Cedar Rapids easing barrier to housing assistance

CEDAR RAPIDS — Residents receiving housing assistance from Cedar Rapids soon will have more opportunities for input before a decision is made to terminate the aid.

Cedar Rapids City Council members last week approved an administrative change to allow for a more robust consideration of circumstances for individuals receiving housing choice vouchers who are charged with a crime. The change takes effect July 1.

The housing choice voucher program, formerly known as Section 8, helps qualifying families pay rent on apartments and houses owned by private landlords. That assistance can be terminated for several reasons, however, including a recipients’ engagement in certain kinds of criminal activity.

The recently approved change will increase the scope of staff consideration prior to the termination of assistance, city Housing Services Manager Sara Buck said.

In addition to the current considerations — such as the severity of the crime, the effects of termination on other family members and completion of substance abuse treatment programs — staff now will request additional information directly from tenants.

“Rather than just moving forward with a termination letter … this gives us the ability to have an actual conversation with the tenant to see if there are ways that we can avoid termination,” Buck said. “It’s something that we’re changing to reduce barriers to those tenants.”

Voucher recipients will be able to submit a letter with that additional information or any mitigating circumstances related to the alleged criminal activity before a final determination, Buck said.

The move does not guarantee rental assistance will be continued, she said, but it does give tenants a chance to ensure their voice is heard. If assistance is terminated, residents have the ability to appeal either individually or with help from a local service agency.

Buck said the change was drafted after conversations with Iowa Legal Aid and other area agencies about how to decrease barriers to safe, affordable housing. Prior to council approval, the city’s development committee cleared the change last month.

Council member Ashley Vanorny applauded the change, which she said will bolster residents’ ability to secure and maintain housing.

“We’ve taken some really foundational steps in terms of our own internal policy as a housing authority to reduce those barriers” in recent years, she said. “This move is a furtherance of that, and a really important one.”

Council members also approved updated language around how household income is calculated to reflect the federal Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act and an annual update to the Family Self-Sufficiency Admissions program.

The Cedar Rapids Housing Services Office acts as the public housing authority for Linn and Benton counties. In fiscal 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated the city 1,265 housing choice vouchers.

Buck said those benefiting from the program have the following demographics:

The housing choice voucher program is not currently accepting applications, although Housing Services staff will periodically update the waiting list. For more information, visit the city’s community development webpage.

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