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Returning to LeadingAge after a 12 year hiatus, Linda Couch has joined the housing staff as Director, Housing Policy and Priorities. Linda will focus on helping LeadingAge’s members fulfill their missions by expanding, preserving, and improving affordable senior housing through federal legislation and appropriations. 

Linda has frequently testified
before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the House
Financial Services Committee.  She has a BA from George Washington University and MPA from University of Connecticut.

Linda comes to us from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, where she served as Senior Vice President for Policy.

Linda can be reached at lcouch@leadingage.org or 202.508.9416. Follow Linda on Twitter.

For the last several months, we have advocated for Congress to lift the spending caps that threatened severe cuts in housing and home- and community-based services. Late last month Congress passed a budget measure to do just that.

But we still have to make sure that senior housing and services get the fair share of extra money this new budget allows.

This Is How You Can Help:

Contact your lawmakers and tell them it is crucial that essential services for the aging get appropriations increases.

Talking Points

  • Sufficient funding is needed to cover the cost of renewing all existing rental assistance subsidy contracts for senior housing, including vouchers and project-based Section 8, project-based rental assistance (PRAC) under Section 202, and senior preservation rental assistance (SPRAC).
  • Full funding for the annual contracts is necessary in order to maintain the existing housing stock and prevent displacement of seniors or put scarce housing at risk.
  • These programs affect over 100,000 senior households. The typical Section 202 resident has an income of less than $11,000 per year, and needs assistance with housing and services in order to safely age in place.
  • The Section 202 PRAC projects operate on a very narrow margin. Nonprofits provide quality, affordable housing where seniors can receive the services they need.
  • Provide additional funding for home- and community-based services programs under the Older Americans Act. These services include congregate and home-delivered meals, chronic disease self-management, transportation, falls prevention and other cost-effective services that enable seniors to live independently in their communities.
  • Include adequate funding for the Social Services Block Grant that states use to serve seniors.

Your voice is important.   Take Action NOW!

Engage

Enterprise Community Partners has developed Ready to Respond: Disaster Staffing, a robust and customizable toolkit specifically for multifamily housing providers nationwide. 

The free, user-friendly toolkit includes videos, guides, worksheets, and checklists to help housing organizations prepare to respond before a disaster strikes. 

The Ready to Respond: Disaster Staffing Toolkit guides affordable multifamily housing organizations in developing comprehensive disaster plans. 

It is based on the Incident Command System (ICS), a planning framework used by federal, state, and local first-responder agencies to help structure command, control and coordination of disaster response. 

By modeling their plans on this standard, housing organizations draw on best practices and align their protocols and response timelines with key public agencies, while sharing a common language to describe preparedness efforts.

The online resource includes over 230 pages of checklists, worksheets and templates, as well as instructive materials to educate members of the disaster response team and stakeholders, and key leaders who will need to be engaged in order for this effort to be successfully integrated into community and/or organizational protocols. 

Developing a Preparedness Plan 

 

A 45 min video outlines the resources available in the tool that can help organizations begin to dive into the process of developing a preparedness plan, understand the responsibilities of the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator (EPC) and identify individuals for various Disaster Response Roles. 

This video is highly recommended for affordable housing owners and operators, housing directors, asset managers and those interested in disaster preparedness planning. 

Slides from the presentation provide a quick overview of all the free, online disaster planning resources that Enterprise has made available as well.  

Self Assessment: Preparedness

To accompany the toolkit, Enterprise also developed “Are You Ready to Respond?,” an organizational self-assessment for emergency readiness.

Projecting Trends in Severely Cost-Burdened Renters: 2015-2025 is a report that shows that the U.S. rental housing crisis will worsen, even under the best-case scenario. 

The report, released by Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. and Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), says that the number of households spending half their income on rent could rise at least 11%, from 11.8 million to 13.1 million by 2025.

The Enterprise-Harvard study projects the largest increases in severely cost-burdened renters among older adults, Hispanics and people living alone. 

The number of severely rent-burdened households across these three groups will rise sharply, even with incomes and rent levels growing at anticipated inflation levels (“base case scenario”).
 
In the base case scenario for 2015-2025, severely rent-burdened households will increase:

  • 42% among senior households age 65 and older.
  • 27% among Hispanic households with severe renter burdens.
  • 12% among single-led households.

 

Overall, this white paper projects a fairly bleak picture of severe renter burdens across the United States for the coming decade. 

Given these findings, it is critical for policymakers at all levels of government to prioritize the preservation and development of affordable rental housing. 

On Sept. 10, 2015, the Non-Defense Discretionary (NDD) United coalition delivered a letter signed by more than 2,500 groups, including LeadingAge, to congressional leaders and various committee members urging Congress to end sequestration. 

The letter asks that Congress reach a bipartisan budget deal, similar to the 2013 Murray-Ryan deal that enacted a 2-year agreement to raising spending caps on discretionary programs. 

The bi-partisan Murray-Ryan deal will expire on October 1, 2015, imposing sequestration funding levels and leaving affordable housing providers in an untenable situation. 

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) will join NDD United advocates -- which represent national, state and local organizations -- to draw attention to the looming budget crisis.  

Non-defense discretionary programs comprise just 17% of federal spending, but are regularly targeted for cuts. 

These funds serve a range of programs, including affordable housing, transportation, scientific research, and education.  

Under sequestration, existing HUD program would not have enough funding to maintain the current level of service.

On Sept. 10, 2015, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) introduced the Together We Care Act (H.R. 3467), legislation that would establish a 3-year federal pilot training program specializing in home healthcare services.  

The legislation would provide the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with $5 million per year to support the effort. 

Agencies would be eligible to apply for grants to utilize locally. Public housing residents will be given the opportunity to receive home healthcare services training from organizations certified by the state.  

Following certification, the newly trained aides would be matched with elderly or disabled individuals who are Medicaid-eligible.   

“This proposal meets the needs of our community in 2 ways,” Velázquez noted. “By training our neighbors in a high growth field, this legislation will create local economic opportunity and, simultaneously, it will help meet a burgeoning need for compassionate, skilled home healthcare workers.” 

Based on demographic trends, the home healthcare profession is expected to grow rapidly. Personal care aides and home health aides are projected to be the fastest-growing occupations in the country between 2010 and 2020, increasing by 71% and 69%, respectively.  

The Together We Care Act has been endorsed by a wide range of groups, including LeadingAge.   

“Our strained long-term care system faces a number of issues including a workforce shortage, and seniors who need care in their homes where they prefer to age,” said Larry Minnix, president and CEO of LeadingAge. “As our elder struggle to remain in their communities this bill will go a long way toward a major challenge for residents. Congresswoman Velázquez is to be commended for her leadership on this important legislation.”

For more information contact Alayna Waldrum.

A special listening session for members to have a conversation with the LeadingAge Cabinet on the Future of Affordable Senior Housing will take place at the 2015 LeadingAge Annual Meeting in Boston this October. 

Members are encouraged to come prepared to share their ideas with the cabinet about the future of affordable senior housing, including: 

 

  • How it should be financed.
  • The impact on health care costs.
  • Preservation needs.
  • Other important issues. 

 

A brief overview of Congress and federal agency actions affecting affordable senior housing, and specific LeadingAge activity regarding funding, tax credits and PRAC preservation, will also be provided as part of Session 145-E. 

Housing Policy Forum: A Conversation with the Cabinet on the Future of Affordable Senior Housing (Tuesday, November 3, 2015; 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.).

If you have questions about the listening session, please contact Niles Godes, 202-508-9437.

On March 26, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Enterprise Secondary Reserve Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act of 2015 (H.R. 1673), a bill to redirect profits by Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the U.S. treasury to a reserve fund to cover any losses incurred by the GSEs in the event of another housing downturn. 

The bill has been referred to the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. 

As of the end of 2014, Fannie and Freddie had paid a total of $227 billion into the Treasury, almost $40 billion more than they were provided under the “bailout.”  

LeadingAge will track this legislation in conjunction with coalition partners to ensure the current funding streams for the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) from GSE profits is protected. 

To date, the NHTF is the only source of affordable housing development for very low-income households. 

The White House held a National LGBT Senior Housing Summit on February 10, 2015 to explore the housing challenges facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender seniors. 

The summit was organized in part by Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. 

The day included panels on LGBT: 

  • Aging demographics.
  • Housing development.
  • Targeted outreach.
  • Housing discrimination.
  • Training for housing organizations working with the estimated 3-5 million LGBT seniors in our country.

A major theme during the panels was the desperate need for more housing and the limited resources available, including the importance of funding additional units through the Section 202 program. 

The overwhelming demand for supportive housing is complicated for LGBT seniors by their concerns about safety, access to community, and fear of discrimination. Cultural competency in long-term care settings, including housing, was a critical issue raised by many speakers. 

Legal experts discussed the changing national landscape with regards to rights for same-sex couples and the steps seniors should take to protect themselves and their families.

Jennifer Ho, senior adviser on housing and services at HUD, delivered the keynote address. 

She highlighted the initiatives HUD is taking to increase cooperation at the federal level between HUD and HHS for make it easier for providers to deliver supportive housing. 

New models of senior housing developed on the state and local levels were discussed with providers from Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Washington, DC, discussing their projects. 

Panelists also encouraged partnerships with faith-based communities and USDA Rural Housing Service. 

White House Conference on Aging Listening Session

In addition, the summit included a White House Conference on Aging listening session with Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary for aging, and Nora Super, executive director of the WHCOA. 

Participants stressed that affordable housing should be integrated in the WHCOA issue area of long-term care services, 1 of 4 issue areas the conference will focus on this year. 

Director Super acknowledged the role of housing in the long-term care system ad encouraged everyone to share their concerns via the WHCOA website.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the executive summary of the 2015 Worst Case Housing Needs on Feb. 3, 2015. 

The report found that although worst-case housing needs decreased during the 2011-to-2013 period, high levels across demographic groups, household types, and regions persist. 

In 2013, 1.5 million elderly households without children experienced worst case housing needs, 37% of very low-income elderly renters. 

Worst-case needs are defined as renters with very low incomes -- below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) -- who do not receive government housing assistance and who pay more than 1/2 of their income for rent, live in severely inadequate conditions, or both.  

The substantial unmet need for decent, safe, and affordable rental housing continues to outpace the ability of federal, state, and local governments to supply housing assistance.

 

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