University of New Hampshire Logo

Housing Options for Individuals With Disabilities Continues to be a Top Priority for Program at UNH’s Institute on Disability/UCED

DURHAM – The Center for Housing and New Community Economics (CHANCE) at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (IOD) will continue to provide intensive technical assistance to coordinate long-term supports with affordable, accessible, and integrated housing. CHANCE will be involved in the Community Living Partnership: National State-to-State Technical Assistance Center at Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) funded by the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This new technical assistance center supports CMS Real Choice System Change Grantees funded from October 2004 through September 2007.

The development of community housing and services for people with disabilities has been a major national policy direction for the past 20 years. While the number of people living in institutions and large facilities has decreased, the vast majority of individuals residing "in the community" live in residences owned and controlled by someone else.

Housing and personal assistance services are dictated far more often by government and agency preferences than by the needs and desires of individuals with disabilities. Current approaches have not assured that people with disabilities are afforded control over, or even a voice in, the most basic decisions regarding where they live, with whom they live, the nature of the assistance they receive, and how they spend their time.

Established in March 2001, CHANCE’s mission is to improve and increase access to integrated, affordable, and accessible housing coordinated with, but separate from, personal assistance and supportive services. CHANCE’s purpose is to offer alternatives to approaches that segregate, congregate, and control people with disabilities.

Intensive technical assistance provided by CHANCE will focus on creating opportunities for collaboration between state housing and service entities for the purpose of implementing broad systems change to assist individuals to move from institutions into the community and make it possible for elders to age in their homes or avoid institutionalization.

CHANCE’s experience and proficiency at providing technical assistance will significantly strengthen these efforts along with its extensive network and relationship with people with disabilities, family members, the National Home of Your Own Alliance, the ADAPT network, and national housing, financial, service, foundation, advocacy, and disability organizations in the public and private sectors.

For more information, visit http://chance.unh.edu/ or visit the IOD’s Web site at www.iod.unh.edu

For more information, visit www.iod.unh.edu

###
The IOD advances policies and systems changes, promising practices, education and research that strengthen communities and ensure full access, equal opportunities, and participation for all persons.