OVERVIEW - Housing Choice Voucher (HCV)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides federal funding for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program for Coastal Community Action, Inc. The HCV Program assists extremely low-income to very low-income families, including elderly and disabled families, in Carteret County to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing within the private rental market. The family is issued a voucher and is responsible for locating suitable housing. HCV staff conduct an inspection to ensure the rental unit meets minimum housing quality standards specifically for health and safety. The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) component subsidizes the balance of the rent to the owner or property management company.

PREFERENCES FOR HCV APPLICANTS 

CCA awards points to eligible Housing Choice Voucher Program applicants who meet one or more of the Preferences listed below. Some preferences require additional verification. 

Homelessness: Families experiencing homelessness and meet the HUD definition of homeless per the CoC program definitions, Categories 1 through 3 as outlined below. 

Fleeing Domestic Violence: See Category 4 of the Homelessness as outlined below. 

Elderly Households: The head of household must be aged 62 or older. 

Disabled Households: Families in this category must meet the HUD definition as disabled. 

Working Households: The head of household must be working an average of at least 20 hours per week. 

Carteret County Residents: Applicants who are residents of Carteret County at the time of application are awarded preference points for residency. 

Income eligible applicants who are not eligible for one of the preferences above will be placed on the wait list ranked solely by the date and time the application is received. 

CCA adopted the HUD Continuum of Care program definition of homelessness at 24 CFR 578.3 which includes the following: 

Category 1: Households (individuals or families) who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including having a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodation such as a car, park, abandoned building, bus station, airport, or camping ground or is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary/short-term accommodation. 

Category 2: Households at immediate risk (within 14 days of the date of application) of losing their primary nighttime residence, no other residence has been identified, and the household lacks the resources needed to obtain other permanent housing. 

Category 3: Unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or families with children and youth, who do not otherwise qualify as homeless under this definition, but who are defined as homeless under the other federal statutes. 

Category 4: Domestic Violence: Any individual or family fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the individual or a family member, including a child, that has either taken place within the individual's or family's primary nighttime residence or has made the individual or family afraid to return to their primary nighttime residence, has no other residence, and lacks the resources to obtain other permanent housing. VAWA 2022 revised the definition of “domestic violence” and adds the definitions of “economic abuse” and “technological abuse.” HUD interprets its current regulatory definitions of “domestic violence” and “stalking” to include what is covered in these revised and new statutory definitions.