The Housing Subcommittee has been hard at work the past few months preparing for the new Congressional session by updating the housing portion of the Legislative & Advocacy Priorities Booklet, which will be released next week.
We are also monitoring the housing-related bills in Congress. Bills of concern include H.R. 574, which would prohibit the funding of the National Housing Trust Fund by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. The Trust Fund would fund housing for people with Extremely Low Income, a category which often include people with disabilities, particularly those on fixed incomes or who are underemployed. Also of concern is S. 65, which expands the Moving to Work demonstration program despite a lack of data on how effective the program has been. We are pleased by the introduction of HR 372, which would increase the funding for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program. With housing discrimination against persons with disabilities being one of the top categories of complaints with HUD and Fair Housing organizations, this is an important bill.
Funding for housing programs will be a very important concern in this legislative session, and NCIL continues to advocate for increased funding. Housing has been identified as one of the top issues for people with disabilities in our recent advocacy survey.
Don’t forget about housing advocacy in your communities and at the state level! There are systemic barriers for accessible, affordable, healthy / nontoxic, decent, safe, and integrated housing at every level, and it’s up to advocates everywhere to fight for housing.
As a Nursing Facility Transitions Coordinator for a Center for Independent Living I have noticed that it is getting harder to find Adult Foster Care for people with disabilities. Many adult foster care homes are refusing to take individuals unless they are on the MI Choice Waiver program or Community Mental Health, because they can receive more money through those programs. Many people with most people with disabilities that need that level of support don’t have the ability to pay what those programs pay. This leads to many people being forced to stay in nursing facilities when they wish to live in the community.