Today, the Center for Public Representation submitted comments in opposition to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) proposed rule weakening regulations that help remove barriers to fair housing for people with disabilities and other protected groups.
In response to those barriers, in 2015, HUD issued the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Rule to strengthen the process for developing plans to address housing barriers by providing guidance, data, and technical assistance to help identify and address barriers to housing, including historic segregation and discriminatory practices. The disability community fought hard to ensure that people with disabilities are included in plans.
HUD is now trying to weaken that rule, by, among other things, removing important language about community integration for people with disabilities, the requirement to put together a plan to address barriers that is based on an analysis of the barriers faced by the community, and the need to consider public input from the communities affected in developing plans.
You can read the detailed comments from the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities that CPR signed on to here and CPR’s supplemental comments here.