Introduction
On Tuesday, February 1, 2005 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued HUD Notice PIH 2005-5 to Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) regarding the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program and people with disabilities.  HUD Notice PIH 2005-5 covers two related topics that are important to people with disabilities:

1. Issuance and Preservation of 62,000 Special Purpose Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers for Disabled Families – The notice provides new rules covering the use of 62,000 “Special Purpose Vouchers for Disabled Families.”  These new rules inform PHAs that they must comply with federal law and Congressional mandates to preserve these 62,000 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers exclusively for people with disabilities. [NOTE:  HUD’s term “Disabled Families” includes single persons with disabilities as well as families with children where the head of the family or spouse is disabled.]

2. Guidelines Promoting Housing Access for People with Disabilities – The notice informs PHAs of specific initiatives they can implement to assist all people with disabilities who are searching for housing using a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. 

The publication of Notice PIH 2005-5 is the culmination of an extensive joint advocacy campaign undertaken by the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force (CCD Housing Task Force) to ensure that these 62,000 Special Purpose vouchers are reserved exclusively for people with disabilities by PHAs. 

1. WHY HUD PIH Notice 2005-5 is Important for Special Purpose Vouchers
HUD’s Notice PIH 2005-5 refers specifically to “Special Purpose Vouchers for Disabled Families” that were created by Congress exclusively for people with disabilities and awarded by HUD to PHAs between 1997-2003.  This is the first Notice that HUD has provided to PHAs to inform them that all 62,000 vouchers must continue to be used for people with disabilities.  Simply stated, federal law requires that these vouchers be used only by people with disabilities.  Until this HUD Notice was issued, PHAs had not been informed by HUD of these requirements that were mandated by Congress beginning in 2003.

Approximately 480 PHAs received these vouchers and still have them.  PHAs may or may not be using these vouchers exclusively for people with disabilities.  Lists of all PHAs that have these vouchers are included in the information provided by TAC below.  TAC has carefully tracked all awards of these Special Purpose vouchers through HUD records and the Federal Register since 1997.

Now that HUD has issued Notice PIH 2005-5 to all PHAs, it is extremely important that disability advocates from around the country follow up with every PHA that received these Special Purpose vouchers from HUD.   Specifically, for each PHA, TAC is encouraging disability advocates to:

• Determine whether the PHA is aware that the agency was awarded Special Purpose Vouchers for Disabled Families in one or more years from 1997 - 2003.  From TAC’s technical assistance work, we have learned that some PHAs are not aware that they were awarded Special Purpose vouchers set-aside by Congress exclusively for people with disabilities.  For this reason, these vouchers set-aside for people with disabilities may have been given to non-disabled households by some PHAs.


• Determine what type(s) of Special Purpose Vouchers for Disabled Families the PHA did receive. Congress created several HUD voucher set-aside programs for people with disabilities beginning in 1997.  One of these programs  is funded from the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program and not through the Section 8 budget. This information is very relevant because of the Section 8 fiscal problems many PHAs are experiencing;


• Determine whether or not the PHA initially issued all of these vouchers to people with disabilities as required by federal law; and


• Determine whether or not the PHA has continued to provide these vouchers only to people with disabilities when they turnover in accordance with recent Congressional mandates. 

There is sufficient information contained in HUD Notice PIH 2005-5 and this TAC Alert for disability advocates to begin their advocacy and monitoring efforts with PHA officials, and we urge you to do so.  In the very near future, TAC will provide disability advocates with additional information and sample letters which can be used to request specific data from PHAs concerning these Special Purpose vouchers.  However, it is important to begin engaging PHA officials immediately.

Specific Information on Special Purpose Vouchers
The Special Purpose Vouchers for Disabled Families referred to in Notice PIH 2005-5 were created by Congress through several specific programs including:

• Mainstream Housing Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (five-year renewable awards funded under the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program);


• Mainstream Housing Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (one-year renewable awards under the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher appropriation);


• Rental Assistance for Non-Elderly Persons with Disabilities in Support of Designated Housing Plans (one-year renewable awards under the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher appropriation);


• Rental Assistance for Non-Elderly Persons with Disabilities Related to Certain Types of Section 8 Project-Based Developments (one-year renewable awards under the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher appropriation); and


• Project Access Pilot Program (formerly Access Housing 2000).

Funding Awards and Distinctions
The Special Purpose vouchers covered in Notice PIH 2005-5 are funded through two separate HUD program appropriations: the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program and  the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.  Because of these funding distinctions, 12,000 of the 62,000 Special Purpose vouchers have slightly different rules.

1. Special Purpose Vouchers: Five-year funding from Section 811 (approximately 12,000 vouchers)

• List of PHAs


• Funding distinctions and requirements

2. Special Purpose Vouchers: One-year funding from Section 8 (approximately 50,000 vouchers)

• List of PHAs (PDF)


• Funding distinctions and requirements

3. Special Purpose Vouchers: Project Access  (400 vouchers)

• List of PHAs (PDF)

2. Guidelines Promoting Housing Access for People with Disabilities
HUD’s Notice PIH 2005-5 provides instructions and suggestions for PHAs regarding other aspects of the Housing Choice Voucher program that are important to people with disabilities.  Specifically, PHAs have been provided with the following suggestions for all people with disabilities, not only for people with Special Purpose vouchers:

• Voucher term – PHAs should consider establishing a longer initial search term for disabled families;
  
• Referral services – PHAs should provide disabled families with a list of local supportive services and disability organizations, including disability advocacy organizations and counseling services;


• Housing Search Assistance – PHAs should offer specialized housing search assistance to disabled families, either in-house or through a local supportive service agency; and


• Collaboration with other governmental agencies – PHAs should collaborate with other local governmental agencies that serve people with disabilities.  Such a collaboration enables successful policy development and resource sharing.