Housing
The California Affordable Housing Institute will be tracking housing projects throughout California that serve people with developmental disabilities.
You can use this database driven website to search for housing properties by location, type of housing and funding source. In addition, you will be able to see where the property is located on a map of California.
Our goals are to provide you with statistics, information and connect you to agencies that are providing housing of interest to you.
The CAAHI website will track numbers of housing units created and numbers of persons with developmental disabilities housed. This information will be sorted by geographic location and by the agency responsible for creating the housing opportunity.
California's Housing Crisis for Persons with Developmental Disabilities
Posted in January, 2007There is a critical lack of "affordable housing" for California persons with developmental disabilities. This population is the most vulnerable and economically challenged in the State.
The Lanterman Act, through the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and Regional Centers, created a system that provides supports to over 210,000 persons with disabilities;
Affordable housing will always be an issue for persons with disabilities; Over 80% (80.2%) of all persons with disabilities in California live in small, self selected "Independent Living Settings" or "Supported Living Settings" (8.6%) or in their own homes or with a parent (71.6%), the majority of which are at below the age of 21;
The remaining less than 20% reside in "Community Care Homes" (13.2%) or institutional settings (6.6%) (Developmental Centers, ICF/SNF, "other").
Read the article: HereThe Department of Housing and Community Development Awards $9.7 Million in Proposition 46 Funding to Create Housing Opportunities for the Los Angeles Region
Posted in August, 2006Read the article::
Here
Start meeting with your Housing Authorities
Posted in April, 2006Modifications for Accessibility in Units in the Voucher Program - Information Bulletin # 107 (4/06)
In the recently issued HUD Notice 2006-05 "Implementation of the 2006 HUD Appropriation Act," HUD explicitly recognized that a Housing Authority's Administrative Fees in its Housing Voucher Program can be used to modify housing units to make them accessible.
Under HUD's Section 504 Rehabilitation Act's "reasonable accommodation" duty and also under regulation, 24 Code of Federal Regulations 8.28, Housing Authorities that administer a Housing Voucher Program have the following legal duties:
1. Encourage owners of accessible units to participate in the voucher program;
2. List those units that are accessible; and
3. "If necessary, otherwise assist the family in locating an available accessible dwelling unit."
Many disability advocates have complained that persons with disabilities who had a voucher had great difficulty finding an accessible unit that participated in the Housing Voucher Program. However, you've noted that there are landlords who would make their units accessible but do not have adequate funds.
Each Housing Authority in the Housing Voucher Program receives from HUD two separate funds - one for the voucher subsidies themselves and one for Administrative Fees for this program.
The Administrative Fees are about 9% of the total voucher subsidies the Housing Authority receives. Unfortunately, HUD does not publish these amounts by Housing Authority, so you will have to obtain this information either directly from your Housing Authority.
Notice 2006-05 states that the "administrative fees ... shall only be used for activities related to the provision of section 8 tenant-based rental assistance, including related development activities. Examples of related development activities include, but are not limited to, unit modification for accessibility purposes...."
If your Housing Authorities can not identify units that are accessible or does not have such a list, and you have a person with a disability who has a voucher and who needs an accessible unit, you should be meeting with your Housing Authority so that its administrative fees are used to make private housing units in the voucher program accessible.
Obviously, many if not most Housing Authorities prefer to use their Administrative Fees without your input. However, the failure to have a sufficient number of accessible units in the voucher program discriminates against persons with disability in violation of the Rehabilitation Act.
Start meeting with your Housing Authorities. Make sure they begin to spend their Administrative Fees to increase the number of accessible units in your Housing Voucher Program. Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues
Carol J. Risley, Chief
Office of Human Rights and Advocacy Services
Department of Developmental Services
1600 9th Street, Room 240, MS 2-15
Sacramento, CA 95814
Aid is available for low-income rental housing
APPLICATIONS TO BE ACCEPTED IN APRILBy Sue McAllister
Mercury News
Posted on Tue, Mar. 28, 2006
Next month, for the first time since 1999, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara will be taking new applications for the federally subsidized rental housing program known as Section 8. The program provides rent assistance to about 16,000 families and individuals in the county.
Applications to get onto a waiting list for Section 8 assistance vouchers will be accepted April 24 to 28 only, said Candy Capogrossi, deputy executive director of the Housing Authority.
Capogrossi said an advertisement to be published in the April 16 edition of the Mercury News will contain the details about where to pick up applications.
The application information also will be posted April 16 on the agency's Web site, www.hacsc. org. Applications will be accepted online and by mail.
Read the article posted in the San Jose Mercury News here: San Jose Mercury News
SECTION 8 HOUSING ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS PROGRAM
Beginning April 12, 2006, the Vacaville Housing Authority will accept applications for placement on the Waiting List to receive rent assistance under the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program.Download the notice posted by the Vacaville Housing Authority here: SECTION 8 HOUSING ASSISTANCE
USDA Rural Development California
USDA Rural Development has Community Facilities Programs which may be used to finance group homes that are owned and operated by public bodies or non profits in rural areas. They also have a Single Family Housing program for low income families to purchase homes in rural areas.The following links provide information about the programs:
Community Facilities
Single Family
Housing and Urban Development Department
Federal RegisterVol. 71, No. 13
Friday, January 20, 2006
HUDs Fiscal Year 2006 Notice of Funding Availability Policy Requirements and General Section to the SuperNOFA for HUDs Discretionary Programs; Notice
Read the notice posted in the Federal Register in PDF format here: HUD's Notice in the Federal Register
Long-Term Care
Declaration of IndependentsHome is where you want to live forever. Heres how.
By Barbara Basler
December 2005
Suzanne Stark, 79, lives in a book-lined apartment in central Boston's lovely Beacon Hill neighborhood. Independent and active, the author and freelance writer nevertheless acknowledges there are times when problems arise and she needs help. Like when her beloved cat Zenobia became suddenly, violently ill, and Stark couldn't get her into a carrier to take her to the veterinarian.
"I tried everything, and then I called Beacon Hill Village," she says. "I said, 'I know this is weird, but can you send someone to help me get this cat in the carrier?' And they did."
Beacon Hill Village is a revolutionary, all-encompassing concierge service created by residents who want to grow old in the homes they have lived in for years.
Now, they can do that, confident that even as they age they can deal with almost any contingency, large or small, without relying on relatives or friends. To preserve their independence, they can turn to the village, as the nonprofit association is known, which helps its 320 members find virtually any service they needfrom 24-hour nursing care to help with a wayward cat, often at a discounted fee.
Read this article from the AARP Bulletin: Here.
Agnews Developmental Center Closure
The Plan for Closure of Agnews Developmental Center submitted by the Department of Developmental Services was approved by the Legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger as part of the 2005-2006 Budget. The Plan calls for a June 30, 2007, closure date. In September, the Governor signed three bills into law: Senate Bill 643 (Chesbro) an amendment to Assembly Bill 2100 (Steinberg), Senate Bill 962 (Chesbro), and Assembly Bill 1378 (Lieber) that are critical to the success of the Plan. Enactment of this legislation was a major achievement that will further the Department's efforts to develop innovative and quality services in the community for Agnews' residents. Working in partnership with the Bay Area regional centers, the Department is committed to implementing this innovative Plan that provides an array of new service options to support Agnews' residents moving into the community.
Read this article and the latests updates on the closure at the DDS website: Here.