DISCUSSION
The following is a status report for the month of November 2018:
Program Eligibility: All participants of the Housing Choice Voucher Program must be income eligible. Applicants are ranked on the Waiting List by local preferences. When an applicant is next on the Waiting List, they have an Initial Qualifying (IQ) interview where their eligibility is verified. If they are eligible, they receive a program briefing and their voucher. The Authority replaces those families who terminate from the program as a part of normal turnover. Once on the program, they are re-certified for eligibility at least annually and their portion of the rent adjusted according to their income.
INITIAL QUALIFICATION (IQ) INTERVIEWS: Staff conducted one Initial Qualification interview (IQ) from the Waiting List and the following:
(a) Emergency Situations - 0
(b) Referred by a Garden Grove Homeless Shelter - 1
(c) Incoming Portability – 5
Briefings: Two briefings were conducted this month, and nine vouchers were issued.
Re-certifications: Staff conducted 168 re-examination interviews with participants to determine continued eligibility. Eighty-eight were interviewed who had interim changes in income, which necessitated an adjustment in their portion of the rent.
Moves: Staff met with 14 tenants currently on the program that were moving and were briefed on move procedures.
Terminations: There were three families who terminated from the program during the month.
FAMILY SELF-SUFFICIENCY PROGRAM (FSS): Assists families to become employed and no longer dependent on public assistance. The Family Self-Sufficiency Program enters into contracts with Voucher participants to provide support services such as education, training, and career development.
Status of FSS participants this month: There was one prospective FSS participant interviewed for the month of November. There were no contracts signed and no contracts were terminated. There are a total of 382 families who have signed contracts for the FSS program. Forty-four contracts are active. Five update meetings were held with FSS participants.
One hundred and thirty-one families have completed their FSS goals and 61 of these are self-sufficient and no longer need housing assistance. Eight families have purchased houses. There are 33 escrow accounts. Twenty-six escrow accounts are active with monthly deposits.
The Authority has paid out a total of $1,080,219 in escrow funds to tenants who have completed their contract obligations. Each graduate that successfully completes his or her family obligations on the contract after October 21, 1998, reduces the minimum program size. The original program size of 140 is now reduced to 14.
UNIT INSPECTIONS: All units that are leased under the Housing Choice Voucher program must pass an initial Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection before the Housing Assistance Payments contract is signed, and must pass a biennial HQS inspection to continue to receive rental assistance payments. HQS inspections determine that the unit is decent, safe and sanitary, and has passed City building codes.
New Leases: There were 18 requests for new lease approvals with 8 units passing and 10 units failing.
Annuals: There were 78 annual inspections conducted this month. Twenty-eight units passed and 50 units failed to meet Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and code requirements. The owners were requested to make the necessary repairs.
Re-inspections: There were 90 re-inspections conducted on units that failed their first inspection.
Move-out: There were no move-out inspections conducted.
Specials: There were six special inspections conducted.
Quality Control: There were 12 quality control inspections conducted this month. These inspections are required by HUD to ensure that field staff is in compliance with inspection requirements and are conducted by supervisory staff.