Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Up To 600,000 Expected To Apply For Section 8 When Applications Open This Month
(Photo by Sandy Gonzales via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
()
When applications to join the waitlist for the City of Los Angeles' Section 8 housing program open later this month, officials expect approximately 600,000 people will apply. Of those 600,000, only about 20,000 will be awarded spots on the voucher waiting list, according to the Los Angeles Times. The rest, for the most part, will be out of luck.
Those who win the lottery, and are awarded a place in line, can look forward to a potentially lengthy wait for housing. Los Angeles has approximately 57,000 Section 8 vouchers in use, and only about 2,400 become available each year.
Consider that the last time the city of Los Angeles opened applications for its Section 8 waitlist was in thirteen years ago, in 2004. The last time applications were open, more than 300,000 people mailed in a request for federal rental assistance vouchers. Housing authority officials expect that many of those who win a spot on the waitlist this year may have to wait up to a decade or more for voucher.
At the same time, there are other factors that could lengthen that wait time even further. Measure HHH, the $1.2 billion bond measure to build homeless housing, will divert about 1,000 Section 8 vouchers from Los Angeles' city housing program for homeless people selected for residency in public housing. Vouchers can also be siphoned off for other needs like, as the Times says, the redevelopment of the Jordan Downs housing project in Watts.
Support for LAist comes from
Applications for Section 8 within Los Angeles City will open at 6 a.m. on October 16. They are scheduled to close two weeks later, at 5 p.m. on October 29. On the county level, there is no anticipated date for future applications to join the waitlist.
Related: The Waiting List For Section 8 Vouchers In L.A. County Is 11 Years Long
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist