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NEW SECTION 811 SUPPORTIVE HOUSING LEGISLATION |
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Tuesday, 15 April 2008 |
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Reps. Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Judy Biggert (R-IL) Introduce the "Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008" (H.R. 5772) Bill Includes Innovative Section 811 Demonstration Program and Long Overdue Reforms to Existing Section 811 Program The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force (CCD Housing Task Force) and the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) are pleased to announce that on Thursday April 10, 2008 Reps. Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Judy Biggert (R-IL) introduced critical permanent supportive housing legislation - the "Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008" (HR 5772). This ground-breaking legislation proposes significant changes and improvements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program. Section 811 is the only federal housing program solely dedicated to assisting the lowest income people with serious and long-term disabilities to live independently in the community by providing integrated affordable and accessible rental housing linked with voluntary services and supports. This essential 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 of 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; Enacting long over-due reforms and improvements to the existing Section 811 production program essential for the program's long-term viability.Recent CCD Housing Task Force/TAC studies document that people with serious and long term disabilities - including millions of non-elderly adults living on federal Supplemental Security Income of approximately $637 per month - have the greatest unmet need for housing assistance in the United States. Current federal, state and local efforts to achieve the promise of community integration for people with disabilities, reduce unnecessary and expensive institutionalization, and assist aging parents who have adult children with disabilities still living at home are completely stalled because of the critical shortage of affordable and accessible rental housing. Important Medicaid supportive service reforms to expand self-directed care and promote rehabilitation and recovery for people with disabilities are also stymied because people with SSI-level incomes cannot afford modest rental housing in any community in the United States. The enactment of HR 5772 will provide states and localities with a new infusion of critically needed Section 811 capital and project-based rent subsidy funding designed to invigorate and sustain the creation of thousands of new permanent supportive housing units every year through partnerships with state housing finance agencies, county and local governments, and non-profit housing providers. TAC and the CCD Housing Task Force are grateful to Reps. Murphy and Biggert for their leadership and look forward to working with them and with other advocates to ensure that this essential legislation is enacted as soon as possible. We are also very pleased that this important legislation honors the memory of the late Frank Melville - the first chair of the Melville Charitable Trust. Since 1993, the Trust has been a leader in promoting and advancing the creation of permanent supportive housing across the nation. More information on this important legislation will soon be available on TAC's website at www.tacinc.org or the CCD website at www.c-c-d.org.
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