The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued its first grantee evaluations under the Older Adult Home Modification Grant Program (OAHMP).

Through the program, HUD provides grants to help communities make home modifications and limited home repairs to meet the needs of older adults with low incomes as they age independently. The program provides up to $5,000 per household for home modifications and requires the involvement of an occupational and aging in place experts to ensure the home modification process addresses the goals and needs.

The goal of HUD’s evaluation was to assess the impact on client outcomes related to independent living, assess grantee implementation processes, and collect feedback. Although HUD first issued the grant opportunity in 2021, the grantees experienced substantial startup delays. The report documents early data from 32 prime grantees (including non profits, state and local governments, and public housing agencies) and 15 subgrantees using limited data over a six-month period from July 2022 through January 2023.

According to the report, HUD could make certain improvements to the Notice of Funding Opportunity, as well as to oversight over the program. Because of the compressed evaluation period, the report does not address the impact on client outcomes. LeadingAge supports the program and is eager for additional evaluations that show the impact on older adults, as well as additional recommendations for improvement.