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Rental Assistance

Section 8

Our housing experts are available to help clients navigate the application process necessary to receive government rental subsidies. Low income households may be eligible to receive rent assistance through Section 8, a program of the U.S. Department of Urban Development (HUD). The amount of the Section 8 benefit varies based on a person’s income and local market rents, and the recipient must be either elderly, low income or disabled. Unfortunately, there is usually a multi-year waiting list to become Section 8 eligible (and sometimes lists are closed entirely) because of the high demand for affordable housing. For more information on Section 8 click here.

RSVP

To provide support during the long wait list period, the San Diego Regional Center and Community Interface Services created the Rental Subsidy Venture Project (RSVP). For eligible recipients, RSVP will provide a monthly rent subsidy directly to an approved participant’s landlord for the authorized subsidy amount.  RSVP covers the difference between 35% of the eligible consumer’s income and his/her share of rent.

To be eligible to participate in the RSVP you must:

  • Be a SDRC consumer, be at least 18 years old, receive IL or SL services through a SDRC vendor agency, live in or be moving to an apartment that will accept subsidy payments, be on Section 8 waitlist, authorize RSVP to be the primary contact for Section 8, and be determined as a viable candidate for Section 8 voucher program approval.
  • Have a specific care need due to a demonstrated medical, behavioral, or psychiatric condition which presents a health and safety risk that the RSVP subsidy will meet.
  • To apply, the SDRC Service Coordinator (SC) refers the consumer to the RSVP. RSVP provides the individual with an application. The application should be completed by the consumer with assistance as needed from his/her IL or SL support person and returned to the SC. The application is then forwarded by the SC to RSVP. Upon receipt of the application, RSVP may contact you for additional information to determine eligibility and subsidy amount.
  • Once enrolled, participants must continue to follow participation parameters in order to continue to receive a subsidy.
  • RSVP ends when a Section 8 applicant gets his/her Section 8 voucher or fails to meet eligibility requirements. Community Interface Services will contact the RSVP participant when she/he gets to the top of the Section 8 Wait List.