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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSection 8 Admin Plan 2011Community Development Commission Of The City of National City Agenda Statement Addendum April 5, 2011 Background: The Section 8 Rental Assistance Program was enacted as part of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, which re -codified the U.S. Housing Act of 1937. The Act has been amended from time to time, most recently on October 21, 1998, with the passage of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA.) The requirements of the Housing Act(s), as they apply to the Section 8 Tenant -Based Assistance Program and the Housing Choice Voucher Program, are described in and implemented through the Administrative Plan. Administration of the Section 8 Program and the functions and responsibilities of the Housing Department staff shall be in compliance with the Housing Department's Personnel Policy and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Section 8 Regulations as well as all Federal, State and local Fair Housing laws and regulations. The Housing Department will comply with any and all subsequent regulatory and statutory program changes. The Administrative Plan is set forth to define the Housing Department's local policies for operation of the housing programs in the context of Federal laws and regulations. All issues related to Section 8 not addressed in this document are governed by such Federal regulations, HUD memos, notices and guidelines or other applicable law. The revisions to the current Administrative Plan will update the policies in accordance with the most recent published QHWRA requirements. CHAPTER 3 ADD: Language re: PHA prohibition of Medical Marijuana use NEW ADMISSIONS Based on federal law, new admissions of medical marijuana users are prohibited into the PH and HCV programs. The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA) of 1998 (42 U.S.C. §13661) requires that PHAs administering the Department's rental assistance programs based on the illegal use of controlled substances, including state legalized medical marijuana. State laws that legalize medical marijuana directly conflict with the admission requirements set forth in QHWRA and are thus subject to federal preemption. CDC will deny admission for any families under this penalty. CURRENT RESIDENTS For existing residents, QHWRA requires PHAs to establish occupancy standards and lease provisions that will allow the PHA to terminate assistance for use of a controlled substance. CDC will deny assistance to or terminate individual medical marijuana users. The family may choose to remove the member who uses medical marijuana rather than deny or terminate the entire household, for both applicant and existing residents when appropriate. 1 Community Development Commission Of The City of National City Agenda Statement Addendum April 5, 2011 CHAPTER 3. ADD: Language re: PHA prohibition of Medical Marijuana use (continued) CHAPTER 3 ADD: Language re: Eligibility criteria: for Homeless ADD TO CHAPTER 3: ADD TO CHAPTER 3: The FDA has approved drugs for medical uses which are comprised of marijuana synthetics, such as Marinol and Cesamet. These drugs are not medical marijuana and are legal under federal laws. These products have been through the FDA's rigorous approval process and have been determined to be safe and effective for their indications. They are therefore allowed in the public housing and voucher programs. Pages 3 — 3 & 3-4 Homeless An applicant is considered homeless if the applicant Tacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence and can provide verification that their nighttime residence is: 1. A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations; or 2. A public or private place that provides temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized (not incarcerated); or 3. A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodations for human beings. Homeless applicants who meet the criteria described above must provide proof of homelessness. Examples of such proof include certification of homeless status from a public or private facility, including Transitional Housing, that provides shelter for such households; a copy of an arrest record for vagrancy or illegal lodging from the local police department; or other documentation that can be obtained from any social service agency that provides services to the homeless. Page 3-7 CHART re: Prohibition Periods for Some Offenses for Applicants and Participants (•ase 3 --12 CHART re: Social Security Documentation (page 3 — 13) 2 Community Development Commission Of The City of National City Agenda Statement Addendum April 5, 2011 ADD TO CHAPTER 3: CHART re: HUD VERIFICATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY CARD NUMBERS ON E.I.V. SSN submitted on form HUD-50058, and transmitted to enable HUD to initiate its computer matching (page 3 —16 ADD TO CHAPTER 3: CHART re: SUMMARY OF DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR NONCITIZENS [HCV GB, pp. 5-9 AND 5-10] (page 3 —18) CHAPTER 4: REVISE LANGUAGE RESIDENCY PREFERENCE: This preference applies to families who live, work or has been hired and paid to work, in the jurisdiction of the CDC. Voluntary work is not counted as an acceptable preference. Acceptable documentation includes two or more of the following documents that indicate the current reported resident or employment address: • Copy of Lease Agreement and three most recent rent receipts, cancelled checks or money order receipts • A California driver's license or California ID in conjunction with copies of recent bills sent to the address. • Families who claim to work in the jurisdiction of the CDC must provide copy of paycheck stubs that indicate the location of the place of employment or third party verification that indicates the place of employment. Page 4 - 14 CHAPTER 4: REVISE LANGUAGE HOMELESS PREFERENCE: An applicant is considered homeless if the applicant Tacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence and can provide verification that their nighttime residence is: o A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations; or o An institution that provides temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized (not incarcerated); or o A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular place for human beings. 3 Community Development Commission Of The City of National City Agenda Statement Addendum April 5, 2011 CHAPTER 4: REVISE LANGUAGE Homeless applicants who meet the criteria described above must provide certification of homeless status from a public or private facility that provides shelter for such households, or from the local police department, or any social service agency that provides services for homeless people. Applicants who are homeless due to residing in a transitional housing program must provide a letter from the transitional program's sponsoring agency documenting the applicant's participation and readiness to maintain an independent tenancy. Page 4-15&16 VERIFICATION OF LEGAL IDENTITY Copies of the birth certificates for all family members must be on file, and only when that cannot be provided, will the following documents be temporarily accepted as proof of identify, birth, and residency: OR Picture ID will be required of all adult household members, including live-in aides. Verification for adults includes one of these forms: Naturalization papers (cannot be copied — use document viewed statement) Dept. of Motor Vehicles ID card U.S. military discharge (DD 214) Current, valid driver's license Legal driver's license U.S. passport Company/agency ID Health and Human Services ID Social Security Card Certificate of Birth If a minor cannot provide a birth certificate, one of the following may be substituted temporarily: Acceptable INS documentation Adoption papers Custody agreement Health and Human Services ID 4 Community Development Commission Of The City of National City Agenda Statement Addendum April 5, 2011 School records U. S. passport Page 4 - 16 ADD TO CHAPTER 13 VAWA Language -, final rule VERIFICATION OF A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, OR STALKING The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA) provides that "innocent" family members cannot be denied admission or terminated from the program for criminal activity, lease violations, or other good cause if the violations were as a direct result of a family member being the victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, unless the housing agency can demonstrate an actual and imminent threat to other tenants or those employed at or providing service to the property. VAWA gives PHAs the authority to terminate assistance to any individual who is a participant or lawful occupant who engages in criminal acts of physical violence against family members or others without evicting, removing, terminating assistance or otherwise penalizing the victim of such violence who is also a participant or lawful occupant. The PHA will, upon appropriate verification, terminate or deny the offender's program eligibility while allowing the victim to continue to be eligible for assistance. • The victim must agree in writing to exclude the offender from the assisted unit and certify that the perpetrator will not be permitted to visit or to stay as a guest in the assisted unit. To verify the party is a victim in one of the above categories, the CDC must receive a completed certification form and third party documentation to support the certification. The certification and documentation must be received by the CDC within 14 calendar days of receipt of the CDC's request. The following supporting documentation is acceptable as long as it includes the period of time the violent act(s) occurred and if the act(s) were directly related to the violations: Police reports or court records documenting the domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking o Statement from a professional with expertise in working with victims of domestic violence who was workin• with the 5 Community Development Commission Of The City of National City Agenda Statement Addendum April 5, 2011 ADD TO CHAPTER 13 VAWA Language — final rule CHAPTER 14 ADD: Language re: PHA prohibition of Medical Marijuana use program participant o A certification from the victim by itself is not sufficient documentation but must accompany one of the above sources of documentation. The deadline for return of documentation of victim status will be 14 days from the date the request is received by the family. All information provided to the CDC regarding domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, including the fact that an individual is a victim of such violence or stalking, must be retained in confidence and may neither be entered into any shared database nor provided to any related entity, except to the extent that the disclosure is: ■ requested or consented to by the individual in writing, required for use in an eviction proceeding, or is otherwise required by applicable law. To verify that the acts pose an actual and imminent threat to other tenants or those employed at or providing service to the property, the CDC would collect any one of the following: • A statement under penalty of perjury • A restraining order • An arrest record Page 13 — 9 & 10 NEW ADMISSIONS Based on federal law, new admissions of medical marijuana users are prohibited into the PH and HCV programs. The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA) of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 513661) requires that PHAs administering the Department's rental assistance programs based on the illegal use of controlled substances, including state legalized medical marijuana. State laws that legalize medical marijuana directly conflict with the admission requirements set forth in QHWRA and are thus subject to federal preemption. CDC will deny admission for any families under this penalty. CURRENT RESIDENTS For existing residents, QHWRA requires PHAs to establish occupancy standards and lease provisions that will allow the PHA to terminate assistance for use of a controlled substance. CDC will deny assistance to or terminate individual medical marijuana users. The family may 6 Community Development Commission Of The City of National City Agenda Statement Addendum April 5, 2011 CHAPTER 14 ADD: Language re: PHA prohibition of Medical Marijuana use (continued) choose to remove the member who uses medical marijuana rather than deny or terminate the entire household, for both applicant and existing residents when appropriate. The FDA has approved drugs for medical uses which are comprised of marijuana synthetics, such as Marinol and Cesamet. These drugs are not medical marijuana and are legal under federal laws. These products have been through the FDA's rigorous approval process and have been determined to be safe and effective for their indications. They are therefore allowed in the public housing and voucher programs. Page 14-8 . ADD TO CHAPTER 14 ADD TO CHAPTER 14 EVIDENCE OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY The Violence Against Women and Justice Department Reauthorization Act protects qualified tenants and family members of tenants who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking from being evicted or terminated from housing assistance based on acts of such violence against them (refer to Chapter 13, page 13-9). Page 14 - 10 PROCEDURE FOR INFORMAL HEARING Families may, during or before the hearing: • At least seven (7) days from the date of the Notice of Informal hearing, examine, and request copies at the family's expense *, any unprivileged documents in the file that are directly relevant, as determined by the CDC, to the issues to be considered at the hearing which form the basis for the CDC's action, and all documents submitted to the hearing officer. (* copy fee: $1.00 for first page, $0.15 for each additional page) Page 14 — 18 7 Community Development Commission Of The City of National City Agenda Statement Addendum April 5, 2011 ADD TO GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN NON -CITIZEN RULE ASYLEES means an alien in the United States or at a port of entry who is found to be unable or unwilling to return to his or her country of nationality, or to seek the protection of that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. Persecution or the fear thereof must be based on the alien's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. For persons with no nationality, the country of nationality is considered to be the country in which the alien last habitually resided. Asylees are eligible to adjust to lawful permanent resident status after one year of continuous presence in the United States. These immigrants are limited to 10,000 adjustments per fiscal year. Pa e G - 29 The community and the Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC) committee, acting as the Resident Advisory Board, were given an opportunity to review and comment on the proposed plan. No recommendation and comment were received regarding the proposed plan. Staff recommends that the Community Development Commission Board consider the adoption of the attached Resolution approving the revisions to the Section 8 Administrative Plan; and authorizing the submittal of the plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 8