Use Homecoming Week to Connect With Legislators -- Be sure to invite legislators, members of Congress, and candidates who are running for the Florida Legislature and Congress to events at your community during "Homecoming Week." This is also the perfect opportunity for good media coverage of an event so please include the press.

Before legislators left Tallahassee in May, they cut $5 billion from the state budget. Revenue collections for March, the most recent available, were not encouraging -- falling $54 billion short of expectations. After the November election, we anticipate that lawmakers will be back in Tallahassee to make additional budget cuts. In the weeks ahead, it is important for you to remind them that deep reductions in funding for long-term care services and affordable housing will have serious consequences on the quality of care and life for frail elder Floridians. In addition, if proposed Constitutional Amendment 5 passes, legislators will have a constitutional mandate to eliminate all salestax-exemptions that do not serve a public purpose. Now is the time to educate them about the importance of retaining the exemptions in current law for nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations and communities that fall under the definition of " homes for the aged." To read more about Amendment 5, please click here. Feel free to disseminate the issue brief to state legislators and candidates for the Legislature who visit your community or organization during AAHSA Homecoming Week.

Number of Licensed ALFs Continues to Grow -- As of April 1, 2008, the number of licensed assisted living facilities (ALF) totaled 2,608 compared to 2,442 in June, 2007.  The number of licensed beds increased from 75,958 to 77,156 beds during the same time.  Of those beds, 62,492 are private pay and 14,664 are used by individuals receiving state assistance.  The number of ALFs licensed to provide extended congregate care is 302 with a total of 16,024 beds. The number licensed to provide limited nursing services is 872 with a total of 23,096 beds. Another 957 ALFs are licensed to provide limited mental health services.  Twenty percent of licensed ALFs have 25 or fewer beds; 34 percent have less then 50 beds and 38 percent have more than 100 beds.

No New Funding for ALE Waiver -- The Legislature did not increase funding for the Assisted Living for the Elderly Waiver program. The program has been frozen since February of 2007 and currently has a wait list of 1,568.  According to a spokesperson for the Department of Elder Affairs, waiver slots for the next fiscal year will not be reduced as result of budget cuts. 

Marketing Main Priority to CCRCs -- The CFOs who attended the Ziegler AAHSA National CFO Workshop in April were asked to participate in a survey about how the housing market is affecting their organizations. The majority of those who responded indicated that their occupancy rates had not declined; however, median occupancy rates reported in the survey showed a slight decline, from (95.75 percent to 95 percent). When asked to rank management priorities of the past year, survey results showed that marketing is now the highest priority for the majority of management teams.  In addition, 40 respondents indicated that they are spending more marketing dollars today than they were one year ago.  Respondents also noted that they are increasing the number of marketing staff they employ as well as increasing the use of marketing incentives to bring prospective residents to their communities.

This topic will be the main focus of FAHSA's Strategic Visioning Workshop and will be on the list of issues to be discussed at the Retirement Community Round Table Session scheduled during FAHSA's Annual Convention and Exposition from July 26 through July 31, 2008.  The Convention will be held at the beautiful Boca Raton Resort & Club. Register online now.  Source: Ziegler Markets/Florida Living Finance, April 25, 2008 Z-NEWS

FY 2008 Service Coordinator Extending Grants Policy Posted -- The FY 2008 policy for extending grants under the Service Coordinator and Congregate Housing Services Programs has been approved and is now posted on HUDClips.

The Notice provides guidance on the process for extending Service Coordinator (SC) and Congregate Housing Services Program (CHSP) grants whose funds will be expended and whose grant term will end on or before December 31, 2008.  As in the past, the Department's policy is to provide extension funding, to the extent funds are available, to enable programs to continue operating for an additional 12-month period.  However, keep in mind that the extension funds should be used only to meet a critical need and in cases where no other funding source is available.

The FY 2008 appropriation amount for these grants was not sufficient to both fund new grants as well as extend the expiring grants.  Because of this, the decision was made to extend the expiring grants to the extent of the available funds.  The FY 2008 appropriated funding amount is insufficient to extend the grants at the same amount received plus the usual 3 percent cost-of-living increase.  Therefore, the SC grantees will receive an amount equal to 97 percent of the amount they received or spent in FY 2007.  The CHSP grantees will receive an amount equal to 100 percent of the amount they received or spent in 2007.  

HUD is aware that some of the grantees have been without extension funds for some time and have or will be laying off staff until the new funds are received. 

Please download a copy of this notice and pay close attention to Attachments 2 and 3 for program requirements for both SC and CHSP grants.  Failure to comply with these requirements could be a basis for denial of grant funds in the future.

Other Housing News:

• EIV System Notice and Failure Alert
• EIV Web site Update
• SuperNOFA Arrives
• HUD Schedules Webcast Dates for Multifamily Grant Programs
• S.R. 2736, Section 202 Bill Could Be in Trouble
• New HUD Form 50059 Posted on HUD's Web site
• Tampa Electric (TECO) Sends New Deposit Notices
• Subscribe to AAHSA's Future of Aging "Blog"
• Member News
• Larry Minnix Testifies About Late HAP Payments
• Question of the Week: HUD Says "No More Cable"

 FAHSA Housing Alert Page

FAHSA Nursing Home Alert Page

FAHSA's Preferred Business Associates Program (PBAs) -- A list of PBAs can be found by on the FAHSA Web site www.fahsa.org and selecting Preferred Business Associates from the left side menu bar or clicking on the FAHSA Preferred Business Associates Page hyperlink. FAHSA members can also use the on-line directory to search for PBAs by specialty.

FAHSA members may use the Job Mart services at no charge. A nominal fee of $25 will be charged to nonmembers.

Your Job Mart advertisement will be displayed on our Web site for approximately three months. The FAHSA Link is published weekly and distributed to our membership which is comprised of nursing homes, CCRCs, HUD housing, assisted living facilities, independent living facilities and companies/firms.

To reserve advertisement space in our Job Mart program, please complete the application and fax it to FAHSA at (850) 671-3790 or E-mail Erin Steele at esteele@fahsa.org