Program Seeks to Make 115 Families Self-Sufficient

More than 100 low-income San Fernando Valley families will benefit from a new federal program that will open savings accounts for families who want to work toward independence from government assistance, city officials said Wednesday.

Of the 550 families slated this year for the Los Angeles City Housing Authority’s family self-sufficiency program, 115 will be Valley families who will work with community organizations in North Hollywood and Van Nuys to develop a five-year plan to help them get off federal housing subsidies.

The Valley program is run by the Los Angeles Family Housing Corp. and Better Valley Services, both in North Hollywood, which will help 50 families each. Lutheran Social Services in Van Nuys will coordinate the program for the remaining 15 families chosen. There are still spaces available for families now receiving federal Section 8 housing assistance.

The key to the new program is the new escrow savings account, city officials said.

“The escrow account becomes an incentive and a possibility for home ownership in five years,” said Steve Renahan, director of Section 8 for the Housing Authority.

Renahan said the account is made possible by new U. S. Housing and Urban Development guidelines allowing low-income families to pay only 30% of their income toward rent, while the rest is subsidized by the Housing Authority.

Under the old rules, when a family’s income increases, the Housing Authority recalculates a new higher rate for the tenants, lowering the Housing Authority’s share. Under the new guidelines, the equivalent of the Housing Authority’s savings will be put into an escrow savings account for the benefit of the family.

“We’ll hold that money in escrow for up to five years,” Renahan said. “When the family decides that it is self-sufficient and no longer needs assistance, we’ll take that money out of escrow and write them a check.”

The Housing Authority is paying the three Valley agencies $250 per family for help with child care, job training, educational services and money management classes.

“When you live on a minimal income, you tend to think only of living day by day,” said Jeff Farber, director of social services for the Los Angeles Family Housing Corp.