Today's announcement coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Olmstead v. L.C. & E.W. which affirmed the rights of individuals with disabilities to live independently. To commemorate this landmark decision, President Obama declared 2009 the Year of Community Living.
"We also recognize how important it is for HUD and HHS to coordinate our resources to enable community-living for those individuals that live with disabilities."
HUD's Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) will make $30 million in voucher assistance available to support approximately 4,000 Housing Choice Vouchers for non-elderly disabled families.
HUD is making a 1,000 of those vouchers available specifically for individuals transitioning out of nursing homes and other institutions.
These vouchers directly support a $1.75 billion initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help persons who reside in health care settings move to community-based living. While HHS' Money Follows the Person (MFP) program offers health care, case management and other services to qualified families, it does not include funding for housing. HUD's funding initiative is designed to fill that gap.
The remaining 3,000 Housing Choice Vouchers are available to assist any non-elderly disabled family. The Department is encouraging local housing authorities to give strong consideration to using some or all of these vouchers to provide housing for those non-elderly persons that are living in the community, but are at-risk for institutionalization.
More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.