Minutes 04-29-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• Landlord Guarantee Fund • Provides incentives to landlords who rent to low income or Section 8 tenants • Protects landlords from excessive damage by tenants who move out within two years • Helps to increase the stock of affordable rental units • Has been tried in other locales Hot Topics � DSS Recommendations • Provide financial counseling to low income families, particularly those with recurring requests for crisis funds • Explore Landlord Guarantee Fund to increase rental availability • Pay short term rental assistance to prevent homelessness • Reinstate Wheels to Work and car repair program • Use any available Work First funds and pursue any grant possibilities to support subsidized employment • Provide child care for all target groups and reduce wait time for child care to less than six months Nancy Coston said many of the additional programs listed are past programs that the department is no longer able to do or programs that are being considered. She highlighted the Landlord Guarantee fund. She said this is a program to help people gain interest in renting through voucher programs, whether County voucher or section 8. She said this would give some guarantee to landlords that if someone moves out, leaving serious damage, there are some funds to help compensate. She said this might be worth considering. She said DSS used to provide financial counseling to every family that received emergency assistance. She said people who needed crisis funds more than once in a year were required to participate in the counseling program. She said when DSS got overrun and lost staff this was stopped due to lack of resources. She said this counseling was valuable in helping families understand credit issues and bill payment, and it is a good program to have. She recommends looking into the Landlord Guarantee program, because even with homeless grants, finding enough rental properties has been difficult. She said the short term rental funds are helpful, and this is included in the budget for this year. She said the County does not currently have the Wheels to Work or the Car Repair program. She said the Work First funds allows for some car repairs, but a program is needed to help people who are already working and need a car repair to keep them going to work. She said some money for this has been put into the budget for next year, but it also requires resources and time to manage the program. Nancy Coston said there were special monies in the past to subsidize employment, and these are no longer available. She said some of the Work First money has been moved in next year's budget into a temporary line item to allow help with subsidized employment. She said child care is a critical issue, and a concerted effort has been made to clear the waiting list. Tina Clark and Nancy Coston presented the following slide: Hot Topics • Child Care • School-based Social Workers • NC FAST