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Supervisors approve housing vouchers for homeless veterans

The county's Housing Authority approved the use of $400,000 from its Moderate Rehabilitation Program and Mainstream Program administrative fee reserve revenue for incentive programs intended to encourage landlords to provide rental housing for homeless veterans.

The board of the San Diego County Housing Authority consists of the five members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and two tenants. The Housing Authority voted 6-0 April 13, with Supervisor Greg Cox at a California Coastal Commission meeting, to approve the funding.

"Last year a region-wide count of the homeless showed 15 percent had served in the Armed Forces," said Supervisor Bill Horn. "I am a veteran, and I find this unacceptable. As chairman of the Board of Supervisors last year, I declared 2015 the Year of the Veteran and put a number of programs in place to improve access to housing for veterans. Today's action provides $400,000 to support a veterans' program that will provide security and utility deposit assistance, unit damage contingency funds, and application and credit report fee reimbursements."

The area's Regional Task Force on the Homeless conducts periodic point-in-time counts on an early morning to determine the total number of homeless in the region. The 2015 point-in-time count determined 4,156 unsheltered men, women, and children throughout the region, including 214 individuals in the unincorporated area of the county. Approximately 15 percent of the homeless were identified as having served in a branch of America's military.

Low vacancy rates for the San Diego region's rental housing market have created obstacles to homeless veterans seeking affordable rental housing. The Housing Authority issues Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, but more than 100 veterans have been unable to find a residence despite those vouchers. Landlords are often unwilling to rent to homeless veterans or other homeless individuals due to concerns about damage to units, loss of rent, eviction risk, or disruption to other tenants. Experience at a nationwide level indicates that financial and non-financial incentive programs often create a beneficial relationship with landlords and property owners.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides Moderate Rehabilitation Program and Mainstream Program funding to local governments. The county will utilize $240,000 of Moderate Rehabilitation 3 reserves, $132,000 of Moderate Rehabilitation 4 reserves, and $28,000 of Mainstream 5 Program reserves.

 

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