On February 4, Representative Peter Aguilar (D-CA) introduced the Affordable Housing Resident Services Act.

The new bill would allow HHS to transfer up to $300 million a year of new funding for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) and Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) to HUD. Under the bill, HUD would then distribute the up to $300 million of SSBG/CSBG funding as grants to a variety of HUD and non-HUD housing providers for the provision of a long list of services to residents.

The bill, H.R. 6602, establishes a five-year demonstration for the use of SSBG / CSBG grants for this purpose.

Under the bill, owners of affordable housing properties can use this grant funding to support services, including:

• Assisting residents in obtaining health services and other community services
• Assisting older adults to enable them to age in place.
• After-school programs for children and teenagers.
• Educational opportunities for youth and adult residents.
• Mental health, alcohol and addiction treatment.
• Self-sufficiency resources.
• Resources on future home ownership.
• Financial literacy training.
• Assistance to residents with disabilities.

Under the bill, eligible housing entity grantees are low income housing tax credits; HUD Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, Section 236, Section 202, Section 811, McKinney-Vento homeless assistance, and public housing; and, USDA Section 515 communities.

“The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the lack of supportive services for low-income families in affordable housing,” Representative Aguilar said in a statement upon the bill’s release. “While the federal government continues to invest in building housing for low-income families and seniors, there are currently very few dedicated funding sources for supportive services for these residents. My legislation closes that gap while giving families more of the tools they need to get ahead.”

The SSBG program, which funds services that promote self-sufficiency, protect children and adults from neglect, abuse and exploitation, and help individuals who are unable to take care of themselves to stay in their homes or to find the best institutional arrangements, received $1.7 billion in the FY21 appropriations bill. The CSBG program, which funds activities that mitigate the root causes of poverty, received $745 million in FY21. Both are administered by HHS’s Administration for Children & Families.

Read the bill here.