Summary:
HUD provides Section 8 rental vouchers
and certificates to Public housing authorities (PHAs) that have
approved plans to designate certain housing as elderly-only, disabled-only,
or mixed elderly and disabled households to enable persons with
disabilities to rent affordable housing. Approved plans must be
consistent with total affordable housing needs of the community.
Purpose:
For a variety of reasons over the past
few years, public housing that once was largely or exclusively occupied
by elderly people now has increasing percentages of non-elderly,
disabled tenants. This mixing has sometimes caused problems. In
1992, Congress tried to reach a compromise among competing fair
housing needs by permitting PHAs to designate separate housing facilities
for the elderly and for persons with disabilities without reducing
housing for those with disabilities.
PHAs interested in designating some of their housing were required
to submit housing plans that established the need to designate while
ensuring that affordable housing needs of the whole community would
be met. Additional Section 8 rental vouchers and certificates help
meet those needs. HUD provides Section 8 voucher and certificate
funds to PHAs to address the housing needs of non-elderly, disabled
families affected by designated housing plans.
Type of Assistance:
This program offers assistance
by allocating Section 8 vouchers and certificates to the PHAs for
use by affected non-elderly, disabled families.
Eligible Grantees:
Only PHAs that have an approved
designated housing plan are eligible for this program. Indian housing
authorities are not eligible
Eligible Customers:
Non-elderly, disabled households
who live in public housing that has been designated for occupancy
by the elderly only or disabled families who are on the PHA's public
housing waiting list may receive a rental voucher or certificate
in conjunction with a designated housing allocation plan approved
by HUD.
Eligible Activities:
These Section 8 rental vouchers
and certificates are provided to PHAs to help them carry out their
designated housing allocation plans.
Application:
A PHA wanting to designate projects
or portions thereof for elderly families or for disabled families
must have developed a designated housing allocation plan, consistent
with HUD guidelines, and have submitted it to HUD for review. The
requirements for the contents of the plan and the statutory provisions
are contained in Notice PIH 97-12; go to Hudclips.
This Notice and the requirements it describes apply only to projects
(or portions of projects) operated by PHAs under the low-income
public housing program. This plan must also have been submitted
to the unit of government responsible for the Consolidated Plan.
When a HUD Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) announces the availability
of Section 8 rental vouchers and certificates related to designated
housing allocation plans, PHAs must follow the instructions in the
NOFA.
Funding Status:
For fiscal year (FY) 97, the NOFA
provided $50 million (2,159 Section 8 rental vouchers and certificates)
for non-elderly families affected by designation of public housing
projects. The FY 98 Appropriations Act provides $40 million.
Technical Guidance:
Legislative authority to provide
Section 8 rental assistance in support of designated housing allocation
plans is found at Section 7 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437e). HUD's FY 1997 Appropriations Act, 105-65, approved
October 27, 1997, contains language authorizing the use of Section
8 rental voucher and certificate funding for housing agencies to
implement designated housing allocation plans approved by the Secretary.
Nothing in this Act relieves a PHA from complying with Federal civil
rights laws, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act, the Fair Housing Act, or the Americans
with Disabilities Act. This program is administered by HUD's
Office of Public and Indian Housing.
For More Information:
For details of these provisions,
see Notice PIH 97-12 in HUDCLIPS.
The same Web site posts HUD notices and NOFAs.
For questions about the statutory requirements for development
of the designated housing plan, PHAs should call for technical assistance
from the Office of Public and Assisted Housing Delivery in the Office
of Public and Indian Housing at HUD Headquarters; the telephone
number is (202) 708-0744.