Ohio Interagency Council Adopts PSH Policy Framework

 

TAC is pleased to announce that January 28, 2010, the Ohio Interagency Council on Homeless and Affordable Housing adopted a new State of Ohio Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Policy Framework intended to create 6,000 new units of PSH for the most vulnerable households with serious and long term disabilities. "By adopting this groundbreaking comprehensive approach to permanent supportive housing – which focuses on preventing and ending chronic homelessness as well as reducing Ohio's use of expensive and unnecessary institutions – the State of Ohio has become a national leader in PSH policy" said Ann O'Hara, Associate Director of TAC. "We also want to thank the Melville Charitable Trust for their generous support for TAC's work with the Ohio Interagency Council over the past year."

 

Ohio state officials, as well as PSH advocates and stakeholders, have recognized that momentum is rapidly building for a new array of federal policy and resource opportunities that will help to "take PSH to scale" in Ohio and potentially other states that adopt similar policies.

 

"The Interagency Council is proud to partner with the Technical Assistance Collaborative and adopt this new Permanent Supportive Housing framework," said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Director of the Ohio Department of Development and Chair of the Interagency Council on Homelessness and Affordable Housing. "The framework will be a positive step toward meeting the needs of our state's homeless population."

 

A new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) collaboration is expected to create new incentives within affordable housing and Medicaid policies which could significantly expand the creation of PSH units in states with a strong PSH policy framework in place.

 

TAC is currently assisting several other states – including Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Maryland – to improve the alignment of state and local affordable housing and support service policies and advance the PSH approach as the most proven and cost effective response to the affordable housing and service needs of the most vulnerable people with serious and long term disabilities.