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From: Ed Gramlich
email: mailto:gramliche@commchange.org
link: http://
date: 11/22/0 16:30
Date: 12/21/00
Time: 1:08:03 PM
Remote Name: 207.251.188.199
DISABILITIES CONSORTIUM GAINS IMPROVED CONPLAN LANGUAGE
BACKGROUND: The Consortium For Citizens With Disabilities secured "report language" in the HUD/VA appropriations bill which is helpful to people with disabilities when it comes to the ConPlan. The bill passed the full House on June 21, 2000.
Although "report language" isn't law, it can be helpful to people with disabilities and advocates. It could also be beneficial to other segments of the extremely low income community (e.g. homeless people, renters, large households, etc.) which, despite the severity of their needs, see their fair share of CDBG dollars go toward airports, post offices, museums, and of course miles and miles of concrete.
[As we all know, in the ConPlan the accent has always been on the "Con". Quite a few jurisdictions adequately identify the housing needs of extremely low income people (many jurisdictions fail to even do that), but often the unique needs of various components of the extremely low income population are not sufficiently identified. Some jurisdictions might even give "high" priority to those with the worst case housing needs. However, things fall apart when it comes to designing programs in response to high priority housing needs. And, seldom is the allocation of CDBG and HOME dollars to programs for those with the most acute needs commensurate with the severity of needs. Voila, the ConSham.]
The Consortium convinced Rep. Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) to add "report language" to the appropriations bill which helps to slightly shrink the sham.
The report language "directs" HUD to:
1. Provide information to all jurisdictions that people with disabilities and their advocates are to be at the table when ConPlans are developed. [The CDBG law, and therefore the ConPlan, has long required jurisdictions to both "provide for and encourage" public participation. Since 1995, regs have required jurisdictions to "take what ever actions are appropriate to encourage the participation of all its citizens, including…persons with disabilities". However, HUD seldom enforces the regs.];
2. Evaluate whether people with disabilities actually participated in the development of a ConPlan;
3. Determine whether the uses of federal funds match the needs identified in the ConPlan;
4. Review ConPlans to determine whether the jurisdiction has a building code in compliance with the Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines; and,
5. Review a jurisdiction's efforts to remove impediments to fair housing.
Ed Gramlich, Center for Community Change, 202.342.0567, gramliche@commchange.org