Excerpt from the HUD 154 page document –
Executive Summary
The Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program provides capital advances and project rental assistance under Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (as amended), for housing projects serving elderly households. The Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has conducted a study to assess whether the program has been effective in meeting the needs of very low-income elderly Americans.
Description of Section 202 Supportive Housing
Since enactment of the program in 1959, Section 202 has provided direct loans or capital advances from the federal government to enable private, not-for-profit sponsors to produce secure, barrier-free, and supportive housing facilities for older persons.1 Careful sponsor screening and rental subsidies have resulted in fewer defaults and greater financial stability in the Section 202 program than in most other federal housing programs. HUD’s administrative data show that, as of December 2006, over 6,000 Section 202 facilities housed approximately 263,000 households of older persons. Waiting lists for Section 202 facilities are long, especially when compared to the number of housing units becoming vacant each year. The relatively high demand for this housing means that applicants frequently must wait over two years for a unit.
Persons are eligible to apply for assistance if their incomes are very low, which is generally equal to 50 percent of the area median family income, adjusted for household size. Residents are predominantly elderly women living alone with incomes between $5,000 and $15,000. The median 2006 income of about $10,000 is well below the income eligibility limit for the program.
Housing made available under the Section 202 program is of good quality, and performs better during on-site physical inspections than other HUD-assisted housing programs. Available information on resident satisfaction suggests that residents of Section 202 facilities are more satisfied with their home and immediate surroundings than participants in the Housing Choice Voucher program or unassisted very low-income elderly persons.
In 2006, the median age of Section 202 residents was 74 years, and 31 percent were age 80 or older. For elderly persons admitted to Section 202 housing that year, the median age was 70 years, and about 19 percent of all persons admitted to Section 202 housing were age 80 or older.
Residents of Section 202 projects in 2006 had a median tenure of 4 years. Eighteen percent of all households had lived in the project for more than ten years. On average, elderly persons admitted to Section 202 projects generally resided for longer periods of time in this kind of housing than elders admitted to public housing, other multifamily assisted housing, or using Housing Choice Vouchers.
1 Elderly households are those with a head, spouse or co-head age 62 or older.
Unique Aspects of Section 202 Supportive Housing
A critical aspect of Section 202 housing is that it can accommodate residents with supportive services as they become more frail. A majority of facilities (73.9 percent) have grab rails, and 91.1 percent have a ramp or a level entrance. In the newer projects (built since 1990), nearly 100 percent of projects have at least one accessible unit, and 43 percent of all units are wheelchair-accessible.
A majority of Section 202 projects have the capacity to provide an array of communal services for their residents. Community space for social and recreational facilities is available and used in 90.2 percent of projects. Spaces for congregate dining and supportive service providers are used in about half of projects.
Costs of formal services are generally not paid by HUD, but instead are paid through a variety of other sources, principally through Medicaid. Examples of formal services are meals, housekeeping, assistance with medications, bathing, etc. A service coordinator is a person trained to work with residents and their families when supportive services are needed. In 2006, 38 percent of all Section 202 properties reported having a service coordinator on staff. Almost half of all facilities built before 1984 reported having one on staff, while the smallest service coordinator presence (26.9 percent) was reported at newer Section 202 projects developed after 1990. Older facilities tend to be larger than newer projects, which permits greater economies of scale in staffing than in the newer, smaller facilities.
