Written by Ruth Schwartz, Executive Director, and Dhakshike Wickrema, Senior Project Manager
Earlier this year, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) and the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA) convened the Barriers to Access Working Group to review their respective admissions policies and procedures for their Section 8 Special Programs, including the Section 8 Homeless Assistance Program and the Project-Based Voucher Program. Shelter Partnership was actively involved in the Working Group, as were other community stakeholders. To inform the Working Group’s discussions, Shelter Partnership surveyed homeless clients in emergency shelters (with the help of New Image Shelter) and sober living homes (with the help of A New Way of Life Reentry Project). Similarly, Skid Row Housing Trust reviewed their tenant applications for permanent supportive housing (PSH).
Among our goals was to seek alignment between the requirements of the Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and the community stakeholders’ determination to provide housing for people who have had long periods of homelessness, often referred to as the chronically homeless. Chronically homeless individuals often have a record of offenses that exclude them from publicly assisted housing. Yet research and practice show that PSH is critical to their recovery and, in most cases, is key to permanently ending their homelessness.
HACLA has released its proposed amendments to the 2011 Section 8 Administrative Plan to address these issues and, under several categories, is reducing exclusionary periods for admissions to Section 8 Special Programs. The draft version of HACLA’s proposed amendments can be found here: http://www.hacla.org/pdocs/. Public comments will be accepted until June 28th.
Highlights of HACLA’s proposed changes for Section 8 Special Programs include:
- Reduces exclusionary period from 5 years to 2 years for prior drug-related criminal activity
- Reduces exclusionary period from 5 years to 2 years for violent criminal activity
- Eliminates exclusionary period if previously terminated from HACLA Section 8 Programs for cause due to:
- Failure to notify before moving out of unit
- Failure to notify before absence from unit
- Violation of annual HQS inspection
- Reduces ban for termination from any housing assistance program for damages to unit exceeding $1,000 from 5 years to 3 years
- Reduces ban for fraud from 10 years to 5 years
- Eliminates exclusionary period if applicant who owes money to HACLA or other PHAs enters into repayment agreement