Agenda - 12-03-2018 8-a - Minutes

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19 1 Sherrill Hampton said yes, and staff always refers residents back to local partners. She 2 said the housing department does not do case management. 3 Commissioner Jacobs said Durham has so many apartments, and may not like Orange 4 County residents being steered there. He asked if DSS will coordinate with other counties. 5 Sherrill Hampton said if one is living in that ten-mile radius, and thus becomes a resident 6 of Durham County, one would be eligible for Durham County programming and services. 7 Commissioner Jacobs said people will find more opportunities in Durham, and it may be 8 good to have some outreach to Durham Social Services. 9 Sherrill Hampton said Orange County residents under the federal program are ported to 10 Durham, and the administrative fee and funds goes to the Durham Housing Authority. 11 Commissioner Marcoplos said these people are looking the best place to meet their 12 needs, which may be Durham County. He said staff is not allowed to direct people. 13 Chair Dorosin said this is exciting. He clarified that the funding is coming partly from the 14 County general fund and partly from HOME funds. 15 Sherrill Hampton said yes. 16 Chair Dorosin asked if this program will be unavailable to undocumented residents due 17 to the use of some HOME funding. 18 Sherrill Hampton said if the money for the rent comes out of the HOME program, it 19 cannot be used by undocumented residents. 20 Chair Dorosin asked if the two piles of funding could be kept separate, thus allowing for 21 an undocumented resident to be funded using Orange County funds. 22 Sherrill Hampton said yes. 23 Sherrill Hampton said no utility assistance or security funds for an undocumented 24 person can be paid out of HOME funds, but the local risk mitigation money could be used for 25 this. 26 Chair Dorosin asked if staff could explain how this program will intersect with the 27 housing choice voucher program. He said there are 771 people on the housing choice waiting 28 list, and asked if these people can sign up for one of these local vouchers. 29 Sherrill Hampton said yes. 30 Chair Dorosin asked if it is possible for a person in the middle of the federal program 31 waiting list to move to the top of the list for a local voucher. 32 Sherrill Hampton said yes a person could move higher up on the local list if one meets 33 the preferences. 34 Javon Holley said the two cannot be mixed, but one can be on both lists and accept or 35 deny whichever becomes available first. 36 Chair Dorosin said there are 771 people on the housing choice voucher waiting list, and 37 asked if there are people who have these vouchers but cannot find housing, and thus lose the 38 voucher. 39 Sherrill Hampton said there is a 120-time period to secure housing, and yes, vouchers 40 can be lost. She said staff tries to check in at the 60-day mark to see how the search is going. 41 She said the HUD program allows for one 60-day extension, and the local program will allow for 42 two. 43 Chair Dorosin said one step of this process is creating more vouchers, and asked if a 44 targeted recruitment of landlords would be helpful through the towns or service partners. 45 Commissioner Jacobs said this program is great, but he had originally looked at going at 46 this differently by finding housing and subsidizing the apartment owner to reserve those units 47 for those who would then receive vouchers. 48 Sherrill Hampton referred to page one, and the type of help that will be available: tenant 49 based voucher, project based voucher, and sponsored based vouchers. She said more 50 vouchers are needed to make more happen, and staff has started with 15 vouchers to start,