Rental Assistance

Community Housing Partnership seeks to increase accessiblity to affordable rental housing for persons with developmental disabilities through:

• Collaborating with local housing agencies and developers to increase the amount of rental assistance and affordable rental units available.
• Assisting individuals to sign up on appropriate waiting lists for rental assistance and resolve issues with housing agencies.
• Working with individuals, family members, and service providers to furnish information and advocacy.

• Section 8 is a federal program funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and administered locally by city and county Housing Agencies (HA). The program is designed to help low income households rent safe and sanitary housing. See the HUD website for official information on Section 8.

• The amount of the Section 8 benefit varies based on local Fair Market Rents, payment standard, utility allowances, actual rent of the unit, and the individual's income. The household share of the rent is generally about 30% of the household income.

• To qualify for Section 8 a household must be either elderly, low income, or disabled. Qualified individuals can apply through their local HA. Generally, there is a waiting list that can take anywhere from 3-7 years due to the high demand for affordable housing.

• Once on the waiting list, it is very important to keep address and phone number current. For persons living in San Diego County an important benefit to be aware of is the Cooperative Waiting List, which can save the individual several years of waiting by allowing applicants to transfer application dates to other waiting lists within San Diego County.

• When the Section 8 voucher is received, the recipient has up to four months to find a rental unit that will accept the Section 8 voucher. Once an acceptable unit is located, the recipient should contact HA staff. The HA staff will inspect the unit; upon passing the inspection a lease is completed between the HA, Section 8 voucher recipient, and the landlord.

• The Section 8 voucher is portable, meaning the tenants can take it with them when they move. The Section 8 voucher will follow the individual as long as the recipient remains qualified, meeting the low-income criteria for the program. If an individual receiving Section 8 decides to move, the recipient should immediately contact the HA staff to receive further instructions on how to proceed.

RSVP is a joint project between San Diego Regional Center and Community Interface Services designed to provide interim rental subsidy assistance for approved SDRC consumers who are Section 8 applicants while they wait for Section 8 vouchers.
Basics that you need to know:

• RSVP will cover the difference between 35% of the eligible consumer’s income and his/her share of rent. RSVP will provide a monthly rent subsidy directly to an approved participant’s landlord for the authorized subsidy amount.

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.

• 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.

For further information, please contact Iliana Keenan at 760.729.3866 or 888.676.3786 or email us at housing@communityinterfaceservices.org.