I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4664
To establish the elderly housing plus health support demonstration program
to modernize public housing for elderly and disabled persons.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 14, 2000
Mr. MEEKS of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To establish the elderly housing plus health support dem-
onstration program to modernize public housing for el-
derly and disabled persons.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Elderly Housing Plus
Health Support Demonstration Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) there are at least 34,100,000 Americans
who are 65 years and older, and persons who are 85
years of age or older (often called the oldest old)
comprise almost one-quarter of that population;
(2) the Bureau of the Census of the Depart-
ment of Commerce estimates that, by 2030, the el-
derly population will double to 70,000,000 persons;
(3) according to the Department of Housing
and Urban Development report ‘‘Housing Our El-
ders—A Report Card on the Housing Conditions
and Needs of Older Americans’’, the largest and
fastest growing segments of the older population in-
clude many people who have historically been vulner-
able economically and in the housing market—
women, minorities, and the oldest old;
(4) many elderly persons are at significant risk
with respect to the availability, stability, and accessi-
bility of affordable housing, as evidenced by a recent
study which indicates that 1,700,000 low-income
senior households spend more than one-half of their
incomes on housing;
(5) over 1,000,000 of the approximately
3,700,000 Americans who are 62 years of age or
older and are living in federally assisted housing re-
side in public housing, thereby making it the largest
Federal housing program for senior citizens;
(6) the elderly population residing in public
housing is older, poorer, frailer, and more racially
diverse than the elderly population residing in other
assisted housing;
(7) two-thirds of the public housing develop-
ments for the elderly, including those that also serve
the disabled, were constructed before 1970 and are
in dire need of major rehabilitation, such as rehabili-
tation to provide new roofs, energy-efficient heating,
cooling, and utility systems, and up-to-date safety
features, such as sprinklers, fire alarms, and secu-
rity systems;
(8) many of the dwelling units in public housing
developments for elderly and disabled persons are
undersized, are inaccessible to residents with phys-
ical limitations, do not comply with the requirements
under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
or lack railings, grab bars, emergency call buttons,
and wheel chair accessible ramps;
(9) a recent study for the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development found that the cost of
the basic modernization needs for public housing for
elderly 
and 
disabled 
persons 
exceeds
$5,700,000,000;
(10) a growing number of elderly and disabled
persons face unnecessary institutionalization because
of the absence of appropriate supportive services and
assisted living facilities in their residences;
(11) for many elderly and disabled persons,
independent living in a non-institutionalization set-
ting is a preferable housing alternative to costly in-
stitutionalization, and would allow public monies to
be more effectively used to provide necessary services
for such persons;
(12) congregate housing and supportive services
coordinated by service coordinators is a proven and
cost-effective means of enabling elderly and disabled
persons to remain in place with dignity and inde-
pendence; and
(13) the effective provision of congregate serv-
ices and assisted living in public housing develop-
ments often requires the redesign of units and build-
ings to accommodate independent living.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to establish a program to demonstrate the
effectiveness of making competitive grants to provide
state-of-the-art health-supportive housing with as-
sisted living opportunities for elderly and disabled
persons;