November 18, 2004
Janis Wallace Gumble, Director
Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development
100 Cambridge St., Suite 300
Boston, MA 02114
RE: FY 2006 Budget
Dear Ms. Gumble:
We appreciate the opportunity to submit comments on the Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) FY06 budget. United is a recently formed housing advocacy network focusing on housing for people living with disabilities. We are comprised of over 30 disability related organizations from across the state. As you know, DHCD plays an integral role in the lives of and housing availability for people with disabilities; because of this, we are focusing on some particular budget items.
The Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) was established by legislature and Governor Weld in 1995 to address the concerns of elders living with younger persons in state-funded public housing and to provide some legal protection for the elder-preference system that was established in the same legislation. The program provides an alternative housing resource for low-income persons with disabilities – specifically as an alternative to state-funded elderly/handicapped housing and has been well received by housing authorities, elders, and people with disabilities.
AHVP is cost effective with an average cost of $570 per month or $6,840 per year, which is significantly less costly than a homeless shelter, hospital, nursing home, or other institution. As Massachusetts continues to experience significant homelessness among individuals with disabilities and decreases in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, AHVP is critically important. The program was funded with $4 million for 800 units from 1995 until the FY02 budget cuts. Due to the increased cost of housing, we estimate that it would take approximately $5.5 million in today’s dollars to fully fund these 800 units. We urge DHCD to at least restore AHVP funding to $4 million in the FY’05 budget.
The Residential Assistance to Families in Transition (RAFT) program has helped fill the need for funds to assist families in maintaining their housing when the stability of their housing is at risk. RAFT has results in savings to the Commonwealth by reducing the number of evictions and the number of homeless families. It also allows families to maintain their health and safety by covering utility bills. The program has been hugely successful, and heavily relied upon largely because there are few other program of this nature in the Commonwealth.
We urge DHCD to fund this critical program at $4 million in the FY’06 budget in order to continue to adequately meet the growing need.
The Individual Self-Sufficiency Initiative (ISSI) provided critical support to homeless individuals who were in transition from shelter to a more permanent living situation. Unfortunately this program was eliminated in FY03, despite the fact that there remains a great need for this type of support. The Commonwealth has made a commitment to ending homelessness and we believe programs like ISSI are incredibly important to meeting that end goal.
We urge DHCD to provide funding for ISSI at a level of $2.5 million in the FY’06 budget.
In addition to these programs, we would like to comment on funding levels for DHCD’s capital budget programs that address the development and/or rehabilitation of housing.
- Facilities Consolidation Fund (FCF) which serves clients of the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Mental Retardation: Recommended FY’06 funding level of $7.5 million.
- The Public Housing Modernization, used to make access modifications as well as general repairs to public housing authority developments: Recommended FY’06 funding level of $60 million.
- The Home Modification Loan Program which is used to make access modifications in homes: Recommended FY’06 funding level of $5 million.
- The Community Based Housing Program, a new program similar to the FCF used to create integrated housing for people not eligible for FCF: Recommended FY’06 funding level of $5 million.
Annually DHCD is allocated an amount of bond “cap” which is the amount they can spend on these and other programs. Since FY02, DHCD’s allocation of capital has generally decreased despite the addition of new programs – specifically those for people with disabilities. Clearly, the addition of new programs without a corresponding allocation of funds results in programs not being adequately funded. We ask that DHCD request adequate funds from the Executive Office of Administration and Finance to cover their capital programs.
Again, we thank you for the opportunity to comment on the FY06 budget and your consideration of our recommendations. We look forward to working with you in your critical role of expanding access to housing for people living with disabilities and in ending homelessness for all those in need in Massachusetts.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned Members of United Disability Housing Partnership