Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Once again we are requesting your support of a proposed National initiative called Access Housing 2000.

Secretary Martinez must receive letters of support so he will have good reason to pursue this proposed demonstration. Comments are due February 20, 2001. We know HUD will receive comments in opposition to this initiative from the nursing home industry and other groups who have a vested interest in maintaining congregation and institutionalization of people with disabilities. Therefore, your letters of support are critical.

We have drafted a sample letter and points to use in your letter and have pasted them to the bottom of this note. Of course, it is better for the secretary to receive a letter in your own words but feel free to copy portions of our letter or use the points to write your own letter.

FROM THE NOTICE IN THE DECEMBER 19, 2000 FEDERAL REGISTER:

SUMMARY: This notice provides information on Access Housing 2000, a proposed national initiative that will assist persons with disabilities to transition from nursing homes into the community by providing improved access to affordable housing and necessary personal assistance and supportive services. HUD is partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire to carry out this initiative.

Using Section 8 housing vouchers in conjunction with supportive services available under the Medicaid program, the proposed initiative presents an opportunity to design and implement innovative housing and supportive service strategies. If successful, these strategies could expand the availability of accessible, affordable housing in the United States, including homeownership opportunities for persons with disabilities, and assure that such individuals receive the assistance and the ongoing supportive services necessary to make a smooth and successful transition to living in the community.

The complete notice can be downloaded from the National Home of Your Own Alliance website at: http://alliance.unh.edu

Please send copies of comments to Jay or Mike or contact them (details below) if you have any questions. Please send this message to other interested people or post on listserves.

Thank you for continued support and attention. We look forward to working with you in the future to assist people to leave nursing homes and begin new lives in the community.

M.W. Auberger
ADAPT
Fax: 303-733-6211
e-mail: national@adapt.org

Jay Klein
Institute on Disability
Fax: 970 377-0536
e-mail: jmk1@cisunix.unh.edu

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Secretary Martinez,

We (put in your name or organization name here) applaud HUD's partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire to implement Access Housing 2000. We commend the parties' commitment to the coordination of on-going personal assistance services and integrated, accessible, and affordable housing, while ensuring that housing and assistance are not arbitrarily linked.

The IOD, which has a record of success with its National Home of Your Alliance, has created a partnership with ADAPT to implement its responsibilities under this initiative. The IOD and ADAPT have demonstrated the capacity to incorporate considerable input from the disability community in their actions and to collaborate with numerous public and private local, state, and federal, organizations. At the heart of this extraordinary initiative is the presumption that people with disabilities will direct all aspects of their lives, including their homes and apartments, services and supports, funding, planning, and coordination activities. Both the IOD and ADAPT are well suited to work with HUD and HHS on this outstanding initiative.

Most of the two million people who reside in nursing homes in this country have incomes that are well below poverty. Therefore, the commitment of 400 Section 8 housing vouchers by HUD (with the goal of reaching 2000 people in about 40 states or territories at full implementation) will provide the necessary subsidies to ensure that people leaving nursing homes will be able to rent or own their homes. We applaud the designers of this initiative for recognizing that outreach and funding to create and support local coalitions consisting of public, private, and advocacy organizations is necessary to build ground-level support for the initiative and to assist in its implementation.

President Bush has demonstrated a commitment to Access Housing 2000 with his New Freedom Initiative. The President's call for reform in HUD's Section 8 voucher program to permit recipients to use up to one year's worth of vouchers to finance the down payment on a home will strengthen the ability of people with disabilities to move from nursing homes into the community. Furthermore, Access Housing 2000 represents a remarkable opportunity to implement the president's Executive order of February 1, 2001 that calls for swift implementation of the Olmstead Decision by "supporting the most integrated community-based settings for individuals with disabilities and calling for identification and removal of barriers to community placement."

We urge you to fully fund and immediately implement all aspects of Access Housing 2000. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to comment.

Sincerely,

POINTS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR LETTER

1) Applaud HUD and HHS's partnership with Institute on Disability (IOD). If you have knowledge of the IOD's experience with the National Home of Your Own Alliance and other activities, highlighting these experiences would be beneficial;

2) Stress the importance of the IOD's partnership with ADAPT to create a center and collaborate with numerous local, state, and federal organizations to carry out its responsibilities on this initiative;

3) Commend HUD and HSS for recognizing the need to coordinate on-going personal assistance services with integrated, accessible, and affordable housing, stressing that a mandatory link of housing and assistance must be avoided;

4) Highlight the need to ensure that people with disabilities are afforded the opportunity to direct all aspects of their lives, including their homes and apartments, services and supports, funding, planning, and coordination activities;

5) Praise the design of the initiative that makes it possible for systems change to occur at the local, state, and federal level and the collaboration of the public and private sectors;

6) Emphasize that most people who are in nursing homes have incomes that are below the poverty line and that the commitment of 400 Section 8 vouchers by HUD this year (with the goal of reaching 2000 people in about 40 states or territories at full implementation) will provide a housing subsidy that is needed to ensure people leaving nursing homes will rent or own their own homes;

7) Mention that the initiative supports President Bush's New Freedom Initiative which calls for reform in HUD's Section 8 voucher program to permit recipients to use up to one year's worth of vouchers to finance the down payment on a home and the president's Executive order of February 1, 2001 which calls for swift implementation of the Olmstead Decision supporting the most integrated community-based settings for individuals with disabilities and calling for identification and removal of barriers to community placement; and

8) Underscore the importance of providing outreach to create and support local coalitions consisting of public, private, and advocacy organizations to build ground-level support for the initiative and to assist in its implementation.