The Inclusive Home Design Act Heard in Congress
The Inclusive Home Design Act (IHDA) was heard in Congress on September 29th, 2010 in the Housing and Community Development Sub-Committee chaired by Rep. Maxine Waters. The Act's sponsor, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, testified along with Beto Barrera of Access Living, Kelly Buckland of the National Council on Independent Living, Janet Smith of the University of Illinois and Eleanor Smith of Concrete Change. The current reality is that most federally assisted new houses are not built with accessibility features, like no-step entrances and doorways wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs. While five percent of new single-family detached houses and townhouses with federal assistance are required to have a wide array of access features (such as lowered kitchen cabinets and accessible bathing facilities), the remaining 95% are not required to have even the most basic access features such as one entrance without steps and adequately wide interior doors. The IHDA proposes that the five percent with extensive access remain the same but that the other 95% IHDA would require a few key features in the new houses assisted by federal agencies. These key features permit people to enter and exit their own house, pass through their interior doorways, and have some maneuvering room inside the bathroom.
Rep. Schakowsky adeptly pointed out that if planned ahead, these provisions would not increase the building cost of homes, while retrofitting homes could cost thousands of dollars. Moreover, making these key accommodations would enable individuals to recover in their homes, rather than in hospitals and nursing homes, which saves tax dollars and promotes aging in place. GCDD supports this legislation. To find out more about how you can garner support for IHDA and help make more homes accessible, visit www.concretechange.org. If you have a story about requiring or receiving key access in your home, we would love to hear about it. Post your comments below.
