§ 8013. Supportive housing for persons with disabilities

§ 8013. Supportive housing for persons with disabilities

(a) Purpose The purpose of this section is to enable persons with disabilities to live with dignity and independence within their communities by expanding the supply of supportive housing that—

(1) is designed to accommodate the special needs of such persons;

(2) makes available supportive services that address the individual health, mental health, and other needs of such persons; and

(3) promotes and facilitates community integration for people with significant and long-term disabilities.

(b) Authority to provide assistance The Secretary is authorized to take the following actions:

(1) Tenant-based assistance To provide tenant-based rental assistance to eligible persons with disabilities, in accordance with subsection (d)(4).

(2) Capital advances To provide assistance to private, nonprofit organizations to expand the supply of supportive housing for persons with disabilities, which shall be provided as—

assistance under this paragraph may be used to finance the acquisition, acquisition and moderate rehabilitation, construction, reconstruction, or moderate or substantial rehabilitation of housing, including the acquisition from the Resolution Trust Corporation, to be used as supportive housing for persons with disabilities and may include real property acquisition, site improvement, conversion, demolition, relocation, and other expenses that the Secretary determines are necessary to expand the supply of supportive housing for persons with disabilities.

(A) capital advances in accordance with subsection (d)(1), and

(B) contracts for project rental assistance in accordance with subsection (d)(2);

(3) Project rental assistance

(A) In general To offer additional methods of financing supportive housing for non-elderly adults with disabilities, the Secretary shall make funds available for project rental assistance pursuant to subparagraph (B) for eligible projects under subparagraph (C). The Secretary shall provide for State housing finance agencies and other appropriate entities to apply to the Secretary for such project rental assistance funds, which shall be made available by such agencies and entities for dwelling units in eligible projects based upon criteria established by the Secretary. The Secretary may not require any State housing finance agency or other entity applying for such project rental assistance funds to identify in such application the eligible projects for which such funds will be used, and shall allow such agencies and applicants to subsequently identify such eligible projects pursuant to the making of commitments described in subparagraph (C)(ii).

(B) Contract terms

(i) Contract terms Project rental assistance under this paragraph shall be provided—

(I) in accordance with subsection (d)(2); and

(II) under a contract having an initial term of not less than 180 months that provides funding for a term 60 months, which funding shall be renewed upon expiration, subject to the availability of sufficient amounts in appropriation Acts.

(ii) Limitation on units assisted Of the total number of dwelling units in any multifamily housing project containing any unit for which project rental assistance under this paragraph is provided, the aggregate number that are provided such project rental assistance, that are used for supportive housing for persons with disabilities, or to which any occupancy preference for persons with disabilities applies, may not exceed 25 percent of such total.

(iii) Prohibition of capital advances The Secretary may not provide a capital advance under subsection (d)(1) for any project for which assistance is provided under this paragraph.

(iv) Eligible population Project rental assistance under this paragraph may be provided only for dwelling units for extremely low-income persons with disabilities and extremely low-income households that include at least one person with a disability.

(C) Eligible projects An eligible project under this subparagraph is a new or existing multifamily housing project for which—

(i) the development costs are paid with resources from other public or private sources; and

(ii) a commitment has been made—

(I) by the applicable State agency responsible for allocation of low-income housing tax credits under section 42 of title 26, for an allocation of such credits;

(II) by the applicable participating jurisdiction that receives assistance under the HOME Investment Partnership 11 So in original. Probably should be “Partnerships”. Act [42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.], for assistance from such jurisdiction; or

(III) by any Federal agency or any State or local government, for funding for the project from funds from any other sources.

(D) State agency involvement Assistance under this paragraph may be provided only for projects for which the applicable State agency responsible for health and human services programs, and the applicable State agency designated to administer or supervise the administration of the State plan for medical assistance under title XIX of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.], have entered into such agreements as the Secretary considers appropriate—

(i) to identify the target populations to be served by the project;

(ii) to set forth methods for outreach and referral; and

(iii) to make available appropriate services for tenants of the project.

(E) Use requirements In the case of any project for which project rental assistance is provided under this paragraph, the dwelling units assisted pursuant to subparagraph (B) shall be operated for not less than 30 years as supportive housing for persons with disabilities, in accordance with the application for the project approved by the Secretary, and such dwelling units shall, during such period, be made available for occupancy only by persons and households described in subparagraph (B)(iv).

(F) Report Not later than 3 years after January 4, 2011, and again 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report—

(i) describing the assistance provided under this paragraph;

(ii) analyzing the effectiveness of such assistance, including the effectiveness of such assistance compared to the assistance program for capital advances set forth under subsection (d)(1) (as in effect pursuant to the amendments made by such Act); 22 See References in Text note below. and

(iii) making recommendations regarding future models for assistance under this section.

(c) General requirements The Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that—

(1) assistance made available under this section will be used to meet the housing and community-based services needs of persons with disabilities by providing a variety of housing options, ranging from group homes and independent living facilities to dwelling units in multifamily housing developments, condominium housing, and cooperative housing; and

(2) supportive housing for persons with disabilities assisted under this section shall—

(A) make available voluntary supportive services that address the individual needs of persons with disabilities occupying such housing;

(B) provide such persons with opportunities for optimal independent living and participation in normal daily activities; and

(C) facilitate access by such persons to the community at large and to suitable employment opportunities within such community.

(d) Forms of assistance

(1) Capital advances A capital advance provided pursuant to subsection (b)(1) shall bear no interest and its repayment shall not be required so long as the housing remains available for very-low-income persons with disabilities in accordance with this section. Such advance shall be in an amount calculated in accordance with the development cost limitation established in subsection (h).

(2) Project rental assistance

(A) Initial project rental assistance contract Contracts for project rental assistance shall comply with subsection (e)(2) and shall obligate the Secretary to make monthly payments to cover any part of the costs attributed to units occupied (or, as approved by the Secretary, held for occupancy) by very low-income persons with disabilities that is not met from project income. The amount provided under the contract for each year covered by the contract for any project shall not exceed the sum of the initial annual project rentals for all units and any initial utility allowances for such units, as approved by the Secretary. Any contract amounts not used by a project in any year shall remain available to the project until the expiration of the contract. The Secretary may adjust the amount provided under the contract for each year covered by the contract if the sum of the project income and the amount of assistance payments available under this paragraph are inadequate to provide for reasonable project costs. In the case of an intermediate care facility which is the residence of persons assisted under title XIX of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.], project income under this paragraph shall include the same amount as if such person were being assisted under title XVI of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.].

(B) Renewal of and increases in contract amounts

(i) Expiration of contract term Upon the expiration of each contract term, subject to the availability of amounts made available in appropriation Acts, the Secretary shall adjust the annual contract amount to provide for reasonable project costs, including adequate reserves and service coordinators as appropriate, except that any contract amounts not used by a project during a contract term shall not be available for such adjustments upon renewal.

(ii) Emergency situations In the event of emergency situations that are outside the control of the owner, the Secretary shall increase the annual contract amount, subject to reasonable review and limitations as the Secretary shall provide.

(3) Rent contribution A very low-income person shall pay as rent for a dwelling unit assisted under subsection (b)(2) the higher of the following amounts, rounded to the nearest dollar: (A) 30 percent of the person’s adjusted monthly income, (B) 10 percent of the person’s monthly income, or (C) if the person is receiving payments for welfare assistance from a public agency and a part of such payments, adjusted in accordance with the person’s actual housing costs, is specifically designated by such agency to meet the person’s housing costs, the portion of such payments which is so designated; except that the gross income of a person occupying an intermediate care facility assisted under title XIX of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.] shall be the same amount as if the person were being assisted under title XVI of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.].

(4) Tenant-based rental assistance

(A) In general Tenant-based rental assistance provided under subsection (b)(1) shall be provided under section 1437f(o) of this title.

(B) Conversion of existing assistance There is authorized to be appropriated for tenant-based rental assistance under section 1437f(o) of this title for persons with disabilities an amount not less than the amount necessary to convert the number of authorized vouchers and funding under an annual contributions contract in effect on January 4, 2011. Such converted vouchers may be administered by the entity administering the vouchers prior to conversion. For purposes of administering such converted vouchers, such entities shall be considered a “public housing agency” authorized to engage in the operation of tenant-based assistance under section 1437f of this title.

(C) Requirements upon turnover The Secretary shall develop and issue, to public housing agencies that receive voucher assistance made available under this subsection and to public housing agencies that received voucher assistance under section 1437f(o) of this title for non-elderly disabled families pursuant to appropriation Acts for fiscal years 1997 through 2002 or any other subsequent appropriations for incremental vouchers for non-elderly disabled families, guidance to ensure that, to the maximum extent possible, such vouchers continue to be provided upon turnover to qualified persons with disabilities or to qualified non-elderly disabled families, respectively.

(e) Program requirements

(1) Use restrictions

(A) Term Any project for which a capital advance is provided under subsection (d)(1) shall be operated for not less than 40 years as supportive housing for persons with disabilities, in accordance with the application for the project approved by the Secretary and shall, during such period, be made available for occupancy only by very low-income persons with disabilities.

(B) Conversion If the owner of a project requests the use of the project for the direct benefit of very low-income persons with disabilities and, pursuant to such request the Secretary determines that a project is no longer needed for use as supportive housing for persons with disabilities, the Secretary may approve the request and authorize the owner to convert the project to such use.

(2) Contract terms The initial term of a contract entered into under subsection (d)(2) shall be 240 months, except that, in the case of the sponsor of a project assisted with any low-income housing tax credit pursuant to section 42 of title 26 or with any tax-exempt housing bonds, the contract shall have an initial term of not less than 360 months and shall provide funding for a term of 60 months. The Secretary shall, to the extent approved in appropriation Acts, upon expiration of a contract (or any renewed contract), renew such contract for a term of not less than 60 months. In order to facilitate the orderly extension of expiring contracts, the Secretary is authorized to make commitments to extend expiring contracts during the year prior to the date of expiration.

(3) Limitation on use of funds No assistance received under this section (or any State or local government funds used to supplement such assistance) may be used to replace other State or local funds previously used, or designated for use, to assist persons with disabilities.

(4) Multifamily projects

(A) Limitation Except as provided in subparagraph (B), of the total number of dwelling units in any multifamily housing project (including any condominium or cooperative housing project) containing any unit for which assistance is provided from a capital grant under subsection (d)(1) made after January 4, 2011, the aggregate number that are used for persons with disabilities, including supportive housing for persons with disabilities, or to which any occupancy preference for persons with disabilities applies, may not exceed 25 percent of such total.

(B) Exception Subparagraph (A) shall not apply in the case of any project that is a group home or independent living facility.

(f) Applications Funds made available under subsection (b)(2) shall be allocated by the Secretary among approvable applications submitted by private nonprofit organizations. Applications for assistance under subsection (b)(2) shall be submitted in such form and in accordance with such procedures as the Secretary shall establish. Such applications shall contain—

(1) a description of the proposed housing;

(2) a description of the assistance the applicant seeks under this section;

(3) a supportive service plan that contains—

(A) a description of the needs of persons with disabilities that the housing is expected to serve;

(B) assurances that persons with disabilities occupying such housing will be offered supportive services based on their individual needs;

(C) evidence of the applicant’s experience in—

(i) providing such supportive services; or

(ii) creating and managing structured partnerships with service providers for the delivery of appropriate community-based services;

(D) a description of the manner in which such services will be provided to tenants; and

(E) identification of the extent of other Federal, and State and local funds available to assist in the provision of such services;

(4) a certification from the appropriate State or local agency (as determined by the Secretary) that the provision of the services identified in paragraph (3) are well designed to serve the housing and community-based services needs of persons with disabilities;

(5) reasonable assurances that the applicant will own or have control of an acceptable site for the proposed housing not later than 6 months after notification of an award for assistance;

(6) a certification from the public official responsible for submitting a housing strategy for the jurisdiction to be served in accordance with section 12705 of this title that the proposed housing is consistent with the approved housing strategy; and

(7) such other information or certifications that the Secretary determines to be necessary or appropriate to achieve the purposes of this section.

(g) Selection criteria and processing

(1) Selection criteria The Secretary shall establish selection criteria for assistance under subsection (b)(2), which shall include—

(A) the ability of the applicant to develop and operate the proposed housing;

(B) the need for housing for persons with disabilities in the area to be served;

(C) the extent to which the proposed design of the housing will meet the special needs of persons with disabilities;

(D) the extent to which the applicant has demonstrated that appropriate supportive services will be made available on a consistent, long-term basis;

(E) the extent to which the location and design of the proposed project will facilitate the provision of community-based supportive services and address other basic needs of persons with disabilities, including access to appropriate and accessible transportation, access to community services agencies, public facilities, and shopping;

(F) the extent to which the per-unit cost of units to be assisted under this section will be supplemented with resources from other public and private sources;

(G) the extent to which the applicant has control of the site of the proposed housing; and

(H) such other factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate to ensure that funds made available under subsection (b)(2) are used effectively.

(2) Delegated processing

(A) In issuing a capital advance under subsection (d)(1) for any multifamily project (but not including any project that is a group home or independent living facility) for which financing for the purposes described in the last sentence of subsection (b) is provided by a combination of the capital advance and sources other than this section, within 30 days of award of the capital advance, the Secretary shall delegate review and processing of such projects to a State or local housing agency that—