APPLICATION PROCEDURES

SEC. 407. (a) An application for assistance under this title shall include

(1) a plan specifying the types and priorities of the basic services the public housing agency or nonprofit corporation proposes to provide during the term of the contract; such plan must be related to the needs and characteristics of the eligible project residents and, to the maximum extent practicable, provide for the changing needs and characteristics of all project residents; such plan shall be determined after consultation with eligible project residents and with the professional assessment committee;

(2) a list of names and professional qualifications of the members of the professional assessment committee;

(3) the fee schedule established pursuant to section 405(h) of this title;

(4) any comment received in connection with any review of a proposed application pursuant to section 405(d) or 405(e)(2); and (5) a statement affirming (A) that the nonprofit corporation or public housing agency has followed the consultation procedures required in subsections (c), (d), and (e) of section 405, and (B) that such application complies with subsection (b) of such section.

(b) The Secretary shall establish appropriate deadlines for each fiscal year for the submission of applications for funding under this title and shall notify any public housing agency and nonprofit corporation applying for assistance under this title of acceptance or rejection of its application within ninety days of such submission. (c) Within twelve months prior to the submission of an application for renewed funding under this title, each nonprofit corporation and public housing agency shall review the performance, appropriateness, and fee schedules of their congregate services program with eligible project residents and with the professional assessment committee. The results of such review shall be included in any application for renewal and shall be considered in the development of the application for renewal by the nonprofit corporation or public housing agency and in its evaluation by the Secretary. [42 U.S.C. 8006]

EVALUATION OF APPLICATION AND PROGRAM

SEC. 408. (a) In evaluating applications for assistance under this title, the Secretary shall consider

(1) the types and priorities of the basic services proposed to be provided, and the relationship of such proposal to the needs and characteristics of the eligible residents of the projects where the services are to be provided;

(2) how quickly services will be established following approval of the application;

(3) the degree to which local social services are adequate for the purpose of assisting eligible project residents to maintain independent living and avoid unnecessary institutionalization;

(4) the professional qualifications of the members of the professional assessment committee; and

(5) the reasonableness of fee schedules established for each congregate service.

(b) In evaluating programs receiving assistance under this title, the Secretary shall

(1) establish procedures for the review and evaluation of the performance of nonprofit corporations and public housing agencies receiving assistance under this title including provisions for the submission of an annual report, by each such nonprofit corporation and public housing agency, which evaluates the impact and effectiveness of its congregate services program; and

(2) publish annually and submit to the Congress, a report on and evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of congregate services programs assisted under this title. Such report and evaluation shall be based, in part, on the evaluations required to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1).

(c)(1) The Secretary shall contract with a university or qualified research institution to produce a report

(A) documenting the number of elderly living in federally assisted housing at risk of institutionalization;

(B) studying and comparing alternative delivery systems in the States, including the congregate housing services program, to provide services to older persons in assisted congregate housing;

(C) assessing existing and potential financial resources at the Federal, State, and local levels for the support of congregate housing services; and

(D) making legislative recommendations as to the feasibility of permitting State housing agencies and other appropriate State agencies to participate and operate the program on a matching grant basis.

(2) The Secretary shall submit the report to the Congress not later than September 30, 1988. [42 U.S.C. 8007]

FUNDING PROCEDURES

SEC. 409. (a) The Secretary shall establish procedures

(1) to assure timely payments to nonprofit corporations and public housing agencies for approved assisted congregate services programs with provision made for advance funding sufficient to meet necessary startup costs;

(2) to permit reallocation of funds approved for the establishment of congregate services in existing public housing projects and projects assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 if the services are not established within six months of the notification date of funding approval;

(3) to assure that where such funding has been approved for the establishment of congregate services for public housing projects and projects assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 under construction or approved for construction, these services shall be in place at the start of the project's oc

cupancy by tenants requiring such services for maintaining independent living;

(4) to establish accounting and other standards in order to prevent any fraudulent or inappropriate use of funds under this title; and

(5) to assure that no more than 1 per centum of the funds appropriated under this title for any fiscal year may be used by public housing agencies and nonprofit corporations for evaluative purposes as required by section 408(b)(1).

(b) The Secretary shall establish a reserve fund, not to exceed 10 per centum of the funds appropriated in each fiscal year for the provision of services under this title, in order to supplement grants awarded to public housing agencies and nonprofit corporations under this title when, in the determination of the Secretary, such supplemental adjustments are required to maintain adequate levels of services to eligible project residents. [42 U.S.C. 8008]

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SEC. 410. (a) Each public housing agency and nonprofit corporation shall, to the maximum extent practicable, utilize elderly and permanently disabled adult persons who are residents of public housing projects or projects assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, but who are not eligible project residents, to participate in providing the services assisted under this title. Such persons shall be paid wages which shall not be lower than whichever is the highest of

(1) the minimum wage which would be applicable to the employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, if section 6(a)(1) of such act applied to the resident and if he or she were not exempt under section 13 thereof;

(2) the State or local minimum wage for the most nearly comparable covered employment; or

(3) the prevailing rates of pay for persons employed in similar public occupations by the same employer.

(b) No service provided to a public housing resident or to a resident of a housing project assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 under this title, except for wages paid under subsection (a) of this section, may be treated as income for the purpose of any other program or provision of State or Federal law.

(c) Individuals receiving services assisted under this title shall be deemed to be residents of their own households, and not to be residents of a public institution, for the purpose of any other program or provision of State or Federal law.

(d) The Secretary may issue regulations to carry out the provisions of this title. [42 U.S.C. 8009]

AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 411. (a) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1988 and 1989.

(b) Sums appropriated pursuant to this section shall remain available until expended. [42 U.S.C. 8010]

AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937

SEC. 412. Section 7 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended by

HOPE FOR ELDERLY INDEPENDENCE

EXCERPT FROM CRANSTON-GONZALEZ NATIONAL AFFORDABLE
HOUSING ACT

[Public Law 101-625; 104 Stat. 4317; 42 U.S.C. 8012]

SEC. 803. HOPE FOR ELDERLY INDEPENDENCE.

(a) PURPOSE.-The purpose of this section is to establish a demonstration program to test the effectiveness of combining housing certificates and vouchers with supportive services to assist frail elderly persons to continue to live independently. The demonstration program under this section shall terminate upon the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 1

(b) HOUSING ASSISTANCE.-In connection with this demonstration, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may enter into contracts with public housing agencies to provide not more than 1,500 incremental vouchers and certificates under sections 8(b) and 8(0) of the United States Housing Act of 1937. A public housing agency may not require that a frail elderly person live in a particular structure or unit, but the agency may restrict the program under this section to a geographic area, where necessary to ensure that the provision of supportive services is feasible. At the end of the demonstration period, the public housing agency shall give each frail elderly person the option to continue to receive assistance under the housing certificate or voucher program of the agency. In the demonstration, the Secretary may also provide for supportive services in connection with existing contracts for housing assistance under sections 8(b) and 8(0).

(c) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES REQUIREMENTS AND MATCHING FUND

ING.

(1) FEDERAL, PHA AND, INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS.-The amount estimated by the public housing agency and approved by the Secretary as necessary to provide the supportive services for the demonstration period shall be funded as follows:

(A) The Secretary shall provide 40 percent, using amounts appropriated under this section.

(B) The public housing agency shall ensure the provision of at least 50 percent from sources other than under this section.

(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each frail elderly person shall pay 10 percent of the costs of the supportive services that the person receives, except that a frail elderly person may not be required to pay an amount that exceeds 20 percent of the adjusted income (as the term is defined in section 3(b)(5) of the United States Hous

'The date of enactment was November 28, 1990.