Disability Housing Network
South Regional Meeting
May 4, 2011
Hocking County Board of DD
1369 E. Front Street
Logan, Ohio 43138
PRESENT:
Ben Hollinger, Superintendent, Scioto CBDD
Sarah Winters, Superintendent, Hocking CBDD
Matt Nobile, SSA, Hocking CBDD
Steve Weese, Maintenance, Hocking CBDD
Mendy Boley, Housing Coordinator, Perry CBDD
David Couch, Superintendent, Perry CBDD
Karon Fisher, Finance Manager, Hocking CBDD
Greg Williamson, Frontier Development Corp (Ross County)
Julie Monroe, Community Services Director, Scioto CBDD
Chris ______-, Scioto ______
Patti Thompson, Administrator, CHOICES (Lawrence County)
Jacalyn Slemmer, Executive Director, Disability Housing Network
Cathy Allen, Disability Housing Network
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
DHN Executive Director Jacalyn Slemmer welcomed participants and conducted a round of introductions so everyone could get to know each other better. She also introduced herself. Jacalyn has extensive experience in both DD and in the field of housing development in Ohio. She looks forward to being the “bridge” between the two worlds! As a DHN board member, Ben Hollinger welcomed Jacalyn, indicating she had been highly recruited by the DHN board. He also encouraged everyone to make sure they are a member of DHN, if they are not already.
DODD/STATE BUDGET UPDATE
How will Housing Corporations be affected?
DHN Technical Assistance Consultant Cathy Allen gave highlights of the budget bill as it is about to be passed by the House. It will then go to the Ohio Senate for a full series of hearings before being passed there and sent to a joint House/Senate Conference Committee. It must be passed and signed by the governor by June 30, effective July 1.
§ State leaders are preparing through the budget to reduce the census of the state’s developmental centers by another 180 people by June 30, 2013. They expect this to generate $31 million in savings over the biennium.
§ Changes are being made to enable this census reduction, including increasing the availability and use of remote monitoring, voluntary reductions in waiver costs (totaling 3% overall) and temporary increases in provider rates for those leaving the DC’s.
§ The SELF waiver is being introduced, which is like an IO but has a $25,000 annual cap.
§ Executive language concerning allowing ICF/DDs to reduce or close beds by converting those they no longer use will be coming out of the House version, along with language transferring oversight authority from JFS to DODD. Instead, JFS and DODD will be required to conduct a study on Medicaid reimbursement rates for ICF services.
§ Funding for Advocacy and Protective Services (APSI) will be reduced by 10% in the second year.
§ The Family Support Services line item is reduced by 10%.
§ County Board subsidies are reduced by 34% overall, though each county will feel the impact of that differently because of changes in the formula.
OACB noted in testimony before the House that the anticipated reduction in the DC census, combined with reductions to county board funding, will make protecting the health and safety of individual difficult and could raise the issue of Ohio’s compliance with the Olmstead decision.
A detailed summary of the budget bill has been prepared by the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council (ODDC) and is attached to these minutes. Cathy encouraged everyone to make sure they are on the mailing list of Paul Jarvis, the ODDC Legislative Liaison, who prepares a weekly “This Week in Public Policy” document for distribution across the field. He can be reached at .
Following Cathy’s presentation, Jacalyn briefed the group on conversations she has had with Kevin Aldridge, who heads up housing for DODD. Here are some highlights:
§ Kevin’s position within the department is changing. He will now be more focused on housing exclusively, will report to Deputy Director Ginny Whisman, and will provide direct support to individuals moving from developmental centers or ICF/DDs. He is the point of contact for housing corporations and will continue working very closely with DHN. (Jacalyn and Kevin have worked together in the past and have known each other for many years.) We have invited him to our regional meetings and will send out notes from his remarks to those who cannot be there.
§ The department envisions that people leaving DC’s will go to ICF/DD, filling vacancies created by people leaving the ICF’s for community-based settings. They anticipate greater use of the Home Choice voucher program, which provides additional support for those in transition. Kevin hopes to ensure that these funds can be used for behavioral supports as well. (More on this topic under regional issues below.)
§ While there has not been a final decision, we do not expect any further Community Capital Assistance funds in the next few years. [Note: CCA is a capital item and part of a different budget process than the operating budget currently going through the legislative process.]
§ CCA funds approved in 2008 for 2009 and 2010 are still available to the counties. The recommendation is to draw those down sooner than later. Kevin is the point of contact and all funding requests go through him. If you tried to contact him recently and didn’t hear back, try again. He may have missed some messages during the transition of his duties. Jacalyn offered to assist any housing corporation with contacting Kevin.
§ The $40,000-per-person in special capital money is still available for those working to develop community housing for people coming out of developmental centers. This is part of a special bond fund and is not being reduced. There may be some latitude for county boards and housing corporations accessing these dollars. More research needs to be done to see if the money can only be used for the specific individual or if it can be added to the general fund of the housing corporation in order to build capacity more generally.
§ Kevin recommends that county boards and housing corporations investigate other potential funding sources such as the new 811 program and tax credit projects. Jacalyn is very connected to this industry and will be making a top priority of assisting people to learn about and make use of these potential sources of funding. DHN is looking to possibly put together a statewide training this summer, to bring in people from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA), HUD and others to share their expertise with DHN members on the various potential options.
§ Finally, the county housing plans developed by DHN are – to Kevin – “The backbone of housing in Ohio going forward.” He encourages every county to make sure to conduct the thorough review of its housing stock, together with the analysis of anticipated future needs that the DHN process provides. Sending those in to DHN will become increasingly important both for each individual county’s planning needs and for gathering maximally-useful collective data from the entire state.
Q. The department keeps a spreadsheet showing each county’s allocation. It would be helpful to see that. Do you think they would send that out if we asked?
A. I [Jacalyn] will check with them and see if that is possible.
Q. It’s great if there is $40,000 to assist with capital needs, but how to we fund the supports?
A. The state will provide the county’s waiver match.
Q. The people coming out of the DCs and ICF’s now are the ones who are the hardest to serve. Not all providers are willing to take on these people, what will we do?
A. The temporary increase in the provider rate is intended to address this, but it will still pose significant challenges. [We will have to research to find out if the provider rate was increased for those coming out of ICF/DDs or only just DCs.]
Q. Is there any talk of capping the waivers?
A. They are introducing a new SELF waiver that is capped at $25,000. This is one of the strategies for reducing waiver costs by 3% across the state.
Ben noted that state revenues are coming in at a higher rate than was projected in the governor’s budget, and the Senate will be able to make adjustments. Senate President Tom Niehaus (Ben’s senator) has told Ben that it may be possible to gain support for restoring some of the cuts.
Q. How does the governor feel about us?
A. [Ben] By keeping Director Martin, he signaled to us that he looks favorably on our system.
THE NEW AND REFORMED HUD 811 PROGRAM
Jacalyn Slemmer then took some time to provide information about the new 811 program, also known as the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2010. A six-page summary was sent out earlier and is attached. Here are the highlights, followed by the Q&A.
§ The federal legislation was signed by the president in January 2011 and reforms the 811 program.
§ (There are still grant requests out, due in June, for the “old” 811 program.)
§ The new model is a tax credit program which provides developers with an incentive to set aside as much as 25% of the housing they build for people with disabilities. In addition, HUD will provide rent assistance vouchers for the tenants – two good reasons for developers to be attracted to this program. This is why they will want to do business with a housing corporation partner.
§ The program will be administered in Ohio by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) according to their annually-revised plan called the QAP. Work is currently underway to ensure that special needs housing is specifically addressed in the QAP for 2012.
§ This is a very exciting prospect for those who provide housing for people with disabilities.
§ Jacalyn is working with OHFA to see if they might be willing to make vouchers available for projects that already exist, to help people with disabilities access housing of any market unit in the community.
Q. Can you pair the 811 program with other subsidies?
A. No, it is meant to be a stand alone.
Q. Is this just about big developments and apartment complexes?
A. No, this can be about scattered site homes.
LOCAL AND REGIONAL ISSUES:
Focus on: CHOICES (Lawrence County)
Because participants at previous DHN meetings have indicated that they would like to know more about how other housing corporations in our state are structured, we have decided to start featuring one per meeting. We asked Patti Thompson of CHOICES in Lawrence County to go first. With time running short in the meeting, however, we were not able to get to this agenda item. Patti has agreed to make her presentation at the August meeting.
During the meeting, attendees shared ideas about a number of issues, including:
§ How do housing corporations set rent amounts? What criteria do you use? (Different counties do this differently.)
§ If we peg rent to income and expenses, how do you deal with people who have $150 cell phone bills and then say they can’t afford higher rent? Some responded that this is not a “necessity” and the reality is that most of the people we serve cannot afford niceties or anything more than basic expenses, which includes housing.
§ Do county boards all subsidize rent? No, Scioto doesn’t currently but is considering a change. Perry will only if absolutely needed. Hocking does, and wants to revisit whether everything they subsidize is a need. Lawrence will.
§ How are representative payee services paid for? Individuals pay for this service, up to $65 per month. Some COGs offer this service, so anyone who thinks they have tenants paying too much for representative payee services should call their COG. Catholic Social Services also provides the service. The person or agency has to be certified by the Social Security Administration… and payees should be paying necessities like housing first. If family members/payees don’t pay these bills first, HC’s should call Social Security.
§ We should try to develop training for individuals about what DD will do and what we won’t do. There needs to be greater understanding that some things are not an entitlement. The housing corporation should not liable for repeated damages, or when resources are being wasted. Why do we keep letting it slide when someone is capable of not creating damage, of not being a mess? Why can’t we evict people who are capable of doing better? Are we really helping tenants by letting them get away with it and picking up the bill ourselves?
§ Does anyone else have problems with people who are not on the lease moving in? All the time, but that is a lease enforcement issue. It is clear in the lease that they cannot have overnight guests without pre-approval, and when it happens we have to enforce that. Same with service animals. Sometimes people take this over the line and have pets that are causing damage, but it is difficult to do anything about this.
§ Ben asked whether any of the other counties present were interested in exploring the possibility of creating a regional housing corporation that would serve multiple counties and therefore be big enough to be more self-sustaining. Several were, so he will move forward with getting a meeting together to discuss it further.
NEXT MEETING
The next South Regional DHN meeting was set for August 10, 2011 from 10:00a.m. to 12:00noon at the Hocking County Board of DD offices in Logan.
ADJOURN
Attachments:
· Budget Summary prepared by Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council 5-2-11
· Reformed HUD 811 Summary