The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday awarded approximately $15 million to select owners of HUD-assisted senior housing developments as part of a new initiative to help low-income seniors age in place and delay or avoid the need for nursing home care.
In these select developments, HUD will cover costs related to hiring a full-time Enhanced Service Coordinator and a part-time Wellness Nurse to connect the elderly with the supportive services they need to maintain independent living in their own homes.
“It is so important that we afford our seniors the opportunity to live independently,” said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. “These grants will help owners of HUD-assisted senior developments to offer the services that will allow seniors to remain in their homes for as long as they can.”
Funded through HUD’s Supportive Services Demonstration for Elderly Households in HUD-Assisted Multifamily Housing, these three-year grants will aim to produce evidence about the effectiveness of this enhanced supportive services model for elderly households. The agency will also evaluate the value of enhanced service coordination paired with affordable housing for seniors.
The Demonstration will be independently evaluated to determine the impact of this enhanced supportive services across on a variety of areas, including aging in place in HUD-assisted senior developments; avoiding early transitions to institutional care; and preventing unnecessary and often costly health care utilization, such as emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
Both HUD and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services collaborated on several research initiatives to inform the design of this demonstration.
Various senior housing develops located in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and South Carolina will receive funding from the three-year grants.
Written by Jason Oliva
