Summary: How well does the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assess the need for (1) supportive services for elderly residents in section 202 housing and (2) modernization and retrofitting of section 202 buildings? HUD neither collects data nor has a methodology for assessing the needs of section 202 housing residents. HUD contends that supportive services in section 202 housing are the responsibility of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Given that a section 202 building's physical structure and its service component are fundamentally linked to the concept of supportive housing, some coordination between the two agencies on this issue might have been expected. This does not appear to have been the case: A draft memorandum of understanding between HUD and HHS has been around for years but has never been signed. Information on resident frailty and the need for building modernization and retrofitting can be used to target projects most deserving of available funding. Information on resident frailty can also be used to determine the features that residents need in their buildings. Currently, HUD neither collects nor ensures that project sponsors collect data on these subjects. Although HUD periodically inspects the physical condition of 202 projects and rates building managers, limited staff and travel budgets mean that HUD cannot perform inspections annually. When inspections are done, no assessment is made of a facility's retrofitting requirements.
