NEWS

LEARN MORE ABOUT: NASHVILLE’S EMERGENCY HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM

BY JUDITH TACKETT

In this column, The Contributor is focusing on one specific program or initiative that is currently underway in Nashville to address homelessness. In this issue we focus on the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) Program. Locally, the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) administers the EHV program.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has made a total of 70,000 housing choice vouchers available to public Housing Authorities like MDHA through the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program.

MDHA received 198 of those and to date has issued 102 as of the beginning of March. Of those 24 are leased up. A federal dashboard provides more detailed information at https://www.hud.gov/ehv about each jurisdiction.

What makes the EHV program such an opportunity in tackling homelessness is that these housing subsidies are more flexible and come with additional service funds on top of the rent assistance. MDHA, with input from the local community through what is called the Continuum of Care, determined that those additional services should cover landlord incentives and move-in costs. (The Continuum of Care can be quickly described as a loose collaborative consisting of mostly service and government agencies as well as people with lived experiences who work on building a system that addresses homelessness in Nashville.)

Here is a breakdown — and again, we are only focusing on the EHV program here:

• A $1,000 sign up bonus for any landlord who executes a Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract with MDHA;

• A $500 bonus for up to five units for a new landlord;

• A $500 bonus for up to five units for a landlord who has not participated in the Section 8 program during the previous 12 months; and

• A $500 bonus for any unit located in a low-poverty census tract, where the poverty rate is at or below 20 percent based on the most recent Census Bureau data.

As an example, a landlord who has never participated in the Housing Choice Voucher (also known as Section 8) program before AND whose unit is located in a low-poverty census tract could potentially receive $2,000 in incentives

“What makes the EHV program such an

for up to five units and $1,500 for each additional unit after that.

Beyond the landlord incentives, MDHA is also able to pay for application fees, security deposits, utility deposits including up to $500 in utility arrears and other eligible activities. Households are only eligible for this assistance once, and these costs are paid directly to landlords or utility districts.

The funding for the EHV program is flexible enough so that local communities can make them work best. That’s been the beauty of a lot of the federal funds starting with the $2.2 trillion CARES Act packet to address the immediate health needs and its consequences at the beginning of the COVID pandemic; and now with the $1.9 trillion made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which expanded the focus to meet the pandemic response and help rebuild a stronger and more equitable economy during the recovery.

But if you are curious how much an EHV pays, MDHA’s payment standards are set at 100 percent of HUD’s Fair Market Rents. This means the EHV will be able to cover up to $1,100 for a one-bedroom apartment, $1,253 for a

opportunity in tackling homelessness isthat these housing subsidies are moreflexible and come with additional servicefunds on top of the rent assistance.”

two-bedroom apartment, $1,587 for a three-bedroom apartment, and $1,975 for a four-bedroom apartment.

Of course, each household will contribute to the rent. In general, a household pays 30 percent of their multi asset income (MAI) but may pay up to 40 percent, which allows a household to use some of their income to pay for an apartment with higher rent.

So far, based on the 24 EHV that have been leased at the beginning of the month, the average housing assistance payment was $861 per month.

And just in case you’re wonderong, the eligible households include individuals and families who are: (1) homeless; (2) at risk of homelessness; (3) fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking; or (4) recently homeless and for whom providing rental assistance will prevent the family’s homelessness or having high risk of housing instability.

Referrals are made through the community’s Coordinated Entry process, a system-wide approach that serves to assess all persons experiencing a housing crisis to help identify, prioritize and connect them with the appropriate housing and support service resources as quickly as possible. Each household who is referred is already working with a service agency and the expectation is that they continue to receive support services from that agency, even though no one will lose housing if they choose to opt out of additional support services.

The local EHV dollars were made available in July 2021 and the first referrals came through in September. This, actually, is a solid achievement as MDHA has been working collaboratively with service agencies, Metro Nashville, and other organizations to ensure that this program meets community needs.

One last thing to explain is that there is a critical deadline of Sept. 30, 2023. Any EHVs that are not being used by then can still be issued. If a household walks away from the program prior to that deadline, MDHA can reissue the EHV for another household. But after that deadline, that’s it. No used voucher will be reissued. Don’t panic yet! Every EHV household will receive annual renewals after that deadline if they remain using the voucher.

As I said, the EHV program is flexible enough to be a handy tool in our toolbox to fight homelessness in Nashville.

The one hiccup, probably none of us are surprised to hear me mention, is that even with the landlord incentives, it’s still a challenge to find housing units. So, spread the word. Any interested landlord should contact Norman Deep over at MDHA directly by emailing him at ndeep@nashville-mdha.org.