Housing Authority official says LA could see rise in homelessness after Section 8 changes
An official with Los Angeles' Housing Authority said the city could see more people struggling with homelessness after the agency stopped accepting new applications for Section 8 — a measure it says was taken due to millions in federal funding cuts.
Last week, the Housing Authority announced no new or ongoing applications were being processed for the program, which assists 60,000 households in LA by offering rental subsidy payments to private landlords on behalf of very low-income families, senior citizens and people with disabilities. The nationwide program is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), one of a number of federal agencies facing funding cuts and other changes or downsizing under the Trump Administration.
Carlos Van Natter, director of Section 8 for the city of LA, said the new changes could worsen an already concerning issue in a region with some of the highest rent costs in the country. More than 45,000 people face homelessness in the city of Los Angeles, according to the LA Homeless Services Authority's latest estimate.
"The biggest impact would be that we could end up having more folks become homeless," Van Natter said Tuesday.
The Housing Authority first learned it was going to see reductions in December, with the slashed funding currently amounting to around $47 million to $114 million, Van Natter said. Given those losses, he said, the department knew it would not be possible to continue its Section 8 program through the end of the year.
Van Natter said that meant some tough changes had to be made "to make sure we don't get to that point because our highest priority is not terminating the assistance of people already on the program." He said the thousands of families currently enrolled in Section 8 will not be affected, and the Housing Authority is also continuing the VASH program which aids unhoused U.S. veterans.
However, along with not accepting new applications, the Housing Authority also closed its waiting list — which opened in December 2022 and operates by lottery — and paused the application process for 3,300 families currently trying to get on Section 8.
"That is the sad reality that we have to take, step we have to take at the moment," Van Natter said. "There could be others that come. We have families that have vouchers on the street looking for units. At this time, families can continue to search for units, but it could come to pass in the future that we have to suspend those as well."
Last week, the Housing Authority said current funding cuts and "uncertainty with the federal budget" — given the expected expiration of federal funding March 14 — had led to the changes.
And a spokesperson for the Housing Authority said even more slashes to federal funding would force the LA Housing Authority and other agencies like it "to consider all options to ensure program solvency, including terminating vouchers."
With the threat of a government shutdown this week, unless lawmakers approve more funding, Van Natter said the Housing Authority is monitoring the situation in D.C. in hopes that some funding comes through and reaches the LA agency.
"Like everybody, we're keeping a close eye on what is going on this week in Washington, in Congress," Van Natter said. "We have seen some proposals that could help us. We'll see by Friday — the continuing resolution March 14 is the deadline. If we get sufficient funding, we might not have to take the drastic measures that we are doing right now."
