A sampling of housing news and resources from around Vermont and beyond
Vermont News
SASH gets National Attention for Health Care Savings
Vermont’s groundbreaking “Support and Services at Home” (SASH) program for older adults and people with disabilities has received national attention for its positive impact on healthcare costs.
An August 2018 article published in the national research journal Cityscape reports that SASH is slowing the growth of Medicare expenditures for emergency-room visits and specialist services. Most notably, the analysis of 5.5 years of data showed:
- Medicare expenditures for emergency-room visits trended lower for almost all SASH panels in the state compared to the control group, with the urban panels (those in Chittenden County) and longest-running panels (those in place when SASH began in 2011) showing statistically significant reductions in spending for emergency-room visits.
- Similarly, expenditures for specialist visits also trended lower — and primary-care visits trended higher — for all panels, again with the statistically significant results among urban and early panels.
- Additionally, this analysis shows statistically significant results for slowing the growth of Medicare expenditures for SASH participants who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid in the early and urban panels.
These results correspond with Vermont’s focused efforts to encourage Vermonters to rely on primary care rather than specialists or emergency departments for their health needs and otherwise rein in the cost of health care. Download the full article here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscpe/vol20num2/article1.html
SASH was also featured in U.S. News & World Report as a replicable model for integrating housing, health care, and social services to help older adults age healthily and independently, reducing their medical costs and delaying or preventing institutional care while in turn easing the burden on the nation’s health care system. Read the full article here: https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2018-08-30/vermont-elderly-care-program-aims-for-better-lives-health-savings
Developed by South Burlington-based Cathedral Square and operating statewide since 2011, SASH is a partnership that helps Medicare recipients living in or near subsidized housing communities in Vermont access health care and support services to help them remain living independently at home. The program is managed regionally by six nonprofit housing organizations (Brattleboro Housing Partnerships, Cathedral Square, Downstreet Housing & Community Development, Rural Edge, Rutland Housing Authority, and Shires Housing). SASH is free for participants, with funding provided by Medicare through the All-Payer ACO Model and the state of Vermont.
UVM Medical Center / CHT Partnership Featured by HUD
A UVM Medical Center & Champlain Housing Trust partnership that uses housing to address critical health and homelessness needs was featured by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development‘s Office of Policy Development and Research. Sites include Harbor Place in Shelburne, Bel Aire Apartments in Burlington, Beacon Apartments in South Burlington. Read more here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/casestudies/study-081718.html
Economist Art Woolf Dissects the Cost of Housing in Vermont
How can we make housing more affordable? If we measure affordability by how many multiples of the average household’s income it takes to afford a house, there are only two levers: Raise incomes or lower housing prices. Raising incomes is every policymakers’ goal, but is exceedingly difficult. Lowering housing prices is more amenable to policy: Relax zoning restrictions at the state and local level that make it more expensive to build new houses. Read the full Burlington Free Press story here: https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2018/08/16/housing-costs-vermont-national-average-housing-costs/990130002/
Downstreet Housing Receives Governor’s Award of Environmental Excellence
The Vermont Governor’s Awards were established in 1993 to recognize the actions taken by Vermonters to conserve and protect natural resources, prevent pollution, and promote environmental sustainability. This year, Downstreet Housing & Community Development was one of five award-winners for its affordable housing unit in downtown Barre that is a certified National Green Building. The housing unit installed energy efficient equipment, saving 35,000 pounds of carbon emissions each year. Read more here: https://vermontbiz.com/news/2018/august/31/governor-recognizes-vermont%E2%80%99s-top-sustainability-projects
USDA Rural Development Recognizes Vermont Housing Managers
U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development celebrated housing managers from the Upper Valley and Southern Vermont. Stacey Boyle, the occupancy manager of the Union Square Apartments affordable housing complex in Windsor, received the Vermont Family Manager of the Year Award in recognition of her care and dedication to the site’s tenants. The 85-unit affordable housing development is owned by Housing Vermont and Windham & Windsor Housing Trust. Read more: https://www.vnews.com/People-in-Business-for-Aug-19-2018-19445549. Nancy Crawford, the property manager at Butterfield Common apartments in West Dover, received the Vermont Elderly Manager of the Year Award. Read more here:
https://homemattershere.org/30533-2/
Good Ideas
More Older Adults Are Sharing Housing
Home sharing among older adults is a small, but rapidly growing trend. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies reports that three primary factors are driving this increase:
- Housing affordability. In 2016, 9.7 million older adult households were cost-burdened, meaning they paid more than 30 percent of their income for housing. Single-person households are more likely to be cost-burdened because they typically have lower median incomes than their married and partnered peers.
- Social motivation. While living alone does not in itself lead to loneliness, studies have shown that living alone is a predictor of loneliness among older people. And loneliness is a risk factor for a number of health issues, including depression, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline. Sharing a home can bring companionship and support, as well as an increased sense of safety.
- Support and assistance with household tasks. Roommates can sometimes help with chores and maintenance, particularly in cases where younger and older people share a home.
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/are-more-older-adults-sharing-housing/
Land Value Return as a revenue source?
Could shifting the property tax off of privately-created building values and onto publicly-created land values be the key to housing affordability by lower building costs and prices, lower land prices, and the increased construction, improvement and maintenance of buildings? Read more here: https://shelterforce.org/2018/08/20/the-jobs-housing-hamster-wheel/
Resource of the Week
HAC Rural Housing Report & Interactive Map
The Housing Assistance Council, a national nonprofit organization that helps build homes and communities across the rural United States, just released a report on the impact of maturing loans on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Section 515 properties all over the country, including Vermont. Once a loan is paid off, the property owner is no longer subject to government oversight or regulations on use of their property (unless the project has other subsidies still in place), the federal government is no longer paying to support that housing, any remaining or replacement financing has a higher interest rate than the USDA loan, the tenants are no longer eligible for USDA Rental Assistance, and in some instances, the homes may no longer be affordable for their tenants. The HAC report details the potential impact on rural housing and includes strategies to preserve rural rental properties. See the full report here:
http://www.ruralhome.org/storage/documents/publications/rrreports/HAC_A_PLATFORM_FOR_PRESERVATION.pdf
Want to see how many properties in Vermont are maturing in the next 30 years? Check out the interactive map here: http://hac.maps.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=362d12b9a06b41b1a7d76260ddd9fb00
REGISTER NOW FOR VT STATEWIDE HOUSING CONFERENCE
The Vermont Statewide Housing Conference is Vermont’s largest gathering of housing professionals. Held every other year, the event draws upwards of 450 people from all over Vermont and beyond, from many sectors of the housing industry: development, construction, financing, legislation, advocacy, policy and more. This year’s conference theme is the impact Vermont communities have on housing affordability. An inspiring line up of interactive, cutting-edge sessions will focus on specific municipal policy tools and community case studies. The conference is Nov. 13 and 14 at the Hilton Burlington on Battery Street. The agenda, workshop descriptions, speaker bios, and registration info is at https://www.vhfa.org/conference/
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