Difference between revisions of "HPRP-NewRochelle"

Revision as of 09:40, 28 October 2009

Overview: The City of New Rochelle’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP) received $686,935 in federal HPRP funding and is designed to prevent evictions of New Rochelle tenants who have recently lost employment income but have a recent history of housing stability and the potential to become self-sufficient within 18 months or less.

The City of New Rochelle’s HPRP contract with HUD began July 17, 2009 and is expected to be completed within 27 months. Major partners in this project include:

• the City of New Rochelle will serve as grant administrator;
• HOPE Community Services, Inc. will provide one-stop access to New Rochelle’s HPRP program including outreach, program enrollment, case management on issues affecting housing stability, budget counseling, distribution of rent subsidies, quarterly financial reassessments for all households receiving financial assistance, and follow-up;
• Legal Services of the Hudson Valley will provide legal services including representation in housing court and advocacy regarding housing and entitlements using a part-time attorney working on-site at HOPE.

Major goals: This project’s major deliverables include the following:

• 30 households will receive financial assistance to help prevent their eviction,
• 30 households will receive budget counseling,
• 75 households will receive case management, and
• 75 households will receive legal services.

Locally-Determined Eligibility Criteria for New Rochelle HPRP: Participants must meet ALL of the following four locally-determined criteria:

1. Participants must have been residents of New Rochelle within the last 12 months,
2. Participants must have a history of recent housing stability (defined as at least 12 consecutive months of independent living at the same address within the last 36 months);
3. Participants must provide documentation including their current lease, evidence of previous and current employment income, and other documents needed to establish eligibility and appropriateness for this program;
4. Participants must have at least 2 of the following risk factors for homelessness that were identified in HUD’s "Notice of Allocations, Application Procedures, and Requirements for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program Grantees", dated 6/8/09;

• Eviction within 2 weeks from a private dwelling (including housing provided by family or friends);
• Eviction within 2 weeks from a private dwelling (including housing provided by family or friends);
• Discharge within 2 weeks from an institution in which the person has been a resident for more than 180 days (including prisons, mental health institutions, hospitals);
• Residency in housing that has been condemned by housing officials and is no longer meant for human habitation;
• Sudden and significant loss of income;
• Sudden and significant increase in utility costs;
• Mental health or substance abuse issues;
• Physical disabilities or other chronic health issues, including HIV/AIDS;
• Severe housing cost burden (greater than 50% of income for housing costs);
• Homeless in last 12 months;
• Young head of household (under 25 with children or pregnant);
• Current or past involvement with child welfare, including foster care;
• Pending foreclosure of rental housing;
• Extremely low income (less than 30% of Area Median Income);
• High overcrowding (the number of persons exceeds health and/or safety standards for the housing unit size);
• Past institutional care (prison, treatment facility, hospital);
• Recent traumatic life event, such as death of a spouse or primary care provider, or recent health crisis that prevented the household from meeting its financial responsibilities;
• Credit problems that preclude obtaining of housing; or
• Significant amount of medical debt.

Locally-Determined Preference: Preference will be given to participants who have lost a job or had their employment income reduced by at least 10% over the last 12 months.

Note: Only a limited number of households can receive assistance through this program. Final decisions on which households to enroll will be based on subjective assessments balancing each household’s relative severity of need vs. their prospects for rapidly achieving self-sufficiency.