The Shelter Plus Care (S+C) program provides rental assistance funding for homeless persons with disabilities, primarily those with mental illness, chronic problems with alcohol and/or drugs, and AIDS or related diseases. The funds provided for rental assistance must be matched dollar-for-dollar by services to help participants maintain their housing.

This program is part of a federal grant authorized by the McKinney/Vento Homeless Assistance Act. This legislation created three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs that can be used to develop permanent housing for homeless individuals and families with disabilities: the Shelter Plus Care program, the Supportive Housing Program, and the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program. These three programs form the backbone of a community's Continuum of Care.

For more information:
A Guide to Continuum of Care Planning and Implementation
HUD's Shelter Plus Care information

Frequently asked questions:
Who can apply for Shelter Plus Care funding?
Application process
What can funds be used for?
How long do S+C grants last?
Who is eligible to participate in S+C programs?

Who can apply for Shelter Plus Care funding?
Government agencies and Public Housing Agencies.

Application Process
McKinney/Vento Homeless Assistance funds are awarded to organizations participating in their state or  local Continuum of Care planning process. These funds (including S+C) are awarded through an annual national competition that's announced as a part of HUD's SuperNOFA (Notice of Funding Availability).

S+C funds can be used to:
Provide rental assistance for homeless individuals and families with disabilities who are moving from homelessness to permanent housing.

S+C has four components:

• Tenant-based rental assistance (TRA) provides grant funding for a five-year contract term. Participants reside in housing of their choice though grant recipients may require participants to live in a specific area in order to facilitate coordination of supportive services.
• Sponsor-based rental assistance (SRA) provides grant funding for a term of five years through contracts between a grant recipient and a sponsor organization. Sponsors may be a non-profit organization or community mental health agency established as a public non-profit. Participants reside in housing owned or leased by the project sponsor.
• Project-based rental assistance (PRA) provides grants for a term of either five or 10 years through contracts between grant recipients and owners of existing structures with units that will be leased to participants. Rental assistance grants are for 10 years only if the owner agrees to complete rehabilitation on the units to be leased within 12 months of the grant agreement.
• Single Room Occupancy Dwellings (SRO) provides grants for rental assistance for a contract term of 10 years in connection with moderate rehabilitation of single room occupancy housing units.

How long do S+C grants last?
New S+C grants are funded for a five year or ten year term.  Ten year terms are for SRO or PRA with rehabilitation. Since 2000, in response to large demands for renewal funding by existing S+C programs, Congress has appropriated funding to renew expiring S+C projects for one year.

Who is eligible to participate in S+C programs?

All participants in S+C programs must be homeless and disabled. For purposes of the McKinney/Vento programs, HUD considers a homeless person someone who:

• Is living in places not meant for human habitation (streets, cars, parks, etc.);
• Is living in an emergency shelter;
• Is living in transitional or supportive housing but originally came from the streets or shelter;
• Is living in any of the above but spending up to 30 consecutive days in an institution;
• Is being evicted within a week and has no subsequent residence;
• Is being discharged within a week from an institution (e.g., mental health or substance abuse facility or jail/prison) in which the person has been a resident for more than 30 consecutive days and no subsequent residence has been identified and the person lacks the resources and support networks needed to obtain housing; or
• Is fleeing a domestic violence situation and no subsequent residence has been identified.