The following is excerpted from testimony United Spinal advocates presented on April 30 to the New York State Taskforce on People with Disabilities and Standing Committee on Housing.
For most people, locating, securing and maintaining affordable housing is an arduous task, but for many New Yorkers with disabilities, affordability is only half of the housing dilemma. People with disabilities need housing that accommodates their disabilities. For people with mobility impairments, this means that housing accessibility is a main concern, as their dwellings need to allow them to independently enter, exit, use and enjoy the same features as all other residents expect in exchange for their rent or mortgage.
The combined need for affordable, accessible housing places a real burden on New Yorkers with disabilities, many of whom live in mostly unaffordable, inaccessible cities. The housing that currently meets these definitions is dwindling. Affordable and accessible housing stock must be preserved, through the reauthorization of subsidies granted to owners, like Mitchell- Lama grants and the subsidies given to housing seekers, like Section 8 Vouchers.
Additionally, there is a great need for an increase in the production of affordable, accessible housing. As new developments are built, housing needs to be set aside that will be affordable and accessible. The “80/20″ set-aside apartments for low-income people were designed to do just this; however, the rents in these buildings are still too high for the majority of low-income households, especially those households that rely on Social Security Insurance.
Because affordable and accessible housing is so scarce, people with disabilities need housing policies that protect and offer them the chance to use the resources they do have to secure safe, accessible and affordable housing.
The Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) prevents seniors on low, fixed incomes from becoming homeless.
Non-senior people with disabilities need the same level of economic dedication from New York. United Spinal Association recommends that New York State offer its full support to extending SCRIE to offer the same rent abatement to low-income non-elderly people with disabilities.
The New York State Assembly has repeatedly approved legislation that would allow New York to extend the SCRIE to include low-income people with disabilities. The Assembly’s bi-partisan support for the bill mirrors the leadership of the six Republican Senators who sponsored a companion bill (S.3956-B) in the State Senate. These bills grant New York the authority to extend the SCRIE program to provide this needed rent abatement to low- income people with disabilities whose inability to pay rent increases jeopardizes their housing.
According to New York City’s Independent Budget Office, raising the income threshold for qualifying SCRIE applicants and expanding the program to include non- elderly, low-income people with disabilities would cost New York City just over $2 million in the first year, rising to $12 million in the fifth year of expansion. This cost is relatively low, compared to the costs of building new affordable housing and housing people in shelters and institutions.
Another way of addressing the short supply of affordable housing is to pass legislation that would prevent landlords from discriminating against a prospective tenant due to their source of income. United Spinal Association strongly supports the adoption of source of income anti-discrimination legislation in the Senate, Senate Bill 3088, sponsored by Senator Carl Andrews, and we urge the introduction and passage of similar legislation in the Assembly. There are currently 12 states with source of income included as a protective category in their housing discrimination clause. In New York, by including source of income as part of their housing discrimination clause, low- income families and people with disabilities would have access to a larger supply of housing options.
In addition, the incentives for wider usage of vouchers extend beyond the immediate family to the community. The ability to use housing vouchers as a source of rental payment helps create mixed-income neighborhoods that have the ability to provide a higher quality of services, such as schools, jobs, and social services. In addition, when families are able to preserve a larger portion of their income, it spurs local economies. This would enable low-income families a chance at a better quality of life, as well as spur the economic development of the community.
We also recommend that New York State create its own registry of affordable, accessible housing modeled after a Massachusetts registry, known as Mass Access. Under this program, landlords and management companies register all vacant (or soon to be vacant) affordable, accessible apartments. Registered landlords and management companies are required to rent accessible housing to a person with a disability or hold the apartment for 15 days (while searching for a renter with a disability). While each state’s needs may differ from those of Massachusetts, it is promising that the Mass Access program is run on a modest level of funding each year- approximately $100,000. Additional information can be found on the Mass Access Web site: www.massaccesshousingregistry.org.
People with disabilities want to enjoy being part of their communities. Sharing in civic and family involvement means entering homes other than one’s own. The concept of “visitability” concerns the needs of people with disabilities to visit the homes of their neighbors, friends and families.
Visitability-not a legal term-is defined in relation to accessibility in buildings with fewer than four housing units. Since much of the housing in New York includes these smaller buildings, the state needs a visitability law.
This law could be based on the requirements of a recently passed visitability ordinance in Onondaga County, New York, that applies to single, double, and triple unit homes built with government funds and includes an accessible first floor kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. Adding very little to the up-front construction cost minimizes the cost of modifications for accessibility. Retrofitting for accessibility, on the other hand, is far more difficult and costly than including accessibility in the original design.
Finally, an American Association of Retired People (AARP) national poll indicates that 90% of people 65 and older prefer to stay in their current residence as long as possible. As people age, they are more likely to have disabilities. For many people with newly acquired disabilities, this means that they must move out of their homes to more accessible housing. The ability to age in your own home is a powerful way to stay connected to the community and an important option for people with disabilities.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision mandates that people with disabilities must be given services in the “most integrated setting,” which generally is one’s own home, however, more than one million households with an older resident with a disability have unmet structural housing needs that make it difficult for that resident to remain in his or her own home. Creating “visitable” housing across New York State will allow New Yorkers with disabilities, as well as all residents, the ability to “age in place.”
Lisa Gesson is a Regional Advocate. Rochelle Haynes is a Legislative Analyst.
