COLUMBUS, OH / WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Adam Smith (D-WA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Joyce Beatty (D-OH) reintroduced The Expanding Service Coordinators Act with support from a broad national coalition of supportive services and affordable housing providers, led by the American Association of Service Coordinators (AASC). H.R. 5057 or The Expanding Service Coordinators Act, would significantly expand service coordination in federally-funded supported affordable housing projects throughout the United States – keeping hundreds of thousands of residents healthy, happy, and housed.
This crucial legislation would authorize an increase of federal funding to $225 million over the next four years to the Multi-Family Housing Service Coordinator program, authorize $45 million each year for four years for the Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) Service Coordinator Program, authorize a new $37 million grant program through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to award 150 grants to eligible low-income tax credit properties to fund service coordinators, and create a $10 million grant program to bring Service Coordinators to rural USDA properties. Additionally, the bill would include service coordinators in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and establish a much-needed training set aside. These provisions seek to improve the capacity and retention of service coordinators and allow them to stay ahead of trends related to the care of older adults.
“Every single community in this country needs more supported affordable housing. Whether you live in a city, suburb, or rural community, the older adults, families, persons with disabilities, veterans, and other vulnerable neighbors all have the same basic needs: to be healthy, happy, and housed," said AASC President and CEO, Michelle Missler. “The Expanding Service Coordinators Act will do this by prioritizing the needs of older adults, empowering families with the resources they need to become self-sufficient and growing supported affordable housing across the country. Service Coordinators connect older adults with resources that allow them to age in their own communities, they provide families the tools they need to become and remain self-sufficient, and they save tax dollars by keeping residents out of more costly institutions. With this legislation, and the continued leadership of Representative Smith, we are one step closer to changing the narrative and making a substantial difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country.”
Service coordinators are essential lifelines for the older adults living in their communities. In addition to connecting residents to services and supports, service coordinators are often the lynchpin of property programming, individual health and wellness, and community partnerships to address needs. This has become even more important in rural communities – where resources are further and fewer.
AASC along with a broad coalition of national partners and leaders in this area have signed on in support of this legislation. They include:
- King County Housing Authority
- Seattle Housing Authority
- Tacoma Housing Authority
- Council for Affordable Rural Housing
- LeadingAge
- Public Housing Authority Directors Association
- Council for Large Public Housing Authorities
- Connected Communities
- Compass Working Capital
- B’nai B’rith
- CSI Support & Development
- LifeSTEPS
- Local Initiatives Support Coalition
- New England Resident Service Coordinators Inc.
- New Hampshire Association of Professional Service Coordinators
- Massachusetts Association of Resident Service Coordinators in Housing
- Sage Advocacy and Services for LGBTQ+ Elders
- United Church Homes
- MJ Housing Services
- National Church Residences
- Embrace Living Communities
- WinnCompanies
- National Affordable Housing Managers Association
- AHEPA Senior Living
- National NeighborWorks Association
- Housing Assistance Council
- HumanGood