1.This Act may be cited as the Meeting
the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors Act of 2005
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The senior
population (persons 65 or older) in this country is rapidly growing, and is
expected to increase from 34,700,000 in 2000 to nearly 40,000,000 by 2010, and
then will dramatically increase to over 50,000,000 by 2020.
(2)By 2020, the
population of older
seniors, those over age 85, is expected to
double to 7,000,000, and then double again to 14,000,000 by 2040.
(3)As the senior
population increases, so does the need for additional safe, decent, affordable,
and suitable housing that meets their unique needs.
(4)Due to the health
care, transportation, and service needs of seniors, issues of providing
suitable and affordable housing opportunities differ significantly from the
housing needs of other families.
(5)Seniors need
access to a wide array of housing options, such as affordable assisted living,
in-home care, supportive or service-enriched housing, and retrofitted homes and
apartments to allow seniors to age in place and to avoid premature placement in
institutional settings.
(6)While there are
many programs in place to assist seniors in finding and affording suitable
housing and accessing needed services, these programs are fragmented and spread
across many agencies, making it difficult for seniors to access assistance or
to receive comprehensive information.
(7)Better
coordination among Federal agencies is needed, as is better coordination at
State and local levels, to ensure that seniors can access government
activities, programs, services, and benefits in an effective and efficient
manner.
(8)Up to date,
accurate, and accessible statistics on key characteristics of seniors,
including conditions, behaviors, and needs, are required to accurately identify
the housing and service needs of seniors.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term
housing means any form of residence, including rental housing,
homeownership, assisted living, group home, supportive housing arrangement,
nursing facility, or any other physical location where a person can
live.
(2)The term
service includes transportation, health care, nursing assistance,
meal, personal care and chore services, assistance with daily activities,
mental health care, physical therapy, case management, and any other services
needed by seniors to allow them to stay in their housing or find alternative
housing that meets their needs.
(3)The term
program includes any Federal or State program providing income
support, health benefits or other benefits to seniors, housing assistance,
mortgages, mortgage or loan insurance or guarantees, housing counseling,
supportive services, assistance with daily activities, or other assistance for
seniors.
(4)The term
Council means the Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and
Service Needs of Seniors.
(5)The term
senior means any individual 65 years of age or older.
4.Interagency
Council on Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors
(a)There
is established in the executive branch an independent council to be known as
the Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of
Seniors.
(b)The
objectives of the Council are as follows:
(1)To promote
coordination and collaboration among the Federal departments and agencies
involved with housing, health care, and service needs of seniors in order to
better meet the needs of senior citizens.
(2)To identify the
unique housing and service needs faced by seniors around the country and to
recommend ways that the Federal Government, States, State and local
governments, and others can better meet those needs, including how to ensure
that seniors can find and afford housing that allows them to access health
care, transportation, nursing assistance, and assistance with daily activities
where they live or in their communities.
(3)To facilitate the
aging in place of seniors, by identifying and making available the programs and
services necessary to enable seniors to remain in their homes as they
age.
(4)To improve
coordination among the housing and service related programs and services of
Federal agencies for seniors and to make recommendations about needed changes
with an emphasis on—
(A)maximizing the
impact of existing programs and services;
(B)reducing or
eliminating areas of overlap and duplication in the provision and accessibility
of such programs and services; and
(C)making access to
programs and services easier for seniors around the country.
(5)To increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of existing housing and service related programs
and services which serve seniors.
(6)To establish an
ongoing system of coordination among and within such agencies or organizations
so that the housing and service needs of seniors are met in a more efficient
manner.
(c)The
Council shall be composed of the following:
(1)The Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development or a designee of the Secretary.
(2)The Secretary of
Health and Human Services or a designee of the Secretary.
(3)The Secretary of
Agriculture or a designee of the Secretary.
(4)The Secretary of
Transportation or a designee of the Secretary.
(5)The Secretary of
Labor or a designee of the Secretary.
(6)The Secretary of
Veterans Affairs or a designee of the Secretary.
(7)The Secretary of
the Treasury or a designee of the Secretary.
(8)The Commissioner
of the Social Security Administration or a designee of the Commissioner.
(9)The Administrator
of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or a designee of the
Administrator.
(10)The Administrator
of the Administration on Aging or a designee of the Administrator.
(11)The head (or
designee) of any other Federal agency as the Council considers
appropriate.
(12)State and local
representatives knowledgeable about the needs of seniors as chosen by the
Council members described in paragraphs (1) through (11).
(d)The
Chairperson of the Council shall alternate between the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on an annual
basis.
(e)Each year, the Council shall elect a Vice Chair from among
its members.
(f)The
Council shall meet at the call of its Chairperson or a majority of its members
at any time, and no less often than quarterly. The Council shall hold meetings
with stakeholders and other interested parties at least twice a year, so that
the opinions of such parties can be taken into account and so that outside
groups can learn of the Council’s activities and plans.
5.Functions of the
council.
(a)In carrying out its objectives, the Council
shall—
(1)review all Federal
programs and services that assist seniors in finding, affording, and
rehabilitating housing, including those that assist seniors in accessing health
care, transportation, supportive services, and assistance with daily
activities, where or close to where seniors live;
(2)monitor, evaluate,
and recommend improvements in existing programs and services administered,
funded, or financed by Federal, State, and local agencies to assist seniors in
meeting their housing and service needs and make any recommendations about how
agencies can better work to house and serve seniors; and
(3)recommend
ways—
(A)to reduce
duplication among programs and services by Federal agencies that assist seniors
in meeting their housing and service needs;
(B)to ensure
collaboration among and within agencies in the provision and availability of
programs and services so that seniors are able to easily access needed programs
and services;
(C)to work with
States to better provide housing and services to seniors by—
(i)holding individual
meetings with State representatives;
(ii)providing ongoing
technical assistance to States in better meeting the needs of seniors;
and
(iii)working with
States to designate State liaisons to the Council;
(D)to identify best
practices for programs and services that assist seniors in meeting their
housing and service needs, including model—
(i)programs linking
housing and services;
(ii)financing
products offered by government, quasi-government, and private sector
entities;
(iii)land use,
zoning, and regulatory practices; and
(iv)innovations in
technology applications that give seniors access to information on available
services;
(E)to collect and
disseminate information about seniors and the programs and services available
to them to ensure that seniors can access comprehensive information;
(F)to hold biannual
meetings with stakeholders and other interested parties (or to hold open
Council meetings) to receive input and ideas about how to best meet the housing
and service needs of seniors;
(G)to maintain an
updated website of policies, meetings, best practices, programs, services, and
any other helpful information to keep people informed of the Council’s
activities; and
(H)to work with the
Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Statistics, the Census Bureau, and member
agencies to collect and maintain data relating to the housing and service needs
of seniors so that all data can be accessed in one place and to identify and
address unmet data needs.
(b)
(1)Each year, the head of each agency that is a member of
the Council shall prepare and transmit to the Council a report that
describes—
(A)each program and
service administered by the agency that serves seniors and the number of
seniors served by each program or service, the resources available in each, as
well as a breakdown of where each program and service can be accessed;
(B)the barriers and
impediments, including statutory or regulatory, to the access and use of such
programs and services by seniors;
(C)the efforts made
by each agency to increase opportunities for seniors to find and afford housing
that meet their needs, including how the agency is working with other agencies
to better coordinate programs and services; and
(D)any new data
collected by each agency relating to the housing and service needs of
seniors.
(2)Each year, the Council shall prepare and transmit to the
President, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the House Financial
Services Committee, and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce a
report that—
(A)summarizes the
reports required in paragraph (1);
(B)utilizes recent
data to assess the nature of the problems faced by seniors in meeting their
unique housing and service needs;
(C)provides a
comprehensive and detailed description of the programs and services of the
Federal Government in meeting the needs and problems described in subparagraph
(B);
(D)describes the
activities and accomplishments of the Council in working with Federal, State,
and local governments, and private organizations in coordinating programs and
services to meet the needs described in subparagraph (B) and the resources
available to meet those needs;
(E)assesses the level
of Federal assistance required to meet the needs described in subparagraph (B);
and
(F)makes
recommendations for appropriate legislative and administrative actions to meet
the needs described in subparagraph (B) and for coordinating programs and
services designed to meet those needs.
6.
(a)The
Council may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such
testimony, and receive such evidence as the Council considers advisable to
carry out the purposes of this Act.
(b)Information From
AgenciesAgencies which are members of the Council shall provide
all requested information and data to the Council as requested.
(c)The Council may use the United States mails in the same
manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the
Federal Government.
(d)The
Council may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or
property.
7.Council personnel
matters.
(a)All members of the Council who are officers or employees
of the United States shall serve without compensation in addition to that
received for their services as officers or employees of the United
States.
(b)The members of the Council shall be allowed travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for
employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United
States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the
performance of services for the Council.
(c)
(1)The Council shall, without regard to civil service laws
and regulations, appoint and terminate an Executive Director and such other
additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the Council to perform its
duties.
(2)The Council shall appoint an Executive Director at its
initial meeting. The Executive Director shall be compensated at a rate not to
exceed the rate of pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under
section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
(3)With
the approval of the Council, the Executive Director may appoint and fix the
compensation of such additional personnel as necessary to carry out the duties
of the Council. The rate of compensation may be set without regard to the
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5, United
States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay
rates, except that the rate of pay may not exceed the rate payable for level V
of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
(d)Temporary and
Intermittent ServicesIn carrying out its objectives, the Council
may procure temporary and intermittent services of consultants and experts
under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals
which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay
prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such
title.
(e)Detail of
Government EmployeesUpon request of the Council, any Federal
Government employee may be detailed to the Council without reimbursement, and
such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or
privilege.
(f)The Secretary of Housing Urban Development and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide the Council with such
administrative and supportive services as are necessary to ensure that the
Council can carry out its functions.
8.Authorization of
appropriations.There are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, $1,500,000 for each of
fiscal years 2005 through 2010.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Meeting the Housing and Service Needs
of Seniors Act of 2005
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The senior population
(persons 65 or older) in this country is rapidly growing, and is expected to
increase from 34,700,000 in 2000 to nearly 40,000,000 by 2010, and then will
dramatically increase to over 50,000,000 by 2020.
(2)By 2020, the population
of older
seniors, those over age 85, is expected to double to
7,000,000, and then double again to 14,000,000 by 2040.
(3)As the senior population
increases, so does the need for additional safe, decent, affordable, and
suitable housing that meets their unique needs.
(4)Due to the health care,
transportation, and service needs of seniors, issues of providing suitable and
affordable housing opportunities differ significantly from the housing needs of
other families.
(5)Seniors need access to a
wide array of housing options, such as affordable assisted living, in-home
care, supportive or service-enriched housing, and retrofitted homes and
apartments to allow seniors to age in place and to avoid premature placement in
institutional settings.
(6)While there are many
programs in place to assist seniors in finding and affording suitable housing
and accessing needed services, these programs are fragmented and spread across
many agencies, making it difficult for seniors to access assistance or to
receive comprehensive information.
(7)Better coordination among
Federal agencies is needed, as is better coordination at State and local
levels, to ensure that seniors can access government activities, programs,
services, and benefits in an effective and efficient manner.
(8)Up to date, accurate, and
accessible statistics on key characteristics of seniors, including conditions,
behaviors, and needs, are required to accurately identify the housing and
service needs of seniors.
3.In this Act:
(1)The
term housing means any form of residence, including rental
housing, homeownership, assisted living, group home, supportive housing
arrangement, nursing facility, or any other physical location where a person
can live.
(2)The
term service includes transportation, health care, nursing
assistance, meal, personal care and chore services, assistance with daily
activities, mental health care, physical therapy, case management, and any
other services needed by seniors to allow them to stay in their housing or find
alternative housing that meets their needs.
(3)The
term program includes any Federal or State program providing
income support, health benefits or other benefits to seniors, housing
assistance, mortgages, mortgage or loan insurance or guarantees, housing
counseling, supportive services, assistance with daily activities, or other
assistance for seniors.
(4)The
term Council means the Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing
and Service Needs of Seniors.
(5)The
term senior means any individual 65 years of age or older.
4.Interagency Council on
Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors
(a)There
is established in the executive branch an independent council to be known as
the Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of
Seniors.
(b)The
objectives of the Council are as follows:
(1)To promote coordination
and collaboration among the Federal departments and agencies involved with
housing, health care, and service needs of seniors in order to better meet the
needs of senior citizens.
(2)To identify the unique
housing and service needs faced by seniors around the country and to recommend
ways that the Federal Government, States, State and local governments, and
others can better meet those needs, including how to ensure that seniors can
find and afford housing that allows them to access health care, transportation,
nursing assistance, and assistance with daily activities where they live or in
their communities.
(3)To facilitate the aging
in place of seniors, by identifying and making available information related to
the programs and services necessary to enable seniors to remain in their homes
as they age.
(4)To improve coordination
among the housing and service related programs and services of Federal agencies
for seniors and to make recommendations about needed changes with an emphasis
on—
(A)maximizing the impact of
existing programs and services;
(B)reducing or eliminating
areas of overlap and duplication in the provision and accessibility of such
programs and services; and
(C)making access to programs
and services easier for seniors around the country.
(5)To increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of existing housing and service related programs
and services which serve seniors.
(6)To establish an ongoing
system of coordination among and within such agencies or organizations so that
the housing and service needs of seniors are met in a more efficient
manner.
(c)The
Council shall be composed of the following:
(1)The Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development.
(2)The Secretary of Health
and Human Services.
(3)The Secretary of
Agriculture or a designee of the Secretary.
(4)The Secretary of
Transportation or a designee of the Secretary.
(5)The Secretary of Labor or
a designee of the Secretary.
(6)The Secretary of Veterans
Affairs or a designee of the Secretary.
(7)The Secretary of the
Treasury or a designee of the Secretary.
(8)The Commissioner of the
Social Security Administration or a designee of the Commissioner.
(9)The Administrator of the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or a designee of the
Administrator.
(10)The Administrator of the
Administration on Aging or a designee of the Administrator.
(11)The head (or designee)
of any other Federal agency as the Council considers appropriate.
(12)(A)3 additional members,
as appointed by the President to serve terms not to exceed 4 years, of
whom—
(i)one shall be a Governor
of a State;
(ii)one shall be a Mayor of
a political subdivision of a State;
(iii)one shall be a county,
town, township, parish, village, hamlet, or other general purpose local
official of a political subdivision of a State.
(B)Of the members appointed
by the President under subparagraph (A)—
(i)no more than 2 members
may be affiliated with the same political party; and
(ii)none shall be considered
a Federal employee.
(d)The
Chairperson of the Council shall alternate between the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development and the Secretary of Health and Human Services every 2
years.
(e)Every 2 years, the Council shall elect a Vice Chair from
among its members.
(f)The
Council shall meet at the call of its Chairperson or a majority of its members
at any time, and no less often than quarterly. The Council shall hold meetings
with stakeholders and other interested parties at least twice a year, so that
the opinions of such parties can be taken into account and so that outside
groups can learn of the Council’s activities and plans.
5.
(a)In carrying out its objectives, the Council
shall—
(1)review all Federal
programs and services that assist seniors in finding, affording, and
rehabilitating housing, including those that assist seniors in accessing health
care, transportation, supportive services, and assistance with daily
activities, where or close to where seniors live;
(2)monitor, evaluate, and
recommend improvements in existing programs and services administered, funded,
or financed by Federal, State, and local agencies to assist seniors in meeting
their housing and service needs and make any recommendations about how agencies
can better work to house and serve seniors; and
(3)recommend ways to—
(A)reduce duplication among
programs and services by Federal agencies that assist seniors in meeting their
housing and service needs;
(B)ensure collaboration
among and within agencies in the provision and availability of programs and
services so that seniors are able to easily access needed programs and
services;
(C)work with States to
better provide housing and services to seniors by—
(i)holding individual
meetings with State representatives;
(ii)providing ongoing
technical assistance to States in better meeting the needs of seniors;
and
(iii)working with States to
designate State liaisons to the Council;
(D)identify best practices
for programs and services that assist seniors in meeting their housing and
service needs, including model—
(i)programs linking housing
and services;
(ii)financing products
offered by government, quasi-government, and private sector entities;
(iii)land use, zoning, and
regulatory practices; and
(iv)innovations in
technology applications that give seniors access to information on available
services or that help in providing services to seniors;
(E)collect and disseminate
information about seniors and the programs and services available to them to
ensure that seniors can access comprehensive information;
(F)hold biannual meetings
with stakeholders and other interested parties (or to hold open Council
meetings) to receive input and ideas about how to best meet the housing and
service needs of seniors;
(G)maintain an updated
website of policies, meetings, best practices, programs, services, and any
other helpful information to keep people informed of the Council’s activities;
and
(H)work with the Federal
Interagency Forum on Aging Statistics, the Census Bureau, and member agencies
to collect and maintain data relating to the housing and service needs of
seniors so that all data can be accessed in one place and to identify and
address unmet data needs.
(b)
(1)Each year, the head of each agency who is a member of the
Council shall prepare and transmit to the Council a report that
describes—
(A)each program and service
administered by the agency that serves a substantial number of seniors and the
number of seniors served by each program or service, the resources available in
each, as well as a breakdown of where each program and service can be
accessed;
(B)the barriers and
impediments, including statutory or regulatory, to the access and use of such
programs and services by seniors;
(C)the efforts made by each
agency to increase opportunities for seniors to find and afford housing that
meet their needs, including how the agency is working with other agencies to
better coordinate programs and services; and
(D)any new data collected by
each agency relating to the housing and service needs of seniors.
(2)Each year, the Council shall prepare and transmit to the
President, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate,
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the
Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Financial Services Committee of
the House of Representatives, the Committee on Education and the Workforce of
the House of Representatives, a report that—
(A)summarizes the reports
required in paragraph (1);
(B)utilizes recent data to
assess the nature of the problems faced by seniors in meeting their unique
housing and service needs;
(C)provides a comprehensive
and detailed description of the programs and services of the Federal Government
in meeting the needs and problems described in subparagraph (B);
(D)describes the activities
and accomplishments of the Council in working with Federal, State, and local
governments, and private organizations in coordinating programs and services to
meet the needs described in subparagraph (B) and the resources available to
meet those needs;
(E)assesses the level of
Federal assistance required to meet the needs described in subparagraph (B);
and
(F)makes recommendations for
appropriate legislative and administrative actions to meet the needs described
in subparagraph (B) and for coordinating programs and services designed to meet
those needs.
6.
(a)The
Council may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such
testimony, and receive such evidence as the Council considers advisable to
carry out the purposes of this Act.
(b)Information from
agenciesAgencies which are represented on the Council shall
provide all requested information and data to the Council as requested.
(c)The Council may use the United States mails in the same
manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the
Federal Government.
(d)
(1)The Council may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or
donations of services or property.
(2)The Council shall adopt internal regulations governing
the receipt of gifts or donations of services or property similar to those
described in part 2601 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.
7.Council personnel
matters
(a)
(1)A member of the Council who is not an officer or
employee of the Federal Government shall serve without compensation.
(2)A member of the Council who is an officer or employee
of the United States shall serve without compensation in addition to the
compensation received for services of the member as an officer or employee of
the Federal Government.
(b)The members of the Council shall be allowed travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for
employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United
States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the
performance of services for the Council.
(c)
(1)The Council shall appoint an Executive Director at its
initial meeting. The Executive Director shall be compensated at a rate not to
exceed the rate of pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under
section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
(2)With
the approval of the Council, the Executive Director may appoint and fix the
compensation of such additional personnel as necessary to carry out the duties
of the Council. The rate of compensation may be set without regard to the
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5, United
States Code, relating to classification of positions and General Schedule pay
rates, except that the rate of pay may not exceed the rate payable for level V
of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
(d)Temporary and
intermittent servicesIn carrying out its objectives, the Council
may procure temporary and intermittent services of consultants and experts
under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individuals
which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay
prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such
title.
(e)Detail of government
employeesUpon request of the Council, any Federal Government
employee may be detailed to the Council without reimbursement, and such detail
shall be without interruption or loss of civil service status or
privilege.
(f)The Secretary of Housing Urban Development and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide the Council with such
administrative (including office space), supportive services, and technical
supports as are necessary to ensure that the Council can carry out its
functions.
8.Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, $1,500,000 for each of
fiscal years 2005 through 2010.
November 15, 2005
Reported with an amendment