Supportive Housing for People with Disabilities (Section 811)
Who Can Benefit from Section 811
The Supportive Housing program serves people who have disabilities who have very low incomes.
What is Section 811
The Supportive Housing program helps pay to build or rehabilitate rental housing that also provides "supportive services." People who are in the program get "vouchers" to pay for the cost of living in the rental housing. Examples of supportive services are:
- 24-hour staffing
- in-unit call buttons
- planned activities
The services must be paid for through other resources, such as Medicaid waivers or home health care.
Non-profit companies get the money in the form of grants (grant money can be an interet-free loan, and can pay for expenses needed to operate the rental housing with the supportive services.) A non-profit company can ask for money to serve people with a specific disability (like TBI). The company must have a supportive services plan which must be reviewed by the related state agency to make sure it meets the needs of people with disabilities.
How can a Person Apply for Section 811
The person must go to the Public Housing Authority (PHA) to apply for the Supportive Housing program, or apply with a participating non-profit housing provider.
Pros and Cons of the Program
The Pros of the Supportive Housing Program
- includes vouchers for people with disabilities AND money to help build the housing;
- requires a plan to address supportive services needs for people with disabilities in the program;
- coordinates housing and support services for the people in the program;
- nonprofit agencies that run these programs generally have experience serving people with disabilities and are more aware of the issues facing them;
- housing and supports can be designed to meet the needs of a specific target population (e.g. individuals with TBI)
Cons of the Supportive Housing Program
- encourages large housing developments that serve many people at one site, but most people prefer to live in small, more normal housing in the community;
- provides no choice of where to live: in order to get the voucher for rent, a person must live in the housing built through this program;
- PHAs often control the voucher part of the program: experience shows that most PHAs do not provide assistance to people with severe disabilities;
- money has been cut substantially in past years.
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