§13631 Requirement to provide service coordinators

Summary

Owners of federally assisted housing who get money for service coordinators must hire or keep one or more people to arrange supportive services for elderly and disabled families who live there. Residents do not have to accept any services. A service coordinator must talk with the owner, tenants, tenant groups, resident managers, service providers, and others to find out what residents need. The coordinator must manage and arrange those services, can teach or arrange training about being a good tenant, must meet the minimum qualifications in section 8011(d)(4), and can do other helpful tasks. Supportive services can include health and mental health care, counseling, meals, transportation, personal care and bathing, housekeeping and chores, help with medicines (within State law), case management, emergency response, social activities, and outreach about telemarketing fraud, among other things. These services can come from federal, public, or private agencies. "Covered federally assisted housing" means the federally assisted housing described in section 13641(2), except the types listed in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of that section. For certain types listed in 13641(2)(B)–(G), the term “elderly or disabled residents” also includes low‑income elderly or disabled families who live nearby. The housing Secretary, working with the Health and Human Services Secretary, must set standards for coordinator education about telemarketing fraud for elderly residents. The rules must teach how common fraud is, how it works, how to spot it, how to protect yourself (including warning not to give bank, credit card, or other personal information to unsolicited callers), how to report suspected fraud, and what federal consumer rights exist. The rules can add more needed information and must say how to share it, such as on-site talks, public service announcements, printed materials, a website, or phone outreach to names found on lists taken from fraudulent telemarketers.