Over the last month we have posted several articles about the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008 (HR 5772). This is a program worth saving and the proposed legislation will ensure its continued success. We are pleased to share the current issue of Opening Doors that provides information on this important issue. Click here to read our previous posts. Click here to read Opening Doors in PDF or here to read it online.
In addition to reading this blog, to ensure that you receive regular Action Alerts on this important legislation, please contact the following individuals: Andrew Sperling, National Alliance on Mental Illness or Liz Savage, The ARC of the United States.
The following is the first few paragraphs of this important issue of Opening Doors.
The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force (CCD Housing Task Force) and the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. (TAC) are pleased to announce that on April 10, 2008, Representatives Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Judy Biggert (R-IL) jointly introduced groundbreaking permanent supportive housing legislation – the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008 (HR 5772) – in the U.S. House of Representatives. This critically important legislation will help address the enormous and unrelenting housing crisis faced by millions of extremely low-income people with disabilities and will spur the creation of thousands more new 811 units every year by:
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Authorizing a new Section 811 Demonstration Program that fulfills the promise of true community integration as envisioned in the Americans with Disabilities Act; and
Enacting long overdue reforms and improvements to the existing Section 811 production program essential for the program’s long-term viability.
Historically, the Section 811 program has been one of the most successful programs available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create new supportive housing units. However, the future of Section 811 is being jeopardized by an outdated statute and program models, excessive HUD bureaucracy, and rapidly declining production levels.
For the fourth year in a row, HUD has proposed drastic budget cuts for the Section 811 program that threaten the program’s survival. Fortunately, Congress has thus far rejected these cuts and has continued to support the program with level funding of $237 million. However, several factors – including the high cost of Section 811 capital provided for each new unit, the burden of renewing Section 811-funded Mainstream vouchers, and rising development costs – have all combined to reduce the number of new units produced nationally each year from over 3,000 units in the 1990s to only 700 units in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 and 1,008 units in FY 2007.
HUD’s FY 2009 budget proposal for Section 811 would provide only $29 million for the creation of new units. Experts calculate that fewer than 300 new units would be produced should HUD’s latest proposal become law. This recent budget history – along with the program’s structural problems – threaten the future viability of this important supportive housing program.
Click here to read our previous posts. Click here to read Opening Doors in PDF or here to read it online.
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