HUD FY 2011 Budget Eliminates Production of New Units for People with Significant Disabilities
Released by: Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force and Technical Assistance Collaborative

 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) FY 2011 Budget proposal released on February 1st would completely eliminate all funding for new permanent supportive housing units financed through HUD's Section 811 program. The Section 811 program is the only HUD program which creates new permanent supportive housing units for people with the most significant and long term disabilities who also can benefit from voluntary community-based services and supports.

 

"This proposal to cut 811 completely ignores bipartisan legislation in Congress to reform the program", said Andrew Sperling, Co-Chair of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force and Director of Government Relations for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

 

"Without access to Section 811 supportive housing resources, state and local efforts prevent homelessness and reduce the growth of Medicaid long-term care expenditures in nursing homes and other institutions will fail. People with disabilities should not be forced to choose between institutionalization and homelessness," Sperling added.

 

HUD's budget proposal comes at a time when the need for permanent supportive housing has never been greater. CCD Housing Task Force studies show that more than one million individuals with the most serious and long term disabilities have HUD-defined "worst case" housing needs. To respond to this housing crisis, CCD has worked with Congress on legislation which would enact long-overdue reforms and improvements to the Section 811 program. This legislation (H.R. 1675) passed the House with strong bi-partisan support in July of 2009 and a Senate hearing on a companion bill (S. 1481) held in October included strong bi-partisan statements of support to move the legislation forward.

 

"Incredible work has already been done to design a new and more cost effective Section 811 program that will address the concerns of HUD and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) officials," said Ann O'Hara, Associate Director of the Technical Assistance Collaborative, a Boston-based non-profit group that has been working with CCD to reform the Section 811 program. While we applaud HUD for including new Housing Choice Vouchers for people with special needs in their proposed budget, vouchers cannot be the only solution. The Section 811 legislative proposal now in Congress is a proven "best practice" model that will help state housing and human services agencies to work together to develop thousands of permanent supportive housing units each year at a fraction of the cost of the current Section 811 program," said O'Hara.

 

The CCD Housing Task Force and TAC urge HUD to work with Congress to enact this critically important legislation as soon as possible and to provide at least $200 million in appropriations for FY 2011 to ensure its success. "People with the most severe disabilities cannot afford to wait another year for a viable Section 811 program," said Liz Savage, a CCD Housing Task Force Co-Chair and Director of Health and Housing Policy for The Arc of the United States and United Cerebral Palsy. "We can do more than address homelessness after the fact," said Savage. "The new Section 811 program being considered by Congress is a proven approach that can create 3,000 - 5,000 more Section 811 units every year without any increase in appropriations," she added.