PRICED OUT IN 2004

The Housing Crisis for People with Disabilities

AUGUST 2005

Ann O’Hara

Emily Cooper

Foreword by Senator Jack Reed (D) Rhode Island

Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc.

Boston MA

(617) 266-5657

www.tacinc.org

Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force

Washington DC

www.c-c-d.org/tf-housing.htm

Priced Out in 2004 is the latest in a series of housing publications created as a joint effort by the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. (TAC) and the Washington, DC based Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force. TAC is a national non-profit organization that works to achieve positive outcomes on behalf of people with disabilities or other special needs by providing state of the art information, capacity building, and technical expertise to organizations and policymakers in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, human services, and affordable housing. For further information, contact:

Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc.

535 Boylston Street

Suite 1301

Boston, MA 02116

(617) 266-5657

info@tacinc.org

www.tacinc.org

CCD is a national coalition of consumer, advocacy, provider, and professional organizations that advocate on behalf of people of all ages with disabilities and their families. CCD has created the CCD Housing Task Force to focus specifically on housing issues that affect people with disabilities. For further information, please contact the CCD Housing Task Force co-chairs:

Kathleen McGinley

National Disability Rights Network

(202) 408-9514

Kathy.McGinley@ndrn.org

Andrew Sperling

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill

(703) 516-7222

andrew@nami.org

Elizabeth Savage

The Arc of the United States and United Cerebral Palsy Disability Policy Collaboration

(202) 783-2229

savage@thearc.org

Copyright © 2005 Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. All rights reserved.

Permission to reprint portions of this report or the data therein is granted, provided appropriate credit is given to the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc..

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements		1
Foreword by Senator Jack Reed (D) Rhode Island		2
Priced Out in 2004 Key Findings		3
	Introduction		3
	Major Findings in Priced Out in 2004		4
	SSI Compared to Rents for One-Bedroom and Studio/Efficiency Units		6
	State-By-State Analysis of Housing Affordability		7
	Disturbing Trends in State Rent Levels		9
	Housing Market Area Analysis		11
	Highest-Cost Local Housing Market Areas		11
	Rising Costs in Rural Housing Markets		11
	SSI Compared to Median Income		12
	Effect of SSI Supplements		14
	SSI Cost-of-Living Increases Compared to Increases in Rents		15
	SSI Compared to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Housing Wage		16
Priced Out in 2004 Policy Recommendations		19
How to Use the Information in Priced Out in 2004		23
Appendices
Appendix A: State and City Housing Market Data		26
Appendix B: Housing Market Areas That Require More Than 100 Percent of Monthly SSI Benefits to Rent a One-Bedroom Housing Unit		42
Appendix C: Non-Elderly People With Disabilities Receiving SSI Benefits in 2004		45
Appendix D: Priced Out in 2004 Methodology		46

Acknowledgements

T

he Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. would like to extend its thanks to the Melville Charitable Trust for the generous support that made the publication of Priced Out in 2004 possible, and for their continued commitment to the housing needs of people with disabilities and people who are homeless.

The authors would also like to acknowledge the valuable contributions to Priced Out made by the following individuals: Senator Jack Reed (D) Rhode Island; Kara Stein, Legal Counsel, Office of Senator Jack Reed; Andy Zovistoski at the Vermont Department of Developmental and Mental Health Services; Marie Herb, Jessica Shaw, Jim Yates and Jonathan Buttrick from TAC; Sherry Barber from the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics of the U.S. Social Security Administration; Kathleen McGinley of National Disability Rights Network; Andrew Sperling of National Alliance for the Mentally Ill; Elizabeth Savage of The Arc of the United States and United Cerebral Palsy Disability Policy Collaboration; and Sheila Crowley (President), Danilo Pelletiere and their colleagues from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Foreword