[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 159 (Friday, November 16, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2116-E2118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       AIDS FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO FIVE-YEAR HIV/AIDS HOUSING PLAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 16, 2001

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, while affordable housing is a national 
problem, it is particularly serious for persons who also face 
significant health care problems. I would like to draw my colleagues' 
attention to an important new study and set of recommendations on this 
issue prepared by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.
  Recognizing the importance of stable housing to the health and well 
being of people living with HIV/AIDS, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago 
(AFC) has published the Five-Year Chicago Area HIV/AIDS Housing Plan. 
The plan is the result of an intensive year-long community planning 
process that drew on input from more than 50 agencies, 100 AIDS housing 
professionals, and 500 consumers of AIDS housing services. AIDS Housing 
of Washington also served as a consultant to the project.
  The plan describes HIV/AIDS housing services and unmet needs across 
the nine-county Chicago metropolitan area. The plan examines how 
housing services are distributed to people

[[Page E2117]]

living with HIV/AIDS who are facing crises or instability in their 
housing, Finally, the plan offers policy and programmatic 
recommendations for eliminating the AIDS housing crisis in metropolitan 
Chicago. The AIDS Foundation of Chicago, together with its many 
partners in this project, has designed the plan so that it can be used 
by housing providers as they budget and plan for the future and by 
philanthropists and government officials working to allocate resources 
to support stable health and housing. Finally, the plan will be a 
critical tool in educating a wider audience about the importance of 
housing to HIV health care and about the crisis in affordable housing 
that is affecting the Chicago region as a whole.
  The Five-Year Chicago Area HIV/AIDS Housing Plan is an updated 
version of a similar five-year plan that was first published in 1995. 
That plan, like this year's plan, was the result of an AFC-led 
collaborative effort by key stakeholders in the Chicago metropolitan 
area. Many of the strategies mapped out in the original plan were 
adopted across the region and have led to greater efficiencies in the 
development and distribution of AIDS housing services, improving 
housing opportunities for significant numbers of people living with 
HIV/AIDS.
  Unfortunately, despite expanded and improved housing services for 
people living with HIV/AIDS in the Chicago metropolitan area, the major 
finding of the new plan is that the need for housing assistance among 
people with HIV/AIDS continues to outpace available resources. In fact, 
more than 5,000 individuals with HIV/AIDS in the Chicago metropolitan 
area are left without access to needed AIDS housing services each 
year--a factor which contributes to the high rate of homelessness 
experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS.
  As the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to grow in the United States and 
affordable housing becomes more and more scarce, Chicago's plan should 
be used as a model for metropolitan regions facing overlapping crises 
in HIV/AIDS and housing. Such plans not only map out the particular 
challenges facing communities struggling with overlapping HIV/AIDS and 
affordable housing crises, the very processes used to develop such 
plans help pave the way for the collaborative efforts that are required 
for implementing the best practices recommended by the plans.
  I want to congratulate the AIDS Foundation of Chicago for its 
leadership in preparing the five-year plan and for its continued 
commitment to addressing the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. 
Established in 1985 to provide central leadership in the fight against 
the epidemic, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago is an invaluable resource 
to our community and to the nation. It promotes sound HIV/AIDS public 
policy, funds HIV/AIDS prevention and care projects, and, through its 
135-member Service Providers Council, helps to coordinate the delivery 
of essential HIV/AIDS services. As an advocate and by empowering 
individuals living with HIV/AIDS to participate in public policy 
debates, it provides an important voice that we should listen to 
carefully.

      Five-Year Chicago Area HIV/AIDS Housing Plan--November 2001

       Recognizing the importance of housing stability for the 
     health and well being of people with HIV/AIDS, the AIDS 
     Foundation of Chicago (AFC) has published the Five-Year 
     Chicago Area HIV/AIDS Housing Plan. The plan, which is the 
     result of an intensive and yearlong community planning 
     process, describes HIV/AIDS housing services and unmet needs 
     across the nine-county Chicago metropolitan area. In 
     addition, the plan examines the distribution of services 
     responding to the housing needs of people with HIV/AIDS, and 
     offers a series of recommendations aimed at eliminating the 
     AIDS housing crisis in metropolitan Chicago, through targeted 
     service expansion and policy reforms.
       The plan's Ad-Hoc Steering Committee and the Housing 
     Committee of AFC's Service Providers Council were 
     instrumental in the creation of the plan, providing critical 
     information, direction, and oversight to the community 
     planning process. For the plan's data analysis and 
     recommendations, AFC drew on input from more than 50 
     agencies, 100 AIDS housing professionals, and 500 consumers 
     of AIDS housing services. AFC commissioned AIDS Housing of 
     Washington, a national AIDS housing consulting agency, to 
     serve as a consultant to the process.
       In 1995, AFC conducted the region's first AIDS housing 
     planning process and published the Chicago EMA Five-Year HIV/
     AIDS Housing Plan. Recommendations from the 1995 plan led to 
     greater efficiencies in the distribution and development of 
     AIDS housing services, which ultimately resulted in greater 
     numbers of people being served. The 2001 plan updates the 
     housing inventory and needs assessment from the previous 
     plan, measures the progress made in AIDS housing services 
     since 1995, and presents emerging trends in the provision of 
     HIV/AIDS housing services.
       Among the most important findings described in the 2001 
     plan is the growing, unmet need for housing assistance among 
     people with HIV/AIDS in metropolitan Chicago. The report 
     shows that, despite steady gains in the availability of AIDS 
     housing services, the need for assistance continues to 
     outpace available resources, leaving more than 5,000 
     individuals with HIV/AIDS homeless or at risk of homelessness 
     each year. Lack of safe and affordable housing has dire 
     consequences for people with HIV/AIDS, whose survival can 
     depend, quite literally, on having a stable place to live. 
     Stable housing promotes adherence to complex HIV medication 
     regimens that often have special dietary requirements and can 
     induce debilitating side effects. People who are homeless or 
     at risk of homelessness are more likely to fall out of 
     regular medical care and experience greater difficulties 
     adhering to their medication regimens. For those disabled by 
     AIDS, the hardships of living on the streets or in 
     substandard housing puts tremendous strain on already 
     severely compromised immune systems.


            Factors Contributing to the AIDS Housing Crisis

       The Five-Year Chicago Area HIV/AIDS Housing Plan documents 
     several factors contributing to the AIDS housing crisis in 
     metropolitan Chicago:
       More people are living with HIV/AIDS than ever before. A 
     steady number of people become newly infected with HIV each 
     year, and the number of AIDS-related deaths has declined as a 
     result of more effective medications. This much applauded 
     trend means that greater numbers of people are in need of 
     housing and other support services, for longer periods of 
     time.
       Housing instability is directly related to a person's 
     struggle to maintain a living wage. For many individuals, 
     HIV/AIDS affects their ability to work and keep steady 
     income. For others, poverty and other health problems force 
     them into homelessness or put them dangerously at risk of 
     evictions or foreclosures. Among people with HIV/AIDS 
     surveyed for the plan, more than half reported incomes below 
     the federal poverty level and over one-third reported being 
     homeless at some point in their lives. Participants of AFC's 
     survey and other local surveys report insufficient income as 
     a leading contributor to housing instability.
       The region's affordable housing crisis contributes to 
     housing instability among people with HIV/AIDS. Studies show 
     that there are 245,000 low-income renters and 115,000 low-
     cost rental units in the Chicago area, leaving two low-income 
     renters for every unit of affordable housing. Rents in the 
     Chicago area are rising faster than the national average, and 
     demolitions and redevelopment projects are depleting the 
     region's stock of affordable housing, including thousands of 
     government-subsided housing units.
       Government funding for AIDS housing assistance and services 
     has not kept pace with community needs. Unless extended, 
     state and federal subsidized housing programs expiring in the 
     next five years will leave thousands of previously affordable 
     apartments subject to market-rate rents. In addition, 
     decreased federal funding for subsidized housing vouchers, 
     more commonly known as Section 8, has so severely restricted 
     the program that prospective aid recipients are turned away 
     or told to wait several years in order to enroll.


      Lessons for Planners and Providers of AIDS Housing Services

       The plan draws on input from people with HIV/AIDS, AIDS 
     advocates, and service providers to assess the effectiveness 
     of the AIDS housing service system in metropolitan Chicago. 
     The following are recommended strategies for improvements:
       Expand AIDS housing and support services across the region 
     for men and women who are poor, chemically dependent, 
     mentally ill, or recently released from correctional 
     facilities. In its analysis, the plan identifies trends among 
     new cases of HIV/AIDS that signal emerging issues for the 
     AIDS housing service system. In particular, the plan found 
     that the system is ill prepared to serve clients with 
     chemical dependency, mental illness, and histories of 
     incarceration. In addition, a disproportionate number of 
     women, people of color, and people living in poverty are 
     affected by HIV/AIDS, These demographic trends are resulting 
     in service gaps along the housing continuum of care, and 
     require additional resources to address them. The plan's 
     consumer survey and other local surveys provide crucial 
     guidance in designing services appropriate to meet clients' 
     needs.
       Expand services in areas of high need to combat geographic 
     disparities that persist in the availability of AIDS housing 
     services. The most dramatic increases in numbers of new AIDS 
     housing units since 1995 have taken place on the south and 
     west sides of Chicago and in DuPage, Lake, and Will counties, 
     where no AIDS-specific housing services existed previously. 
     However, geographic disparities among certain types of 
     housing services still exist.
       Make an ongoing commitment to community planning and 
     assessment to inform the use of scarce AIDS housing 
     resources. Service providers and other stakeholders 
     identified a lack of ongoing planning across the AIDS housing 
     service system. They recommend that coordination of AIDS 
     housing services across funding streams be increased to avoid 
     limiting potential innovations and efficiencies in the 
     provision of client services. Cross-collaboration between 
     services funded by the Housing Opportunities for People with 
     AIDS (HOPWA), the Ryan White CARE Act, and other sources was 
     specifically identified as crucial to maximize available AIDS 
     housing resources. Increased collaboration between AIDS 
     service providers

[[Page E2118]]

     and correctional health, public aid, and substance abuse 
     treatment providers was also identified as a pressing need.


                    Recommendations for Policymakers

       The plan calls on federal, state, and local lawmakers to 
     expand government support for AIDS housing services. In 
     particular, the plan calls for increased funding for: State 
     and federal short-term rental assistance programs designed to 
     promote housing stability by assisting individuals to meet a 
     short-term financial crisis, such as unmet healthcare, 
     utility, housing-related costs, or temporary job 
     displacement; Federal transitional housing services for those 
     who have been recently released from correctional 
     institutions, hospitals, and treatment facilities; Long-term 
     subsidized permanent housing with off-site supportive 
     services for those capable of living independently, but on 
     fixed incomes; Local, state, and federal programs designed to 
     stimulate development of affordable housing and auxiliary 
     support services.


                     How to Access and Use the Plan

       AFC and members of its Housing Committee will use the plan 
     to advocate for increased public and private spending on 
     housing services and expanded community involvement in the 
     planning and organization of AIDS housing services. AFC and 
     Housing Committee members will pursue strategies to implement 
     each of the plan's recommendations and will carefully monitor 
     and assess progress meeting these goals.
       The plan is a rich resource of information for service 
     providers, policymakers, and service planners about the need 
     for and availability of AIDS housing services. Extensive 
     feedback from HIV-positive people on service needs and 
     preferences provides an especially important perspective for 
     AIDS service providers. The plan is an excellent resource for 
     policymakers and students about the continuum of housing 
     services established to respond to the needs of people with 
     HIV/AIDS.
       The plan is available for download at AFC's website: 
     www.aidschicago.org. Sections of the plan are also available 
     separately. To receive a printed version of the plan, contact 
     AFC Housing Manager Norma Samame at 312-922-2322 ext. 504 or 
     at [email protected].


                  About the AIDS Foundation of Chicago

       Established in 1985 to provide central leadership in the 
     fight against the epidemic, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago 
     promotes sound HIV/AIDS public policy, funds HIV/AIDS 
     prevention and care projects, and, through its 135-member 
     Service Providers Council, helps to coordinate the delivery 
     of essential HIV/AIDS services.

     

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