HUD Issues Guidance on Complying with the Olmstead Decision

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued new guidance to HUD-assisted housing providers on how they can support state and local Olmstead efforts to increase the integrated housing opportunities for individuals with disabilities, including seniors who are transitioning from, or at serious risk of entering, institutions and other restrictive, segregated settings.

Olmstead refers to the 1999 Supreme Court landmark decision, Olmstead v. L.C., which affirmed that the unjustified segregation of individuals with disabilities is an illegal form of discrimination. Following the Olmstead decision, New York has implemented several initiatives to move to integrated, community-based settings where individuals can receive the health care and long term services and supports they need.

HUD’s new guidance encourages housing providers to consider the housing needs of their individual communities and their state, and to partner with state and local governments to provide additional community-based, integrated housing opportunities.

Included in the guidance are specifics on implementing appropriate preferences in a HUD subsidized property that support Olmstead efforts, including setting preferences for individuals with disabilities who are transitioning from or at serious risk of entering an institutional settings. Preference setting could be one tactic in setting up a senior supportive housing program.

To view the HUD press release on the guidance, click here.

To view the guidance, click here.

Contact: Ken Harris, kharris@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383, ext. 139