Permanent supportive housing: who qualifies and how to get in

Permanent supportive housing is an apartment with no time limit, plus help such as a case manager, for people who are homeless and have a disability. You usually can't apply to a building yourself. You go through your area's coordinated entry process, which assesses your needs and refers you when a place opens.

What is permanent supportive housing?

Permanent supportive housing is a home you can stay in as long as you follow your lease, with help from staff to keep it. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal housing department, pays for much of it. HUD's definition of permanent housing sets three things a renter should know:

• No end date. You are the tenant on a lease of at least one year that renews, and the landlord can end it only for a real reason, such as breaking the lease.
• A disability in the household. At least one adult or child in your household must have a disability.
• Services are offered. Staff must make services available that fit your needs, such as help with health care, benefits or managing money.

Each area's homeless services are planned by a group called a Continuum of Care, or CoC. It brings together the local nonprofits, government agencies, housing authorities (the local housing offices) and hospitals that serve homeless people. HUD pays for much of its housing through the CoC Program.

Who qualifies for permanent supportive housing?

You qualify if you are homeless and someone in your household has a disability. Apartments set aside for chronic homelessness add a third test.

You don't have to be chronically homeless for most apartments, but people who are often get offered a place first. If you will lose your home soon but haven't yet, ask the coordinated entry worker what help your area has to keep it.

Who goes first. Your local CoC writes its own rules for who gets housing first. HUD asks CoCs to put first the people who have been homeless longest and who have the most serious needs. A CoC can't rank you by your diagnosis or your type of disability.

What is coordinated entry, and how do you start?

Coordinated entry is your area's single process for getting into homeless housing: one assessment, one ranked list, and referrals to the apartments as they open. Every CoC must run one, and HUD's rules for it say it must be easy to reach and well advertised. Depending on where you live, you may start it by:

• going to a central office or drop-in center;
• calling 2-1-1, a free helpline, or a local homeless hotline;
• talking to any homeless service provider, who does the same assessment;
• meeting an outreach worker who comes to where you are.

To find your area's starting point, look up your area on HUD's local contacts page for homeless help. Call the contact it lists and ask: "Where do I go to take the coordinated entry assessment, and how do I find out where I am on the list?" If you are fleeing domestic violence, say so: every CoC must have a plan for getting you help safely.

Papers that help. The building has to keep proof that you qualify, and HUD's recordkeeping rule lists what counts. For a disability, that can be a letter from a licensed doctor or other professional, or a letter from the Social Security Administration showing you get disability payments. For time spent homeless, letters from shelters or outreach workers count most, and your own signed statement counts when there is no other record.

How much rent will you pay?

What you pay depends on how the apartment is paid for. If HUD's money pays part of your rent to a landlord, you must pay a share of the rent: the highest of the three amounts below. If the program owns or leases the building, it may charge you nothing, and any charge can't be more than the highest of the same three amounts:

1. 30% of your monthly adjusted income, your income after certain deductions, such as for medical or child care costs.
2. 10% of your monthly income before deductions.
3. The part of a welfare payment that the welfare agency sets aside for housing, if you get one.

Example. You get $1,000 a month and have no deductions. 30% is $300 and 10% is $100, so you pay $300 where a share of the rent is required, and no more than $300 anywhere else. If you have no income, both amounts are $0. The building checks your income at least once a year, and if your income drops, you can ask it to lower your rent.

How does it differ from Section 811 and Section 202?

HUD has two related programs for people with disabilities and for older adults. You don't need to be homeless for either, and you apply a different way. Both have an income limit, the most a household can earn and still qualify, which HUD sets for each area every year.

For the limit for your household size, ask the state agency that makes Section 811 referrals, or the building's office for Section 202. Homeless veterans have one more route, HUD-VASH, which starts with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

What can you do if you don't qualify?

Ask the coordinated entry worker about other help. Two common options:

• Rapid rehousing. Your CoC can pay your rent for a few months and up to 24 months to help you move from homelessness into a regular apartment. You don't need a disability.
• Housing office lists. Your local housing office runs waitlists, the lists you join now for help that comes later. One kind is for public housing, the apartments it owns. Another is for vouchers, which pay part of your rent on an apartment you find. Some offices set some vouchers aside for people with disabilities, so ask.

To find lists that are open now, see our waitlists page. To find lower-rent apartments you can apply for yourself, browse our listings or use the qualify check. Some buildings are set aside for people with disabilities, and others take rent help from the government so you pay about 30% of your income.