Special Needs Planning for Housing, Food Assistance, Employment & Other Benefits

1. Special Needs Planning for Housing, Food Assistance, Employment & Other Benefits Presenters: Blaine Brockman & Patricia E. Kefalas Dudek 8th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Special Needs Planners

2. HOUSING

3. Affordable Housing / Section 8 Section 8 The Housing Choice Vouchers Program (often referred to as “Section 8”) is the federal government’s primary program to provide housing for Americans who are living in poverty, as well as the elderly and people with disabilities. Types of Housing Vouchers Project Based Vouchers (PBV) PBV run with the property and can not transfer with the tenant. The PBV may be a unit or multiple units, but is attached to the unit not the individual. Tenant Based Vouchers (TBV) Tenant based vouchers are issued to participants and stay with the tenant as long as the tenant qualifies for the program and the unit selected by the tenant is part of the program.

4. Affordable Housing / Section 8 Housing choice vouchers Allows very low-income families to choose and lease or purchase safe, decent, and affordable privately-owned rental housing. Section 8 Rental Voucher Program Increases affordable housing choices for very low-income households by allowing families to choose privately owned rental housing. The public housing authority (PHA) generally pays the landlord the difference between 30 percent of household income and the PHA-determined payment standard-about 80 to 100 percent of the fair market rent (FMR). The rent must be reasonable. The household may choose a unit with a higher rent than the FMR and pay the landlord the difference or choose a lower cost unit and keep the difference.

5. Affordable Housing / Section 8 How Section 8 Works CONGRESS Appropriates funding to the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) $$ PHA HUD funds Public Housing Agency (PHA) that manages the local Section 8 program $$ Rent Subsidy OWNER HUD & Owner enter into Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) contract TENANT Family pays a % of rent to property owner after being selected by the PHA Lease Agreement $$ Reduced Rent

6. Eligibility, Income & Assets • Eligibility as a “Family” • The PHA is given discretion by HUD to define the term “family. However, the definition must include the following. • A family with or without children (including children temporarily away because of foster care) • Elderly or disabled persons living in a group setting (to include a single elderly or disabled person and a live-in aid) • A single family may be an elderly person, or a disabled person

7. Eligibility, Income & Assets • Income Limitations • Section 8 eligibility is limited to families having “very low-income” (or “extremely low-income” where a PHA is attempting to target people having intense poverty such as homeless populations). • The math in determining income upon which rent payments will be made is “annual income” less exclusions and deductions, arriving at “adjusted income.”

8. Eligibility, Income & Assets • Treatment of Certain Assets • “Cash value” of an asset is the amount a family would receive if the asset were converted to cash • Assets in net worth $5000.00 or less in cash value • Assets in net worth over $5000.00 in cash value • Trusts • Lump sum receipts • Look-back

9. HUD Section 811 HUD Section 811 housing is completely different in character than Section 8. Section 811 is a housing production program coupled with a rent subsidy program coupled with a supportive services plan. Section 811 provides capital money (interest free advances) for the development of affordable housing that is coupled with a supportive service plan. The program also provides a rent subsidy though Project Rental Assistance Contracts (PRAC) with the Owner of the housing units. The program does not pay for supportive services. The Section 811 program evolved out of a similar elderly housing program (Section 202 Elderly Housing) when the effects of deinstitutionalization stressed available subsidized and supportive housing.

10. Low Income Tax Credit Housing The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the nation’s premier producer of affordable housing. It is a highly complex program that leverages tax law, state and local government policy making, private development and private investment. The program is not a HUD program but an IRS program, and the law guiding the program is tax law. The LIHTC program is a masterful mix of public sector policy driving private sector behavior.

11. Sample Boutique Housing Programs with Support Community Housing Network A non profit organization in Southeast Michigan committed to providing home for people in need through proven strategies of homelessness prevention, housing assistance and development, community education and referral, advocacy and additional services. Also uses pooled accounts trust for housing options Columbus Creative Housing A non-profit organization dedicated to providing safe, accessible and affordable housing to individuals with disabilities in the Columbus metropolitan area. Virginia Housing Development Authority Accessible housing options that promote independence and dignity for people with disabilities If you know of some place email us so we can create a database for ASNAP of creative options

12. Energy/ Utilities Services Energy Assistance Programs The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides money to help low-income homeowners and renters pay for heating costs. Resources Energy Assistance

13. EMPLOYMENT

14. Medicaid Expansion Effective January 1, 2014, Medicaid will be expanded to include individuals between the ages of 19 up to 65 (parents, and adults without dependent children) with incomes up to 138% FPL based on modified adjusted gross income. For a single person, that’s an annual income of $15,856. This change will open Medicaid coverage to many childless adults not currently eligible.

15. Medicaid Buy-In Programs Allows individuals with disabilities to work and purchase Medicaid. States are utilizing the new options to develop Medicaid Buy In programs to create a variety of policies under the broad Federal policies established in Federal law and guidelines. The various States’ Medicaid Buy In programs reflect the significant differences among the States in their current Medicaid program and the policies they have adopted under the Federal policies.

16. Medicaid Buy-In Programs Federal Law & Guidelines The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 added a new provision in the Medicaid program of the Social Security Act that allows states to elect to provide Medicaid coverage to persons with disabilities who are working and who otherwise meet SSI eligibility criteria but have net income up to 250% of the Federal poverty guidelines. Federal Poverty Guidelines Federal law for the Medicaid Buy In State Plan options references the Federal Poverty Guidelines. There are two slightly different versions of the federal poverty measure: The poverty thresholds The poverty guidelines.

17. Medicaid Buy-In Programs The Poverty Threshold Are the original version of the federal poverty measure They are updated each year by the Census Bureau They are used mainly for statistical purposes The Poverty Guidelines The other version of the federal poverty measure They are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services They are a simplification of the poverty thresholds for use for administrative purposes They are sometimes loosely referred to as the “federal poverty level”

18. People “Buy-In” Under federal law, states have the option of creating Medicaid buy-in programs that enable employed individuals with disabilities who make more than what is allowed under Section 1619(b) to obtain Medicaid coverage at a low or no cost. A state has 3 distinct ways that it can create and offer a Medicaid buy-in under two separate federal laws – the Balanced Budget Act (the BBA) and Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA). In brief, these provisions provide for the following:   The BBA Medicaid Buy-In TWWIIA Medicaid Buy-In Provisions

19. People “Buy-In” The BBA Medicaid Buy-In Allows a state to offer Medicaid coverage to any employed person with a disability who has a net family income below 250 percent of the Federal poverty level for a family of the size involved. TWWIIA Medicaid Buy-In Provisions TWWIIA allows a state to offer Medicaid coverage to individuals who fall into one of the following groups:   (1) Basic Coverage Group. States have the option to offer Medicaid to working individuals who are at least 16 but less than 65 years of age who, except for their income and resource levels, are eligible to receive SSI. States are free to establish their own income and resource standards. Individuals who have never received SSI benefits can be eligible. (2) Medical Improvement Group. States have the option to offer Medicaid to employed individuals with a medically improved disability who lose Medicaid eligibility under the group described above because they no longer meet the SSI definition of disability.

20. People “Buy-In” The Medicaid Buy-In for Working People With Disabilities The Medicaid Buy-in for Working People with Disabilities (MBI-WPD) is a special program for individuals with disabilities under age 65 who have work income.  Under MBI-WPD, individuals are eligible for full Medicaid benefits at much higher incomes than individuals who are not working.    This allows them to earn more income without the risk of losing health coverage. 

21. Ticket-to-Work Eligibility Social Security's Ticket to Work Program is a free and voluntary program available to people ages 18 through 64 who are blind or have a disability and who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Goals Offer beneficiaries with disabilities expanded choices when seeking service and supports to enter, re-enter, and/or maintain employment; Increase the financial independence and self-sufficiency of beneficiaries with disabilities; and Reduce and, whenever possible, eliminate reliance on properly funded disability benefits.

22. SSA Red Book 2013 Red Book A summary guide to employment supports for persons with disabilities under the social security disability insurance and supplemental security income programs The Red Book is a general reference tool designed to provide a working knowledge of these provisions. We write the Red Book primarily for educators, advocates, rehabilitation professionals, and counselors who serve persons with disabilities. We also expect that applicants and beneficiaries will use it as a self-help guide. Link – 2013 Red Book

23. SSA Red Book Index

24. Vocational Rehabilitation Services Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, federal grants are awarded to assist states in operating a comprehensive vocational rehabilitation program. This program provides VR services to eligible individuals with disabilities, consistent with their strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, and capabilities, so that such individuals may prepare for and engage in gainful, competitive employment. Eligibility have a physical or mental impairment that is a substantial impediment to employment; be able to benefit in terms of employment from VR services require VR services to prepare for, enter, engage in, or retain gainful employment that is consistent with the individual's strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, and informed choice.

25. Vocational Rehabilitation Services • For Example - Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) • Partners with individuals and employers to achieve quality employment outcomes and independence for persons with disabilities. • Workforce Programs to help eligible individuals with disabilities (those with existing physical/mental impairment and have work related barriers due to a disability) get and keep a job. • Vocational rehabilitation counseling designed to help people with disabilities decide on an appropriate employment goal. • Youth employment services • Choose your employment plan - when you become eligible for services from MRS, you will need to develop a written Individualized Plan for Employment that will show how you will achieve your employment goal. There are several options for developing the plan with or without an MRS counselor.

26. SNAP Program

27. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—formerly known as the Food Stamp program—is a federally funded means-tested entitlement program that provides certain low-income individuals and families with a monthly benefit (an allotment) that they can use to buy the food they need to stay healthy.

28. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Eligibility Is determined by the income of a household. For the purposes of SNAP, everyone who lives together and purchases and prepares meals together is grouped together as one household2. However, if a person is 60 years of age or older and unable to purchase and prepare meals separately (e.g., because of a permanent disability), he or she and spouse may be considered a separate household if the others he or she lives with do not have very much income (no more than 165% of the Federal Poverty Level).

29. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program • Resources • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program • National toll free number: 800-221-5689 (leave message to have information mailed). • Bridge Card/Food Stamps & Cash Benefits • Electronic Benefits Transfer Card (EBT) • Obtained through DHS and provides food/cash benefits to recipients. • Application may be printed online but must be completed and taken to the local DHS office. • The card is just like a debit card and food/cash benefits are made available according to the benefits schedule.

30. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program • Resources • Farmers Markets Accept Bridge Cards • Farmers markets are a great place to purchase fresh Michigan produce and to connect with local farmers and your community. Everyone should have access to fresh, healthy, local food. • Detroit Eastern Market Bride Card Program • The market and the adjacent district are rare finds in a global economy a local food district with more than 250 independent vendors and merchants processing, wholesaling, and retailing food. • Double Up Food Bucks program • Sponsored by the Fair Food Network, doubles the value of Bridge card purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables at local farmers’ markets

31. Resources

32. Additional Resources • Housing • TAC Resource Center on Supportive Housing • Creative Housing Choices for Disabled Beneficiaries by the Use of SNTs • Energy Assistance Programs for Each State • Supportative Housing • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development • Statement of the Department of Housing and Urban Development on the Role of Housing in Accomplishing the Goals of Olmstead • Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Fact Sheet - Home and Community Based Services • Medicaid Expansion 2014

33. Additional Resources • Employment • U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs • State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency • American Foundation for the Blind • The Medicaid Buy-In for Working People With Disabilities • Ticket to Work Program • Medicaid & Work: Keeping Your Medicaid While You Work • Ticket to Work • Medicaid Buy-In for Working People with Disabilities • Paying for Both Food & Medical Care

34. Additional Resources SNAP SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Funding the SNAP Program Foodstamp Case for Pooled Trust For more resources check out: Patti’s Benefits Checklist Do you have one for your clients?

35. Presenters Patricia E. Kefalas Dudek, Esq PEKD & Associates 30445 Northwestern Hwy Ste. 250 Farmington Hills, MI 48237 248-254-3462 www.pekdadvocacy.com pdudek@pekdadvocacy.com Blaine Brockman, Esq Brockman Legal Services765 Lakeview DriveWest Jefferson, Ohio 43162   614 879-4143 www.brockmanlegal.com blaine@brockmanlegal.com