Congressional Request Leads GAO to Investigate Availability of Accessible Housing

People with disabilities face more discrimination and obstacles when seeking housing than their peers without disabilities, leading ANCOR to monitor the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) new investigation about whether “large cities are complying with the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.” The investigation comes after U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and William Lacy Clay (D-MO) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) requested that GAO issue a report “on the availability of affordable, accessible housing in the twenty-five largest metropolitan areas in the United States.”

As announced in a press release from Representative Schakowsky’s office:

“Specifically, GAO will explore:

1. How does HUD oversee public housing agencies’ implementation of requirements to protect persons with disabilities from discrimination when applying for or living in public housing?
2. What is the inventory of accessible public housing units in the twenty-five largest metropolitan areas in the US? What is the estimated gap between households requiring assistance and available units in those areas?
3. What are the processes that housing authorities follow to help voucher-assisted households with disabilities find accessible units or retrofit non-accessible units? What happens if a voucher-holder is not able to find an accessible unit?
4. What are the twenty-five largest metropolitan areas, including Chicago and St. Louis, doing to accommodate the housing needs of low-income households with disabilities
5. How does HUD promote, catalog, and work to increase housing for people with disabilities?”