Disability-forward housing means creating communities that are affordable, accessible, integrated, and inclusive to people with and without disabilities. 

While interventions can support a disability-forward housing future at all levels of government and across all sectors, the federal government has a critical role in this work because of its influence fiscally and administratively on how states and localities spend funds and operate programs. 

All solutions to advance disability-forward housing must be intersectional with economic and racial equity. This means that the solutions should create communities where people most impacted by racism, poverty, and ableism have equitable opportunities to thrive in their own homes. 

Congressional leadership can drive policy and systems change that help expand disability-forward housing by advancing policies that prioritize:

People with disabilities disproportionately experience poverty and therefore struggle to afford rent. The Housing Choice Voucher program (sometimes still known as Section 8) is the federal government’s largest rental assistance program that helps people with the lowest incomes afford housing in the private market by paying landlords the difference between what a household can afford to pay and the actual rent to the owner, up to designated amounts.

The Housing Choice Voucher program serves low-income people, including many people with disabilities. It is particularly critical that vouchers be accessible and available to people with disabilities at risk of or currently living in institutional settings. These settings perpetuate segregation and fail to fulfill the promise of community integration that disability advocates have fought generations for.  These settings have also proven to be exponentially more dangerous during public health emergencies, like with COVID-19, as people do not have the ability to quarantine. 

Moreover, Disabled people overwhelmingly want to live in their own homes with the services they need, and they have the right to. Community living is a federal policy mandate affirmed under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It continues to be proven that it is most cost-effective when people live in the community with their own support and services and not in institutional settings. 

There are not enough Housing Choice Vouchers to meet the current need. Congress must increase funding for the Housing Choice Voucher program, especially the Mainstream Housing Voucher program and Non-Elderly Disabled Voucher programs. Congress must also work with the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to decrease barriers that can keep disabled people from having access to available vouchers.

The LIHTC program finances the construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of housing that is affordable to lower-income households. The LIHTC program encourages private investment by providing a tax credit to the investors (i.e., banks): a dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal taxes owed on other income. LIHTC continues to be the main source of financing for affordable housing across the country; in other words, it is extremely unlikely to get multi-family housing built without tax credits. Currently, there are not enough tax credits available to pay for all the needed housing. Congress needs to: 

Congress can also add program incentives like preferences or basis boosts for integrated projects serving people with disabilities and/or for projects that go beyond minimum levels of accessibility. 

For all HUD programs that finance new production of affordable housing, advocates can ask their members of Congress to propose incentives be added to the programs’ funding criteria that could incentivize applicants to go beyond minimum levels of accessibility, including using tools like the Inclusive Design Standards. 

Through the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA), there have been significant investments in transit-oriented development (TOD) which includes the development of commercial, residential, office and/or entertainment centered around or near a transit station. Members of Congress, especially on committees covering Transportation and Housing issues, can strengthen the program criteria for TOD to prioritize projects that go beyond the minimum code requirements for accessibility and provide extra levels of affordability.

Advocates can also ask their members to support increased investment in the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) infrastructure, which provides Medicaid beneficiaries opportunities to receive services in their own homes or community rather than in institutions. Specifically, these investments ensure that people have access and can remain in their communities of choice and age in place. Programs needing greater investment include Money Follows the Person and HCBS Medicaid waivers. In all programs, any funding related to support services should follow them as they transition to community-based, integrated housing. 

Moreover, HCBS funding increases must include an increase in HCBS housing-related supports.  These services increase people’s ability to transition from congregate care facilities into community-based housing, as well as to support people to sustain their housing.  

This summary of federal policy changes is a resource for advocates and allies to use when communicating with federal policymakers. Consider meeting with your Congressional representatives, establish a meaningful relationship, and advocate for housing policy and systems change that will benefit people with disabilities.  Many of these interventions not only increase housing opportunities for people with disabilities but strengthen our affordable housing infrastructure for all communities.  This is not an exhaustive list, but it will continue to evolve as the movement toward a disability-forward housing future continues. 

As you use this list of federal actions, think of how these policies would benefit you, your family and others in the community. These are the real life stories to share with your policy asks. Would someone be able to finally move out of an institution if they had a housing choice voucher? How would strengthened tax credits or new subsidies to build more affordable and accessible homes change your community for the better? Does a lack of access to supportive services limit your housing choices? 

These policy changes can and will have real impact. Share what’s needed in federal action and how these actions would make a difference in your life, in your community and towards a more disability-forward housing future.