Monarch Housing’s Blog!

We wanted to help answer this important question. With new reform legislation pending in Congress - Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008 - this is a question that needs to be answered. 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.
For a more detailed answer we reprint Ann O’Hara’s answer in Opening Doors.

Some federal officials have asked “Why save Section 811? There are other HUD programs that can create permanent supportive housing.” The reasons to save the Section 811 program are clear and compelling. Most importantly, Section 811 is the only federal program solely dedicated to addressing the housing crisis facing millions of extremely low-income people with significant and long-term disabilities who also need access to services and supports to live successfully in the community. In addition, Section 811 is one of the very few remaining HUD programs that can provide the essential project-based rent subsidy needed to ensure that rents in new permanent supportive housing units are affordable for the most vulnerable people with disabilities with the lowest incomes.

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Tags: Advocacy, Andrew Sperling, CCD, Christopher Murphy, Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act, Judy Biggert, Liz Savage, permanent supportive housing, Supportive Housing

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 [Email address: andrew #AT# nami.org - replace #AT# with @ ], National Alliance on Mental Illness or Liz Savage [Email address: savage #AT# thearc.org - replace #AT# with @ ], 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:

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 Read the rest of this entry »