Legislation Introduced to Support and Expand Service Coordinator Programs
This week, Representative Adam Smith (D-WA) introduced the Expanding Service Coordinators Act. The legislation, if passed into law, would make critical investments and reforms to expand the service coordinator programs to serve more people in federally assisted housing. Specifically, the bill would:
- Authorize an additional $100 million each year for five years to the Multi-Family Housing Service Coordinator program.
- Authorize a total $45 million each year for five years for the Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency service coordinator program.
- Establish a training set aside to improve capacity and retention of service coordinators.
- Extend qualification for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to service coordinators.
Rep. Smith underscored the importance of service coordinators during the bill’s introduction: “Service coordinators are crucial to the success of federally assisted housing, but programs that fund the employment of service coordinators are currently strained. We desperately need federal funding to maintain and expand our country’s service coordinator workforce to connect marginalized communities to critical social services, such as meal programs, health care, transportation, case management, and job training. This bill will fill that need by providing millions of dollars over the next five years to two primary service coordinator programs – the Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator Program and the Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency Service Coordinator Program – and incentivizing the employment of service coordinators in new affordable housing projects across the country. Vulnerable members of our communities, including seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals and families, rely on federally assisted housing. The Expanding Service Coordinators Act would bolster our nation’s service coordinator workforce to elevate federally assisted housing in Washington’s Ninth and across the country.”
NAHMA has endorsed the Expanding Service Coordinators Act, with NAHMA’s Director of Government Affairs, Larry Keys Jr., providing the following statement: “NAHMA commends Representative Smith for introducing legislation that will ensure millions of affordable housing residents have access to service coordinators and the essential role they provide as a linkage to supportive services and community resources. This pandemic has elevated the critical need for service coordinators across the federally assisted portfolio, as they have been a vital resource for social connection, health and financial security, and community-based services navigation for older residents. We maintain that the mission of affordable housing is to be a platform to improve the lives of residents and communities. Service coordinators are on the frontlines of meeting our mission.” NAHMA will continue to monitor this legislation as it moves through Congress.
To view the full bill text, click here; the bill’s fact sheet, click here; and the press release, click here.
Senate Banking Committee to Hold Hearing on Improving Rural Housing Programs
Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development, announced she will be leading a hearing on rural housing programs next week. Members of the committee will hear from several stakeholders about ways to improve the availability of rural housing, help keep rural seniors afford their homes, and reduce red tape for homeowners and renters. “Without access to housing nothing else in your life works. Not your job, your health, your education or your family,” said Senator Smith. “We know that the housing crisis is hurting communities across the country, with many families struggling to find a safe, affordable place to live. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about ways we can reform Rural Housing Service programs to serve more people and better meet the needs of families.”
Witnesses schedule to testify before the subcommittee include Elizabeth Glidden, Deputy Executive Director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership Marcia Erickson, CEO of GROW South Dakota Tonya Plummer, Director of Native American Housing Programs at Enterprise Community Partners David Battany, Executive Vice President for Capital Markets at Guild Mortgage Company, on behalf of the Mortgage Bankers of America.
The hearing will take place on September 20, 2022 at 2:30 pm (EST) and can be viewed here. This is the second hearing Senator Smith will chair aimed at improving rural housing programs. In May, the subcommittee heard from Xochitl Torres Small, Under Secretary for Rural Development, about which aspects of the USDA’s Rural Housing Service programs are functioning well and which areas should be changed or reformed. NAHMA members provided Senator Smith with suggestions on ways to improve rural housing programs following the May hearing and will continue to monitor these developments closely.
New Climate Portal Launched to Help Communities Navigate Climate Change Impacts
Recently, the Biden Administration launched a website that, for the first time, provides a live dashboard to help communities see extreme weather and other hazards from climate change they are facing, while also providing maps projecting how each community could be impacted in the future. The new Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation portal will help state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments and leaders better track real-time impacts and access federal resources for long-term planning. In addition to providing more detailed, location-specific data about climate threats, the new portal also brings together multiple federal information sources and funding opportunities to help communities better prepare for and respond to climate impacts—including resilience funding from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for states and communities around the country.
To view the White House fact sheet, click here.