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CityFHEPS voucher extensions beyond the 5-year cap
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Commissioner Park explains the process for extending CityFHEPS vouchers beyond the initial 5-year period and discusses the agency's approach to long-term housing assistance.
- The extension rate at year 6 is about 90%, similar to previous years' renewal rates.
- Most households qualify for 'good cause' extensions, with a majority being on fixed incomes.
- Extensions are granted on an annual basis through a regular renewal process.
- There is no hard limit on the number of extensions a household can receive if they continue to qualify.
- The agency has not implemented a time limit for CityFHEPS assistance beyond the initial 5-year period.
- The good cause extension process is designed to prevent a 'cliff' effect where assistance suddenly ends after 5 years.
- Council Member Ayala emphasizes the need for more subsidized housing to address long-term affordability issues.
Diana Ayala
0:52:58
How many CityFabs tenants had their vouchers terminated after reaching the 5 year cap on the current and past fiscal year?
0:53:04
And how many of those household had previously held an older type of voucher such as link that counted towards their 5 year cap?
Molly Wasow Park
0:53:12
So the extension rate at year 6 is very similar to the the previous the prior years, that we're seeing about 90% qualify for that that good cause extension.
0:53:25
We've done some analysis on it and, you know, majority of the households are on fixed income and and therefore qualify.
0:53:32
So it's it's quite high.
0:53:34
I don't have it broken out.
0:53:35
We don't track it that way about whether or not they were on any of the predecessor subsidies, but it as as I say, it's it's quite high.
Diana Ayala
0:53:41
So if the person is on fixed income, they get a CDPES voucher, they hit the 5 year mark, they can apply for an extension.
0:53:49
How much time are they given after they apply for the extension if they're approved?
0:53:55
How how long is it extended?
Molly Wasow Park
0:53:58
I believe,
Andrea Reid
0:54:01
Thank you, commissioner.
0:54:02
Thank you, council member.
0:54:03
So it's just a regular process of the annual renewal, and so they would just be submitting the, renewal application that says good cause request.
Diana Ayala
0:54:13
But it but does that ex so so then okay.
0:54:15
So then they're approved.
0:54:16
Right?
0:54:16
So does that mean that they have a the voucher for an additional year, an additional 5 years, or do they like, are they coming back annually?
Andrea Reid
0:54:23
There's an annual renewal that's required.
Diana Ayala
0:54:26
Is is at some point, do you exhaust the amount of times that you can request an extension?
Molly Wasow Park
0:54:33
So we've we have not time limited anybody out of CitiFAP's.
0:54:38
There is it is it looks very similar.
0:54:42
The process is essentially very similar to your recertification process.
0:54:46
So we we haven't had any situation where we say you would keep you would keep qualifying, but for the fact that you've now been on for 8 years or 9 years or something like that.
Diana Ayala
0:54:58
You haven't gotten there yet because the program is still fairly new.
0:55:00
But is there
Molly Wasow Park
0:55:01
Oh, we've we've absolutely had people who are in their
Diana Ayala
0:55:04
their Yeah.
Molly Wasow Park
0:55:04
Past their 5 year mark.
0:55:07
And there is no hard and fast timeline at this point to the extent that people qualify for a good cause extension.
0:55:13
They do need to recertify annually, but that is something that we maintain.
Diana Ayala
0:55:17
Yeah.
0:55:17
I mean, I yeah.
0:55:19
That because that that would be concerning.
0:55:21
Right?
0:55:21
We had this happen with the one thing, the one down, the downside, I think, to some of these programs is that, you know, if when they do expire, they do.
0:55:32
They run, you know, we run out of time.
0:55:34
Most of these tenants are coming into apartments that they can't afford on their own because they have a fixed income on because they're working and not making enough to pay the rent.
0:55:42
And so when the program expires, so does their time in that apartment because they inevitably end up back in, you know, in shelter.
0:55:49
And so Right.
Molly Wasow Park
0:55:50
And and we are using the good cause Yeah.
0:55:53
Extension, which, as I say, is applying to the overwhelming majority of households to prevent having that cliff.
Diana Ayala
0:56:00
Yeah.
0:56:00
But it's also that's also an indicator that we need to be building more subsidized housing.
Molly Wasow Park
0:56:04
I could not agree with you more.
Diana Ayala
0:56:06
Yeah.
0:56:06
That's I think that that's the long term solution to this.
0:56:09
The
Molly Wasow Park
0:56:10
the fact that we have a 1.4% vacancy rate is overwhelmingly, at play here.
0:56:16
Absolutely.
0:56:17
Yeah.
0:56:17
Yeah.
0:56:18
No.
0:56:18
I mean, you always hear,
Diana Ayala
0:56:20
you know, when we're building, these apartments are affordable to who.
0:56:25
Right?
0:56:26
And and I get it.
0:56:27
Like, you know, I think the majority of the public doesn't understand that those apartments are meant to replace, you know, subsidized housing units that we lost to destabilization at some point.
0:56:39
However, this still doesn't negate the fact that, you know, while they're affordable to working people, they're not affordable to individuals on a fixed income, to the elderly, to people that are making low wages.
0:56:52
Those people really need subsidized housing.
0:56:54
They don't need affordable housing, they need subsidized housing and there's a difference.
0:56:58
So, you know, I think that any help that we can, I think, you know, as we learn, right, about the root causes of homelessness and and and as the numbers continue to climb, I think, you know, that it's imperative that we all step up and advocate for more of that type of housing?
0:57:18
Yeah.