How Programs and Vouchers Help
Housing Assistance Programs are designed to help low-income households that spend large proportions of their income on rent. For landlords, programs set criteria for the tenants they can lease to. For tenants, programs typically provide an income-based voucher to help them find suitable private housing.
Explore this page to learn more about our different voucher programs.
Federal Assistance Programs
Housing Choice Voucher (HCV),
also known as Section 8
The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) branch is responsible for managing all aspects of HPHA’s voucher program, which enables tenants to rent with landlords throughout the island of Oahu.
The branch maintains voucher waitlists, certifies applicant eligibility, issues vouchers, administers utility allowances, and establishes voucher payment standards — the subsidy that HPHA pays toward rent. The branch also recruits landlords that will accept voucher holders as tenants, works with landlords on federally required inspections, and administers payment to landlords.
The HCV branch engages in coalitions with other organizations and federal, state, and local governments to help increase options for affordable housing, particularly for homeless or disabled individuals, and underserved families.
The branch administers special purpose voucher programs for specific populations and plays a crucial role in the city’s continuum of affordable, service-enriched housing, and other types of housing.
Learn moreHUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Vouchers
The HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA provides these services for participating Veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs), community-based outreach clinics (CBOCs), through VA contractors, or through other VA designated entities. VASH recipients are referred to HPHA by the VA.
A key component of the program is VA’s case management services. These services are designed to assist Veterans in obtaining and sustaining permanent housing and engage in needed treatment and other supportive services that improve Veterans’ quality of life and end their homelessness. Case Management is the heart of this program and is a requirement for participation in the HUD-VASH voucher program.
Currently, Congress has appropriated $40,000 additional funding for new HUD-VASH vouchers as of 2021.
General Eligibility Requirements
Veterans who are appropriate candidates for this program demonstrate the most need or vulnerability, and must need case management services in order to obtain and sustain independent community housing. HUD-VASH targets the chronically homeless Veterans who are the most vulnerable. These Veterans often have severe mental or physical health problems, and/or substance use disorders, and limited access to other social supports. However, other Veterans who are homeless with diminished functionality capacity and resultant need for case management are also eligible for the program.
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- VA determines clinical eligibility for the program.
- HPHA determines if the Veteran participant meets HUD's regulations & income limits eligibility.
HUD-VASH provides permanent supportive housing for eligible homeless Veterans who are single or eligible homeless Veterans with families. The program is developed for the homeless Veteran, so eligible Veteran families must include the Veteran.
Because HUD-VASH provides for Veterans who may have medical, mental health and/or substance use disorders, eligible Veterans must be able to complete activities of daily living and live independently in the community with case management and supportive services.
HPHA has issued a total 225 HUD-VASH Vouchers since 2008 to the community.
Learn moreNon-Elderly Disabled (NED) Vouchers
Since 1997, Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) have been awarded under different special purpose voucher program types to serve non-elderly persons with disabilities (NED).
FY 2009 NED Category 1 and Category 2 Vouchers
The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Rental Assistance for Non-Elderly Persons with Disabilities (NED) was published in the Federal Register on April 1, 2010 (NOFA).
- Category 1 vouchers enable non-elderly persons or families with disabilities to access affordable housing on the private market.
- Category 2 vouchers enable non-elderly persons with disabilities currently residing in nursing homes or other healthcare institutions to transition into the community.
Other NED Vouchers
- Certain Developments vouchers enable non-elderly families having a person with disabilities, who do not currently receive housing assistance in certain developments where owners establish preferences for, or restrict occupancy to, elderly families, to obtain affordable housing.
- Designated Housing vouchers enable non-elderly disabled families, who would have been eligible for a public housing unit if occupancy of the unit or entire project had not been restricted to elderly families only through an approved Designated Housing Plan, to receive rental assistance.
General Eligibility Requirements
Only income eligible families whose head of household, spouse or co-head is non-elderly (under age 62) and disabled may receive a NED voucher. Families with only a minor child with a disability are not eligible. Applicants will be selected from the PHA's HCV waiting list. Median income in your county can be found at the top of this page. When an eligible NED family comes to the top of the PHA’s HCV waiting list and a voucher becomes available, the PHA issues a voucher to the family. The voucher may be a specific NED voucher or a regular voucher.
Learn moreMainstream Vouchers
Mainstream vouchers assist non-elderly persons with disabilities. Aside from serving a special population, Mainstream vouchers are administered using the same rules as other housing choice vouchers. Funding and financial reporting for Mainstream vouchers is separate from the regular tenant-based voucher program. Please see PIH Notice 2020-01 for more information.
The 2017, 2018, and 2019 Appropriations Acts provided funded for new Mainstream vouchers. Since 2018, HUD has awarded over $500 million in funding to public housing agencies (PHAs) to support 50,000 new Mainstream vouchers.
Notice: NED vouchers serve non-elderly disabled families, defined as families with a head, co-head, or spouse under age 62. While Mainstream Vouchers serve non-elderly persons with disabilities, they are not NED vouchers. The funding, monitoring, and eligibility requirements are different for NED vouchers and Mainstream Vouchers.
General Eligibility Requirements
Households that include a non-elderly person with a disability are eligible to receive Mainstream Vouchers. Non-elderly is defined as someone between 18 and 62 years of age. A household receiving Mainstream Voucher assistance does not lose its eligibility once the disabled person exceeds 62 years of age; the household does not “age out” of the program.
Learn moreEmergency Housing Vouchers (EHV)
The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program is available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Through EHV, HUD is providing 70,000 housing choice vouchers to local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) in order to assist individuals and families.
EHVs are tenant-based rental assistance under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)). The ARP further provides that HUD may waive any provision of any statute or regulation used to administer the amounts made available under section 3202 (except for requirements related to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards and the environment) upon a finding that any such waivers or alternative requirements are necessary to expedite or facilitate the use of amounts made available for the EHVs.
General Eligibility Requirements
- Homeless
- At risk of homelessness
- Fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking
- Were recently homeless or have a high risk ofhousing instability
HPHA has issued a total 182 Emergency Housing Vouchers as of 2022 to the community.
Learn moreProject-Based Vouchers (PBV)
Project-based vouchers (PBVs) are a component of a public housing agency’s (PHA’s) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. PHAs are not allocated additional funding for PBV units; the PHA uses its tenant-based voucher funding to allocate project-based units to a project. Projects are typically selected for PBVs through a competitive process managed by the PHA; although in certain cases projects may be selected non-competitively.
Performance-Based Contract Administration (PBCA)
Project-based vouchers (PBVs) are a component of a public housing agency’s (PHA’s) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. PHAs are not allocated additional funding for PBV units; the PHA uses its tenant-based voucher funding to allocate project-based units to a project. Projects are typically selected for PBVs through a competitive process managed by the PHA; although in certain cases projects may be selected non-competitively.
Performance-Based Contract Administration (PBCA)
Performance Based Contract Administration (PBCA) are contract administered project-based HCV (Section 8) properties.
The purpose the PBCA program is to implement the policy of the United States, as established in section 2 of the 1937 Act, of assisting States and their political subdivisions (e.g., PHAs) for aiding lower income families in obtaining a decent place to live and of promoting economically mixed housing, assistance payments may be made with respect to existing housing in accordance with the provisions of the above reference section.
General Eligibility Requirements
Families currently receiving assistance as long as their income does not exceed 80% of area median income adjusted for family size.
Learn moreState Assistance Programs
Rental Supplement Program
The Rent Supplement Program helps eligible families pay for part of their monthly rent. Families must pay at least 30% of their adjusted family income for rent. The difference between the family's contributing rent payment and the total monthly rent, up to a maximum of $500 per month, is paid directly to the owner by the HPHA. The family is responsible for any additional rent. Each family must meet the following requirements below.
General Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for the Rent Supplement Program, a family must:
- Be renting a properly sized unit for their family size;
- Provide the HPHA reasonable assurance that they can pay their rent on time;
- Not have any outstanding debts owed to the HPHA;
- Be a resident of the State of Hawaii;
- Not own or have majority interest in a dwelling unit on the same island on which they seek Rent Supplement assistance; and
- Qualify under the program's income limits.
