Section 8 housing voucher distribution canceled after thousands waiting in line get out of control

[Nika]

52. Contact the VA close to where you live

The VA has a mission to end veteran homelessness and has been given vouchers to use for veterans who have no means and are homeless, or in danger of being homeless.

The HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA provides these services for participating Veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs) and community-based outreach clinics.

Every year since 2008, HUD and VA have awarded HUD-VASH vouchers based on geographic need and public housing agency (PHA) administrative performance. The allocation process for HUD-VASH vouchers is a collaborative approach that relies on three sets of data: HUD’s point-in-time data submitted by Continuums of Care (CoCs), VAMC data on the number of contacts with homeless Veterans, and performance data from PHAs and VAMCs. After determining which areas of the country have the highest number of homeless Veterans, the VA Central Office identifies VA facilities in the corresponding communities. HUD then selects PHAs near to the identified VA facilities, taking into consideration the PHAs’ administrative performance, and sends the PHAs invitations to apply for the vouchers.

HUD has awarded funding for approximately 10,000 HUD-VASH vouchers each year in 2008, 2009 and 2010. There is at least one site in each of the 50 states, in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. In 2011, $50 million was appropriated to serve approximately 7,000 voucher families. In addition, HUD set-aside $5.4 million from its 2010 allocation to competitively award over 600 project-based vouchers to existing HUD-VASH sites. Since 2008, a total of 37,975 vouchers have been awarded.

https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/vash

I waited a week for my voucher. I was dying lousy living in a Ford Windstar which crippled my job hunt dramatically and made me spend most of my time trying just to survive.

HUD-VASH Vouchers also have greater portability than regular HUD vouchers. After a year, you can move to anywhere in the U.S. and take your voucher with you.