SHA now issuing Section 8
Vouchers
SEATTLE—September 1, 2005—Starting
last month, over 140 households at the top of the waiting list for the
Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program got a nice surprise—a
letter inviting them to complete the application process for a
voucher.
After cost-reducing measures were approved by Seattle Housing's
Board of Commissioners in July, Seattle Housing made the decision to
begin issuing new vouchers. Due to the uncertainty of funding levels
for Section 8 over the past year, vouchers that were turned in by
participants who no longer needed them were not re-issued.
“The exact number of vouchers we are able to issue will depend on
the rate of cost-savings and the rate of attrition for current
participants, but we hope to serve between 30 and 50 new households
per month,” said Barbara Strayer, acting director of rental
assistance programs.
Households with incomes below 30 percent of
area median income
($16,350 for an individual, $18,700 for two people, up to
$30,850 for an eight-person household) or households that have been
homeless within the last 12 months will receive preference for a
voucher. Applicants on the waiting list who do not meet that
preference or who are no longer eligible will not be invited to
complete the application process for a voucher.
Waiting times for applicants will vary, since the status of
applicant households is constantly changing. Last month's applicants
included families who applied for a voucher and got on the waiting
list between 1993 and 2001.
The new voucher holders will be subject to tighter occupancy
standards than in the past, and some will experience a small
reduction in payment standards. “The subsidy levels are a little
less generous now, but families who finally get vouchers will see
their housing options expand considerably,” Strayer noted.
It could take years to house the 2,700 low-income families on the
waiting list, but applicants are still anxiously waiting their turn.
As one applicant commented at the recent public hearing, “I am on
the waiting list. I make $700 a month, I have 3 kids and my one- and
two- year olds sleep with me. I don't care what amount I get, anything
is better than nothing!”
SHA does not have plans to open the waiting list to new applicants
at this time.
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