[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4664 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4664

  To establish the elderly housing plus health support demonstration 
 program to modernize public housing for elderly and disabled persons.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 14, 2000

Mr. Meeks of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 
           to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish the elderly housing plus health support demonstration 
 program to modernize public housing for elderly and disabled persons.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Elderly Housing Plus Health Support 
Demonstration Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) there are at least 34,100,000 Americans who are 65 
        years and older, and persons who are 85 years of age or older 
        (often called the oldest old) comprise almost one-quarter of 
        that population;
            (2) the Bureau of the Census of the Department of Commerce 
        estimates that, by 2030, the elderly population will double to 
        70,000,000 persons;
            (3) according to the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development report ``Housing Our Elders--A Report Card on the 
        Housing Conditions and Needs of Older Americans'', the largest 
        and fastest growing segments of the older population include 
        many people who have historically been vulnerable economically 
        and in the housing market--women, minorities, and the oldest 
        old;
            (4) many elderly persons are at significant risk with 
        respect to the availability, stability, and accessibility of 
        affordable housing, as evidenced by a recent study which 
        indicates that 1,700,000 low-income senior households spend 
        more than one-half of their incomes on housing;
            (5) over 1,000,000 of the approximately 3,700,000 Americans 
        who are 62 years of age or older and are living in federally 
        assisted housing reside in public housing, thereby making it 
        the largest Federal housing program for senior citizens;
            (6) the elderly population residing in public housing is 
        older, poorer, frailer, and more racially diverse than the 
        elderly population residing in other assisted housing;
            (7) two-thirds of the public housing developments for the 
        elderly, including those that also serve the disabled, were 
        constructed before 1970 and are in dire need of major 
        rehabilitation, such as rehabilitation to provide new roofs, 
        energy-efficient heating, cooling, and utility systems, and up-
        to-date safety features, such as sprinklers, fire alarms, and 
        security systems;
            (8) many of the dwelling units in public housing 
        developments for elderly and disabled persons are undersized, 
        are inaccessible to residents with physical limitations, do not 
        comply with the requirements under the Americans with 
        Disabilities Act of 1990, or lack railings, grab bars, 
        emergency call buttons, and wheel chair accessible ramps;
            (9) a recent study for the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development found that the cost of the basic modernization 
        needs for public housing for elderly and disabled persons 
        exceeds $5,700,000,000;
            (10) a growing number of elderly and disabled persons face 
        unnecessary institutionalization because of the absence of 
        appropriate supportive services and assisted living facilities 
        in their residences;
            (11) for many elderly and disabled persons, independent 
        living in a non-institutionalization setting is a preferable 
        housing alternative to costly institutionalization, and would 
        allow public monies to be more effectively used to provide 
        necessary services for such persons;
            (12) congregate housing and supportive services coordinated 
        by service coordinators is a proven and cost-effective means of 
        enabling elderly and disabled persons to remain in place with 
        dignity and independence; and
            (13) the effective provision of congregate services and 
        assisted living in public housing developments often requires 
        the redesign of units and buildings to accommodate independent 
        living.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to establish a program to demonstrate the effectiveness 
        of making competitive grants to provide state-of-the-art 
        health-supportive housing with assisted living opportunities 
        for elderly and disabled persons;
            (2) to provide funding to enhance, make safe and 
        accessible, and extend the useful life of public housing 
        developments for the elderly and disabled and to increase their 
        accessibility to supportive services;
            (3) to provide elderly and disabled public housing 
        residents a readily available choice in living arrangements by 
        utilizing the services of service coordinators and providing a 
        continuum of care that allows such residents to age in place;
            (4) to incorporate congregate housing service programs more 
        fully into public housing operations; and
            (5) to accomplish such purposes and provide such funding 
        under existing provisions of law that currently authorize all 
        activities to be conducted under the demonstration program.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY FOR ELDERLY HOUSING PLUS HEALTH SUPPORT DEMONSTRATION 
              PROGRAM.

    The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this Act 
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall carry out an elderly housing 
plus health support demonstration program under this Act to demonstrate 
the effectiveness  of providing coordinated funding for selected public 
housing projects for elderly and disabled families to provide amounts 
for rehabilitating such projects, for providing space in such projects 
for supportive services and community and health facilities, for 
providing service coordinators for such projects, and for providing 
congregate services programs in or near such projects.

SEC. 4. PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM.

    (a) Application and Plan.--To be eligible to be selected for 
participation in the demonstration program under this Act, a public 
housing agency shall submit to the Secretary--
            (1) an application, in such form and manner as the 
        Secretary shall require; and
            (2) a plan for the agency that--
                    (A) identifies the public housing projects for 
                which amounts provided under this Act will be used, 
                which may only be projects that are designated, or 
                otherwise used, for occupancy (i) only by elderly 
                families, or (ii) by both elderly families and disabled 
                families; and
                    (B) provides for local agencies or organizations to 
                establish or expand the provision of health-related 
                services or other services that will enhance living for 
                residents of public housing projects of the agency, 
                primarily in the project or projects to be assisted 
                under the demonstration program.
    (b) Selection and Criteria.--The Secretary shall select public 
housing agencies for participation in the demonstration program under 
this Act based upon a competition among public housing agencies 
submitting applications for participation. The competition shall be 
based upon the following criteria:
            (1) The extent of the need, for the projects of an agency 
        that are identified in the plan of the agency pursuant to 
        section 4(a)(2)(A), for rehabilitation activities.
            (2) The past performance of an agency in serving the needs 
        of elderly public housing residents or non-elderly, disabled 
        public housing residents.
            (3) The past success of an agency in obtaining non-public 
        housing resources to assist such residents.
            (4) The effectiveness of the plan of an agency in creating 
        or expanding services described in subsection (a)(2)(B).

SEC. 5. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) Assistance.--To the extent amounts are made available under 
subsection (c), the Secretary shall provide assistance from the Capital 
Fund established under section 9(d)(1) of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(d)(1)) to public housing agencies selected for 
participation in the demonstration program under this Act for use only 
for capital improvements to rehabilitate public housing projects 
identified in the plan of the agency pursuant to section 4(a)(2)(A) of 
this Act or to provide space for supportive services and for community 
and health-related facilities primarily for the residents of such 
projects.
    (b) Allocation.--Amounts made available under subsection (c) shall 
be allocated among public housing agencies selected to participate in 
the demonstration program under this Act on the basis of the criteria 
under section 4(b). Section 9(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(c)(1)) shall not apply to such amounts.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--For providing assistance 
under this section in connection with the demonstration program under 
this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Capital Fund 
established under section 9(d)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as may be 
necessary for each subsequent fiscal year.

SEC. 6. SERVICE COORDINATORS.

    (a) Assistance.--To the extent amounts are made available under 
subsection (c), the Secretary shall make grants under section 34 of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437z-6) to public housing 
agencies selected for participation in the demonstration program under 
this Act. Such grants shall be used only in accordance with section 
34(b)(2) of such Act, for public housing projects for elderly and 
disabled families for which capital assistance is provided under 
section 5 of this Act, to provide service coordinators and related 
activities identified in the plan of the agency pursuant to section 
4(a)(2) of this Act so that the residents of such projects will have 
improved and more economical access to services that support their 
health and well-being. Subsections (c), (d), and (e) of such section 34 
shall not apply to amounts made available under this section.
    (b) Allocation.--The Secretary shall provide a grant pursuant to 
this section, in an amount not exceeding $400,000, to each public 
housing agency that is selected to participate in the demonstration 
program under this Act.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--For grants under section 34 
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 in accordance with this 
section, there is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2001 and such sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal 
year.

SEC. 7. CONGREGATE HOUSING SERVICES PROGRAMS.

    (a) Assistance.--To the extent amounts are made available under 
subsection (c), the Secretary shall make grants under section 34 of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437z-6) to public housing 
agencies selected for participation in the demonstration program under 
this Act. Such grants shall be used only in accordance with section 
34(b)(2) of such Act, in connection with public housing projects for 
elderly and disabled families for which capital assistance is provided 
under section 5 of this Act, to carry out a congregate housing service 
program identified in the plan of the agency pursuant to section 
4(a)(2) of this Act that provides services as described in section 
202(g)(1) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(g)(1). No other 
provision of such section 202 shall apply to such grants. Subsections 
(c), (d), and (e) of such section 34 shall not apply to amounts made 
available under this section.
    (b) Allocation.--The Secretary shall provide a grant pursuant to 
this section, in an amount that does not exceed $750,000, to each 
public housing agency that is selected to participate in the 
demonstration program under this Act and that, in applying for 
assistance under the demonstration program, requests such assistance.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--For grants under section 34 
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 in accordance with this 
section, there is authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2001 and such sums as may be necessary for each subsequent year.

SEC. 8. SAFEGUARDING OTHER APPROPRIATIONS.

    Amounts authorized to be appropriated by this Act for use under the 
Elderly Plus demonstration program under this Act are in addition to 
any amounts authorized to be appropriated under any other provision of 
law or that have otherwise made available in appropriation Acts, for 
rehabilitation of public housing projects, for service coordinators for 
public housing projects, or for congregate housing services programs.
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