Special Purpose Programs
Serving Specific Population
Overview of Special Purpose Programs
There are several unique initiatives within the Housing Choice Voucher program serving participants with specific needs and/or qualifications (families at risk of homelessness in Minneapolis Public Schools, families looking to move to areas of opportunity, families at risk of separation, and homeless veterans). These programs leverage partnerships to provide more than just rental assistance.
These special initiatives differ from tenant-based vouchers by how one qualifies, how assistance is requested, and the subsidy calculation.
Stable Homes Stable Schools (SHSS) is a pioneering partnership between MPHA, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), and the YMCA of the North working to address student homelessness. SHSS offers two tiers of support: emergency assistance to prevent homelessness (may include back pay of rent, fixing a car needed to get to work, or other forms of assistance to keep families in their current housing) and multi-year rental assistance helping families escape or avoid homelessness and placing them into stable, long-term affordable housing. As of 2023, emergency assistance is offered to all 43 MPS elementary schools and multi-year rental assistance is available at 24 schools.
Families cannot apply to MPHA or to the city directly. Instead, Minneapolis Public Schools will identify families who might benefit from the program at participating elementary schools. Interested families at participating schools should contact their school social worker about a referral.
View the Stable Homes Stable School page to learn more about this nationally acclaimed program.
The Community Choice Demonstration Program (CCD) is a partnership between MPHA and Metro Housing and Redevelopment Authority (Metro HRA) that helps families with Housing Choice Vouchers find homes in designated opportunity areas. Opportunity areas are neighborhoods, defined by HUD and determined by census data, where children are most likely to thrive because of better schools and lower poverty rates. Previous studies have shown that when Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) families move to these opportunity areas, children are more likely to achieve upward economic mobility later in life. The CCD is a part of a national demonstration funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The demonstration studies the effect of additional services on families’ ability to move into opportunity areas.
Families with MPHA vouchers looking to participate should contact our Housing Choice Voucher Technician at 612.342.2201 or communitychoice@mplspha.org.
To check if an area or address is a qualifying area of opportunity, please use our Community Choice Opportunity Locator.
MPHA and Hennepin County Human Services work in partnership to provide supportive housing to families for whom the lack of adequate housing is the primary factor in the imminent placement of the family’s child(ren) in out-of-home care and youth (18-21 years of age) who left foster care at age 16 or older and do not have adequate housing.
Hennepin County will screen eligible applicants for the Family Unification Program, in accordance with its screening criteria. Eligible applicants who agree to participate in case management will be referred to MPHA for voucher issuance. Families are required to participate in case management for 6 months after the family has received rental assistance. Family Unification Program youth are required to participate in case management for the duration of 18 months of rental assistance.
VASH is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Veterans Affairs Department (VA). This national initiative provides housing and supportive services to homeless veterans by combining vouchers with case management and clinical services.
Potential applicants should connect with the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). VAMC screens homeless veterans for eligibility. Eligible veterans who agree to participate in case management are referred to MPHA for a voucher. MPHA evaluates the applicant for income eligibility and screens for sex offender status.
Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program connects rental assistance with local Continuums of Care (CoCs) and other partners to target rental assistance resources to individuals and families who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, were recently homeless, or have a high risk of housing instability. Individuals and families fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking are also eligible. Unlike other HUD voucher programs that receive annual congressional appropriations, EHVs only received one-time funding through ARPA. Further, because of this funding sunset, local housing authorities have not been allowed to issue new EHVs or re-issue existing EHVs as of September 30, 2023.
Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) vouchers are for youth aging out of foster care ages 18- 24 or will leave foster care in the next 90 days and is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless at age 16 or older. Case management for up to 36 months (with a possible 24-month extension) is required.
Referrals for Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) vouchers come to MPHA through Hennepin County.
Mainstream Vouchers are Housing Choice Vouchers with special eligibility criteria to serve non-elderly persons with disabilities (at least 18 years and less than 62 years) or households with a member with disabilities.
Referrals for Mainstream Vouchers are made by Hennepin County and other designated service provider.
MPHA can design and implement innovative local, non-traditional (LNT) models of housing support to meet these needs and extend our reach to new families not currently served by MPHA. Such subsidies could be sponsor-based or directly administered by MPHA, with the form and conditions of the subsidy tailored to match the scale and objectives.
