SECTION 811 PROGRAM

Section 811 Program

The Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2010 modernized and reformed HUD's Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program, creating the opportunity to develop thousands of new permanent supportive housing (PSH) units integrated within affordable housing properties every year.

Integrated supportive housing approaches respond to the community integration mandates of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead decision, a landmark disability rights case affirming the right of people with disabilities to live in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. Expansion of integrated supportive housing also directly relates to several aspects of the Affordable Care Act, such as the expanded Money Follows the Person (MFP) Initiative.

The innovative Section 811 reforms are promoting a national expansion of integrated supportive housing by fostering partnerships among state housing and health and human service agencies to leverage mainstream affordable housing, Medicaid, and related community-based support services resources, and to ensure that people with disabilities most in need can access these new housing opportunities. The most significant innovation is the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA) option which - for the first time - provides cost-effective PRA subsidies directly to state housing agencies.

In February 2013, HUD awarded $98 million in Section 811 PRA grant awards to 13 states to create 3,530 new integrated PSH units. HUD announced the award of another $150 million in March 2015 to 24 states plus the District of Columbia. Of the 43 states that have applied for Section 811 PRA funding, 29 (or 57% of states and the District of Columbia) will now be administering the program, with more than 7,500 units anticipated.

More on HUD's Section 811 PRA Program:

811 PRA Resource Pages on HUD Exchange

January 2014 Status Report to Congress

HUD Section 811 Program Webpage