Housing Cabinet Approves 2016 Budget Priorities
Members of LeadingAge New York's Housing Cabinet approved their 2016 State Budget Priorities at its recent meeting held at The Village at Unity in Rochester. The priorities include creation of a new senior hosuing capital program, a special funds for the preservation of existing senior housing, and a significant investment in the dormant Resident Advisor Program.
If adopted, the proposal would create a new Senior Housing With Services program that would provide $50 million per year for five years. The new program would provide up to $100,000 per unit in new developments and would be used in conjunction with other funding sources, such as Low Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME Investment Partnership funds and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). This has the potential of creating up to 500 new units per year during that time.
The Priorities document, which will be released later this fall, includes language about services in senior hosuing: "All senior housing built with state and federal resources should require a robust service component that emphasizes wellness and healthy aging, co-location of services and avoidance of entry into expensive Medicaid funded institutional settings. The new program should be paired with secure stream of funding to support these services, in the form of New York State grants, or underwritten as part of the project operating budget."
The Resident Advisor Program is part of the New York Elder Law and is run by the New York State Office For Aging (NYSOFA), but has not had funding appropriated in many years. LeadingAge NY members hope to resurrect the program with a new $10 million in new funding. Resident Advisors (also known as Resident Service Coordinators) play a tremendously important role in senior housing developments. As residents of existing senior housing get older and more frail, a substantial new investment in this network of Resident Advisors is critical.
Finally, there are thousands of apartments in senior housing developments around the state with significant capital needs that will continue to grow in the coming years. The Cabinet hopes to secure an appropriation of $20 million specifically targeted toward senior buildings with high capital needs and limited options for re-capitalization.
The Housing Cabinet's budget priorities have already been included for consideration as part of a larger set of housing recommendations being developed by the New York Housing Conference, which is expected to finalize its recommendations in the coming weeks.
Contact: John Broderick, jbroderick@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8835.