October 13, 2022

HUD: Important New Milestone Reached in American Rescue Plan’s Emergency Housing Voucher Program


“At HUD we are pleased that over 35,000 households have been averted from homelessness and have successfully leased their own rental housing thanks to our Emergency Housing Voucher Program. This marks a major step forward in our efforts to realize the ambitious goals we set when the program was established through the President’s American Rescue Plan. We will continue to meet the challenge of addressing our nation’s homelessness and affordability crises with the urgency they require through this program, our House America initiative, and all of the housing assistance we provide.” – HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge


Today, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge will travel to Atlanta, Georgia, where she will meet with several representatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to discuss homeownership and asset building within their communities. Secretary Fudge will then travel to Columbus, Georgia to attend a meeting with NeighborWorks, where she will meet with residents to announce an important milestone in the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program: With this milestone, 50 percent of the total number of EHVs provided through President Biden’s American Rescue Plan have been leased up.

The Emergency Housing Voucher program is the first-ever special purpose voucher program within HUD to address homelessness not specific to veterans. The program is leasing at a rate faster than any previous housing voucher program within HUD and is driving unprecedented collaboration among public housing agencies (PHAs), homeless services organizations, and victim services organizations to provide housing assistance to vulnerable populations, including individuals and families who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness; fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking; or were recently homeless or have a high risk of housing instability. The EHV program is an anchor program of HUD’s House America initiative in which HUD, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), and other federal agencies have enlisted leaders in 105 state and local communities to make specific commitments to re-house people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing.

The EHV program provides communities new flexibilities and resources to help individuals and families with higher barriers successfully use housing vouchers. This includes robust administrative funding and a new service fee that allows program administrators to pay for costs necessary to help families find and retain housing. PHAs are required to coordinate with their CoC partners to provide housing search assistance and can also use service fees for landlord incentives, tenants’ security and utility deposits, and even for furniture and household goods, which are often a significant expense for families who are directly transitioning from homelessness.

HUD is taking aggressive action to ensure that more individuals and families can secure and retain homes. HUD and the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to build on this progress to make sure more households have a safe and stable place to call home. The Administration recognizes the importance of housing vouchers to securing affordable housing, and is fighting for an additional increase to the program. The President’s Fiscal Year 2023 HUD Budget requests $1.6 billion for an additional 200,000 new housing vouchers.

Highlights to date include:


IMPROVING VOUCHER ISSUANCES AND UTILIZATION, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE MOST VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS

The EHV program has already helped over 35,000 households who were homeless, survivors of domestic violence, or otherwise at risk to afford a safe, stable place to call home. At the current rate – the fastest leasing rate of any previous HUD housing voucher program – the program is on track to reach full lease-up by the end of next year.


CREATIVELY USING SERVICE FEES TO HELP HOUSE INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES

PHAs across the country are creatively and successfully using their service fees to help house individuals and families, including through landlord incentives, housing search services, and application fees and security deposit assistance. Examples:


PROVIDING DIRECT SUPPORT AND LANDLORD ENGAGEMENT IN RESPONSE TO UTILIZATION CHALLENGES

From rising rental costs to difficulty finding landlords to the higher barriers to housing experienced by EHV households, the challenges around housing the most disadvantage are real. That is why HUD is proactively working with PHAs, providing direct support through technical assistance, engaging landlords, and providing other support and resources to address these challenges head on and ensure that more households can obtain decent, stable housing through the EHV program.


ADVANCING BEST PRACTICES AND ENGAGING PEOPLE WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE TO HELP MORE HOUSEHOLDS SECURE HOUSING

HUD is bringing together PHAs and people with lived experience to foster collaboration, address inequities, and strengthen support and resources to improve outcomes of the EHV program and other voucher programs administered by the Department.


ENSURING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE EHV PROGRAM

HUD has prioritized informing the public on EHV leasing, issuances, and unit utilization to provide transparency and ensure accountability in the program.


MAKING IT EASIER TO ACCESS AFFORDABLE HOUSING WITH VOUCHERS

The 2023 Fair Market Rents (FMRs), which HUD published on September 1 and which went into effect on October 1, will make it easier for voucher holders to lease in most markets. The new FMR levels will enable the voucher program to keep up with rent increases in the private market, particularly in areas with rapidly rising rents. These new FMRs will allow voucher holders to access and secure leases in more units so that they can benefit from the housing affordability and stability that vouchers provide. HUD’s action on FMRs will improve the utilization of both the baseline vouchers and the supplemental vouchers created under the Biden-Harris Administration.

This post was originally published here.