Extension OKd for Rental Aid Program

Federal housing officials have granted a one-month extension for an emergency program that has been helping hundreds of low-income Ventura County residents pay their rent since they were displaced by the Northridge earthquake nearly two years ago.

The subsidy program was to end Dec. 31, but officials with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the extension earlier this week.

That still leaves 182 families and 64 individuals in Ventura County facing a Jan. 31 cutoff of rental assistance.

Those who cannot make up the lost aid on their own will find themselves contending with a harsh rental market.

And, local housing officials fear, many could be forced into overcrowded conditions and even face the prospect of homelessness.

“We have people calling us, concerned and worried,” said Carolyn Briggs, executive director of the Area Housing Authority of the County of Ventura, which administers the program.

“There are not a lot of housing choices for that income group,” Briggs added. “I guess what it gets down to is that there is not an adequate supply of rental housing for households of relatively low income.”

Immediately after the January, 1994, earthquake, HUD opened up the emergency program to thousands of low-income residents in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

Under the program, families and individuals pay 30% of their monthly income--adjusted for child care and other expenses--toward rent. The federal government pays the rest.

Initially, the subsidies were set to expire earlier this year. That deadline was extended to Dec. 31, and now Jan. 31.

With the deadline looming, case workers with a federal program called Mobility Plus have been offering job-hunting classes and other support services to those in jeopardy of losing rental subsidies.

That program--run by Interface Children, Family Services of Ventura County--attempts to push families and individuals toward self-sufficiency.

But for many of those with little money and limited housing options, self-sufficiency is a concept that remains out of reach.

“What it always comes down to is that there is not a lot of affordable housing in this county,” said Terry Miller, Interface’s assistant executive director. “Anything we do is almost a Band-Aid.”