We are excited to report that the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which operates a large statewide Housing Choice Voucher program, has committed to a new housing mobility program as part of its 2016 Consolidated Plan. The new program, which starts with 100 vouchers in the first year, emerged as part of a requirement for the State to update its Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice that came out of the resolution of the contested Hurricane Sandy recovery plan, which the state worked on with HUD and the Fair Share Housing Center, the Latino Action Network, and the NAACP New Jersey State Conference. The new program states that “DCA will expand upon its current efforts to improve access to housing opportunities outside areas of concentrated poverty by establishing an intensive counseling component to the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program to more strongly encourage and make it easier for its voucher holders to locate affordable housing in communities that better reflect the racial and economic diversity of the State….[and to] help them find rental units in the areas of higher opportunity that best meet the needs of the family, including nearby schools, public transportation, employment opportunities, healthcare facilities, and other community amenities. In addition, DCA will consider modifying HCV policies to allow longer search times, higher subsidy levels in more advantageous neighborhoods, a targeted outreach to attract landlords interested in participating in the Housing Choice Voucher Program for the first time.” The New Jersey program joins fifteen other housing mobility programs around the country, listed in our July 2015 guide. For more information on the plan and timetable in NJ, contact David Rammler at davidrammler@fairsharehousing.org.
Resources: Section from NJ Consolidated Plan Appendix: —————————-
