The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development  (HUD) has changed how they will grant eligibility for local communities to receive HUD-VASH vouchers for homeless veterans.  Whereas in past years HUD has awarded these tenant-based vouchers by assessing local need and inviting Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to apply, this year HUD will be awarding vouchers to self-identified, interested PHAs based on local need. Late last week, HUD extended the deadline to submit registrations of interest until December 1, 2017.

 Thanks to our NACo partners for sharing the new timeline and changes in the  the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD)’s HUD-VASH allocation process.  In addition, NACo staff received a few questions from NACo members regarding whether or not their local PHAs needed to re-apply for HUD-VASH consideration. NACo reached out to HUD directly for clarification, and based on their response, please take note of the following:

  1. All PHAs interested in receiving a HUD-VASH award must respond to HUD’s notice to be considered for a HUD-VASH award. This is true even for PHAs that are already administering HUD-VASH vouchers. In other words, please do not assume that your PHAs will automatically receive new HUD-VASH vouchers simply because they have received them in the past. If your local PHA does not submit a registration of interest before the deadline, they will not receive new HUD-VASH vouchers next year.
  2. Responses to the HUD notice are to be submitted via email to VASH2017@hud.gov, along with a Veterans Affairs Letter of Support from the VA facility with which the PHA will be partnering. This will serve as a “Registration of Interest.”
  3. The deadline for submitting responses has been extended. Registrations of Interest are now due by December 1, 2017.

Eligible Applicants: Any Public Housing Agency (PHA) currently administering a Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program, including PHAs that do not currently administer the HUD-VASH Program.

Registration of Interest Requirements: PHAs must consult with the VA facility (or facilities) with which they will be partnering to discuss their intention of submitting a Registration of Interest, and then request a letter of support from each partnering VA facility. PHAs must then send an email to VASH2017@hud.gov indicating that they are interested in receiving HUD-VASH vouchers. The subject line should be “Registration of Interest” and include the PHA code (e.g. AL001). In the email, identify which VA medical facility or community based outpatient clinic the PHA will be partnering with. The VA Letter of Support must be attached to the email. If a PHA wishes to partner with multiple VA facilities, a separate email is required for each partnership.

For more detailed instructions and additional information, please find the full HUD notice here.

Background on the HUD-VASH program:  HUD-VASH combines HUD Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless veterans with wraparound case management services provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at its medical centers and community-based outpatient clinics. Counties are able to use HUD-VASH vouchers to reduce veterans’ homelessness in their communities and provide much-needed care to veterans to address the root causes of homelessness. A total of 5,500 new HUD-VASH vouchers will be available, supported by $40 million in funding through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 enacted on May 5, 2017.

To read the HUD notice, click here.

To read HUD’s notice informing PHAs of the deadline extension, click here.

Contributed by: Andy Smith | AOC Veterans Policy Manager