The Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force have released the 8th edition of the Priced Out report. Priced Out 2012 explores the difference between monthly Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments and rental housing costs, showing the severity of the housing affordability crisis experienced by the lowest income people with disabilities. SSI payments are the sole source of income for 4.8 million non-elderly Americans (age 18-65 years) with considerable disabilities and limited assets who are unable to work. Without an ongoing rent subsidy, SSI recipients are often faced with heavy financial burdens and are sometimes forced to live in restrictive institutional settings or face homelessness. An SSI recipient received an annual income of $8,714 in 2012, or 19.2% of the national median income for a one-person household. At an average of 22% below the 2012 federal poverty level, Americans with disabilities who receive SSI payments as their sole income are amongst the nation’s poorest individuals. In 2012, the national average monthly SSI payment was $726 and the national average rent for a modest one-bedroom unit was $758, or 104% of the average SSI payment. In 181 housing markets across 33 states, one-bedroom rents surpassed 100% of monthly SSI; and within 19 of these areas, housing costs exceeded 150% of SSI. Even in the 21 states that administer discretionary SSI supplements, recipients are still unable to afford rental units without a permanent rental subsidy. As a result, as many as two million non-elderly people with disabilities are faced with limited housing options and live in homeless shelters, public institutions, nursing homes, overcrowded homes, or with aging parents. The authors highlight the danger of the Administration’s FY14 budget proposal to reduce the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Demonstration program by $40 million. Instead, TAC and CCD urge for the reform and expansion of HUD’S Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program and for funding the National Housing Trust Fund to generate housing linked with community-based services and supports for non-elderly Americans with disabilities. Access the full report at: http://bit.ly/10pUtnI