Forging Partnerships to Bring New Housing Vouchers into Your Community
In April, The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for $100 million in new “Mainstream” housing vouchers for non-elderly people with disabilities – with a focus on those who are living in segregated settings (such as institutions), homeless, or at risk of one of these conditions. All told, the federal FY 18 appropriation included an estimated total of $385 million in new mainstream voucher funding, so additional NOFAs are expected soon.
As the first major infusion of resources into the Mainstream Voucher Program in many years, this NOFA offers a welcome means of boosting stable, affordable, and community-integrated housing opportunities for people with disabilities. To promote the program and support the development of strong partnership applications for the new funding from communities across the country, TAC worked quickly to develop and broadcast four webinars with our partners at the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force, and the National Council of State Housing Agencies. Over 1,200 agencies participated in these webinars, which focused on building effective partnerships between Public Housing Agencies, homeless service providers, and disability groups – both to meet HUD’s scoring criteria for this NOFA, and for long-term success. The recorded webinars are available on TAC’s new resource page created for potential applicant agencies and partners.
Section 811 PRA Grantees Share Successes and Strategies for Integrated Housing
Earlier this month, HUD Section 811 Project Rental Assistance grantees gathered in Washington, D.C. for an 811 PRA Institute. The event brought together housing and service partners from 22 states, all dedicated to creating integrated supportive permanent housing for extremely low-income people with disabilities. The Institute, which was organized and facilitated by TAC and included officials from HUD, provided an opportunity for grantees to share and learn about best practices in program implementation, including key strategies in unit identification and effective practices in referrals and leasing. Visit TAC’s Facebook page to see a slideshow from the event!
TAC Staff in Action
Staff Activities
TAC Associates Ellen Fitzpatrick, Lauren Knott, & Ashley Mann-McLellan headed to Las Vegas to help launch “Dream Big,” a campaign to end youth homelessness in Southern Nevada; Lauren also participated in the Point Source Youth symposium in New York City, while Ashley stayed in the Southwest to facilitate planning meetings to ramp up efforts to end Veteran homelessness in Albuquerque, NM and assist in coordinated entry efforts for rural areas in the state; Lisa Sloane, TAC’s Senior Policy Advisor and Christine Gault, a TAC subcontractor, helped Oregon’s Supportive Housing Strategy Workgroup develop permanent supportive housing recommendations for the state’s housing and Medicaid/behavioral health agencies; and in April, Associate Douglas Tetrault and Senior Consultant Jim Yates helped plan a full-day strategy meeting focused on emerging practices in homelessness diversion and rapid shelter resolution, with the goal of developing a new pilot in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Supportive Services for Veteran Families program.
