Fw: Arc and Priced Out in 2010 Disability Housing Crisis Study

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Arc and Priced Out in 2010 Disability Housing Crisis Study

The Arc of Illinois

June 20, 2011

Leaders in The Arc:

Today, Priced Out in 2010 is being released. Priced Out is a national study on

the housing crisis for people with disabilities.

See news release below and a link to the entire study.

Tony auski

The Arc of Illinois

815-464-1832

New Study Reveals that National Average Rents are Higher than Supplemental

Security Income Payments Received by People with Disabilities

Vulnerable People with Disabilities Completely Priced Out of Nation's Housing

Market

Washington, D.C. -- The national average rent for a modestly priced one-bedroom

apartment is more than the entire amount of Supplemental Security Income

received by people with disabilities, according to a new study released today by

the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force and the

Technical Assistance Collaborative.

The study, titled Priced Out in 2010, reveals that as a national average, people

with disabilities living on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) needed to pay 112

percent of their income to rent a modest one-bedroom unit priced at the fair

market rent. Rents for smaller studio/efficiency apartments, were 99 percent of

SSI..

SSI is a federal program that provides income to people with significant and

long term disabilities who are unable to work and have no other source of income

and virtually no assets. According to Priced Out, in 2010, a single person SSI

household received an average monthly SSI payment of $703 to cover all their

basic needs, including housing.

This study makes it crystal clear why vulnerable people with disabilities become

homeless or are unable to move out of high-cost institutional settings, said Ann

OHara of the Technical Assistance Collaborative, who co-authored the study. As

this study shows, a monthly income of only $703 is less than the rent for most

apartments, particularly in higher cost housing markets.

In addition to national data, Priced Out in 2010 also provides information on

the housing crisis in NAME YOUR STATE OR LOCALITY. In STATE or LOCALITY a person

who received SSI in 2010, would have needed to pay XX from Appendix A percent of

their income to rent a one-bedroom unit, and XX from Appendix A percent for a

studio/efficiency apartment.

According to the study, over 4.4 million non-elderly adults relied on SSI

payments in 2010. The study indicates that as many as 1.2 million non-elderly

people with disabilities reside in homeless shelters, public institutions,

nursing homes, unsafe and overcrowded board and care homes, or segregated group

quarters. An estimated 700,000 adults with disabilities are living at home with

aging parents who are 65 or older.

People with disabilities often end up living in restrictive settings, such as

nursing homes or board and care facilities, in order to avoid becoming homeless

according to OHara. " We have a long history in this country of relying on

high-cost institutions and other segregated facilities to provide housing and

support services for people with disabilities, " O'Hara stated. Numerous studies

have shown that it costs less for people to live in the community, but a federal

housing subsidy, such as a HUD Housing Choice Voucher, is essential because

rents are so expensive. "

Todays study compares the monthly SSI payments received by more than 4.4 million

Americans with disabilities to the fair market rental rates for efficiencies and

modest one-bedroom apartments in every housing market in the country. The fair

market rental rate is determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development.

While the need is increasing, the number of new supportive housing units

available to people with disabilities has been declining. That means that

thousands of people remain stuck in expensive government-funded institutions,

noted Sperling from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a Co-Chair

of the CCD Housing Task Force.

A 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision found that states may be in violation of the

Americans with Disabilities Act if people with disabilities remain unnecessarily

in segregated facilities. According to O'Hara, the states of New York, New

Jersey, Georgia and Illinois must create more than 20,000 new supportive housing

units as the result of settlement agreements negotiated with the U.S. Department

of Justice.

The report, which was funded by the Melville Charitable Trust, notes that recent

federal legislation to reform HUD's Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons

with Disabilities program could help to create more housing linked with support

services in the community. TAC and CCD estimate that more than 50,000 new

supportive housing units could be created over a five-year period if Congress

provides full funding in Fiscal Year 2012.

" We understand the current budget environment in Washington, but the Section 811

program actually saves the government money by helping to move people with

disabilities out of expensive institutions " concluded Sperling. " If people dont

have decent housing they can afford, it costs us all more in the long run. "

To obtain a copy of the study and any additional information please visit,

http://pricedout.tacinc.org or call 617-266-5657.

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