Action Center    Legacy (housing)

Action
Learn more about what you can do to support improved access and availability of housing for grandfamilies by reading Generations United's publication –  Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children:  An Action Agenda to Create Affordable Housing Opportunities.

Background

Three provisions from the Legacy bill were signed into law as part of the American Dream Downpayment Act that address affordable housing for grandparents raising grandchildren. HUD has taken steps to implement all three provisions:

• Opportunities to create national demonstration projects within HUD’s Section 202 program to develop housing specifically for grandparents and other relatives raising children.  HUD developed a competitive application for groups around the country to apply to develop housing based on the concept of the Grandparents Family Apartments in the South Bronx, the first housing in the country built from the ground up specifically for grandparents raising grandchildren. Grants were awarded to build projects in projects in Cookeville, TN and Chicago, IL
•  Training and education for front line workers who, through no fault of their own, may be misinterpreting policies that affect the families.  On May 20th, 2007 HUD conducted a webcast training.  Key to this discussion was  clarification that grandparents are not required to have legal custody of children to qualify as “family” for certain government assisted housing programs. 
• Conducting a national study of the housing needs of grandparents raising grandchildren. HUD completed a report to Congress entitled Intergenerational Housing Needs and HUD program Options. 

Connect
Do you have a story about a challenge or creative way to address housing challenges of grandfamilies? Help inform our advocacy work by email your story to us gu@gu.org.

TOP