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Presentation, discussion, and possible action on an amendment to the 2026 Annual Public Housing Agency (PHA) Plan for the Housing Choice Voucher Program and associated waivers of certain provisions of 10 TAC §5.802
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (the Department) Department operates as a PHA;
WHEREAS, in its capacity as a PHA, the Department accepted and administers Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs), a special set-aside of housing vouchers funded under an allocation through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA);
WHEREAS, on March 6, 2025, HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) issued a letter to PHAs outlining that funding for EHVs would not continue past the final allocation, and the amount of funding is expected to be exhausted in calendar year 2026;
WHEREAS, HUD published a notice (PIH Notice 2025-19) on June 20, 2025, which provides guidance to PHAs on how to transition families receiving EHVs onto the regular Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program;
WHEREAS, staff recommends that the Department implement these procedures for families with an EHV that would choose to accept an HCV if they are selected from the waitlist;
WHEREAS, 42 U.S.C §1437(c-1) (a) and (b) require PHAs to submit an annual PHA Plan, and this plan must be amended to allow for the waitlist flexibilities for holders of an EHV as allowed by the PIH Notice 2025-19; and
WHEREAS, in addition to an amendment to the PHA Plan, staff recommends waiving the requirements of 10 TAC §5.802 related to placement of and selection from the HCV waitlist to allow for the flexibilities permitted by PIH Notice 2025-19;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that the amendments to the Department’s 2026 Annual PHA Plan is hereby approved in the form presented to this meeting to be made available for public comment;
FURTHER RESOLVED, that if there are not substantive public comments received requiring reconsideration of the plan, staff is authorized and directed to file the plan as final with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with no further Board review;
FURTHER RESOLVED, that if there are material public comments, staff is directed to bring the plan, with such comments and any recommended revisions, back to this Board for final consideration; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board grants the requested wavier of 10 TAC §5.802, as detailed further in this Board Action Request.
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BACKGROUND
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) authorized funding for provision of Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs) for Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. EHVs were provided for households that are homeless, at risk of homelessness, fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, or recently homeless and for whom rental assistance would prevent homelessness or high risk of housing instability. TDHCA worked in conjunction with three Continuum of Care lead agencies to identify and qualify eligible families and units of housing. Unlike the Department’s regular Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) service area, EHVs were made available in any area of the state that was not administering its own EHV program or where the Department entered into an agreement with the local Housing Authority to administer vouchers in its jurisdiction. TDHCA was ultimately awarded an allocation of 796 EHVs, which were utilized to provide monthly rental subsidy to 815 families. As of September 16, 2025, 687 families remain active in TDHCA’s EHV Program.
The initial guidance for EHVs indicated that the program would be authorized through 2030, at which time remaining EHVs would expire and no longer receive funding; however, on March 6, 2025, HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) issued a letter to PHAs (included as Exhibit A to this item) providing notice that the 2025 EHV Calendar Year (CY) Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Renewal Funding would be the final allocation of funds for EHVs. The notice stated that any funds from the final allocation not utilized in CY2025 could be carried over for use into CY2026. TDHCA received its HAP renewal notice on April 22, 2025, with a total amount of $19,290,350. This amount of funding is expected to carry over TDHCA’s EHV Program well into CY2026.
On June 20, 2025, PIH issued PIH Notice 2025-19 (included as Exhibit B to this item). The PIH Notice 2025-19 provides guidance to PHAs to transition families participating in the EHV Program to the HCV Program to prevent participating families from losing housing assistance and potentially falling into homelessness. Although families receiving EHV are required to be placed on the regular HCV waitlist and a separate waitlist may not be established, HUD strongly encourages this transition, and has provided flexibilities for this population that are not otherwise available. Specific flexibilities relevant to TDHCA’s PHA recommended by staff include:
1. Allowing the PHA to open its waiting list only for EHV assisted families who choose to transition to the HCV Program; and
2. Allowing a preference for families currently participating in its EHV Program, including using a rating method to weigh an EHV preference above all other existing preferences for regular HCV, and preferences within the households eligible for the EHV preference that prioritize the most vulnerable households. Staff recommends that EHV participants whose head of household, co-head, spouse, or single-member is elderly (62+) or a person with a disability receive preference over other EHV participants.
Upon approval of this draft amendment to the PHA Plan, the Department will survey its Resident Advisory Board, which consists of all tenants with active Section 8 contracts, to review and comment on the proposed amendments to the 5-Year and 2026 Annual Plan. The Plan will also be available at 221 East 11th Street, Austin, TX 78701, for review at the Department’s Administrative Office on weekdays between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm Central Time; and the Department’s website at: www.tdhca.texas.gov <http://www.tdhca.texas.gov>. Those who are not able to speak, read, write, or understand the English language may call (512) 475-3800 or toll free (800) 525-0657 to request translation assistance with documents, events or other information from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
Upon Board approval, the Department will publish a notice 45 days prior to scheduling a public hearing to receive public comment on this amendment to the Plan, and details will be provided on the Department’s Public Comment Center at <https://www.tdhca.texas.gov/tdhca-public-comment-center>. If there are no substantive comments, the Plan will be submitted as approved today to HUD. If substantive comments are received, the Plan will be resubmitted to the Board for final approval.
In addition to the plan amendment, staff recommends waivers of certain provisions of 10 TAC §5.802(f) related to placement on the waiting list and (g) related to selection of households from the waiting list. These waivers would be applied as follows and limited to those families currently participating in the Department’s EHV Program. The waivers would expire 180 days after the final notification to EHV participants of the ability to apply to transition to the HCV Program, which will be the date that all applications for placement on the HCV waiting list are due.
Requirement: Outreach and Affirmative Marketing
Citation: 10 TAC §5.802(d)
Applicability: This provision requires the Department to affirmatively market, and to ensure that all Households have an equal opportunity to apply for and receive housing assistance. Since this proposal would open the waitlist only for Households currently participating in its EHV Program, outreach, marketing, and application acceptance will be limited to those that would be eligible to apply under the preference, and application procedures will be tailored as the Applicants are known to the Department. For example, the Application would include specific guidance related to TDHCA’s HCV service area that would apply to families transitioning from EHV that currently reside outside of our HCV service area; the families would have to agree to relocate to within the Department’s regular service area to participate in HCV.
Requirement: Application Acceptance Period
Citation: 10 TAC §5.802(e)(5)
Requirement: Placement on Waiting List
Citation: 10 TAC §5.802(f)(3)
Applicability: A waiver of this provision would allow current EHV participating Households to exceed the Department’s current limitation of number of Households that may be placed on the HCV waiting list.
Amendments to the PHA Plan and any waivers will be incorporated into the PHA Administrative Plan, and will be published on the Department’s website at <https://www.tdhca.texas.gov/section-8-resources> to be effective as of the effective date of the amendments to the PHA Plan.