Housing Voucher Programs - Policy and Procedures Manual

Chapter XXI Sections

1. Definition of Homeless for MSHDA HARP Program
2. Coordinated Action Plan (CAP)
3. Community Service Provider Certifications
4. Waiting List Maintenance
5. Participation in the Program
6. Applicable Forms Listing

Chapter XXI: Homeless Assistance Recovery Program

Effective: October 2008

Introduction

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority’s (MSHDA) Homeless Assistance Recovery Program (HARP) provides a waiting list preference for homeless households for rental subsidy through MSHDA’s statewide Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. HARP also provides the participants with collaborative supportive services through the local county Continuum of Care (CofC) service provider network. Each CofC in the state has a Lead Agency that works with local homeless service providers to identify and certify that the applicants are homeless. The service providers will assist the HA by helping applicants to complete paperwork and other HCV program requirements, obtain security deposits, and find and maintain rental housing. When a HCV participant leaves the program, the voucher will be filled with an applicant from the HARP waiting list. When the HARP waiting list is exhausted in a county, applicants for the HCV program will be selected from the current HCV waiting list for that county. Preference will be based on residency or employment in that county and date/time of application. Please see Chapter II. Waiting List Management for more information.

All HCV regulations are followed including the waiting list process once the applicant has been certified by the Lead Agency.

Section A: Definition of Homeless for MSHDA HARP Program

1. The Applicant household must be “homeless,” as defined by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) homeless criteria; and
2. The Applicant household must currently be actively engaged in services provided through a qualified and publicly supported emergency shelter, transitional housing program, homeless service program, TBRA, Shelter Plus Care, Supportive Housing Program, Permanent Supportive Housing (SHP), Transitional Supportive Housing (TSHLAP, TIPLAP, or Rapid Re-Housing). Note: CofC’s may elect on a county wide basis to require that households must have been continuously engaged in these services for an extended period of time (at least 28 days); and,
3. The Applicant household must provide certification from the service provider (in 2 above) that they have attained the skills necessary to maintain long-term stability in permanent housing; or
4. A resident of a nursing facility who desires to leave the nursing facility, but has no housing to return to.

HUD defines the term “homeless” or “homeless individual or homeless person” as:

1. an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and
2. an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is:
   1. a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);
   2. an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
   3. a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

The term “homeless” or “homeless individual” does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an Act of the Congress or a State law.