Supported Housing and People with Disabilities
Throughout the disability community, there is an ever-increasing demand for affordable and supportive housing. The New American Movement Team would like to reiterate the need for housing with supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The Technical Assistance Collaborative report, “Priced Out in 2012” highlighted the need – especially in the current state of the US economy – for affordable, inclusionary housing for people with disabilities, and that an individual living on SSI would have to pay on average 104% of their monthly income to afford a basic, one-bedroom apartment. This extreme poverty makes affordable housing with supports a critical issue for the disability community.
To the NAMPWD team, supportive housing is not just about accessibility in its design or the support staff that aid the residents – supportive housing is about maximizing independence. Supportive housing for people with disabilities must be in a location that enhances an individual’s social capital and provides the foundation for an individual’s community integration. Equally, supportive housing must be provided in a diverse manner. For the success of supportive housing in communities, developers must construct diverse and versatile models for housing. The traditional “bundled” model – where group housing is offered contingent on the individual’s acceptance of the standard array of supports offered by a particular agency – will not suffice. Supports must be individualized and offered separate from the housing provided. Individuals should have the choice of where they want to live, whether or not they would like a roommate, and whether they would like to rent or own. Supports can then be brought to the individual and – under the individual’s choice and control – be planned around their needs.
Additionally, commitments on behalf of developers to provide supportive housing for people with disabilities is only the first step in achieving a society in which everyone has an equal opportunity to housing, education and welcomed into a community. As the demand increases for supportive housing throughout the disability community, people with disabilities need to be made a priority for tenant-based rental subsidies such as the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and project-based assistance such as the New Jersey State Rental Assistance Program (SRAP).
The state-wide transition to Medicaid Managed Care will provide a grave threat to people with disabilities’ housing funding. Rental assistance must be expanded within the disability community to ensure that the benefits of supportive housing can be maximized and the housing itself remain affordable.
As New Jersey transitions from institutionalization to the community-based support model, it is also imperative that there is a comprehensive and accommodating foundation laid for achieving community integration for people with disabilities. People with disabilities must have equal access to jobs, social activities, transportation, and amenities in their own community if we are going to truly affirm our commitment to supporting integrated and independent lives for people with disabilities.
Sources
New Jersey Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities. (2014, May 8). Supportive Housing Resources: DDD Community Living Options. Retrieved from State of New Jersey Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities: http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/ddd/resources/community/index.html
Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc.; Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, Housing Task Force. (2013, May). Priced Out in 2012: The Housing Crisis for People with Disabilities. Retrieved from Technical Assistance Collaborative: http://tacinc.org/media/33368/PricedOut2012.pdf