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Email Benefit Update March 2007
- Section 8 News
- Impact of Family Eviction Prevention Supplement (FEPS) with reopening of Section 8
- Income/Resource Levels to Qualify for Extra Help
- 2007 Federal Poverty Levels
- Victory for QEJ and Homeless Domestic Partners
- Advocacy Tip: Reissuing Public Assistance Rent Checks
- Community Resources
Section 8 New
For several years the waiting list for section 8 was closed until late January when Mayor Bloomberg and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chairman Tino Hernandez announced the availability of 22,000 new Section 8 housing vouchers for low-income families seeking affordable housing in New York City.
3,000 vouchers will be targeted toward families at risk of homelessness, and 200 for chronically homeless individuals not in the shelter system.
Priority will still be in place for victims of domestic violence, families reuniting from foster care and intimidated witnesses. Priority will also be given to those still-eligible individuals and families remaining on the current list. To find out if a client is currently on the list, contact the NYCHA Application Office by calling 311.
A new Section 8 application form will be available to applicants at any of NYCHA’s Borough Applications Offices. Applications will also be available at all NYCHA Management Offices. For a complete list of addresses, applicants can visit the NYCHA website at www.nyc.gov/nycha or call 311.
Section 8 applications from the general public will be accepted for a three-month period beginning February 12, 2007. Applications must be postmarked no later than May 14, 2007. Applications can be sent to NYCHA immediately, but will not be officially accepted until February 12, 2007. NYCHA will not accept any applications delivered to their offices. Completed applications must be mailed to:
NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY
Post Office Box 445
Church Street Station
New York, NY 10008-0445
Please note: Applications for Section 8 can not be downloaded and duplicated. Applicants must use the original form. In addition, NYCHA will not let organizations pick up blank applications.
To have a Section 8 application mailed: https://a996-housingauthority.nyc.gov/section%5F8%5F application
Impact of Family Eviction Prevention Supplement (FEPS) With Reopening of Section 8
According to a City's Policy Directive: To be eligible for ongoing or new FEPS "the applicant/participant must “apply for Section 8 assistance, if available, and must take the benefits if offered."
Make sure any FEPS client you are seeing from today, until the list closes in May, applies for Section 8 (whether or not they may not be eligible).
Your FEPS client may or may not be eligible for a priority but some of the priorities include:
- substandard housing
- overcrowding
- doubling up
- high rent burden (maybe in the future, if the person has work income and their pa case closes; a roommate moves out, etc.)
Since applications must be mailed to a post office box, certified return receipt mailing will not work. Try a certificate of mailing. Information about receiving an application by mail, or where to go to pick up an application, is on the NYCHA website.
Income/Resource Levels to Qualify for Extra Help
There are two levels of Extra Help, full or partial, which provide different subsidy amounts based on the beneficiary’s income and resources.
| Full Extra Help | Part D with no premium or deductible $2.15 – 5.35 co-pays |
Income Limit: |
Asset Limit: |
| Partial Extra Help | Part D with reduced premium, $53 or less deductible, lower co-pays |
Income Limit: |
Asset Limit: |
For more information regarding Extra Help visit the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/
2007 Federal Poverty Levels
| Household Size | 100% | 125% | 130% | 150% | ||
|
851 10,210 |
1,064 12,763 |
1,106 13,273 |
1,277 15,315 |
||
|
1,141 13,690 |
1,426 17,113 |
1,483 17,797 |
1,712 20,535 |
||
|
1,431 17,170 |
1,789 21,463 |
1,860 22,321 |
2,147 25,755 |
To view a more comprehensive chart see, Federal Poverty Levels, under Eligibility Charts.
Victory for QEJ and Homeless Domestic Partners
Queers for Economic Justice is pleased to announce that due to the hard work of many community members and organizations, and the support of the New York City Council, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) has finally changed its domestic partner policy.
DHS will no longer continue to discriminate against domestic partners seeking family shelter. Domestic partners will no longer have to provide extra documentation (burdensome proof which is not required of married couples), in order to be sheltered together as a family.
As of February 1st, homeless couples who have registered with the City Clerk as domestic partners will be sheltered as families in the same way as married couples. This policy will apply to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples. A homeless domestic partner couple who seeks shelter need only present their domestic partnership certificate in order to be considered a family by DHS for the purpose of securing shelter. In addition, the new policy grants "family status" to homeless adults who have other family relationships (e.g., grandparent and grandson/daughter, or siblings) who have resided together for six of the previous 12 months, and to street homeless couples who are assisted by an outreach worker.
Currently this is a six-month pilot program, but it is QEJ’s hope and expectation that this policy will be made permanent at the end of the trial period. During this time, advocates will need to monitor how the pilot program is going. Particular attention should be paid to couples who cannot get domestic partnership certificates, to make sure that they will still have available to them the options that existed before this pilot program.
To visit QEJ’s website go to: www.queersforeconomicjustice.org/
Advocacy Tip: Reissuing Public Assistance Rent Checks
The Landlord Ombudsman Services Unit (LOSU) is responsible for processing U.S. Postal Service returned direct vendor rent checks for Public Assistance (PA) participants. LOSU deals with getting checks cancelled and re-issued. LOSU conducts an investigation to find out why the check was returned. Once a decision is made the Job Center worker will carry out the directives of the LOSU. Advocates can call the unit should problems with returned checks occur. The LOSU can be reached at: (212) 331-5927.
Community Resources
Kinship Resource
The Kinship Navigator is a new statewide program operated by Catholic Family Center and specifically designed to provide information and resources to kinship caregivers across all of New York State. The Kinship Navigator is part of a broad-based coordinated effort to provide comprehensive services that address the multiple needs of kinship caregivers and their families through State funds. Visit the website at: http://www.nysnavigator.org/index.htm
Burial Assistance
Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) publishes “A Guide to Burial Assistance for New Yorkers in Need”, which provides burial assistance information for friends and families of poor persons who have died, and for social workers who work with elderly poor New Yorkers to make burial arrangements. Single copies of the Guide may be obtained by sending a stamped ($1.75), self-addressed 9x12 envelope to Volunteers of Legal Service, 54 Greene Street, NY, NY 10013. You can also go to their website at http://www.nycremation.com/pdf/Indigent_burial.pdf or call (212) 996-4400.
CUNY Immigration Services
CUNY has opened eight citizenship and immigration law service centers on its campuses to meet the needs of immigrants. At each center, immigrants receive assistance in preparing applications for naturalization, citizenship, family petitions, asylum and applications for permanent residence. The centers also assist international students with F-1 visa problems. These services are available free of charge to all, regardless of their affiliation with CUNY.
To learn more about CUNY’s immigration services go to www.cuny.edu/citizenshipnow.
ADA Resource Manual for Non-Litigation Advocacy
Created by Cary Lacheen, a Senior Staff Attorney at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (formally known as the Welfare Law Center) this manual is a resource tool for lawyer and non-lawyer advocates. It explains who is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and what welfare agencies must do to comply with the ADA; discusses Policy Guidance; contains easy-to-understand examples of key ADA requirements; provides many examples of reasonable modifications advocates can seek on behalf of their clients with disabilities; discusses welfare agencies' obligation to screen and assess clients to identify their disabilities and more. See www.nclej.org/contents/ADA2004_manual.html.