The Housing Burden for Individuals with Supplemental Security Income and the Need for Affordable Housing Choice

During February 2013, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) convened five focus groups across the state to inform the authority’s Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing (AI).  A consistent theme in all five focus groups was that the lack of safe, accessible, visistable and affordable rental housing was an impediment to people with disabilities having community based housing opportunities of their choice and access to services in the least restrictive setting. Focus groups also pointed out that rent structures for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) rental units are often not affordable to persons with a disability with only Social Security Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  This paper will examine the affordability of market rate and subsidized LIHTC rents for individuals with disabilities receiving SSI.