Opening Doors, July 2007,
Issue 30
Priced Out in 2006:
People with Disabilities Left Behind and Left Out of National
Housing Policy
By
Ann O’Hara, Emily Cooper, Andrew Zovistoski, and
Jonathan Buttrick
Introduction
Across the
These shocking statistics are the most important findings included
in Priced Out in 2006 – the newest Priced Out study of the severe
housing affordability problems of people with disabilities who must survive on
incomes far below the federal poverty line. The study compares the SSI monthly
income of people with serious and long-term disabilities to local U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fair Market Rents for
modestly priced rental units in 2006.
This issue of Opening Doors highlights the key findings published
in Priced Out in 2006, a biennial report
published by the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) and the Consortium
for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force to shine a spotlight on
our nation’s most compelling – and least understood – housing affordability
crisis.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, nationally renowned disability rights
advocate for over 50 years, graciously contributed to Priced
Out in 2006. “Housing is the key for
individuals with disabilities,” she stated.
See below for the full
Foreword to Priced Out in 2006, written
by Mrs. Shriver.
Foreword to Priced
Out in 2006
by Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Priced Out in 2006, the newest report published
by the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens
with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force, documents the continued lack of
affordable, accessible housing for individuals with significant long-term
disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities,
mental illness, and chronic health conditions.
This shortage is a crisis of epic proportions for people with
disabilities seeking lives of independence, dignity, and acceptance.
Priced Out clearly illustrates the
persistent relationship between limited income and the lack of decent, safe,
affordable, and accessible housing. Four
million adult individuals aged 18-64 living with significant and long-term
disabilities rely on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to cover living
expenses, but the value of that income has precipitously declined. Despite the efforts of so many individuals,
families, advocacy organizations, and legislators, the data are simply
shocking:
• In 2006, the national average monthly income
of a person who relied on SSI as his or her source of income was only $632.
When Priced Out was first published in 1998, the value of SSI payments
relative to national median income was 24.4 percent. Today the value of SSI has dropped to only
18.2 percent.
• Last year the national average rent for
one-bedroom apartments rose to $715 per month – this equals 113.1 percent of
monthly SSI income.
• In 2006 – for the first time – the national
average rent of $633 for studio/efficiency apartments rose above the entire
monthly income of an individual who solely relies on SSI income. Even this modest dwelling would consume 100.1
percent of someone’s income.
How can we possibly expect
any individual or family to spend 100-113 percent of their entire monthly
income on housing? It is not only
mathematically impossible, but morally unconscionable.
Creating
and maintaining the financial and social supports to provide affordable housing
for individuals with disabilities in the community is not only the right thing
to do, it makes fiscal sense. The
American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (formerly
AAMR) has determined that it costs 50-75 percent less to provide
services in community-based housing rather than more institutional-type housing
funded by Medicaid.
Several
states have recognized the housing crisis for people with disabilities and have
answered the call by creating innovative, cost-effective solutions.
As part of Hurricane Katrina/Rita
rebuilding policies, the State of
Finally,
as just one example, The Arc of Anne Arundel County in
We know decent, safe,
affordable, and accessible housing adds to the overall community. We know it
makes financial sense for individuals with disabilities to live in
community-based housing. We know federal housing programs are significantly
under-funded and waiting lists are flooded.
And we also know that this under-funded system is poised for further
strain. Approximately 700,000 people
with developmental disabilities live with one or more parents over the age of
65. These aging parents have lovingly
cared for their children, often in silent struggle, for decades. What will happen to these individuals living
at home, and how can we assure our most heroic citizens – parents – that their
children will be properly taken care of?
These circumstances call for
bold, creative, and bipartisan measures.
Priced Out in 2006 recommends that Congress
provide funding to create at least 150,000 new housing units for people with
disabilities over the next ten years.
I say bravo! It is long past time
to acknowledge the tremendous restrictions and barriers that exist for people
with disabilities and remove them one by one.
In order to obtain and
maintain decent, safe, affordable, and accessible housing in the community and
bridge the housing affordability gap identified in Priced Out in 2006:
• People with disabilities who have SSI-level
income must have access to rental subsidies such as those provided by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher
and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities programs.
• The production of new, affordable rental
housing must become a national priority for individuals with significant
long-term disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, physical
disabilities, mental illness, and chronic health conditions.
• We must work with individuals, communities,
foundations, and legislators to demonstrate that safe, affordable, and
accessible housing is not an issue of special interest, but indeed of national
interest.
Housing
is the key for individuals with disabilities.
It is the necessary foundation piece that leads to education,
employment, and active participation in communities. It is where families are nourished,
strengthened, and loved. The
As an advocate for
individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families for over 50
years, I’ve seen the unique power each individual possesses to make a
difference. We’ve made great strides by
working together. But, despite these
efforts and successes, we have much left to accomplish. I urge you to join me and make housing for
all people, but especially our most vulnerable, not just a priority, but your
priority.
I commend TAC and the CCD for
yet again amassing such compelling and needed data in the field of disability
housing. They continue to raise and
maintain awareness on such a critical issue.
I am grateful for their efforts.
Most sincerely,
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Priced Out in 2006
Findings
The major findings from the Priced Out in 2006 study
include the following:
• In 2006 – for the first time – national average rents for both
one-bedroom and efficiency units were more than the entire monthly income of an
individual relying solely on SSI income.
The national average income of a person with a disability receiving SSI was
$632 per month in 2006. As growth in the
cost of modest rental housing continued to outpace cost-of-living increases in
SSI payments, the national average rent for a one-bedroom apartment rose to
113.1 percent of monthly SSI – up from 109.6 percent in 2004. Studio/efficiency rents rose above monthly
SSI payments for the first time, topping out at 100.1 percent as a national
average compared to 96.1 percent in 2004.
• In 2006, the annual income of a single
individual receiving SSI payments was $7,584 – equal to only 18.2
percent of the national median income for a one-person household and almost 25
percent below the federal poverty level.
• Since the first Priced Out study was published in 1998, the
value of SSI payments relative to median income has declined precipitously –
from 24.4 percent of median income in 1998 to 18.2 percent in 2006 – while
national average rents have skyrocketed.
The national average rent for a modest one-bedroom unit rose from $462 in
1998 to $715 in 2006 – an increase of 55 percent.
• Discretionary state SSI supplements provided by 21 states are not
the solution to the housing affordability problems experienced by people with
disabilities living on SSI payments. The
State of
SSI and Median Income
SSI is the federal income maintenance program that provides
financial support for people with significant and long-term disabilities who
have virtually no assets. In 2006, an
estimated 4 million people between the ages of 18-64 relied on SSI to pay for
their basic needs – including housing.
In 2006, federal SSI monthly income was $603. In addition to the federal payment, 21 states
provided an additional SSI supplement to individuals living independently,
raising the national average SSI payment to $632 per month or $7,584 per
year.
The data in Priced Out in 2006 reveals that people with
disabilities receiving SSI also fell further into poverty between 2004 and
2006. Between 2004 and 2006, the median
income of people with disabilities dropped from 18.4 percent to 18.2 percent of
median income – its lowest level ever. Table 1 below documents SSI as a percentage of one-person median income
for every state in the nation.
Households at or below 30 percent of median income are considered
extremely low-income under HUD guidelines and receive a priority under the
Housing Choice Voucher program. With
incomes at 18.2 percent of median, SSI recipients are one of the lowest-income
groups eligible for federal housing assistance.
|
Table 1: SSI as a
Percentage of One-Person Median Income - 2006 |
||||
|
State |
% of
Median Income |
|
State |
% of
Median Income |
|
|
20.1% |
|
|
21.3% |
|
|
22.7% |
|
|
17.4% |
|
|
18.8% |
|
|
17.4% |
|
|
22.8% |
|
|
15.2% |
|
|
22.4% |
|
|
13.4% |
|
|
16.5% |
|
|
22.4% |
|
|
16.3% |
|
|
19.2% |
|
|
15.3% |
|
|
19.2% |
|
|
11.4% |
|
|
18.1% |
|
|
18.9% |
|
|
17.7% |
|
|
17.7% |
|
|
22.9% |
|
|
15.3% |
|
|
17.6% |
|
|
21.4% |
|
|
18.0% |
|
|
15.5% |
|
|
17.5% |
|
|
17.6% |
|
|
19.5% |
|
|
17.9% |
|
|
20.1% |
|
|
17.4% |
|
|
20.2% |
|
|
21.1% |
|
|
19.0% |
|
|
21.2% |
|
|
18.0% |
|
|
18.9% |
|
|
18.1% |
|
|
13.6% |
|
|
15.6% |
|
|
16.2% |
|
|
17.9% |
|
|
17.0% |
|
|
22.1% |
|
|
17.2% |
|
|
18.9% |
|
|
25.4% |
|
|
17.9% |
|
|
18.1% |
|
National Average |
18.2% |
In the
|
Table 2: Percent of SSI Needed to Rent a One-Bedroom and
Studio/Efficiency Housing Unit - 2006 States
with percentages 100% or higher are listed in bold |
||||||
|
State |
% of
SSI to Rent Studio |
% of
SSI to Rent 1-BR |
|
State |
% of
SSI to Rent Studio |
% of
SSI to Rent 1-BR |