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Presentation, discussion, and possible action authorizing staff to register interest in, apply for, and accept additional Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and authorization to subsequently administer such awarded vouchers
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, on June 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released Notice PIH 2024-18(HA) (the Notice) announcing the availability of approximately 7,800 new Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers and providing the opportunity for Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to register their interest in being recipients of those HUD‐VASH vouchers;
WHEREAS, the HUD‐VASH vouchers require that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ensure the provision of case management and clinical services by the local Veterans Assistance Medical Center (VAMC) in conjunction with the vouchers, and therefore requires that a PHA’s registration of interest include a letter of support from partnering VAMCs;
WHEREAS, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA or the Department) operates as a PHA in its administration of its Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP), is also currently a recipient of both tenant‐based and project‐based HUD‐VASH vouchers, and has the appropriate expertise and systems to perform such work;
WHEREAS, in response to the Notice the VAMCs with which the Department has an existing relationship provided the required letters of support for TDHCA to submit Registrations of Interest for Kerr, Bandera, Medina, Fort Bend, and Galveston counties;
WHEREAS, the Registrations of Interest were submitted by the HUD deadline for consideration of an award of new VASH voucher prior to having an opportunity to seek Board approval and staff is seeking ratification of that submission;
WHEREAS, HUD may notify the Department that an award of VASH vouchers is offered in response to the Registrations of Interest; and staff requests authority to accept any such HUD-VASH vouchers from HUD for the counties proposed; and
WHEREAS, on or about each year, HUD publishes a PIH notice in which additional VASH vouchers are made available, and the Department is also seeking authority at this time to request, accept, and administer future VASH voucher availability with existing or additional VAMCs, which may be within TDHCA’s existing service area or may be added as new VASH service areas;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that the Board ratifies staff’s action of having submitted Registrations of Interest and hereby authorizes staff to accept and administer any VASH vouchers offered in response to such Registration of Interest; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that staff is authorized to request, accept, and administer VASH vouchers made available by HUD in subsequent years if such vouchers are supported by a VAMC for use in the Department’s 34-county service area utilized for its regular Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program.
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BACKGROUND
HUD‐VASH vouchers are administered in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs and enable homeless veterans and their families to access affordable housing with an array of supportive services. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ensures the provision of case management and clinical services through local Veterans Assistance Medical Centers (VAMCs). On June 3, 2024, HUD released Notice PIH 2024-18, regarding the Registration of Interest for HUD-VASH Vouchers. Any submissions of interest from a PHA must include a support letter from the specific VAMC that would be providing such services.
The Department operates as a PHA in its administration of its HCVP. The Department has several components to its program: provision of vouchers within a 34‐county jurisdiction; provision of vouchers anywhere in the state for its Project Access Program and the Fostering Youth to Independence (FYI) Initiative; and provision of VASH vouchers, tenant‐based in Fort Bend and Galveston counties, and a combination of project‐based at Freedom’s Path in Kerrville and tenant-based in Kerr, Medina, and Bandera counties. The Department only operates statewide in its Project Access Program and FYI Initiative; therefore pursuit of HUD‐VASH vouchers previously and in this request have been limited to the 34‐county jurisdiction. When this Notice was released, staff reached out to the existing VAMCs with which we operate our current VASH vouchers to determine if they would be interested in requesting additional vouchers. Each of the two VAMCs requested an additional ten vouchers, and staff submitted Registrations of Interest for each VAMC area based on this request. Submission of a Registration of Interest is not an application for additional vouchers, and acceptance of any vouchers offered in response to the Registration of Interest is contingent on Board approval of the acceptance, which is being requested with this action item.
As of September 10, 2024, all 55 of TDHCA’s existing VASH vouchers are utilized. The additional vouchers would allow the Department to expand VASH benefits to an additional 20 veterans and their families.
In addition to authorization to accept these additional vouchers, staff requests authority to apply for, register interest in, accept, and administer future offers of VASH vouchers from HUD as they are made available and requested by the VAMCs, and which will serve veterans within the 34-county service area utilized for the Department’s regular HCV Program.