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Banking Committee passes Supportive Housing
for Elderly Program
October 2010-- U.S. Senator Herb Kohl
(D-WI), chairman of the Special Committee on
Aging, announced that the U.S. Senate
Banking Subcommittee on Housing,
Transportation, and Community Development on
September 30 approved his legislation,
S.118, a bill to expand and improve the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development’s (HUD) Section 202 Supportive
Housing for the Elderly Program.
The Section 202 program provides capital
grants to non-profit community organizations
for the development of supportive housing
and provision of rental assistance
exclusively for low-income seniors.
Through such housing and supportive
services, the program allows low-income
seniors to remain safely in their homes.
“Over one-third of the Section 202
population is considered disabled enough to
be at risk for being put in a nursing home,”
Senator Kohl said.
“Access to these types of services saves
both seniors and the government money
because they reduce the need for costly
nursing home stays. And ultimately they
allow aging Americans to stay right where
they want to be – in their own home.”
If passed by the full Senate, S.118 would
promote the construction of new senior
housing facilities, as well as preserve and
improve upon existing facilities. Under
current law, these processes are
time-consuming and bureaucratic, often
requiring waivers and special permission
from HUD.
There are over 300,000 seniors living in
6,000 Section 202 developments across the
country, with ten seniors vying for each
housing unit that becomes available.
It is expected that approximately 730,000
additional senior housing units will be
needed by 2020 in order to address the
housing needs of low-income seniors. At
this point the program is not expected to
meet the future demand.
This legislation has been endorsed by the
American Association of Homes and Services
for the Aging, America Association of
Service Coordinators, Alliance for Retired
Americans, National Council on Aging,
National Association of Area Agencies on
Aging, Elderly Housing Development and
Operations Corporation, Association of
Jewish Family & Children's Agencies,
Catholic Charities, Lutheran Services in
America, National Affordable Housing
Management Association, National Church
Residences, National Housing Trust, National
Low Income Housing Coalition, Stewards of
Affordable Housing for the Future, United
Jewish Communities, and Volunteers of
America.
S.118 was cosponsored by Senators Chuck
Schumer (D-NY), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob
Casey (D-PA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick
Leahy (D-VT), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Debbie
Stabenow (D-MI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Carl
Levin (D-MI), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Jeff
Merkley (D-OR).
This bill attempts to address the affordable
senior housing shortage by:
· Making
it easier for owners to refinance Section
202 developments, which may be in need of
rehabilitation;
· Providing
greater flexibility to owners to transform
unmarketable studio apartments into rentable
one-bedroom units;
· Establishing
a new project-based rental assistance
program for seniors at risk of losing rental
housing due to rent increases after
refinancing;
· Making
it easier for owners to make health and
supportive services available to residents
through service-enriched housing; and
· Creating
a national clearinghouse of senior housing
facilities to ease the search for seniors
and their families.
