Prince George’s housing agency reopens voucher program
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Version 0 of 1. Prince George’s County housing officials will begin accepting applications Monday for housing vouchers for low-income residents for the first time in seven years. But anyone seeking to apply can do so only online, which advocates say could be a burden for a vulnerable population that may have limited access to the Internet or mobile devices. Applying to be placed on the waiting list for a housing voucher does not mean that such a voucher — which typically covers the difference between the tenant’s rent and 30 percent of his or her income — will be issued. Only about 450 vouchers are available, and Prince George’s officials expect as many as 25,000 applications by the end of the two-week process. A computerized system will randomly select 5,000 households from the list to be screened for eligibility. Of those, fewer than 10 percent will receive a voucher. The county’s housing authority will not accept in-person applications at its offices, although staff will be available to assist by phone. There also will be personnel stationed at three of the county’s 20 local library branches for three days between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to assist people filling out the online applications. In addition, county officials have trained people from about 20 community groups and government agencies how to complete the applications and will depend on volunteers from those groups to help people who run into problems. The software is available in 60 languages, and the housing authority set up a “frequently asked questions” section on its Web site. “We are hoping people see we are doing everything we can,” said Alexis Yeoman, a spokeswoman for the housing department. “It is a new process for us.” David Prater, an attorney with the Maryland Disability Law Center, said the agency should make more staffers available and should allow in-person consultations. “They are saying, ‘You’re on your own,’ ” Prater said. Sarah Sorensen of Independence Now, a nonprofit organization that serves people with disabilities, said employees have participated in the training and are setting aside seven days to assist their clients — all of whom have significant disabilities and many of whom do not have Internet access at home. “Unfortunately, many housing authorities are moving to an online-only application system, which is extremely difficult for low-income individuals with disabilities,” Sorensen said. Montgomery County adopted a Web-based application process when it reopened its wait list in August for the first time since 2008. Baltimore also used an online-only process when it reopened its list in 2014 for the first time in a decade. In Montgomery, the housing authority had staff and trained volunteers available at 40 locations to offer help with the application process. And in Baltimore, walk-in centers were set up across the city so people could find assistance during specific hours. The federally subsidized housing choice voucher program, better known as Section 8, allows income-eligible families to live where they want as long as landlords will accept the vouchers. Local jurisdictions administer federal money to pay a portion of the rent for qualifying households. Closing the waiting list periodically to purge outdated information is a common practice. In Prince George’s, the housing authority reached capacity and closed its list in 2008. The county’s review lasted until this summer, when the agency found it could issue up to 450 new vouchers to qualified applicants, said Eric Brown, director of housing and community development. Studies show that more than half of county families who make below 30 percent of the area’s median income — about $36,000 a year — are paying more than they can afford on rent, Brown said. Researchers expect many new jobs in the region in coming years will also be low-wage positions, adding to the need for housing assistance. The Prince George’s housing authority has drawn frequent criticism from advocates. The Maryland Disability Law Center and Maryland Legal Aid filed and won complaints against the agency recently for violating open-meeting rules and voting in secret on major issues. Legal Aid has also sued the housing authority in federal court for not notifying voucher recipients that the value of their subsidies was being reduced as a cost-saving measure. That lawsuit is pending. On Friday, Carla Carter, the former deputy director of the county housing authority, was convicted on charges of wire fraud and money laundering for illegally obtaining rental subsidies for properties she owned in Prince George’s while she was working for the agency. [Former Pr. George’s housing official indicted on federal charges] Legal Aid attorney Sabrina Wear said her clients’ experience with the housing authority does not give them confidence that Prince George’s will react adequately to any problems that arise with the voucher-application system. “There is no backup if something goes wrong,” Wear said. “We don’t trust them to do anything right.” |