Impact - Housing Choice Voucher
Rental Assistance Voucher Programs
IHCDA administers multiple types of voucher programs, all of which are designed to give low-income individuals and families the greatest amount of flexibility while ensuring housing costs remain reasonable. All vouchers have a maximum income requirement and some have specific demographic requirements as well. The amount of assistance a voucher provides is dependent on the household's income, location of the rental unit, and the fair market value of rental units in the zip code. The goal is for voucher holders to pay no more than 30% of their income on housing.
Housing Choice Voucher
The largest voucher program is Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), also known as Section 8. IHCDA, as a Public Housing Agency (PHA), administers HCV throughout the state of Indiana with the assistance of local subcontracting agencies (LSA).14 LSAs help cover 84 counties by providing case management, including collecting documentation, assisting in finding eligible housing, and other activities. The remaining counties, including Marion county, are covered by their own PHAs. While it is the largest PHA in the state, IHCDA has no jurisdiction over any of the other PHAs, who all report directly to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
There are five referral-based vouchers with specific demographic requirements:
- Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) - assist veterans referred by the Department of Veteran Affairs.
- Non-Elderly Disabled (NED) - persons under the age of 62 with a disability.
- Family Unification Program (FUP) - assist families referred by the Indiana Department of Child Services who are either aging out of foster care or whose main barrier to staying together is stable housing.
- Stability - assist households who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness; fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking; veterans and families that include a veteran family member that meets one of the preceding criteria.
- Emergency Housing (EHV) - Former program. All Emergency Housing vouchers are being converted to traditional HCV by March 2026.
Project-Based Vouchers (**aka PBRA??**)
Unlike HCV, Project-Based Vouchers (PBV) are linked to a rental unit rather than a person/household. In Indiana, all PBV are utilized for supportive housing projects. Supporting housing is typically reserved for people who are experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness and have a disability or chronic health condition. Those who remain in a PBV unit for at least a year are automatically eligible for an HCV.
To learn more about supportive housing efforts at IHCDA, read here.