In order to get placed into most supportive housing you must be working with a Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelter provider or a social service agency in the community who is able to send your approved application out to housing providers for you. The process for placement into supportive housing depends on who submitted your HRA 2010e application for approval. Shelter staff will typically send the approved HRA 2010e packet to the administrative offices of the DHS to work on housing placement.
Approved supportive housing applications submitted by a social service agency in the community are sent out to housing providers by the same social service agency that first submitted the application.
The entire approved housing packet must be sent to agencies that accept the approval given by HRA. Housing providers all have their own process for accepting applications and screening candidates. Depending on the specific housing option, there may be an immediate opening, there may be a waiting list, or the waiting list may be closed due to the number of applicants already waiting. If a housing provider has an opening they will typically set up interviews with various applicants to fill the vacancy. Applicants should be prepared for interviews as they are a very important part of the process. Some providers may require multiple interviews prior to placement.
The process for placement into new supportive housing units may change within the next few months and years, pursuant to new City procedures established under Federal guidelines known as Coordinated Assessment and Placement System. As part of this process, individuals will be assigned a “vulnerability” assessment of high, medium, or low that will be considered in their referral for housing, and some referrals will only be done centrally from the Department of Social Services.
It can take several weeks or months to find appropriate housing, as there are a limited number of vacancies in the system and searching for supportive housing can be very time consuming. The Center for Urban Community Services tracks supportive housing vacancies and provides a vacancy update every two weeks that can be used as a guide for the housing search. The vacancy update can be found at the bottom of this page.
If you think you qualify for supportive housing and need help with getting an application completed, please come into our Crisis Intervention Program to speak with an advocate.
