The Board of Supervisors hereby establishes the QHWRA Disqualification Rent Assistance Program for the City and County of San Francisco ("Program"). This is a pilot project. Funds shall be expended for the purposes and on the conditions set forth below.
(a) Purpose. The purpose of this legislation is to preserve households in low-income federally subsidized housing by providing residential rent assistance to tenants in San Francisco Housing Authority units and Section 8 units whose federal residential rent subsidy has been reduced or revoked due to the tenants' failure to meet the immigration status verification requirements or related requirements of QHWRA.
(b) Eligible Persons. In order to be eligible to receive funds from the Program, the person must be a tenant in a San Francisco residential rental unit subsidized by a federal rent subsidy program, such as a San Francisco Housing Authority unit or a Section 8 unit, whose subsidy has been reduced or revoked because of the person's failure to meet the immigration status verification requirements or related requirements of QHWRA.
(c) Limits on QHWRA Disqualification RentAssistance. Programrent assistance funds shall only be used to partially supplant a federal residential rent subsidy provided to an eligible person prior to his or her QHWRA disqualification for housing in the City and County of San Francisco.
(d) Administration.
(1) The Program shall be administered by the Fund Administrator. The Fund Administrator shall be the Department of Human Services, City and County of San Francisco.
(2) The Fund Administrator shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement and administer this Program, including provision for the following:
(A) An individual may apply to the Program by submitting evidence to the Fund Administrator demonstrating the eligibility criteria set forth above. A parent or guardian or other appropriate person, as determined by the Fund Administrator, may apply on behalf of a minor child.
(B) An application must clearly state the amount of funding the applicant is requesting.
(C) Subject to available Programfunds, rent assistance received by an eligible person will not initially fall below 60% of that individual's increased tenant payment at the time of disqualification (see Section 84.2(c)(1)), provided that the individual meets all of the eligibility requirements for the federal rent subsidy except for the QHWRA disqualification. If the individual's eligibility changes, the Program subsidy may be adjusted accordingly. The subsidy will be reduced annually after the first year to 40%, then to 20%, and then to zero, respectively. Program recipients who are actively pursuing adjustment of their immigration status can continue to receive a 20% subsidy for three years, subject to available funding.
(D) If appropriated City funding is limited in relation to the number of eligible persons, preferences will be given to San Francisco Housing Authority tenants and San Francisco Housing Authority-based Section 8 tenants in the lowest income brackets as defined by HUD for the federal program rent subsidy being replaced.
(3) The Fund Administrator shall insure that translation services are provided consistent with San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 91 "Equal Access to Services."
(4) The Fund Administrator may contract out some or all of the program administration to another governmental agency and/or a community service organization serving immigrants, consistent with other applicable City contracting requirements.
(5) The Fund Administrator shall award and administer two mini-grants of $5,000 each to culturally and linguistically competent community-based organizations to provide immediate outreach to San Francisco Housing Authority tenants regarding QHWRA and this program, to provide referrals to individuals and families for assistance with adjustment of immigration status, and to provide information to the San Francisco Housing Authority about the numbers of affected individuals and families.
(e) Cooperation by the San Francisco Housing Authority. The Board of Supervisors strongly uses the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) to fully advise all potentially eligible persons about the Program. The Board further strongly urges the SFHA to provide applicants with all necessary SFHA documentation for submission of an application to the Program. In addition, the Board strongly urges SFHA to track the total number of households affected by QHWRA disqualification, whether or not any member of such household applies for or is granted assistance under this Program, in order to more comprehensively measure the impact of QHWRA disqualification on the San Francisco community.
(Added by Ord. 162-02, File No. 020593, App. 7/19/2002)