The Economic Consequences of Homelessness in The US

While the HCV program provides much-needed assistance to individuals experiencing
homelessness, critics argue that waiting lists for these vouchers are extensive, with
many PHAs not accepting new applicants and many eligible voucher holders waiting 2
years for an available unit. PHAs are constrained by the amount of funds they receive
from HUD and cannot serve every household that qualifies for the program; as a result,
PHAs must ration vouchers and have wide discretion over eligibility criteria.
Furthermore, a recent meta-analysis of the program documents that participants are not
moving to areas of lower poverty, thus not fulfilling one of the program aims of
deconcentrating areas of poverty, and that almost one third of qualifying families are
returning vouchers unused. Limitations on voucher usage result from a variety of
factors, including participants not being able to afford a security deposit, lengthy wait
times for PHA inspections of properties before move-in, and unpredictable timing of
voucher availability. In addition, individual landlords have the choice of whether or not to
accept vouchers from applicants, which decreases the geographic and socioeconomic
range of sites available to those accessing the program. However, many of these
limitations can be overcome through adequately funding the HCV program to reduce
waiting lists and increasing the stability of voucher availability. In addition, programs that
foster income stability and financial independence can enable families to return
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