Purpose
The purpose of this memo is to provide information to Council on the new housing allowance benefit stemming from the Housing & Poverty Reduction Investment Plan Report approved by Council in May 2011.
Background
In May 2011, City Council approved a $14M Housing and Poverty Reduction Investment Plan as part of the 2011 budget process. The investments reflect the priority needs identified by staff and the community associated with the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Homelessness Strategy Development, the work of the Housing System Working Group and input from sector specific housing groups.
The approved investments provides financial supports to assist people with accessing or maintaining housing and fall into the following categories: employment programs for vulnerable youth; supports for people to obtain housing and/or to stabilize in current living arrangements; social housing repairs; capital for new affordable or supportive housing; and rent supplements and housing allowances.
This memo provides an overview of the housing allowance benefit, its focus, scope, implementation plan, reporting process, and evaluation approach.
Staff has received the necessary approval from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) and the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) regarding the program design. Specifically it complies with provincial regulations to ensure that the allowances paid directly to recipient households will not negatively affect other benefits they may receive. To that end, the name of the Program will officially be called the Ottawa Short Term Rent Support Program (OSTRSP) and will follow the guidelines outlined below.
Program Overview and Delivery Model
A housing allowance benefit would provide direct assistance to people who either currently living on the street or are at high risk of becoming homeless. It is estimated the annual funding envelope of $600,000 will assist up to 200 households through this program. The focus of the program will be twofold:
1. House 20 homeless individuals currently living on the street and who are receiving ongoing support from the Housing Response Team (HRT).
2. Prevent homelessness for up to 180 households who are at imminent risk of losing their housing. Households will be identified through the Housing Loss Prevention Network (HLPN) using set criteria and a comprehensive assessment process.
1. Moving People from the Street into Housing
with the assistance of the Housing Response Team
This component of the housing allowance program is intended to help 20 vulnerable people currently living on the street to secure housing with the necessary supports.
The Housing Response Team (HRT) works with people living on the street, 24/7, using a ‘housing-first’ approach. Clients engaged in this program are chronically homeless. They have a history of living outdoors, on the street or in encampments across the City. Some of the clients have histories of moving from complete homelessness, couch surfing, emergency shelters to housing and back to homelessness within a short period of time.
‘Housing-first’ is an evidence-based approach promoting housing as a first intervention, along with providing appropriate supports in a timely manner to help individuals retain their housing. Already the Housing Response Team has been successful in housing 80 homeless people with 95% of the 80 still housed, thus reducing the number of homeless on the street from approximately 120 to about 35 at present.
A significant barrier to finding housing is affordability of rents and landlords willingness to rent to this vulnerable population. The provision of a Housing Allowance will complement the personalized, goal-oriented plans established with each person. The benefits of this approach are twofold. Clients will have access to affordable rental properties, including those provided by licensed rooming houses; and landlords are assured that tenants will have the supports in place to address challenges with their tenancy.
The HRT has had notable success in working with landlords to enter into agreements as long as the client remains supported by the HRT. In circumstances where a housing situation is not suitable for the client or the landlord, the HRT works with both parties to either resolve the issues or find alternative housing.
Applications for a housing allowance will be submitted by the Housing Response Team on behalf of the client to the Rent Supplement Office (RSO). Once approved, monthly housing allowance payments will be made to the client - in care of the Salvation Army, who will ensure the funds go toward rent. The housing allowance may be transferred directly to the client at a later date upon agreement of the client and the HRT. The HRT will work with the client to ensure the appropriate documentation is supplied to the RSO.
2. Preventing Homelessness with the assistance
of the Housing Loss Prevention Network
This component of the housing allowance program is intended to prevent up 180 households, who are most imminently at risk, of becoming homeless due to financial circumstances. Households may face economic hardship where an excessive amount of their income is being spent on rent and the economic circumstance of their situation is not likely to change in the short term. For such situations, where the household will lose their housing and where other solutions have been fully explored, a housing allowance could be provided if it means the household would be able to then financially sustain their housing.
Every time a household becomes homeless, there are costs – economic and social to both the household and to the community as a whole that far exceed the cost of a rent allowance. In pure economic terms, the cost of a shelter or motel for a family of four is over $5,300 per month. This cost does not include the other tangible or the intangible costs of being dislocated from one’s home, school, community and social network
The Housing Loss
Prevention Network (HLPN) was formed to provide resources on a City-wide basis
to assist households at risk of losing their housing. Issues addressed include:
eviction notices, landlord–tenant disputes, tenant rights disputes and other
situations. Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre is the host agency of
the Network. Partner agencies also include Housing Help, Action Logement, South
East Ottawa Community Health Centre, Nepean, Rideau and Osgoode Community
Resource Centre, and Carlington Community Health Centre. A total of 2,845 households
were served by the Network in 2010:
· 340 household served were at imminent risk of losing their housing
· 1854 households were provided with early intervention assistance to retain housing
· 991 households were provided assistance with non-emergency assistance to retain housing and on-going supports.
The Housing Loss
Prevention Network (HLPN) will complete an application form with the household (required
documentation will include: financial documentation, proof of rent, household
composition, income verification etc). An HLPN supervisor will review and
approve the application, which will then be sent to the Rent Supplement Office
(RSO) for review and final approval. Once approved, a monthly housing allowance
cheque will be issued to the household. RSO will require an annual review to be
completed by the household to assess adjustments in circumstances such as change
of address or change in eligibility for the program.
Overview of Program Guidelines
Basic
Program Parameters (includes guidelines outlined in
the STRSP legislation and recommendations of the Housing Services Branch in
consultation with partners):
· Monthly allowance will be $250 for an individual. Familial households with more than one person residing in the household will receive an additional $50 for each additional family household member. (e.g. a mother with 2 dependent children will receive $350 per month)
· Housing allowances are to be paid monthly to the household (except HRT program – initially payment is to the landlord via the HRT)
· Housing allowances are portable within the City of Ottawa
· Ongoing eligibility reviewed on an annual basis
· Recipient must immediately report if they begin receiving Rent Geared to Income Housing.
· Overpayments will be recovered through a repayment plan
· Housing allowances will be used as a last resort to secure housing or prevent homelessness
Applicant’s Basic Eligibility Criteria:
· A resident of the City of Ottawa
· 16 years of age or older
· Current and ongoing status in Canada
· Annual Income from all sources must not exceed Statistics Canada’s Before Tax Low Income Cut-offs (LICO)[1]
· Must be paying over 30% of their income towards rent
Basic Exclusion/Termination Criteria:
· Cannot be in receipt of Rent Geared to Income (RGI) housing
· Not transferrable to a location outside of the City of Ottawa
· Exceeds income limits of Low Income Cut Off for family size
Household enrolment and ongoing eligibility testing will rest ultimately with the Rent Supplement Office of the Housing Services Branch. It will follow the guidelines as set out in the Ontario Short Term Rent Support Program (STRSP) in order to be eligible for exemptions afforded under this program. It will be designed as an ongoing program requiring households to confirm annually, with appropriate documentation, their continued eligibility.
An ongoing record will be maintained of all households receiving funding under the program and payments will be tracked on a monthly basis. Payments will be processed in a manner consistent with existing Social Housing programs.
Evaluation
The Ottawa Short Term Rent Support Program will be evaluated against a set of outcomes. These outcomes will include, but not be limited to:
· Percentage of individuals who remain housed after one year;
· Percentage of individuals who remain housed and require ongoing support after one year; and / or
· Percentage of households who are no longer in receipt of an Housing Allowance after one year, and reason why (e.g. household income in excess of LICO, receiving RGI, moved out of Ottawa, did not submit required documentation, etc.).
Original signed by Aaron Burry
Aaron Burry
General Manager
[1] Low Income Cut-Offs
(LICOs) are prepared by Statistics Canada. They are income thresholds below
which a family will likely devote a larger share of its income on the
necessities of food, shelter and clothing than the average family. The approach
is essentially to estimate an income threshold at which families are expected
to spend 20 percentage points more than the average family on food, shelter and
clothing. LICO’s vary by 7
family sizes and 5 different population sizes of the urban area in order to
capture differences in the cost of living amongst various family and community
sizes.