Housing Vouchers

 

The Section 8 Housing Voucher Program

For more than three decades the Section 8 Housing Voucher Program has been providing housing assistance to the elderly, people with disabilities, and families with children. Currently in America, there are 2.1 million housing vouchers. The program is funded federally but distributed locally by state, regional, and local agencies. The vouchers can be used to assist in covering monthly rent or to assist with mortgage payments so that families on vouchers can work toward owning their own homes. Vouchers have proven themselves to be very effective because merely providing housing assistance, they also indirectly provide outreach programs for the families and children involved.

 

How to Obtain and Use a Voucher

Once a family receives a voucher, they have a fixed period of time in which they must use the voucher. This time period is normally at least sixty days. Each voucher program has a set of standards for  the housing that people using the vouchers can live in. Each unit must be inspected by the agency. It is important that families find housing within the set allotted time period because failing to do so will result in loss of the voucher. Finding housing is not always easy, the market is often tight and many landlords are not under any obligation to honor housing vouchers. However when looking for housing, landlords who receive Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or other forms of federal subsidies are duty-bound to honor the housing vouchers. 

 

What the Vouchers Cover

Different vouchers cover different amount of rent. Under federal regulation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, housing agencies can pay anywhere between 90%-110% of the fair market price. Fair market rents are annually set by HUD (Housing and Urban Development). The amount of rent covered by a voucher is set based on a number of different criterions.

1.     The payment standard

2.     The actual rent and utility costs associated with the rent and utilities of the housing unit.

3.     The families adjusted income. (Deductions for each child and costs of childcare are taken into accounts here.)

 

 

 

Funding of Vouchers

The Section 8 housing is funded by HUD. The federal government allots funding for housing vouchers to local agencies. The funding is an estimation based on the costs of the vouchers and the use of the vouchers in the given areas. That is why it is so crucial to use the vouchers when they are available.

 

Special Types of Vouchers

There are several different types of housing vouchers available. For more information on any of these vouchers please visit the website for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities at http://www.centeronbudget.org/5=15=03hous.htm

 

Welfare-to-Work Vouchers: These are vouchers reserved for current and former welfare recipients who are attempting to move away from the welfare program.

Family Unification Vouchers: These vouchers are intended to keep families together. They are reserved for families who are living in conditions that threaten to cause children to be removed from the custody of their parents.

Disability Vouchers: These vouchers are reserved for people with physical or mental disabilities who can live on their own, but need the support of housing vouchers.

 

Effectiveness of Housing Vouchers

Housing Vouchers have proven themselves to be a highly effective assistance program. Not only do they improve the housing conditions for the people who receive the vouchers, but they also improve the lives of the recipients. Children from families who receive housing vouchers are given the opportunity to live in areas where they are less likely to become involved with crime and attend better schools. Housing vouchers also have been proven to help people move away from the welfare system and remain off of welfare.  Studies have also shown that housing vouchers tend to help recipients of the vouchers who were once on welfare succeed in the work place.  

 

Problems with the Housing Voucher Program

As is the case with many things that seem virtually too good to be true, the Section 8 housing the program doesn’t come free of glitches. The waiting list is long, and while the housing rotates frequently, the source is by no means never-ending. In Bloomington-Normal alone, due to a cut in federal funding, 62 families have lost the vouchers that they depended on. This deeply touched many families by drastically increasing the amount of rent they were required to pay. However, the housing authority of Bloomington-Normal did state that this was the first time in twenty-five years that the housing vouchers had been terminated.  Furthermore, they plan to see an increase in funds allotted from HUD in 2006.

Contacting HUD in Illinois

Chicago Office

Joseph P. Galvan, Regional Director

Call: (312) 353-5680
Fax: (312) 886-2729
TTY: (312) 353-7143
Office Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
                    Monday through Friday