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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5847
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5318
Referred to Committee on HOUSING
Introduced by:
(HSG)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM TO IMP LEMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS OF T HE COMMISSIONER OF H OUSING TO
IMPROVE CERTAIN STAT E-FUNDED PUBLIC HOUSIN G PROJECTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) For the purposes of this section, 1
"elderly tenants" means tenants sixty-two years of age or older and 2
"younger tenants with disabilities" means tenants who are not yet 3
sixty-two years of age and who have been certified by the Social 4
Security Board as being totally disabled under the Social Security Act, 5
42 USC 1320d, or certified by any other federal board or agency as 6
being totally disabled. The Commissioner of Housing shall establish a 7
pilot program to implement the recommendations of the Department 8
of Housing and the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, pursuant to 9
special acts 17-19 and 18-12, to improve certain state-funded housing 10
projects that provide services both to elderly tenants and younger 11
tenants with disabilities. 12
(b) Not later than August 1, 2019, the Commissioner of Housing, in 13
consultation with the chairpersons of the joint standing committee of 14
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 15
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housing, shall designate three specific buildings within three state-16
funded housing projects that provide services to elderly tenants and 17
younger tenants with disabilities to participate in the pilot program. 18
The selection of buildings shall consist of one small building 19
containing not more than forty units; one medium-sized building 20
containing not less than forty-one units and not more than eighty 21
units; and one large building containing not less than eighty-one and 22
not more than two hundred units. 23
(c) Not later than October 1, 2019, any housing authority 24
participating in the program shall agree to implement the following 25
measures in each of the three buildings for a period of one calendar 26
year: 27
(1) A social coordinator shall be on site for at least four hours a day 28
for two days per week. The social coordinator shall develop, organize 29
and implement social activities for both the population of elderly 30
tenants and the population of younger tenants with disabilities, either 31
separately or collectively. 32
(2) A resident service coordinator shall be on site for at least four 33
hours a day for two days per week. In addition to implementing 34
existing programs that benefit the population of younger tenants with 35
disabilities, the resident service coordinator shall develop an assistance 36
component for the elderly tenant population, in order to address the 37
needs of both the elderly tenants and the younger tenants with 38
disabilities. 39
(3) A security officer, if one is not already present, shall be on site 40
for at least eight hours per day to assist residents and monitor security. 41
(d) The costs for implementing the pilot program shall be shared 42
between the Departments of Housing, Mental Health and Addiction 43
Services and Social Services. Not later than January 11, 2021, the 44
Department of Housing shall submit a report, in accordance with the 45
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing 46
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committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 47
relating to housing. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, an 48
evaluation of the results of the pilot program and any findings and 49
recommendations with regard to future implementation of similar 50
programs in comparable housing projects. 51
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a pilot program to implement recommendations of the
Commissioner of Housing concerning certain state-funded housing
projects that provide services to elderly tenants and younger tenants
with disabilities.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. BUTLER, 72nd Dist.; REP. REYES, 75th Dist.
H.B. 5847