Using LIHTCs to Create Integrated Supportive Housing

1. Using LIHTCs to Create Integrated Supportive Housing Julia Bick, N.C. Department of Health & Human Services Mark H. Shelburne, N.C. Housing Finance Agency

2. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General 1999 Supported housing focuses on consumers having a permanent home that is integrated socially, is self-chosen, and encourages empowerment and skills development.

3. Housing • Permanent • with rights and responsibilities of ownership or tenancy • Decent and well managed • Affordable • Accessible- both in terms of anynecessary physical modifications and in access to community amenities

4. Supports • Individualized-tailored to fit the individual’s needs • Flexible-frequency and intensity according to need • Voluntary-not a pre-requisite or condition of housing occupancy • Varied-to assist the resident in maximizing vocational, social, and recreational potential for community living • Adequate- sufficient to meet the individual’s need

5. Supportive Housing is housing with supports. Two separate but related issues.

6. Affordable Housing Costs for a Single Person at SSI Level • When speaking of access to housing, the individual's poverty, and not disability, is most often the operative barrier. • 30% of $637 a month = $191 a month • No market in NC where you can rent without assistance at this income level

7. The need for decent, safe affordable housing cuts across disability categories. • Collective, rather than competitive action. • 504 Rehabilitation Act Regulations prohibit, in the absence of Federal law or regulation, targeting Federal housing resources to a particular disability group to the exclusion of any other disability group.

8. LIHTC units must be “for the use of the general public.” • Owners may adopt a preference to select families that include a person with a disability. • Owners may not create preferences for persons with a specific type of disability unless allowed in the controlling documents of the property. (HUD 811, etc.) • Owners may not apply a preference for persons without a disability.

9. Basics of Partnership • Owners of LIHTC properties must set-aside 10% of units for persons with disabilities • Local human service agencies make referrals to available units through a collective process • This cross-disability group is represented by one agency • The lead agency and property management enter into a memorandum of understanding

10. NC LIHTC Targeting Plans Developer, Management and Local Lead Agency agree: • Tenancy cannot be conditioned on service compliance. • Willingness to negotiate Reasonable Accommodations. • Confidentiality protected, no disability information, beyond eligibility, is communicated to management.

11. Architectural Accessibility • 2003-2005 Bonus points available for making units accessible in addition to FHA legal minimums. • 2006 became a threshold requirement __________________________________ Additional 5% of all project units must: (a) be fully accessible (b) full turn around in bathrooms (c) curbless showers

12. Key Program Assistance Targeted to persons with disabilities • Production based • attached to Tax Credit units coming on line • Operating subsidy • Pays the difference between tenant income and an operating standard • Designed as “bridge” until the tenant can access permanent and portable Federal assistance.

13. Why did we do it? • The federal Housing Credit is the nation’s largest production resource • People with disabilities have the greatest need for affordable housing • NCHFA had always wanted to match these two but didn’t have a way until 2002 • DHHS and advocates rose to the challenge of presenting a workable solution

14. Benefits • Tax Credits are an efficient system for the production of high-quality, professionally managed housing. • Provides integrated housing choices • Separates housing from services • Lease controls occupancy • Linkage to services • Partners maintain their separate roles • “Housers” build and mange the housing • local services and support systems make services available to tenants

15. How was it possible? • Needed to gain support from LIHTC development community • Owners and managers • Reluctant at first but accepted quickly • Have become supporters of the program

16. Why does it work? • Each side of the state and property-level partnerships focus on what they do best • NCHFA allocates LIHTCs and monitors for compliance • DHHS works with local agencies and on-site property management • Owners and property managers build and manage rental housing • Human service agencies provide services and support to individuals and families • State-funded operating assistance

17. Role of Management • Treats lead agency referrals the same as any other applicant • Applies normal screening criteria, including reasonable accommodations • Keeps units open for short periods • Once under lease, treats the same as any other tenant • Requests operating assistance funds each month for occupied units

18. What doesn’t happen? • Owners and management: • have no medical information • do not provide services, treatment, etc. • No compliance problem if the lead agency has no referrals • No reason to avoid remedies for lease default, including eviction (subject to reasonable accommodations)

19. How do owners benefit? • Many tenants have disabilities regardless of set-aside requirement; having a connection to the services community helps: • serve these tenants, • other residents, and • solve problems • Better understanding of reasonable accommodations requirements • First units leased, low turnover

20. Community Integration • Supportive housing units are part of larger LIHTC properties • Nothing identifies them as different • Other residents, let alone neighborhood, are not aware that some occupants have disabilities • Result is no NIMBY, other than against affordable housing in general

21. What are the numbers? • 6 annual award cycles • 1,191 funded units (673 currently available) • 193 properties • 103 different cities and towns • 90% of available units occupied by referrals • <1% eviction rate • 600+ Households have quality affordable housing who otherwise probably would not

22. Challenges • To assure tenants have access to services we must marshal the resources of a limited and fragmented service system. • Public human service systems are funded and organized around particular sub-populations. • Services provided based upon individual eligibility and need. Provide services to people, not to buildings. • To secure a continuing source of operating assistance.

23. Future of LIHTC Program • Most pressing need is for housing person below 30% of median income. • LIHTC properties approaching saturation in many communities at 50% income levels • Subsidies that make units in LIHTC developments affordable to extremely low income persons is an efficient use of limited resources.