A Plan to Eliminate Homelessness for Families with Children

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

A special local preference for homeless families for the Housing Choice Voucher Rental Assistance Program - commonly referred to as “Section 8” is helping to break the cycle of homelessness for families with children, who have already graduated from a federally-funded transitional housing program. In just three years, the program reduced the number of homeless families with children on the street from 193 to zero in the County area. The County of San Diego Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), also serving as the Housing Authority of the County of San Diego, created the program which gives those families access to permanent affordable housing, wherein families pay no more than 40 percent of their income in rent. Historically, homeless families with children “graduating” from transitional housing programs have often returned to the streets due to a lack of permanent affordable housing. This process has created a cycle of homelessness, placing children in vulnerable and unhealthy environments and creating an additional burden on the already limited supply of shelter beds available to the homeless. By housing these families, it opens up beds and resources in regional shelters for other homeless and increases the effectiveness of the region’s limited federal homeless dollars.