HUD seeks accountability, efficiency and effectiveness, fairness and respect, and integrity as it strives to meet the five strategic goals in its newly released 2022 – 2026 strategic plan. HUD’s five goals are: support underserved communities; ensure access to and increase the production of affordable housing; promote homeownership; advance sustainable communities; and, strengthen HUD’s internal capacity.

HUD’s mission, to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all, has two overarching priorities, according the strategic plan: to increase equity across all HUD programs and to improve the customer experience for those seeking and receiving HUD services.

Of all the plans goals and subgoals, HUD also calls out four “agency priority goals” for fiscal years 2022 and 2023: reducing homelessness, improving rental assistance, advancing sustainable home ownership, and strengthening environmental justice.

Under the subgoal of reducing homelessness, HUD will strive, by September 30, 2023, to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring by reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness by 15% from 2020 levels.

Under the subgoal of improving rental assistance, HUD says it will strive, by September 30, 2023, to maximize the reach of HUD’s rental assistance programs by increasing the occupancy rates to 96% in the Public and Multifamily Housing programs and the budget utilization rate to 100% in the Housing Choice Voucher program.

Under the 2022-2026 goal of advancing sustainable communities, HUD’s Strategic Objective 4C, to “Integrate Healthcare and Housing” seeks to advance policies that recognize housing’s role as essential to health. “Recognizing the strong relationship between housing and health, HUD will improve health outcomes for assisted residents. Departmental efforts will tailor service delivery within assisted housing by focusing on the unique needs of special populations and increasing coordination with Federal health partners,” the plan says.

“Older adults living in public and assisted housing also represent a special population that could greatly benefit from increased service integration. A substantial fraction of HUD-assisted households consists of older persons living independently—some residing with grandchildren and other family members—yet many need supports and services to continue to remain in their homes. Although assisted living facilities and nursing homes can provide crucial care when independent living is no longer appropriate, early, or avoidable moves to these settings can unnecessarily separate families. HUD will support the integration of healthcare and supportive services to enable older adults to continue living in an independent setting safely and remain close to their families,” the plan says.

“With the aging of the U.S. population, the share of HUD-assisted households headed by older adults is growing. In 2010, 32 percent of all HUD-assisted households were headed by people aged 62 or over. By 2020, this percentage had grown to 38 percent,” the report continues. “Older adults may need physical accommodations and health and supportive services to safely age in place.”

HUD also looks to the final evaluation of its IWISH demonstration. “In 2017, HUD undertook a major randomized control trial to test the impact of a new housing-based model of health, wellness, and supportive services for older adults. The Integrated Wellness in Supportive Housing (IWISH) model funds a full-time Resident Wellness Director and a part-time Wellness Nurse to work in HUD-assisted multifamily housing serving primarily older adults. The IWISH evaluation will use HUD administrative data linked with Medicare and state Medicaid claims data to assess the impact of IWISH on healthcare utilization, including the use of emergency services, and on transitions to nursing homes, among other measures. The final evaluation will be completed in 2022.”

Read HUD’s new strategic plan here.