The Missing Link

Abstract

Several government initiatives aim to increase the availability of home and community-based services. These efforts have helped facilitate the transition of individuals with disabilities living in institutions such as nursing facilities to community living, resulting in improved quality of life and potential health care savings. However, evidence suggests that a lack of affordable housing remains a key barrier that keeps some individuals living in institutions from transitioning to community living. This study evaluated the effect on transition rates among nursing home residents eligible for the Non-Elderly Disabled Housing Choice Voucher Program. The program provided housing vouchers that subsidized rental costs along with access to home and community-based services to nonelderly institutionalized residents with a disability. We assessed this program’s impact on the likelihood of community transitions among the target population in five areas for which these vouchers were made available. In a pooled sample of three of the five areas, the program increased community transition rates by 8.7 percentage points. This finding suggests that targeting housing vouchers to people with disabilities living in institutions could help facilitate or expedite transitions to community living.