of 1988, it was legal in the United States to discriminate against a person with a disability attempting to rent or buy a home.

Federal laws now protect people with disabilities from housing discrimination but these legal protections are often not well understood.  In fact, many disability organizations are uncertain about how these laws actually work and how to address housing discrimination when it occurs.

Opportunities to Expand Housing for People With Disabilities 

Despite all the barriers identified above, a few states and communities are making real headway in expanding affordable housing for people with disabilities.  In these localities, housing officials are responding to the sustained housing advocacy efforts of the disability community, and are implementing innovative and collaborative affordable housing strategies benefiting people with disabilities.  Obviously, the specific approaches adopted in local communities vary, depending on circumstances and opportunities.  However, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force has found two common elements in most successful efforts: 

1.       The creative use of all available affordable housing programs to expand homeownership and rental housing options – including so-called “generic” housing programs – rather than relying exclusively on the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program; and 

2.       Strong partnerships and collaborations between the affordable housing system and the disability community to ensure that the housing created will meet the housing needs and preferences of people with disabilities.  

Using “Generic” Affordable Housing Programs 

During the last decade, cuts in government housing programs prompted the affordable housing system to become more creative in its mission to expand affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate-income households.  “Generic” affordable housing programs not targeted specifically to people with disabilities such as HOME, CDBG, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, and Section 8 vouchers are now the core components of state and local affordable housing strategies.  These flexible programs have attracted both public and private sector developers to work in partnership with the housing system on innovative homeownership and rental housing strategies.  Using these “generic” rental and homeownership housing programs, housing finance agencies and government housing officials are learning how to “write down” the costs of rental and homeownership initiatives and leverage private financing in order to serve more low and moderate income households.  

Entrepreneurial PHAs have learned that the Section 8 voucher program is also an effective housing resource when targeted to address important housing policy objectives.  The Section 8 program, which currently assists over 1.4 million households nationwide, is now used to help families move from welfare to work, to help minority households move to more integrated neighborhoods, to re-unite families whose children have been in foster care, and to help people with disabilities who have been negatively affected by “elderly only” housing designation.  In the very near future, Section 8 vouchers will also be available to help very low-income households, including people with disabilities, buy their first home.   

Despite the potential in these new creative approaches to expand affordable housing, “generic” affordable housing programs are not being used in a systematic way to address the housing needs of people with disabilities.  The disability community does not benefit from these programs because: 

·        The disability community does not have the housing knowledge or capacity to understand the complex laws, regulations, and policies governing these programs;  

·        The disability community has not positioned itself to successfully influence state and local housing strategies included in the Consolidated Plan or the PHA plan; and 

·        The stigma and discrimination experienced by people with disabilities deter state and local housing officials from making the housing needs of people with disabilities a priority unless there is a sustained advocacy effort from the disability community itself. 

Building New Partnerships and New Approaches

 To successfully target these “generic” affordable housing resources, the disability community must learn more about how these programs can be used to meet the specific housing needs and preferences of people with disabilities.  They also must become more involved in the development of state and local affordable housing strategies and build new partnerships with public and private housing agencies.   In other words, to benefit from all of the resources within the affordable housing system, the disability community must learn to “become a player” in the housing system. 

This approach is essential but not easy.  Consistent with the direction in federal housing policy, state and local government housing officials have re-directed their efforts to the “working poor” and “moderate” income households.  Within this policy context, there are no built-in fiscal or policy incentives for government housing officials and affordable housing providers to collaborate on housing for households with the lowest incomes – particularly people with disabilities receiving SSI benefits.  Housing advocates for people with disabilities need to learn how to create partnerships with the housing system and to leverage “generic” affordable housing resources for people with disabilities. 

Most government housing officials and housing providers admit that they know little or nothing about the housing needs or housing preferences of people with disabilities.  However, successful collaborations can occur if the disability community takes the lead to assertively engage and educate state and local housing officials in a dialogue about the housing needs of people with disabilities and how they can be addressed. 

Because some housing officials may still be unwilling to address the housing needs of people with disabilities, the disability community must also learn how to monitor the housing activities of the state and local government officials and hold them accountable for their decisions.  These officials have a legal responsibility to address “priority housing needs” in local communities and to address the barriers and impediments to fair housing choices for people with disabilities.  In other words, they have an obligation to provide a “fair share” of government housing funding to meet the needs of people with disabilities who live in their communities. 

The Next Steps

It is clear that the disability community will fail in its housing advocacy efforts if outdated models and strategies are followed and if they fail to capitalize on new affordable homeownership and rental housing strategies.  During the past four years, there have been several national rental and homeownership initiatives which hold great promise for people with disabilities – particularly if they can be linked to “generic” affordable housing programs and strategies and if they can be implemented in partnership with affordable housing funders and providers. 

Currently, there are 21 Fannie Mae HomeChoice homeownership coalitions for people with disabilities that exist in 19 states and localities across the country.   These coalitions need to gain the housing expertise and experience necessary to be able to capitalize on “generic” affordable homeownership resources and strategies that are part of broader community efforts to expand homeownership for low-income households.  They also need to learn how to leverage both public and private financing for their homeownership coalitions, including a new and important opportunity to use Section 8 vouchers for homeownership initiatives targeted to people with disabilities. 

On the rental housing side, new Section 8 vouchers created by Congress exclusively for people with disabilities can be the basis for new partnerships between PHAs and the disability community to expand rental housing opportunities.  Congress has also funded new Section 811 tenant-based rental assistance resources that – for the first time – can be administered directly by non-profit disability organizations.  Pending reforms in the Section 811 program may also permit disability organizations to develop more innovative financing models specifically designed to leverage the “generic” affordable housing resources described above.  The disability community must be prepared to capitalize on these new rental and homeownership opportunities for people with disabilities, some of which are outlined in the next chapter.

Chapter 3 – Opportunities to Expand Homeownership and Rental Housing

for People with Disabilities 

During the past several years, there have been several new homeownership and rental housing initiatives targeted to people with disabilities including: 

·        New Section 8 voucher programs targeted exclusively to people with disabilities; and 

·        The Home Of Your Own (HOYO) and Fannie Mae HomeChoice homeownership coalitions.   

Anecdotal evidence suggests that – in a very limited number of communities and states – these new housing initiatives have brought about a significant expansion of affordable housing for people with disabilities.  In a few instances, the availability of these programs has actually fostered the development of partnerships and coalitions of housing and disability organizations working together to address the housing crisis facing people with disabilities. 

However, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force have learned that most housing advocates in the disability community are still struggling to expand rental and homeownership opportunities in their communities.  In most communities, disability housing advocates still lack the knowledge and housing capacity to capitalize on these opportunities.  They are also having difficulty engaging and obtaining the “buy-in” of state and local housing officials.  As a result, the potential within these housing initiatives to significantly expand housing opportunities for people with disabilities in a more systematic way has not yet been realized. 

New Section 8 Vouchers for People with Disabilities

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program is targeted by law to help extremely low-income people, including people with disabilities, afford housing of their choice in the private rental market.  Households with Section 8 vouchers pay a limited amount of their monthly income (usually 30 percent) for rent.  The Section 8 voucher pays a rent subsidy directly to the landlord that is based on the cost of “modestly” priced rental housing in the locality.  To use the Section 8 voucher successfully, the household must locate housing that is affordable and approvable under HUD guidelines, and the owner of the rental housing must agree to accept the Section 8 payment. 

Overall, the Section 8 program has been a very successful mechanism to help very low-income people solve their housing problems.  Since the program began in 1974, HUD has distributed over 1.4 million vouchers to PHAs, who administer the program and distribute the vouchers to households on their Section 8 waiting lists.  However, for people with disabilities and their housing advocates, the Section 8 program has many barriers and impediments that are difficult to overcome.   

Section 8 is a complicated program with a myriad of confusing rules and regulations.  Since the enactment of public housing reform legislation in 1998, Section 8 has also become a much more flexible program.  Through the PHA Plan process, PHAs are given a great deal of autonomy to determine which low income households will benefit from the Section 8 vouchers available and whether the PHA will use Section 8 vouchers for homeownership initiatives.   

The Section 8 program is also complicated because it involves several key players – including the PHA, the low-income household, and a willing landlord in the private rental market.  Obtaining a Section 8 voucher does not guarantee housing.  Once a voucher is obtained, the household has approximately 60 days to locate housing within Section 8 rent limits that meets HUD’s Housing Quality Standards.  The landlord must also be willing to accept the rent subsidy. 

Historically, the disability community has had great difficulty trying to use the Section 8 program.  Disability organizations generally are not sure how to approach PHAs and do not understand the complicated rules PHAs use to administer the program.  People with disabilities have problems when they try to apply and get on Section 8 waiting lists, and often are removed from waiting lists for procedural reasons.  If a person with a disability actually succeeds in getting a Section 8 voucher, they often have difficulty finding a willing landlord or a rental unit that meets Section 8 guidelines.  Successful Section 8 programs for people with disabilities must offer assistance to overcome these bureaucratic and programmatic barriers. 

For the past four years, Congress has appropriated funding for 30,000 Section 8 vouchers to address the loss of housing for people with disabilities from the implementation of “elderly only” housing policies.  Since 1997, Section 8 vouchers have been offered by HUD to PHAs willing to document the loss of housing for people with disabilities in their jurisdiction.   Another 10,000 vouchers were appropriated for the Section 8 Mainstream Program for People with Disabilities, which is a set-aside of Section 8 vouchers specifically for people with disabilities.   

The process of getting these vouchers distributed to people with disabilities who need them has not gone smoothly.  A TAC survey of all PHAs in 1999 documented the following problems:

·        The vast majority of PHAs are simply unwilling to administer Section 8 vouchers targeted to people with disabilities. 

 ·        Available HUD data indicates that only 10 percent of the PHAs that administer the Section 8 program applied to HUD each year to make these vouchers available to people with disabilities[1] (See Table 1to the right.)

·        Many PHAs report a lack of capacity to administer additional vouchers for people with disabilities who may need extra help to use the voucher; 

·        Some PHAs that have these vouchers have not distributed them.  TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force has found that these PHAs do not have positive working relationships with disability organizations.

This lack of interest and poor track record of PHAs prompted Congress to direct HUD to also permit non-profit disability organizations to administer some of these Section 8 vouchers.  Disability organizations that want to participate are having difficulty demonstrating the capacity to administer the Section 8 voucher program or are having difficulty getting new vouchers from HUD.  Others who want to apply in a partnership with a PHA report difficulty convincing the PHA to apply with them.  As a result, hundreds of these Section 8 vouchers have yet to be given to the people with disabilities who desperately need them. 

This lack of success is troubling but not surprising.  Very few disability organizations have a history of good working relationships with PHAs.  Most do not know how the Section 8 voucher program actually works, and do not know how to get people with disabilities on Section 8 waiting lists.  They also do not know that people with disabilities can receive a priority for Section 8 vouchers through the PHA Plan process.  This knowledge is essential for people with disabilities to fully benefit from the Section 8 voucher program – the cornerstone of the federal government’s current rental housing policies. 

To increase access to Section 8 vouchers for people with disabilities, disability organizations must be able to:   

1.       Work more collaboratively with PHAs to expand access to Section 8 vouchers for people with disabilities;  

2.       Develop the capacity to administer the Section 8 voucher program themselves if PHAs are unwilling; and  

3.       Learn how to use the PHA Plan process to preserve and expand access to both public housing and Section 8 vouchers for people with disabilities. 

PHAs must also work with the disability community to address some of the other major barriers within the Section 8 and public housing programs that negatively impact people with disabilities.  The disability community needs to become more aware of PHA efforts to designate “elderly only” housing and ensure that this loss of housing for people with disabilities is adequately addressed by the PHA through new Section 8 vouchers and by targeting other affordable housing programs to people with disabilities. 

People with disabilities and their housing advocates need help understanding complex Section 8 and public housing regulations.  They also need assistance with the housing search and the landlord acceptance process, and may need access to security deposit or utility deposit funds or other one-time housing related needs.  Innovative collaborations created between PHAs and the disability community can lead to much better utilization of Section 8 and public housing by people with disabilities, including the potential for new homeownership opportunities.  One of these collaborations is described as a “best practice” in Chapter 6. 

Fannie Mae HomeChoice and the Home of Your Own Homeownership Initiatives  

Fannie Mae is a congressionally chartered, shareholder-owned company, and the nation’s largest source of mortgage funds.  Fannie Mae has committed to provide one trillion dollars in targeted lending for 10 million homes by the end of the decade.[1] 

Fannie Mae HomeChoice is a mortgage product tailored to meet the unique needs of low- and very low-income people with disabilities.  With the development of HomeChoice, Fannie Mae became the only secondary market agency to tailor a mortgage product to people with disabilities that addressed some of the barriers people with disabilities face when trying to buy a home.  HomeChoice mortgages offer flexibility in the areas of loan-to-value ratios, amount of down payment, qualifying ratios, and establishing credit.  These features make HomeChoice a unique program for helping people with disabilities with limited incomes become homeowners. 

The HomeChoice mortgage product is made available through 22 homeownership coalitions implemented in 19 states and localities across the country.  Since its inception in 1996, the HomeChoice mortgage product has helped approximately 250 people with disabilities become first time homebuyers by emphasizing homeownership education, pre- and post-purchase counseling, and other long-term supports that make it possible for people with disabilities to succeed as homeowners. 

The homeownership coalition model includes a lead agency that coordinates the program in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders from the housing, disability, and finance fields. 

Coalition members can be consumer and family groups; housing finance agencies; lenders; state mental health, mental retardation, and developmental disabilities agencies; independent living centers; non-profit homeownership counseling organizations; and realtors.  To be successful, the coalition’s partners must have the knowledge, skills, and commitment necessary to aggregate all resources needed by people with disabilities interested in owning a home, including homebuyer education and counseling, down-payment assistance, home modifications, legal assistance, and the most advantageous mortgage financing. 

Fannie Mae’s HomeChoice coalition model built upon the earlier efforts of the National Home of Your Own Alliance (HOYO).  HOYO grew from a locally based homeownership pilot program to a national effort funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities within the US Department of Health and Human Services.  Many HOYO coalitions now offer the Fannie Mae HomeChoice mortgage as well as other mortgage products that meet the needs of people with disabilities. 

People with disabilities have unique circumstances with respect to mortgage underwriting, because their income is typically derived from benefits rather than employment.  Fannie Mae recognized that, while people with limited benefit incomes have a greater need for decent and affordable housing, they also have more stable long-term fixed incomes and are highly motivated to make their monthly mortgage payments. 

Both the HOYO and HomeChoice initiatives also recognized that some people with disabilities, particularly those with severe disabilities, might need a wide range of financial and personal support services from public and non-profit housing and service agencies if they were to realize their dream of owning their own home.   To meet these needs, the homeownership coalition model for people with disabilities is intended to be a public/private partnership designed to provide a comprehensive approach to first-time homeownership. 

To ensure access to the resources needed to achieve this goal, homeownership coalitions serving people with disabilities need to establish legitimacy within the community and obtain buy-in from key housing officials, non-profit organizations, and lenders.   Of particular importance is buy-in from government officials that control access to federal housing funds, including HOME and CDBG funds, that can pay for first time homeownership program costs such as down payment assistance, closing costs, and accessibility modifications.  These funds are made available through the Consolidated Plan. 

Thus far, most homeownership coalitions have not been able to aggregate enough funding to serve large numbers of people with disabilities.  The extremely low incomes of people with disabilities receiving SSI benefits, as well as record high housing prices, have also proven to be difficult barriers for homeownership coalitions to overcome.  Coalition lead agencies report great difficulty obtaining sufficient HOME and CDBG funds for the down payment assistance and closing costs necessary to reach the lowest income households. 

Often, lenders are reluctant to modify their mortgage processing systems to accommodate the small volume of loans that these homeownership programs are currently generating. 

Homeownership coalitions for people with disabilities should also be focusing on a new opportunity that could help increase the number of people with disabilities who can achieve homeownership.  New federal policies enacted in the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 will soon permit Section 8 vouchers to be used for homeownership as well as rental housing.  The use of Section 8 housing assistance to make monthly mortgage payments will mean that more people with disabilities will now potentially qualify for HomeChoice and other mortgage products and may give private lenders an added incentive to participate in the HomeChoice program. 

In higher cost housing markets, the Section 8 program will be able to provide $600 per month or more as a direct subsidy to the monthly mortgage amount.  However, to take advantage of these new resources for homeownership, coalitions must now seek the active participation of the state or local PHA that administers the Section 8 program. 

As discussed above, most disability organizations currently do not have the housing capacity to take advantage of these new rental and homeownership initiatives.  TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force recently completed several surveys designed to document these capacity problems.  The findings of these surveys are discussed in the next chapter.

Chapter 4 – Lessons from the

Field: TAC and the CCD, Housing Task Force Surveys

Survey Rationale

For many years, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force have believed that the lack of collaboration and partnerships between the disability community and the affordable housing system – in particular PHAs – is the key barrier to addressing the housing crisis confronting people with disabilities.  Unless the disability community learns how to “play the housing game” in local communities, they will have no choice but to settle for the minimal outcomes now being achieved in the homeownership and rental housing programs described in the previous chapter.  

To more accurately measure the housing capacity of the disability community, and the level of support received from the affordable housing system, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force completed three separate surveys in 1999.  The surveys were designed primarily to evaluate the knowledge, capacity, and level of participation among non-profit disability organizations in community-based affordable housing programs and to learn more about the implementation of the Fannie Mae HomeChoice Mortgage Program and the Section 8 vouchers targeted to people with disabilities.  As national housing advocates for people with disabilities, TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force wanted to learn:  

·        The extent to which state and local disability groups were taking advantage of homeownership and Section 8 rental housing initiatives for people with disabilities; 

·        The disability community’s participation level in affordable housing decision making at the state and local level through the Consolidated Plan and PHA Plan processes, and their capacity to leverage “generic” affordable housing funding controlled by government housing officials; 

·        The level of involvement of affordable housing funders, PHAs, and other housing providers in expanding homeownership and rental housing opportunities for people with disabilities including the extent of partnerships established between the disability community and the affordable housing system; and 

·        The housing technical assistance needs of disability organizations and housing agencies working to expand affordable housing opportunities for people with disabilities. 

Approach 

TAC utilized data from the following three housing surveys to reach the findings outlined in Going It Alone.   [NOTE:  Copies of the surveys are included in Appendices 1 – 3.] 

Housing Capacity Survey of Non-Profit Disability Organizations – During 1999, TAC conducted a national survey of CCD Housing Task Force members and affiliated organizations.  Organizations participating in the survey included state chapters of The Arc of the United States (Arc), state chapters of the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (NAMI), local affiliates of the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCHOR), local chapters of Easter Seals, state Developmental Disabilities Councils, and local chapters of the United Cerebral Palsy Association.  TAC received 96 survey responses representing a broad cross-section of consumer, family, advocacy, and provider organizations within the disability community.   See map in Appendix 4. 

Housing Capacity Survey of Fannie Mae HomeChoice and Home of Your Own Coalitions – During the summer of 1999, Fannie Mae HomeChoice and Home of Your Own coalitions were surveyed.   Thirty-eight responses were received, including 19 from HomeChoice coalitions, nine from HOYO coalitions, and 10 respondents who participated in both programs.  Respondents represented homeownership coalitions in 23 states and territories across the country.  TAC also conducted focus groups with two coalitions, and interviewed staff in Fannie Mae Regional Offices.  See map in Appendix 5. 

Public Housing Agency Section 8 Survey – TAC individually contacted all of the PHAs in the country that currently administered the Section 8 rental assistance program.  Approximately 600 PHAs responded to TAC’s request for information and data.  The responding PHAs included large, medium, as well as small PHAs across the country. 

Overview of Findings 

The survey data confirms that the disability community’s knowledge of federal housing programs and important changes in federal housing policy is still very limited.  For example, disability organizations reported knowing about new Section 8 vouchers for people with disabilities but few knew that these Section 8 rent subsidies could soon be used for homeownership or that non-profit disability organizations, as well as PHAs, could administer them.  Most respondents also did not know about or had not participated in the Consolidated Plan or the PHA Plan processes in their community. 

Despite the need for more collaboration between housing and disability organizations, survey data indicates that collaboration between the two systems is the exception, rather than the rule.  Yet these relationships are the critical first step in developing more systematic strategies to address the substantial and growing unmet housing need that exists.  

In many instances – such as with most new Section 8 rental assistance funding – forming partnerships with housing agencies is currently the only feasible approach to expand homeownership and rental opportunities in a significant way. 

The survey data also documents that very few disability organizations have been able to access “generic” affordable housing programs such as HOME and CDBG to develop homeownership and rental housing opportunities for people with disabilities.  Significantly, those organizations that had attempted to obtain these resources had a high rate of success.  This finding indicates that with more housing knowledge and capacity, disability organizations can begin to leverage the use of these programs in local communities to address the unmet need for housing for people with disabilities. 

On a final positive note, the survey results provide strong evidence of the value of providing affordable housing information and technical assistance directly to the disability community.  For example, the survey responses clearly document the success of TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force technical assistance efforts over the past three years to expand the disability community’s knowledge and access to the special set-asides of Section 8 vouchers for people with disabilities.  During the spring of 1999, TAC received over 200 inquiries from disability organizations seeking more information about this Section 8 set-aside program. 

The key findings from the survey data are presented below in two parts.  Part I documents the current policies and practices of government housing officials and providers.  Part II highlights the level of housing knowledge and capacity of non-profit disability organizations to participate in key community based affordable housing programs and policies.

Part I

The Current Role of Government Housing Funders and Providers

 Finding #1 – State and local housing officials do not give a high priority to the housing needs of people with disabilities. 

Only 10 percent of state/local housing officials, 18 percent of PHAs, and 26 percent of state/local housing finance agencies have made housing for people with disabilities a “high priority” for funding in their communities.[1]  (See Table 2 above.)  This finding was consistent with the PHA survey data indicating one-third of PHAs believe there is no need for additional affordable housing targeted to people with disabilities within their jurisdiction. 

Finding #2 – Most PHAs are not helping the disability community expand housing opportunities for people with disabilities.  HUD data indicates that only 10 percent of all PHAs collaborated with the disability community each year to seek new Section 8 vouchers for people with disabilities.[2]  (See Table 1 on page 19.) 

Finding #3 – Most disability organizations have not established relationships or partnerships with affordable housing providers and funders.  Only 16 percent of homeownership coalitions, and only 22 percent of CCD members and affiliates had formed partnerships with PHAs to expand access to Section 8 vouchers.  On a more positive note, 48 percent of homeownership coalitions serving people with disabilities had formed partnerships with government and non-profit housing agencies – progress which should eventually improve the outcomes of HomeChoice and Home of Your Own coalitions. 

Part II

The Housing Knowledge and Capacity of the Disability Community 

Finding #4 – Knowledge of key federal housing programs and policies that can assist people with disabilities is very limited.  Only 14 percent of CCD members and affiliates have an understanding of HUD regulations, only 19 percent know about the PHA Plan and its impact on the Section 8 Program, and only 41 percent know that Section 8 rent subsidies can be used to expand homeownership as well as rental housing opportunities.  (See Table 3)  On a more positive note, 62 percent of CCD members and affiliates know that new Section 8 vouchers are available to help people with disabilities.  This is a clear indication of the success of the TAC and CCD Housing Task Force Opening Doors publication.