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Fair housing falls under Federal and State laws and regulations.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
describes the Fair
Housing Act as the ability of persons of similar income
levels to have the same housing opportunities regardless race,
color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including
children under the age of 18 living with parents of legal
custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of
children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability).
Fair Housing Accessibility
FIRST is a new initiative sponsored by HUD designed to
promote compliance with the Fair Housing Act design and construction
requirements. The program consists of a comprehensive training
curriculum, as well as a toll-free information line and website
designed to provide technical guidance to the public. BearingPoint,
a company based in McLean, VA, administers the Fair Housing
Accessibility FIRST program.
In addition to the categories protected under the federal
law, Wisconsin's Fair Housing Law prohibits housing discrimination
based on marital status, ancestry, source of income, and sexual
orientation. Requirements are explained in a Wisconsin Department
of Workforce Development's Equal
Rights Division publication.
What does this mean for assisted living?
Both Federal and State fair housing laws prohibit discrimination
on the basis of handicap (disability). Assisted living is
housing and is subject to the fair housing laws and, at the
same time, provides services for people who have long term
care needs that could be considered handicaps (disabilities)
under the fair housing definition.
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Assisted living is considered
housing under the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act.
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The Federal Fair Housing Amendments
Act permits any housing provider to give preference to
persons with disabilities or specific disabilities (whether
subsidized or unsubsidized). If the housing receives federal
assistance, there may be specific requirements, based
on the program under which insurance or assistance is
provided, that may limit preferences. |
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Preference is permitted because
non-handicapped status is not a protected class under
the Fair Housing Act. |
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"Handicap" is a physical or
mental impairment, which substantially limits one or more
major life activities such as caring for oneself, performing
manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing,
learning and working. |
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Marketing and admissions policies
may be targeted to people with: |
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1. |
Any kind of handicap |
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2. |
Specific handicaps |
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3. |
Disabilities for which a person
needs certain specified types of services identified by
the facility in its admission criteria, such as medication
management, Residential Care Apartment Complex (RCAC)
services |
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Limits on occupancy can be used
to: |
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1. |
Give preference to applicants |
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2. |
Deny admission to persons who
do not meet the eligibility criteria established for the
development. |
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Process for setting/implementing
occupancy criteria: |
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1. |
Owner establishes eligibility
requirements for occupancy. |
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2. |
Owner may request documentation
that the applicant meets the occupancy requirement. |
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a. |
Owner is not obligated to take the applicant's
word that he/she meets the criteria. |
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b. |
Owner may ask only as much as necessary
to establish eligibility. |
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c. |
Owner may ask for third party verification
that the person meets eligibility requirements. The third
party should be a professional (e.g., physician, social
service agency or other knowledgeable professional), not
a son or daughter. |
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d. |
Owner should ask the applicant to sign
a release of information form to permit the professional
to share necessary information for establishing eligibility.
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3. |
Keep documentation of the person's
eligibility and release of information form. |
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