By Maria Hickey, KERA 90.1 reporter
Dallas, TX –
Maria Hickey, KERA 90.1 reporter: Donna Hawkins has qualified for federally subsidized Section 8 housing since 2001. She moved into a one-bedroom apartment one month ago. Not long after, she received a letter from the Dallas Housing Authority telling her she'd be responsible for the full $560 for rent in October. Like all those in the program, the 57-year-old spends 30 percent of her income on rent. Between her Social Security and disability checks, Hawkins would be left with ten dollars for the month if she had to cover rent by herself.
Donna Hawkins, Section 8 Tenant: If they take it away, I'll be back living in my car.
Hickey: Hawkins' daughter was convicted of a drug felony more than a decade ago, but the two haven't lived together since last year when they shared a Section 8 two-bedroom apartment. Sandy Rollins of Texas Tenants' Union has fielded calls all month from people like Hawkins. Rollins says although DHA officials claim they were targeting registered sex offenders, people with drug offenses or those who had committed violent crimes. They cast their net too wide.
Sandy Rollins, Executive Director, Texas Tenants' Union: There are a whole lot of people who aren't in those categories, who have something like a DWI or something that happened when they were very young.
Hickey: Rollins says the more than 900 letters terminating housing vouchers were not just about ridding the program of bad apples. She says they were the result of federal budget cuts by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In April, HUD sent out notices that it would reimburse housing authorities at last year's rates. But costs have gone up, and DHA is spending more than what they're reimbursed. DHA has about 17-thousand families on the program. In June, the agency said it would scale back costs by cutting 500 families through attrition. Then after Labor Day, Rollins said she started getting phone calls.
Rollins: These 929 letters - I'd never seen anything on this scale before - and when they said 500 through attrition I thought that was bad because there are thousands of people on their waiting list and they're not even taking applications right now.
Hickey: DHA president Ann Lott says the agency ran the background checks because of safety concerns, but she admits the cuts played a part in the number of letters that were sent.
Ann Lott, President, Dallas Housing Authority: The letters would have gone out because we are in the process of looking at every adult on the Section 8 program. I can honestly tell you that we would not have sent out so many letters at one time if we were not concerned about the funding levels.
Hickey: Lott also says many families that got letters should not have. She says a miscommunication within the agency is to blame. The DHA is holding appeal hearings, and so far more than 700 families have filed. Lott estimates of those, about 75 percent will be able to stay on the program.
Lott: The majority of the crimes according to hearing officers simply were not committed during the time that they were on the Section 8 program. A number of families have come in and they had extenuating circumstances that explains the activity at that point in their life.
Hickey: Lott says HUD's lower funding rate left Dallas' Section 8 program about $1.5 million short this year. But she says DHA is getting indications that they'll be able to use reserves to make up the difference. In the meantime, they've sent out another 900 letters giving extensions to those who were to be cut off September 30th . That still leaves many waiting for housing. More than 18-thousand families in the program are on the waiting list, and the agency stopped accepting applications in June. For KERA 90.1, I'm Maria Hickey.
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