National Council on Independent Living Housing Subcommittee Position Paper

Updated May 2009

The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) supports independent living for persons with disabilities and believes community living is a right. However, there is a wealth of data and information that documents that there is both a critical lack of affordable, accessible, healthy/nontoxic, decent, safe and integrated housing for persons with disabilities as well as a high incidence of housing discrimination committed against persons with disabilities.  A great deal of affordable housing is funded by the federal government; yet federal housing policies are often developed without the participation of persons with disabilities.  The NCIL Housing Subcommittee has produced the following position paper focused on, but not necessarily limited to, federally funded housing.

1. NCIL supports the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the development of all housing policies, programs, and educational presentations.

2. NCIL recommends that Congress and the administration develop initiatives to create effective design and data collection for housing for persons with disabilities; including persons with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities/Electromagnetic Sensitivities (MCS/ES). 

3.  NCIL supports increased collaboration between federal and state governments to address the housing needs of persons with disabilities.  NCIL supports the tracking of data related to housing for persons with disabilities, including data collected by states to determine housing gaps.  NCIL supports having Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) encourage states to promote consistent housing options across county and regional lines.

4. NCIL believes that single family homes and townhouses and other permanent dwellings not covered by fair housing laws constructed with federal funds should be "visitable" in accordance with the concepts of the Inclusive Home Design Act.   

5.  NCIL supports increasing the amount of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocation available to states for housing with the mandate that all housing created by tax credits must be integrated and mixed-income.  Furthermore, NCIL believes that proactive enforcement is needed to ensure that all housing created with LIHTC allocations comply with fair housing laws.

6. NCIL supports revising Section 504 of the Rehab Act to require that at a minimum (a) 10% of all housing (not just multi-family) constructed or substantially renovated with federal funds be fully accessible to persons with mobility disabilities, (b) 2% be fully accessible to persons with sensory disabilities, and (c) 2% be fully accessible to persons with MCS/ES.

7. NCIL supports legislation that would support the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This Fund would be used to produce, rehabilitate, and preserve affordable housing units, including units for persons with physical and/or mental disabilities, including but not limited to mobility disabilities, sensory disabilities, and/or MCS/ES.  NCIL urges Centers for Independent Living and other state advocates to work with the state agencies administering the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund monies to include Visitability and Universal Design.

8.  NCIL supports the reform of existing U.S. Housing & Urban Development (HUD) programs to end the definition of persons with disabilities as a “special needs” category.  Instead of creating “special needs” programs for persons with specific types of disabilities, HUD must ensure that all programs, services and activities are accessible to persons with different types of disabilities.

9. NCIL supports HUD funding for education and training on the housing needs of persons with disabilities (including those with MCS/ES) to be given to PHAs, developers and others in the housing community.

10. Given that HUD’s Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities study of 2005 demonstrates that persons with disabilities face greater incidences of discrimination than any other protected class, NCIL supports increased funding and activities to better enforce all existing disability-rights laws.  NCIL urges HUD to implement the specific recommendations stated in the National Council on Disability’s 2001 report, Reconstructing Fair Housing as a starting point for assuring effective fair housing enforcement for persons with disabilities. Additionally, NCIL supports the recommendations of The National Commission on Fair Housing And Equal Opportunity as documented  in The Future Of Fair Housing in 2008.

11. NCIL supports new HUD funding for the allocation of housing vouchers specifically for persons with disabilities who are moving from institutions to the community (or who are at-risk of institutional placement).

12. NCIL supports new HUD funding to assist persons with disabilities who hold vouchers in order to pay for accessibility modifications to their housing.

13. NCIL supports initiatives that increase housing integration and choice for persons with disabilities.  The HUD Section 811 program, titled "Supportive Housing for People with Disabilities,” presently allocates the majority of its funding for supportive housing programs rather than Mainstream Vouchers. HUD must recognize that persons with disabilities have the right to accept or reject services rather than the services being mandated as a condition for housing.  NCIL believes that services should be on a “follow the person” basis. 

14. NCIL recommends that HUD adopt and promote Integrated Pest Management practices, as required by federal law.

15. NCIL supports the commitment of funds from all federal housing programs, including 811 set-asides, to meet the housing needs of persons with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities/ Electromagnetic Sensitivities (MCS/ES).

16. NCIL supports HUD ensuring that PHAs and communities are accurately assessing the housing needs of all persons with disabilities in their communities.  HUD regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act permit HUD to raise the minimum percentage of fully accessible units required in federally assisted construction, if data can demonstrate an increased need.  HUD has issued a directive to Consolidated Plan entitlement communities stating that “the housing needs of persons with disabilities are not met by beds in nursing homes or other service centered facilities”, but currently does not monitor housing needs assessments for compliance with this directive.  HUD must use various processes (such as Consolidated Plan needs assessments and Analyses of Impediments to Fair Housing) to accurately assess housing needs, and to adjust existing requirements and planning processes to meet this need.

17. Currently, Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) voucher programs must raise the voucher payment standard as a reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities in order to obtain accessible housing.  NCIL supports initiatives that would require HUD to mandate that PHAs have the authority and responsibility to raise the payment standard to any reasonable amount in a timely manner above the Fair Market Rent for persons with disabilities who are in need of accessible housing as a reasonable accommodation. 

18. Currently, Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) voucher programs must allow, as a reasonable accommodation, time extensions for persons with disabilities to locate appropriate accessible housing.  NCIL believes that not all PHAs are providing this accommodation and NCIL would like HUD to ensure that all PHAs are doing this.

19. NCIL supports a mandate that PHAs include all unreimbursed medical and disability-related expenses for the purposes of calculating the Total Tenant Payment, regardless of family status or whether or not the person with a disability is employed.

20. NCIL believes that Housing Choice Vouchers are an effective way to integrate persons with disabilities into the community.  The tenant-based vouchers should not be used as a source of project-based housing funds.  Therefore, NCIL opposes the ability of PHAs to dedicate up to 20% of their vouchers into project-based housing.

21. NCIL supports a thorough assessment of the Homeless Shelters, Domestic Violence Shelters, and Transitional Housing in each community’s Continuum of Care to ensure that all temporary and transitional housing are accessible to persons with disabilities, regardless of their disability.   

22. NCIL supports increased housing options for veterans with disabilities and greater collaborations between veterans program, HUD and other federal programs to address housing issues.

23.  NCIL encourages PHAs with rural communities to increase housing options for persons with disabilities through increased utilization of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing programs, including Housing Preservation grants.

Footnotes:

1. See http://ieq.nibs.org, Indoor Environmental Quality Project Committee Report dated July 14, 2005 for comprehensive recommendations on the design and construction, products and materials, and operations and maintenance focused on making buildings more accessible for persons with MCS/ES and healthier for all. See http://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/topics/indoorenv/, the report of the Surgeon General’s Workshop on Healthy Indoor Environment, January 12-13, 2005, for a discussion about poor air quality and low income housing.

2. See http://ieq.nibs.org, Indoor Environmental Quality Project Committee Report dated July 14, 2005 for comprehensive recommendations on the design and construction, products and materials, and operations and maintenance focused on making buildings more accessible for persons with MCS/ES and healthier for all.