FY24 Budget Goals for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program and Accessible Affordable Housing Grants
Alternative Housing Voucher Program: Increase 7004-9030 to $26 million ($16.2m +Prior Appropriations Continued)
Provides mobile housing vouchers to low-income individuals with disabilities under 60 years old
Funded at $19.2 million in FY23 ($13.7m + PAC)
Added almost 250 vouchers this year—this increase would fund another 250
Accessible Affordable Housing Grants: Retain 7004-9031 at $2.5 million
Offers developers and landlords grants to create or rehabilitate physically accessible housing.
Recipients must prioritize AHVP voucher holders in their tenantselection process.
Funded at $2.5 million in FY23
People with disabilities are more than twice as likely to be homeless as their nondisabled peers. Together, AHVP and AAHG help solve the urgent issue of homelessness and institutionalization in the disability community by creating more accessible homes and helping people pay for them.
Governor Healey introduced several changes to the language for the AHVP line item. They would make AHVP easier to understand, use, and administer. We support all of her new wording, and request “Prior Appropriations Continued” be appended.
AHVP has had many program improvements thanks to funding increases over the last few years, including:
increased rent amounts to make vouchers competitive (to 110% FMR)
providing first, last, and security for voucher holders, increasing leasing rates
improved efficiency: application is now online (CHAMP) and centralized screening (expected start summer 2023) will save applicants and housing authorities time and effort
piloting a project focused specifically on freeing people from nursing homes
While rent increases and new vouchers are paid for by the line item, the other improvements are possible thanks to the inclusion of "prior allocation continued" language at the end of the line item description. The retention of prior funding gives DHCD and advocates the opportunity to try new things, provide additional supports to a population that needs them, and make a difficult process a little simpler.
In partnership with Boston Center for Independent Living and Citizens' Housing And Planning Association.
Please contact R Feynman (rfeynman@dpcma.org), Shaya French (sfrench@bostoncil.org) or Felix Jordan (fjordan@bostoncil.org) with any questions.
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