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Supportive Housing: HUD Is Not Assessing the Needs of Elderly Residents

T-PEMD-92-12 Published: Aug 12, 1992. Publicly Released: Aug 12, 1992.
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Highlights

GAO discussed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) efforts to provide supportive housing for the elderly, focusing on: (1) the methodologies HUD uses in assessing elderly need for section 202 housing; and (2) the need for modernization of section 202 buildings. GAO noted that: (1) HUD neither collects data nor has a methodology for assessing section 202 residents' supportive service needs; (2) HUD considers section 202 supportive services as the responsibility of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and there is inadequate cooperation between HHS and HUD; (3) the HUD lottery method of fund disbursement for supportive services inadequately targets residents and fails to provide assistance for those in the greatest need; (4) HUD lacks data on resident fraility levels, which would assist in determining modernization and retrofitting needs, target identification and disbursement of limited funds, and providing for resident needs; and (5) limited HUD travel and staff funding impedes annual inspections and assessments of retrofitting requirements.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments
Congress may wish to request that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development study the feasibility of a more productive methodology by developing a uniform definition of need and a standardized instrument for measuring needs for supportive services.
Closed – Not Implemented
The subcommittee was disbanded along with the rest of the Select Committee on Aging.

Full Report

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Topics

Aid for the elderlyBuilding inspectionElderly personsFederal aid for housingHousing for the elderlyHousing repairsManagement information systemsPublic assistance programsHousingUrban development