Representative Pete Aguilar (D-CA), a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, introduced the Affordable Housing Resident Services Act on September 12. The bill would expand eligible grantees and eligible grant uses of the existing Affordable Housing and Supportive Services Demonstration, which is administered by HHS’s Administration for Children and Families.
Under the bill, a broad array of housing providers would be eligible for the program’s grant funding, including low income housing tax credit, Section 202, and project-based Section 8 properties, etc. Affordable housing properties could use up to 25% of funding received under the grant for a service coordinator at the property; remaining funds could be used to provide supportive services to residents. Eligible services funded by the grant would include supports for older adults, mental health, alcohol and addiction treatment, educational opportunities for youth and adult residents, after-school programs for children and teenagers, self-sufficiency resources, resources on future home ownership, financial literacy training, assistance to residents with disabilities, and other community services. “As we work to address the nation’s housing crisis and California’s homelessness epidemic by building more affordable housing, the importance of connecting residents with quality supportive services is even more vital to help them succeed,” Representative Aguilar said in a statement upon the bill’s introduction.
LeadingAge worked with staff on the bill, which LeadingAge supports.