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Contents
1.
FY07 Housing Appropriations
2.
National Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit: Register Now!
3.
Legislative Update: Hurricane Katrina and Housing
4.
Legislative Update: The Services to End Long-term Homelessness Act
5.Legislative
Update: The Second Chance Act
6.
Legislative Update: The Ryan White CARE Act & Housing
7.
NEW Feature!
NAHC Member Profile: Clare Housing, St. Paul, MN
8.
Renew your NAHC Membership for Calendar Year 2007
HIV/AIDS & Housing Facts of the Quarter:
One ongoing study of indigent women has
examined a range of
health
risks, including violence, drug use, sex exchange and HIV, comparing
homeless women in public shelters with a comparable group of very
low-income housed women. Controlling for demographic and
socio-economic characteristics, the study found that
homeless women were at much greater
risk for all health problems examined, including HIV infection.
For more information
on the Housing-HIV/AIDS connection
click here.
Above statistic cited
in NAHC 2006
Policy Paper.
National AIDS Housing Coalition
1518 K Street NW
Suite 410
Washington, DC 20009
Phone
202-347-0333
Fax
202-347-3411
E-mail
nahc@nationalaidshousing.org
We’re on the Web
www.nationalaidshousing.org
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1. FY07 Housing Appropriations
HOPWA:
Congress may be on recess, but HIV/AIDS housing advocates are hard
at work strategizing how to successfully increase FY07 funding for
HOPWA….
On July 20, 2006, the Senate Appropriations Cte. voted to fund the
HOPWA program at $295 million for FY07; this is the same level the
T/THUD Subcommittee approved during their mark-up two days before.
Although this represents a $9 million increase over FY06, it falls
$5 million short of the House passed level (6/13/06). The President
also recommended funding HOPWA at $300 million in his Budget
Proposal released in February.
HOPWA supporter Senator Richard Durbin (IL) has conveyed that he
will work to find a way for the final appropriation to match the
higher, House-passed level. If the bill goes to the floor in the
Senate (possibly as late as after the elections), an amendment may
be offered to increase the HOPWA funding level by $5 million. If
the T/THUD bill never reaches the Senate floor, and is instead
included in a large omnibus spending bill, supporters of the program
will work to ensure that the Senate concede to the higher,
House-passed level for the program.
Representative Jerrold Nadler (NY) has also worked tirelessly to
ensure the highest funding level for the program and spoke about the
value of the program on the House floor in June (click
here
to read a transcript of his statement).
NAHC will continue to inform our members and friends about movement
on the appropriations bill. Be sure to watch for Calls-to-Action
and other requests for assistance on HOPWA funding issues during the
important final months of the legislative year.
So, what can you do now? Recess is a great time to inform your
members of Congress about the importance of HOPWA in your community
while they are back in their home district (often working to get
reelected!). Call your members’ offices and ask that they come
visit your program in person to see how effective HIV/AIDS housing
is; if they can’t attend personally, try to arrange an on-site
meeting and tour with the staff members who handle housing issues.
To find out how to reach district offices visit
www.senate.gov
and
www.house.gov.
Other Important Housing Programs:
Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.
The House-passed Appropriations bill includes $15.8 billion for
tenant based rental assistance, including $14.5 billion to renew
existing contracts. The Senate Appropriations committee mark
includes slightly more for the total account ($15.9 billion) and
slightly less ($14.4 billion) for contract renewals. The Senate
committee reported bill addresses a number of policy changes sought
by low- income housing advocates including, positive changes to the
funding formula that determines the amount of money each housing
authority will have on an annual basis for voucher funding. Since
2004, the funding has been determined based upon a snapshot of three
months during 2004 plus inflation in determining PHA voucher
funding. The Senate committee abandoned this “snapshot” method for a
new formula relying on PHA leasing rates and actual costs from the
most recent twelve month period.
811 Housing for Persons With Disabilities.
The Senate Appropriations Committee, like the House, rejected the
administration’s call to slash the program by more than half.
Two-hundred and forty million is included in the House-passed bill
and the Senate Appropriations Committee mark, $3 million over the
FY2006 enacted level.
Homeless Assistance Grants.
The Senate Appropriations Committee mark includes $1.5 billion for
McKinney-Vento homeless assistance grants, including $285 million
for Shelter Plus Care renewals but no funding for the Samaritan
Initiative, an unauthorized administration initiative which would
combine permanent housing and case management targeted to the
long-term chronically homeless.
Public Housing.
The Senate Appropriations committee mark includes $3.7 billion for
public housing operating subsidies, $96 million more than both the
House passed bill and the Administration’s budget request. It would
also fund the HOPE VI program at $100 million, $70 million over the
House-passed bill. The Administration proposed elimination of the
program which is designed to revitalize severely distressed public
housing developments.
Community Development Block Grants.
The Administration’s nearly $3.03 billion proposed funding for CDBG
was rejected in action so far in both bodies. Three point eight
billion is recommended for formula grants and $4.2 billion for the
overall Community Development Fund.
For more specific information about FY2007 funding visit
http://www.nlihc.org/news/072106chart.pdf.
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2.
National
Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit: Register Now!
Summit II - 2006: Transforming Fact Into Strategy - Developing a
Public Health Response to the Housing Needs of Persons Living With
and At Risk of HIV/AIDS
October 20th & 21st, 2006 - Mt. Washington Conference Center,
Baltimore, Maryland
The National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC) invites you to
participate in the second annual National Housing and HIV/AIDS
Research Summit, a meeting of leading health, housing and social
service researchers and policy makers, convened by NAHC in
partnership with the Department of Health, Behavior and Society of
the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.
The summit will be held October 20th and 21st, 2006, in Baltimore,
Maryland.
·
Please visit our
Research Summit II page
for more information.
·
Click here
to download a copy of the Summit II brochure.
·
Click here
for registration information and links to an online and PDF
registration form.
Early registration ends September 15, 2006; register now to ensure
that you receive group hotel rates and lower conference fees.
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3.
Legislative
Update: Hurricane Katrina and Housing
As the first anniversary of the horrific Hurricane Katrina
approaches, a group of national low income housing groups are
supporting enactment of legislation to prospectively address
disaster response and seeking changes to extend its benefits to the
thousands of Gulf Coast displacees who remain precariously housed.
Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) introduced
S. 3721, the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006.
The measure, reported from the Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee on August 3 for possible consideration in
September when the Senate returns from its summer recess, would
strengthen the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and
significantly revise the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) which governs Federal
assistance to State and local governments in the event of a
federally declared disaster.
The chief focus of the bill is improved disaster planning. Among
provisions of interest to housing providers, including those serving
people with HIV/AIDS, is the requirement for the development and
annual submission to the Congress of a Disaster Housing Strategy by
HUD, FEMA and state and local governments. The roles, programs,
authorities, and responsibilities of all entities that could provide
housing assistance in the event of a disaster, including HUD, FEMA,
the Department of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human
Services, the American Red Cross and state and local governments
would be defined. The Disaster Housing Strategy would also include
programs to meet the needs of special needs and low income
populations.
One concern among low-income housing groups is the failure of the
measure to apply retroactively to survivors of Hurricane Katrina,
including the potential impact of the end of eighteen months of
assistance in March 2007. As the legislation moves forward, housing
groups will seek improvements including legislative or
administrative fixes that would extend the term of assistance.
Housing groups will also seek congressional support to make selected
provisions of the measure retroactive in order to assist Katrina
survivors, including allowing disaster victims to use their cash
assistance to pay utilities and improvements to FEMA’s “shared
households” rule which bars separate housing assistance to
different, separate members of a pre-disaster household.
Other pending legislation related to Hurricane Katrina include the
Natural Disaster Housing Reform Act of 2006, S. 2983 introduced by
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and its House counterpart, H.R. 5393,
introduced by Reps. Baker (R-LA) and Frank (D-MA), which would make
HUD the primary agency responsible for housing assistance in the
event a disaster.
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4.
Legislative
Update: The Services to End Long-term Homelessness Act
The Services to End Long-Term Homelessness Act (SELHA) is a
legislative initiative, proposed by the National Alliance to End
Homelessness, Corporation for Supportive Housing, National Alliance
for the Mentally Ill, The Enterprise Foundation, and NAHC, to fund
supportive services for the permanent supportive housing necessary
to end long-term homelessness. The program would be targeted to
serve the chronically homeless or long-term homeless population,
many of whom are frequent users of emergency room care, have
disabilities, histories of violence, and/or substance abuse issues.
SELHA would fund services to assist these clients towards stable,
permanent housing and self-sufficiency.
The Senate Appropriations Committee included, in their version of
the funding bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services and Education, $10.56 million for services in permanent
supportive housing to help end chronic homelessness. Additional
language directs SAMHSA to use funding for services in permanent
supportive housing to help end chronic homelessness. Permanent
supportive housing – housing linked to services – is a proven and
cost-effective approach that ends homelessness for the chronically
homeless population.
So, what can you do now? Call your member and request
that Congress adopt the Senate Appropriations Committee funding
level and accompanying report language that directs $10.56 million
for SAMHSA grants to fund services in permanent supportive housing
projects.
We gratefully acknowledge the National Alliance to End Homelessness
for providing this information.
Click here
to visit their SELHA page for more information.
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5.
Legislative
Update: The Second Chance Act
As the time wanes to complete bills in the 109th
Congress, progress has been made on moving the Second Chance Act,
which provides comprehensive services for people leaving prisons and
jails, including people with HIV/AIDS. Recent research indicates
that prisoners have AIDS at a rate five times that of the general
population (click
here
to view AIDS Housing of Washington’s guide From Locked Up to
Locked Out).
Although the housing specific measures are limited, H.R. 1704
currently with 112 co-sponsors and its Senate counterpart, S. 1934
with 28 cosponsors, would provide grants to states and local units
of government to provide post-release housing and transitional
housing, including group homes for recovering substance abusers. In
addition, the measure would mandate a study of the barriers to
admission to the federal low income housing programs for the
formerly incarcerated. Certain convicted felons – for example,
people convicted of drug-related offenses, sex offenders and those
evicted from public housing in the past three years -- may be
barred from receiving subsidized housing.
The measure may move in both houses after the August recess. In the
Senate, staffers are working are working to resolve concerns of
certain Senators who are members of the Judiciary Committee. In the
House Judiciary committee reported bill, efforts to resist the
addition of faith-based language to the measure were successful. For
more information about the Second Chance Act visit
www.reentrypolicy.org and click on Re-entry Legislation.
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6.
Legislative Update: The Ryan White CARE Act & Housing
Although final action for this congressional session is by no means
assured, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee are moving forward
to finalize the bill. On Thursday, August 3, the Senate HELP
Committee sent to bill forward for consideration by the full Senate
with out a report. Efforts are continuing at the staff level to
resolve outstanding issues, including those relating to the funding
formulas. Procedurally, it is projected by committee staff that the
House Energy and Commerce Committee will mark up the measure when
the Congress returns from recess in September. Since the bill is
being formulated in a bi-partisan, bi-cameral manner, the Senate
will consider the House language as a manager’s substitute. After
House consideration, the Senate will act.
Although according to HRSA, 75% of Ryan White grantees use some
small portion of their funding for emergency and transitional
housing, in the reauthorized program these activities will not be
considered a “core medical service” for the purposes of the 75% of
grant funds devoted to such services. Housing need would, thus, be
required to compete with other vital services for the 25% of grant
funds not so designated. The August recess provides a valuable
opportunity to contact
your member of Congress to let him/her know the importance of your
access to CARE Act funding to support housing services is in your
area.
Give concrete examples of housing programs and services that would
be endangered or eliminated if CARE Act funds were not longer
available. This is a serious risk to AIDS housing and clients;
housing providers and advocates must engage in focused advocacy to
ensure that transitional housing and other housing services are
fundable through the CARE Act.
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7.
New Feature!
NAHC Member Profile: Clare Housing St. Paul, Minnesota
What do a North Dakota dive bar where kidnapping plots are hatched
and a Minnesota HIV/AIDS housing residence have in common?
Strangely, the same location! The King of Clubs bar, made famous by
a cameo in the 1996 Oscar winning film Fargo, is actually
located near Minneapolis, Minnesota and is now the site of an AIDS
housing complex. According to Melissa Conway, Development and
Communications Director at Clare Housing, following the filming, the
NAHC member organization bought the bar and land and built in its
place Clare Apartments, a 32 unit building partially constructed
using HOPWA funds!
Founded in 1987, Clare Housing was the first housing program
designated specifically for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Twin
Cities. It has now grown to include six adult foster care homes and
the Clare Apartments building. In total, the program houses 70
residents per year and the buildings serve both men and women who
meet income requirements.
Residents of the foster home units are likely to be disabled and at
risk of being placed in a nursing home. The Clare homes provide
small, personal and less expensive care in a comfortable at-home
setting. Personal attention is a hallmark of these units; four
residents occupy each home and staff is on duty 24 hours a day.
While it primarily serves people with HIV/AIDS, ten
of these units are set aside for people who are disabled and
homeless.
The Clare Apartment building consists of 16 studio units and 16 one
bedroom units designed to serve clients who can function
independently. The Apartments are funded by both formula HOPWA
money and a competitive HOPWA award. A portion of the units are also
funded through Section 8, requiring that residents pay 30% of their
income toward rent.
Clare
Apartments. Photo Courtesy of Lee Lewis and Clare Housing.
Photo credits: Aaron Holmberg
Lee Lewis, Executive Director of Clare Housing since 2002, has
served on the Minnesota HIV Services Planning Council, the
state-wide governing committee for the Health Information Management
System, and chairs the Minnesota HIV Housing Coalition. He has been
involved in HIV/AIDS issues for over twenty years and has extensive
experience working in nonprofit organizations and as a lobbyist for
non-profits at the State Capitol.
To find out more about Clare Housing, visit:
www.clarehousing.org.
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8.
Renew Your Membership or Join NAHC for Calendar Year 2007!
NAHC has begun registering members for calendar year 2007. If you
are a current NAHC member, please remember to renew for next year
(you should be receiving an invoice by mail soon, but you can renew
right away). For the first time ever, you will now also be able to
renew online using a credit card; visit
www.nationalaidshousing.org/join.htm.
New to NAHC? We are always looking to expand our membership and
encourage you to consider joining. Here’s what some members and
friends of NAHC had to say when asked how information provided by
NAHC has been useful to them:
·
“Information and data from last year’s Housing Summit was utilized
in writing a successful HOPWA SPNS grant proposal in the fall of
2005, resulting in a $1.2 million grant….”
·
“As a consumer, information received from this website keeps me
informed with on-going issues related to housing, grants, advocacy
efforts within my community and helps me navigate housing issues in
my own life”.
·
“We’ve utilized information received from NAHC to educate local
politicians, government staff, as well as the general public about
the issues people we serve face. Many times the groups that I
represent have followed up with our state representatives regarding
issues detrimental to those with HIV/AIDS.”
Please visit the
Join NAHC
page on our website for more information, to download a PDF
membership form, or to join online!
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