Mispreceptions about the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program - an opportunity to set the record straight.

The Section 8 - Housing Choice Voucher Program - is an opportunity to deconcentrate pockets of poverty. The program allows low-income families to rent homes, in locations of their choosing, providing greater access to employment opportunities and better schools.

Misperceptions about those who participate in housing assistance programs are often hard to overcome. Foremost is the notion that concentrations of Section 8 vouchers occur as a result of housing policies.  Another misperception is that once someone participates in a housing assistance program they remain on the program forever. 

A look at SAHA’s program participant data shows a community intent on using housing programs as the temporary assistance for which it was designed.  Of the nearly 12,000 families on SAHA’s Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program, nearly 50% percent leave the program within two years. About 86% of voucher recipients end their reliance on housing vouchers within 6 years.  Only 2% of families receiving housing choice vouchers stay on the program for longer than 10 years, with seniors making up the majority of these voucher-holders.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development provides funds for SAHA to administer Section 8 housing vouchers, and our organization must follow Fair Housing laws and guidelines set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations [24 CFR 982].  These regulations state verbatim that, “Families select and rent units that meet program housing quality standards.” Furthermore, the CFR stipulates that a public housing authority “may not discourage the family from choosing to live anywhere in the PHA jurisdiction.”  This means that SAHA may neither dictate to a qualified family receiving a Section 8 voucher where they must live, nor tell the family where they should not live. It is ultimately the family’s choice to decide where to use their voucher, not a decision made by SAHA.

Since families that qualify for Section 8 assistance choose the neighborhood in which to live, the possibility exists that some families will select the same residential areas.  While SAHA cannot refuse to activate a qualified family’s voucher in a particular area simply because other persons receiving housing choice vouchers already reside in the proximity; the CFR does allow housing authorities to disapprove a tenancy under certain conditions.  These include when an owner: violates his or her contract with SAHA; commits a crime associated with a federal housing program; engages in drug-related or violent criminal activity; evades tax payments; does not meet Housing Quality Standards or Code compliance; permits the unsafe and/or criminal behavior of his or her residents; or when the rent of the selected residence exceeds reasonably affordable rates.






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