With new guidance, federal officials are working to make it easier for people with disabilities to transition out of institutions or avoid such settings altogether.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced changes recently to the Mainstream Voucher program, which provides housing assistance to people with disabilities ages 18 to 62.

“Affordable and accessible housing is essential to realizing the goals of Olmstead,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “The flexibilities we are providing … will further enable local leaders to support the housing needs of people with disabilities.”

The guidance establishes new alternative requirements and waivers for Mainstream Vouchers, officials said. The amount of time that voucher recipients will have to search for housing will grow from 60 days to 120 days and local public housing authorities will be required to approve all initial extension requests for at least 90 days. Since individuals may be homeless or institutionalized outside of a particular jurisdiction while they search for housing, residency preferences will no longer be permitted.

In addition, public housing agencies will be allowed to create a separate waiting list for Mainstream Vouchers and they can set admissions preferences prioritizing referrals from health care and disability agencies supporting community living as long as the agencies are not serving only one type of disability, officials said.

The federal housing agency indicated that the changes are in response to a recent federal report, which identified a myriad of challenges people with disabilities face in searching for housing including difficulty with the search process and dealing with screening requirements and trouble lining up services and supports within the time frame allowed by vouchers.