Project Name:
Statewide and Regional Housing Collaboratives

Type of practice:
Promising practice (practice is proven to achieve outcomes)

Area of Emphasis 
Housing

Project/activity year(s)

2019 – 2023

Population(s) of focus
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Families of people with ID/DD
Caregivers of people with ID/DD
Service Providers

Strategies used in the project
Outreach
Training
Technical Assistance
Supporting and Educating Communities
Barrier Elimination, Systems Design, and Redesign
Informing Policymakers

Project description 
Since 2019, the NYS Council on Developmental Disabilities (CDD) has partnered with the NY Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation (NY Alliance) on the Statewide and Regional Housing Collaboratives. ‘Regional Housing Collaboratives (RHCs) bring together housing-related professionals interested in helping people with developmental disabilities seeking housing options by supporting creative housing solutions. An RHC was created in each of the five New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) regions across New York State. OPWDD is responsible for coordinating services for New Yorkers with developmental disabilities. Services are resources are divided into five distinct regions across New York State.

Through the RHC model, conversations have been held among various housing stakeholders whose work typically does not overlap, including developers, non-profit I/DD service providers, and local governments.

This grant also supported the creation of a “Master Housing Navigator” (MHN) position. One MHN candidate was appointed for each of the five OPWDD regions. The MHNs helped coordinate the Regional Housing Collaboratives in their region of the State. They also provided direct housing navigation services to people with developmental disabilities (DD) seeking to live more independently. Housing Navigation is a service that helps people with developmental disabilities identify housing opportunities in the community.

Impact (or impact-to-date) of the project/activity for people with ID/DD and their families:
The NY Alliance Statewide and Regional Housing Collaboratives initiative has had several positive outcomes and impacts, including:

• Developed a “Housing Planning Instrument” (HPI), a tool designed to help people with DD and their families follow the stages of a typical housing journey.
• Added and updated resources and materials related to housing for people with DD in New York State to a dedicated website, the ‘New York Housing Resource Center’ ( https://nyhrc.org/index.php). Note: please cut and paste this link into your browser.
• Supported the successful transition over three years of 29 people to independent housing arrangements that met their needs, 13 of which transitioned from State certified setting to homes in the community.
• Demonstrated an annual cost savings of $669,928 from data collected from the 13 people who transitioned from State-certified settings to housing in the community.
• Completed a Final Housing Navigation Report to demonstrate success of the grant (https://nyhousingresourcecenter.starchapter.com/images/Housing_Grant_-_HN_Report_UPDATE_1-23.pdf). Note: please cut and paste this link into your browser.
• Helped to facilitate the development of the Riverview Lofts integrated, affordable housing development Suffolk County on Long Island named Riverview Lofts which integrated ten units of affordable housing set asides for people with disabilities.
• Supported the successful passage of legislation in Suffolk County, Long Island requiring county-funded housing developments to include affordable housing.

Story

Story perspective
Person with ID/DD
Partner [person or organization with an interest or concern about ID/DD issues]

What were things like BEFORE you/your family/partner/community participated in the project/activity?
Finding creative housing solutions for people with developmental disabilities requires collaboration from nontraditional partners. What we often see are groups working in silos. You may see developers creating affordable housing without the input of those who could benefit or local municipalities incentivizing affordable housing options without the direct input of a developer. This grant worked to bring worlds together so there was a common language and purpose to promote inclusive housing.

What are things like AFTER you/family/partner/community participated in the project/activity?
As a direct result of this grant work, a private housing development in Suffolk County named Riverview Lofts integrated ten units of affordable housing set aside for people with disabilities during its development. This was a result of the Master Housing Navigator on Long Island establishing and coordinating Regional Housing Collaborative meetings with relevant housing professionals in Suffolk County.

Dave Gallo (Georgica Green Ventures), the developer behind Riverview Lofts explains that “Without Regional Housing Collaboratives, we wouldn’t be here. As a developer, I don’t fully understand every population that we serve…so being able to meet the other not for profits in this space, being able to connect with Suffolk County…it was the dollars there that implemented the 10 units of intellectually disabled housing here in this (Riverview Lofts) building.”

Georgica Green Ventures was able to work directly with East End Disability Associates (EEAD), a service provider local to Long Island, to identify people with developmental disabilities to access the affordable housing units. EEAD additionally supports and provides services to residents who were able to take advantage of these set-aside units.

“Dave had approached us and we were really open to the idea,” said Joy O’Shaughnessy, Associate Director of East End Disabilities. “We had people who were looking for their first opportunity to live in the community on their own, or they were dissatisfied or living in conditions that were not acceptable.”

One person who was able to secure an apartment was Tim. “The opportunity presented itself in 2020. They called up my parents’ house and this place was being built and they actually offered, East End Disabilities was able to get housing for people with Autism like myself. I actually like living here, I mean, I live in the middle of the town of Riverhead. I actually like that I have the river right here. I live by myself, I pay my own bills.”

Another resident, Todd, described living at the apartment building. “It’s nice to be in a complex like Riverview Lofts that has a variety of people. We have young people, older people, people with disabilities and people without, so it’s a nice mix of people.”

What was most beneficial to you/family/partner/community from participating in this project or practice?
This project, and specifically the development in Long Island, demonstrated the benefit of collaboration and bringing people together for a common purpose. There is now an established network of developers, service providers, and government officials who can regionally focus on creative inclusive housing options for people with developmental disabilities. In this instance, Suffolk County reinforced their commitment to this work by committing $10 million in funding to develop new inclusive housing opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities in 2021.

Summary of the role of the DD Council in achieving positive outcomes through this project:
The NYS Council on Developmental Disabilities (CDD) funded this initiative and began collaborating with the NY Alliance in 2019 to provide more education to people with DD and their families on independent living options and initiatives, such as non-certified housing. The CDD held monthly check-ins with the NY Alliance and was an active partner throughout the life of the grant. CDD staff joined advisory group meetings, listened in on focus groups and participated in Regional Housing Collaborative meetings. In addition to participating in grant activities, the CDD has also actively worked to promote the success of this grant. These efforts included the production of a video highlighting the private housing development in Suffolk County named Riverview Lofts, which integrated ten units of affordable housing set aside for people with disabilities during its development because of this grant. This video was developed to showcase the impact of Regional Housing Collaboratives to service providers, developers, local and county officials across NYS to demonstrate that this model should be sustained and replicated.

You can watch the video by visiting the NYS CDD YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HarK5wudjSY (cut and paste this link into your browser).

Contact Information
Name: Jacqueline Hayes
Email: Jacqueline.Hayes@cdd.ny.gov
Phone: (518) 486-7505
Council location: New York
Website: https://cdd.ny.gov