Funding News

Washington- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it will provide $5 Million for new Family Unification Program (FUP) voucher assistance. The new program will provide assistance to youth and families who do not have access to safe and adequate housing for themselves and their families. This fund will not only strengthen coordination between Public Housing Authorities (PHA), Public Child Welfare Agencies (PCWA), and Continuum of Care (CoCs) but also offer supportive services to the ones in need.

Marcia L. Fudge, HUD’s secretary says, “ This notice of funding opportunity will help strengthen states and localities’ ability to care for families, youth, and individuals with no place to call home”. Providing affordable housing helps end homelessness and also enables HUD to continue its mission of getting more and more people into permanent and stable housing. With the help of this funding, the Public Housing Agencies will easily administer the Family Unification Program meant for needy youth and families.

The Public Housing Agencies tend to partner with PCWAs and CoCs via the FUP program to provide Housing Choice Voucher assistance to two groups.

• Families with children in placement and have complied with DCF needing adequate housing or families that are in threat of imminent placement of their children due to inability to secure adequate housing
• Youths who are 18 years of age and not more than 24 years who have left foster care at the age of 16 or older are at risk of becoming homeless.

PCWAs are entrusted with the responsibility of referring FUP families and youths to Public Housing Agencies to determine whether they are eligible for receiving rental assistance or not. Once the PCWAs confirm the eligibility, the PHA keeps the applicant on the waiting list and figures out if the applicant meets HCV program requirements or not. Besides this, it is also checked that the applicant conducts all other processes concerning voucher issuance and administration.

The FUP vouchers issued to the families have no time limit. If the vouchers are issued to youth, then these vouchers are limited to 36 months unless the youth fulfills the requirements to receive the extension of the voucher assistance under Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities (FSHO) amendments. If the youth meets certain requirements, then they can receive additional 24 months of voucher assistance under FSHO. Apart from the rental assistance, FUP youths can also be provided supportive services for 36 months. The skills these supportive services may provide include job preparation, money management, education and counseling, nutrition, and meal preparation.