Yet people with disabilities are the one population of people that HUD has intentionally and historically segregated since the very beginning of public housing in this nation. They have done this by developing such programs as the 202, which used to be known as buildings for people with disabilities and senior citizens. Then, in 1992, to answer the reactionary lobby efforts of seniors to evict and bar people with disabilities from 202 high rises, President Bush signed a law which pleased the senior citizen lobby, yet displaced many people with disabilities. Under this new law, people with disabilities were no longer legally able to access the units in a 202. Many people with disabilities have shared that when the landlord is also the service provider, the tenant becomes almost a piece of property to the landlord.
Privacy becomes a thing of the past and integration becomes a fantasy.
Disability advocates have had some success in getting HUD to delink the mandatory service requirement from the 811 funding stream. Services can now only be added as an option that you can or cannot choose. Occupancy can no longer be denied to a person with a disability because that person does not want services. Unfortunately, there are still 811's being built and operated under the old mandate. Beyond the issue of delinking services, however, this is still a segregated option.