Using the Housing Credit for Supportive Housing: An Assessment of 2005 State Policies was developed as a basic resource for supportive housing developers, policymakers and advocates interested in advancing public policies that dedicate financial resources for the development of supportive housing. It offers a first-ever comprehensive look at the innovative policies states have adopted to foster and encourage supportive housing development within qualified allocation plans for the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) program.

Supportive housing--permanent, affordable housing with support services--is a proven, cost-effective way to end homelessness for people who face the most complex challenges. Communities across the United States have identified expanding the supply of supportive housing as critical to their efforts to end homelessness. The Housing Credit program is a major source of financing for supportive housing development.

This report identifies a variety of innovative Housing Credit policy approaches to supportive housing, including examples in each of the following categories:

• Credit Set-asides: States pledge to allocate a certain portion of available Housing Credits during the year to supportive housing developments
• Scoring Incentives: States encourage supportive housing development through the award of points in the competitive scoring process
• Threshold Requirements: States pledge to support only developments that meet minimum requirements to be considered supportive housing projects