Each month, 250 Section 8 vouchers are sent out to Carver County to assist residents in paying their rent. For many, it can be the difference between having a roof over one’s head or being forced to impose on friends and family.

“It’s definitely a lifesaver for those who are on it,” said Mary Monteith, assistant executive director for the Carver County Community Development Agency (CDA).

Though the Carver County CDA doesn’t manage the voucher program in the county, it does process the paperwork for local Section 8 recipients. “The number of people looking for rental help is significant,” said Monteith.

But lately, Section 8 and its affordable housing counterparts have been under fire by Chaska residents who have drawn a connection between low-income earners and increased criminal activity, especially in light of recent police calls to Clover Field Marketplace, an apartment complex with an affordable housing component, in Chaska’s Clover Ridge neighborhood.

The Chaska Herald Web site has had its fair share of reader comments like, “No low income housing = no people with disposable incomes to spend on pcp = no stand off.” But is Section 8 really to blame?Police

Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight acknowledged that his staff has made several calls to the Clover Field Marketplace apartment complex, but said his department doesn’t keep specific stats with regard to police calls to facilities that accept Section 8 vouchers.

“I’m not concerned by the number of calls in general to those types of places,” he said.

Rather than point the finger at Section 8 recipients, Knight said that rental management is a much better indicator of whether or not there will be problems at a particular development.  “Success is critically dependant on the operational side of the management of a complex,” he said.

In the case of Clover Field Marketplace, Knight made several suggestions of changes that could be made by management to improve the relationship with the community, including the development of a community liaison position and a stronger partnership between management and the police department, via its new community partnership specialist Julie Janke. Janke recently received her certification as a crime prevention specialist through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Knight hopes to convince the city of Chaska to adopt a crime-free multi-housing initiative his department has been working to implement. In a recent memo to Chaska City Administrator Matt Podhradsky, he recommended the adoption of an ordinance requiring multi-housing sites to go through management training, security assessment and resident training/crime watch education.

Need

“There’s a need for it,” said Monteith of the Section 8 program. “As much as people don’t want to hear it, there’s a need.”

Section 8, a program supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, provides funds to ensure that low-income individuals and families pay no more than 30 to 40 percent of their earnings on rent. Section 8 vouchers cover the difference between the income limits and the monthly rental price. Vouchers can be used for both apartments and single family home rentals and are sent directly to landlords.

In Chaska, there are currently 77 applicants on the program and 23 places that accept the vouchers, Monteith said.

Across the metro, more than 3,700 applicants sit on the waiting list for vouchers. According to the Metro Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), which covers all of Carver, Anoka, suburban Ramsey and most of suburban Hennepin counties, that equates to anywhere from a five- to seven-year wait for assistance.  

Meanwhile, they have heard that “families are doubled up or are living in smaller units than what [they] actually need,” said Beth Reetz, director of Housing and Livable Communities for the Metro HRA, noting that others may seek public housing options.

The Section 8 program is in such high demand that the Metro HRA hasn’t been able to open up its waiting list for new applications in more than two years. The last time it opened the list, in May 2007, the agency fielded thousands of phone calls and sent out some 25,000 applications.

“Nationally, Section 8 is seen as the most effective and efficient way to provide rental assistance to low- and extremely low-income families,” said Reetz.

Reetz said they target those at the very lowest income households, enabling families to live in communities where they work, even though their wages may not have kept up with market rental prices.

In the pre-application process, income and family composition are considered. When an applicant gets to the top of the waiting list, Reetz said they do a “full eligibility screening” including a criminal background check. 

Applicants that receive vouchers are subject to rental limits, (In Chaska, fair market rents are set at $790 for a one-bedroom and $960 for a two-bedroom rental), but otherwise are allowed to rent in any community that will accept the voucher, provided the unit passes inspection.

The idea is to avoid concentrating affordable housing in any one location, Reetz said. “The hope is when the housing authority has broad jurisdiction, housing opportunities can be found in all areas and people can live where work and educational opportunities exist.”

-Mollee Francisco, staff writer