The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has issued an important fact sheet on the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008 which will reform HUD’s Section 811 program. This is an important legislative initiative that “by enacting the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008, Congress can ensure that a reinvigorated Section 811 program is ready to create thousands of new permanent supportive housing units every year without needing to double or triple appropriation levels.” The fact sheet provides an excellent overview of the benefits of the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008.
To read the full legislation click here. To read the full fact sheet click here.
To read our previous post on the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008 click here.
This is a summary from the CCD Fact Sheet.
H.R. 5772 will “fast-track” and sustain the creation of thousands of new permanent supportive housing units every year by:
Authorizing a new and innovative Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC) Demonstration program to create thousands of new Section 811 units each year without substantially increasing Section 811 appropriations levels by leveraging new set-asides of supportive housing units in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties and HOME-funded projects. The PRAC Demonstration program will provide the essential rental subsidy to reduce rents to affordable levels for people receiving SSI in a small but significant percentage of the hundreds of thousands of units that are routinely created every year through the LIHTC and HOME programs administered by states and local jurisdictions.
Reforming the existing Section 811 production program to better leverage other capital funding and reduce barriers to “mixed-finance” Section 811 projects. These reforms will also increase the number of units created each year through the current 811 production program;
Streamlining Section 811 processing requirements and removing out-dated regulatory barriers.
Shifting fiscal responsibility for the Section 811-funded Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher program to the Section 8 budget where it belongs. Although funded and renewed from 811 appropriations, these Mainstream Housing Choice Vouchers have never created new permanent supportive housing units and are not targeted to people with the most serious and long-term disabilities.
Time is running out on the Section 811 program while the need to create new permanent supportive housing units has never been greater. In FY 2007, only 1000 new Section 811 units were awarded and without new legislation, that number will soon fall below 500 new units per year. Section 811 legislation is also needed because the basic Section 811 model - which for 30+ years has produced small group homes and single population independent living facilities - no longer responds to the housing needs and choices of most people with disabilities who prefer to live in housing that is truly integrated within local communities.
By enacting the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008, Congress can ensure that a reinvigorated Section 811 program is ready to create thousands of new permanent supportive housing units every year without needing to double or triple appropriation levels.
To read the full fact sheet click here.
Tags: Advocacy, Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act, permanent supportive housing, Section-811, Supportive Housing
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