top
East Bay
East Bay
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Housing Authorities Prepare For Section 8 Housing Cuts

by Lynda Carson (tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com)
HUD serves notice to Public Housing Authorities across the nation to come up with lists of low-income families to be dumped from the Section 8 Voucher Housing Assistance Program, in the event of major budget cuts to the program!
Housing Authorities Prepare For Section 8 Housing Cuts

by Lynda Carson -- July 30, 2011

Oakland - Local housing authorities across the nation are preparing for major cuts to HUD's Section 8 housing voucher programs (Housing Choice Voucher Program), after being directed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to come up with lists to prioritize which voucher recipients would be dumped from the program in the event of major cuts to the subsidized housing program. There are over 3,000 Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) across the nation serving over 2 million low-income households in the section 8 voucher program.

During the month of June, HUD sent notice to the nation's PHAs telling them to change their administrative plan, and to come up with a new plan to figure out which low-income households should be dumped from their federal subsidized section 8 housing programs.

Tens of thousands of low-income families across the nation face homelessness if HUD's housing programs including the section 8 program are cut any further, and the recent HUD notice telling PHAs to prepare lists of who should be dumped from their section 8 programs is a very ominous sign of a catastrophe in the making.

HUD's housing programs were cut by around 14% during a round of major budget cuts last April, and it appears that an additional 6% percent or more in budget cuts may occur in the near future, to further shred the federal housing programs all across the nation.

On July 29, it was reported from Cecil County, Maryland, "This is the first time the federal government has ever required us to change our administrative plan to indicate a priority list for voucher recipients. The HUD office is not saying this is going to happen, but they are saying we have to be prepared if it does happen. In the event we have to cut funding I'm recommending the last to receive funding would be the first to get cut, but other options are available, including a lottery system or cutting the ones who been on the program the longest first," said Dave Mahaney, director of housing and community development in Cecil County.

According to HUD, 75% of section 8 vouchers are made available to families earning less than 30 percent of the area median income (AMI), to assist in their monthly rental payments. The tenants have to pay around 30 to 40 percent of their income towards rent, and the government subsidizes the rest of the rent payment to the landlords.

According to the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, more than 2,357,977 children are assisted by the section 8 program. Around 303,499 seniors are also served by the section 8 housing program, representing 16% of all section 8 households, with the seniors having an annual median income of $9,594. Section 8 also offers assistance to around 458,124 households that include a disabled member in the family. The average income for a family in the section 8 program is around $11,049.

Locally, the Oakland Housing Authority offers housing assistance to around 15,000 households in the section 8 voucher program, representing approximately 10% of Oakland's families.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Vincent S. Castellano
whoever thought that a democrat president from chicago would end up on the verge of cutting back the most successful poverty program ever?

as of now, Geroge Bush issued more vouchers than Obama and Bush didn't have the massive deficits that Obama has.

could this be a sign of a greater issue within the Obama Administration?
by Lynda Carson
Housing News: Budget Cuts, take us to Eisenhower years!

Democrats Sell Out & Join Tea Party Members In Attack On The
Middle Class and the Poor!

The Budget Control Act of 2011 (Debt Crisis Deal) was just passed in the House and is expected to pass tomorrow in the Senate, with major budget cuts included for domestic programs, while continuing to provide super tax breaks for the rich.

Link to the Budget Control Act of 2011 at:http://nlihc.org/doc/Budget_Control_Act_2011.pdf

California Democrats including Nancy Pelosi, Donna Eschew and Jackie Spears have sold out the poor and middle class across the nation with this deal by joining the right-wing pigs and tea party members in the vote to cut domestic programs by
such extreme measures, that it takes us back to the Eisenhower years in regards to spending levels for domestic programs!

Meanwhile, HUD has directed all Public Housing Authorities across the nation to
come up with lists to prioritize which households are to be dumped from the federal Section 8 housing assistance programs all across the nation as the federal housing programs budgets are being cut, and at this point I urge all Section 8 tenants to refuse to move from their housing if they end up being cut from the Section 8 program because of the expected budget cuts.

Lynda Carson, Oakland CA - 510/763-1085 - tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

by Lynda Carson
Clarification: Section 8 tenants urged to refuse to move!

Preventing homelessness:

In the event that Public Housing Authorities start dumping Section 8 voucher housing tenants out of the program because of the massive budget cuts occurring, I urge all Section 8 tenants to refuse to move from their existing housing, and to continue paying the same amount of rent (30% of Income) that the original Section 8 contract called for.

The intent is to fight back and to force Congress and the powers to be to fully fund the programs to 2011 levels or higher.

This may also force cities, counties and states to come up with emergency funding to help keep thousands of families from becoming homeless.

Lynda Carson
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network