From Institutions to Independence

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have announced a joint venture aiding 1,000 non-elderly, disabled Americans.

The partnership will help these individuals transition from nursing homes and other healthcare facilities to independent living.

HUD will provide $7.5 million in rental-assistance vouchers to residents in 15 states, where public housing authorities will administer the rental subsidies. The funds are culled from HUD’s $40 million Rental Assistance for Non-Elderly Persons with Disabilities Program.

HHS will provide health and social support provided through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s “Money Follows the Person” (MFP) rebalancing-demonstration grant program, which will allow the individuals to live independently.

The partnership arrives as part of President Obama’s Year of Community Living initiative, which grew out of the 1999 landmark Supreme Court ruling in Olmstead v. L.C., which ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects a person with a disability from being unnecessarily institutionalized.