County will earmark 100 vouchers for chronically homeless
For the first time in seven years, applications for Section-8 low income housing vouchers will be accepted by the Santa Clara County Housing Authority.
It’s the first time the vouchers will be set aside for the chronically homeless.
“That’s a very good thing,” said Margaret Gregg, the county’s homeless concerns coordinator. “Typically these are the folks that don’t access the system at all and this is a way to get them into permanent housing that will be supportive. They’re going to need that for a long time, if not for the rest of their lives.”
The vouchers help pay rent in private apartments and the amount varies according to applicants’ income.
Section 8 is a federally funded housing program with roots in the Great Depression. It works through a voucher program wherein eligible families find housing and pay a fixed portion of their income, usually 30 percent, with the rest covered by the county housing agency. There are about 16,000 families in the county in Section 8 housing, which is all-privately owned. Individuals with annual incomes as high as $37,150 are eligible for the program. The limit for a family of four is $53,050.
According to housing authority records, about 27,000 people applied for housing vouchers in 1999. Without additional funding from Washington D.C., the county can not offer new vouchers, so applicants must wait for people to drop out of the system. About 75 people a month leave Section 8 housing.
The 600 people remaining on the waiting list will receive vouchers before new applicants. New applicants will be chosen through a random computerized drawing. One hundred vouchers will be reserved for the chronically homeless, people who have been on the streets for a year or have repeated episodes of homelessness.
