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Factoring Time Into Housing Aid

Delaware is placing a three-year time limit on rent subsidies. The experiment is part of a larger federal demonstration program to help long-time public housing residents become financially independent.

Delaware is placing a three-year time limit on rent subsidies. The experiment is part of a larger federal demonstration program to help long-time public housing residents become financially independent.

With time limits, the state's housing authority believes it will be able to spread its supply of federal rental subsidies around to more needy families. "While the lucky few could receive a lifetime of assistance, others sat on waiting lists for years, hoping to be served," Susan Frank, director of the Delaware State Housing Authority, has pointed out. In just two Delaware counties alone, there are more than 2,000 low-income families on waiting lists for federal rental subsidies; they wait an average of two years.

Delaware is one of 21 state and local public housing authorities chosen by the federal government to participate in the five-year program called "Moving to Work." The housing authorities get no additional federal funds, but they can take advantage of a loosening of federal rules to find creative methods to ease the affordable- housing crunch. Time limits are not a federal requirement, but a third of the participating housing agencies are instituting them.

To speed up turnover, Delaware is providing an incentive to work. Instead of the usual requirement that residents contribute more money toward rent if their income rises, residents can now put the extra income into a personal savings account.

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