GERO 540 Policy Process In-Class Assignment
Selecting Issue and Developing Strategy
Scenario: Under Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rules Sect. 202
(housing for seniors and disabled persons) and Public Housing all available
units are to be filled immediately after they are vacated to make available
these units to persons on the waiting list.
This policy has created a situation for many older adults and disabled persons
living in this type of housing who become ill or have a fall or other accident
that requires a lengthy hospital stay. The impact of this HUD policy is that
individuals in this situation lose their apartment units when they are ready to
return home from the hospital. Their only option is to go to an institution like a
nursing home even though they do not need the services of a nursing home.
Housing an individual in a nursing home is more costly than housing them in
Sec. 202 or Public Housing, especially when they do not need to be there.
In addition, housing managers said that they could not allow these frail
individuals back to their units because they could not provide necessary
services until they fully recovered.
Assignment: As a housing advocate and Gerontology expert you have
identified this situation as a problem. You now wish to correct this misguided