1. Autism Housing Pathways (AHP)
Membership-based, family-driven non-profit
Primary goal to be an incubator of sustainable, self-directed housing by:
Educating families about options for finding or creating housing
Improving training of direct-support staff
Researching the housing needs of the Massachusetts autism community and reflecting that information back to the state
Improving the ability of the housing sector to serve tenants with autism

2. Glitches in existing systems are a major problem
Family members are frequently treated by lenders as if they were buying investment property or a vacation home
Section 8 is harder to access than it needs to be, due to Local Housing Authorities (LHAs) failing to exercise their prerogatives
Zoning is a major problem
Funds designed to facilitate housing creation lock out families
Privacy regulations make it hard for families to find each other, and endanger group home residents
Addressing these on the state and local level may be an easier lift, while larger policy concerns are addressed on the federal level

3. State and local advocacy approaches
Lending
Recruit lenders to utilize the Fannie Mae provision that permits family members to be treated as owner-occupiers, with lower down payments and interest rates
Advocate that the state housing finance agency participate in educating lenders
Section 8
Advocate for statewide Section 8 lists to always be open (already true in Massachusetts)
Advocate with LHAs to prioritize applicants with disabilities
Advocate with LHAs to permit people with disabilities to rent from family members (it is permitted by federal statute, but not required)

4. State and local advocacy approaches (2)
Zoning
Advocate for legislation similar to Massachusetts’ “Dover Amendment”: property owned or leased by non-profits and used for educational purposes is a “by right” use; case law has applied this to group homes
Propose legislation that would make accessory units for a family member with a disability a by right use for owner-occupied single family homes; a bill to do this in Massachusetts would allow a special needs trust to be considered an owner, and would require municipalities to permit units to have two bedrooms
Funding
Push for creation of a 0%, deferred payment loan program for families creating accessory units – in Massachusetts, the state’s Home Modification Loan Program is clarifying its guidelines to permit the use of funds to create accessory units, and may soon increase the amount that can be borrowed (from $30K to $50K)

5. State and local advocacy approaches (3)
Privacy regulations
Provide alternative channels for families to self-identify and find others to create housing
Educate families about their ability to waive HIPAA; this will permit open discussions and brainstorming among group home managers and families about aggression between housemates and how to prevent recurrence

6. Starting a broader conversation on the state level
The MA Autism Housing Think Tank
Crowd-sourced a set of consensus principles for autism housing
Provided a group of stakeholders (within and outside of government) with common background information on autism and housing, and the challenges in Massachusetts
Crucially, representatives of the affordable housing community were brought in, not just people from the disability community
Brought these same stakeholders together to assess a set of 12 housing models for their ability to meet the needs of 12 hypothetical resident profiles
Produced a white paper that was submitted to the state autism commission, which is charged by statute with developing an autism housing strategy