Area Agencies on Aging and the National Affordable Housing Act: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The OlderAmericansAct requires Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to ensure appropriate housing for elders, an area in which most AAAs have not been active. The National Affordable Housing Act (NAHA) of 1990 provided an opportunity for AAAs to tap into federal funding for elderly housing. This article reports on a 1992 national survey ofAAA involvement in the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS), a planning process required by NAHA forstate and local jurisdictions to be eligible for federal funding. Priority programs in the CHAS plans included home repairs, a major AAA housing activity. Because the CHAS (and its replacement, the Consolidated Plan) can expand supportive housing funding for elders, AAAs need more training in housing and to develop stronger working relations with housing agencies in their Planning and Service Areas. Unless they rise to this challenge, AAAs may be less able to reach their goal of creating a more comprehensive system of home- and community-based care. Further research is needed to determine if more AAAs have engaged in the CHAS process since 1992 and the outcomes of that participation.