Housing for People With Disabilities:
Reasonable Accommodation and
Reasonable Modification
Presentation to the 2010 HUD FHEO
National Fair Housing Policy Conference
July 20 & 21, 2010
Andrew Sperling
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Co-Chair Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities
Housing Task Force
andrew@nami.org
Federal Housing Needs Reports
• HUD “Worst Case” Housing Needs Reports
to Congress
• Very low income households already in
housing who are:
– Paying more than 50% of income for housing
– Living in substandard housing
– Both conditions
• Assess needs of 4 categories of households
(elderly, families, disabled, other)
• Estimates on disabled households
acknowledged as flawed
Worst Case Estimates
• Total households = 6 million
• HUD’s estimate on disabled households
without children = 542,000 (9%)
• CCD study completed by Katherine Nelson,
retired HUD Research Economist
• CCD’s estimate = 1.3 – 1.4 million (23%)
• HUD’s revised estimate = 694,000 (11.5%)
• CCD estimates on disabled households with
children = 2.35 million (39%)
People Not Counted
• Chronically homeless people with
disabilities (130,000 – 150,000)
• People in public mental health institutions
(20,000+)
• Non-elderly people in nursing homes
(430,000)
• People living with aging parents
• Conclusion: Need is much greater than
CCD Worst Case Needs estimates
Priced Out in 2008 Study
• Compares SSI income to HUD Fair Market
Rents
• SSI = $668 monthly
• 1 Bedroom rent of $743 = 112% of monthly
SSI
• Studio rent of $663 = 99% of monthly SSI
• Rents above 100% of SSI in communities
where 53% of the nation’s population reside
• SSI = 18 percent of Median Income
• # of non-elderly adults with disabilities
receiving SSI in 2008 = 4.2 million
The “Housing Affordability Gap”
• Federal policy = very low income
households should pay no more than 30%
of monthly income towards housing costs
• 30% of SSI = $190 per month
• Rents for “affordable” housing = $4001,000+
• Solution: People with disabilities with SSI
level incomes need an on-going rental
subsidy
Cost Effective Arguments
• Numerous studies document cost
effectiveness of providing permanent housing
for people with disabilities:
– New York/New York Culhane study on permanent
supportive housing
– University of Washington study published today in
JAMA on “Housing First”
– Massachusetts study released last week on
chronically homeless people
– Health Affairs study on Medicaid long-term care
costs
HUD Rent Subsidy Programs
That Address “Affordability Gap”
• Total units = 4.8 million
• Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers = 2 million vouchers.
– Only 19% assist people with disabilities
• Public housing units =1.1 million units (affect of “elderly only”
housing policies)
– Only 16% assist people with disabilities
• HUD “Assisted Housing” = 1.2 million units (affect of “elderly
only” housing policies)
– Only 17% assist people with disabilities
• Other programs = 443,000 units
– Section 811 = 30,000 units
– Homeless programs = 50,000+
– HOPWA
What Works
• Section 8 Vouchers targeted to people
with disabilities
• HUD Homeless Assistance programs
• New Section 811 legislation (H.R. 1675)
Section 811 Background
• $300 million in 2010
• Deep cut proposed for FY 2011 – no
funding for development of new units
• Funded only 930 units nationwide in 2008
• Only 132 applications submitted in 2008
competition
• Funds only segregated “single purpose”
properties
Section 811 legislation
(HR 1675 & S 1481)
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Passed the House on July 22, 2009 by a vote of 376-51
Senate hearing held on October 29, 2009
Reforms existing 811 Capital/PRAC program
Shifts appropriations for “broken” 811 voucher program
to the Section 8 appropriation
• Creates new Demonstration program to leverage
integrated affordable housing units financed with
mainstream housing funding (tax credits, HOME funds,
new National Housing Trust Fund, etc.)
• Funds 3,000 - 4,000 units with same appropriation level
• Cross-disability approach focused on priority Medicaid
populations
McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act
• Provides permanent supportive housing for homeless
people with disabilities
– Shelter Plus Care program
– Supportive Housing Program (SHP)
– Section 8 Single Room Occupancy program
• Coordinated through local Continuum of Care groups
• 6,000 new permanent supportive housing units funded in
2008 for people with disabilities who are chronically
homeless
• $1.5 billion for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid ReHousing Program (HPRP)
– Housing relocation and stabilization funding (housing
search, mediation, credit repair, security deposits,
moving out costs, etc.)
– Must be spent within 24 months
McKinney-Vento Funding
• $1.865 billion appropriation for FY 2010
• $2.034 billion request for FY 2011
– $190 million increase (10% above current level)
– $200 million for ESG
– 1st year of HEARTH Act
• $2.4 billion needed for FY 2011 to fully implement HEARTH and
maintain new projects
• Housing and Services for Homeless Persons Demonstration – FY
2011 Request
– $85 million request for homeless vouchers
– 4,000 vouchers and SAMHSA services funding for chronically
homeless individuals enrolled in 1115 Medicaid waivers, linked to
$7.5 million request at SAMHSA
– 6,000 vouchers for homeless or at risk families jointly
administered by HUD, HHS, and Education
– SAMHSA Homeless Grants—$12 million increase to $87 million
New McKinney-Vento Law
• Signed by President Obama on May 20, 2009
• Consolidates HUD’s Continuum of Care
Programs (Supportive Housing Program, Shelter
Plus Care, and Moderate Rehabilitation/SRO)
into a single Community Homeless Assistance
Program.
• Continue incentives for permanent housing and
serving people who experience chronic
homelessness (adding families to the definition
of chronic homelessness).
• Funds renewals of permanent housing out of the
same account that funds Section 8
Reasonable Accommodation and
Reasonable Modification in Section 8 Rental
Housing
• Reasonable accommodation grounded in Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act
• “Reasonable accommodation” in rules, policies,
practices or services to people with disabilities
• PHAs are required to inform Section 8 households of the
right to seek an accommodation or modification
• PHAs can decide that requests are “unreasonable” or
may suggest a different solution to a problem – typically
based on previous HUD decisions
• PHAs must have a process for households making
reasonable accommodation requests and determining if
they are reasonable
Examples of Changes to Section 8 Rules
That Can Be Requested as a Reasonable
Accommodation
• Outreach
– Notifying disability community before opening waiting list
– Providing training on Section 8 application process to disability
groups
• Completing and submitting a Section 8 application
– Fully accessible on-line application (Braille & large print)
• Waiting list management
– Allowing a secondary contact person to be listed on the
application, with all copies to secondary person
– Allowing applications discarded during the “update” process to
be reinstated to the list in the original position
Examples of Changes to Section 8 Rules
That Can Be Requested as a Reasonable
Accommodation
• Housing search process
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Providing a higher utility allowance
Providing a list of available wheelchair accessible units
Accounting for participants live in aide or overnight support staff
Allowing extensions to the housing search time (up to 60
additional days)
Allowing for a larger unit size if needed to accommodate an
individual’s disability
Providing a higher payment standard to help cover the costs of
accessibility modifications
Allowing Section 8 vouchers to be used in special housing types
such as shared housing, group homes, SROs and congregate
housing
Allowing voucher holders to rent from relatives
Examples of Changes to Section 8 Rules
That Can Be Requested as a Reasonable
Accommodation
• Maintaining a Section 8 voucher
– Rescheduling recertification appointments
– Providing home visits to conduct re-certifications
– Allowing additional time for the annual re-certification
process
– Reinstating a voucher that terminated for cause, due
to mitigating circumstances
• Screening and Verification
– Making exceptions to screening criteria regarding
criminal histories, past rental histories, or credit
histories based on mitigating circumstances
– Providing extra time to gather documentation of
eligibility
Reasonable Accommodation and Exception Rents
• PHAs and/or HUD may approve an exception payment standard if
needed as a reasonable accommodation (24 CFR 982.503)
(c)(2)(ii))
– An individual with a disability may make a request to reside in a
certain neighborhood where units exceed the payment standard
because proximity to family, work, medical supports, etc.
– Accessible units can be harder to find or available only in newer
buildings
– If no accessible units can be identified, a participant can ask the
owner for a modification and request the higher payment
standard to cover the cost, so long as the unit meets the PHA’s
rent reasonableness standard
• If the PHA’s applicable rent standard is below 110% of FMR, the
PHAs can make its own determination on a case-by-case basis
• If it is above 110%of the FMR, the PHA must pass the exception
payment standard request on to HUD for review
• HUD HQ has the authority to grant requests over the 120% of FMR
Reasonable Accommodation –
PHA Obligations
• PHAs must provide information on how to
complete and file a housing discrimination
complaint (24 CFR 982.304)
• PHAs are entitled to a one-time “Hard to
House” fee for assisting people with
disabilities to locate housing with a
voucher (PIH Notice 2008-28)
Reasonable Modification
• Policies under the fair housing laws that allow people
with disabilities to alter their rental housing units to meet
their unique needs
• An owner participating in Section 8 must allow a person
with disability – at their own expense – to make certain
physical modifications to a unit if needed to fully use and
enjoy the housing unit
• Owners may require that the modifications be completed
in a professional manner and in compliance with all
applicable building codes
• Owners may require tenants to restore the unit to its
original condition before vacating
• No obligation to allow tenant to make a modification
deemed “unreasonable” – that is, not related to the
tenant’s disability
• Evaluated on a case-by-case basis
Questions & Comments