HUD HCV Guidebook § 8

The following terms are used in this Chapter:

Annual Contributions Contract (ACC) means a written contract between HUD and a PHA. Under the
ACC, HUD agrees to make payments to the PHA, over a specified term, for housing assistance
payments to owners and for the PHA administrative fee. The ACC specifies the maximum payment
over the ACC term. The PHA agrees to administer the program in accordance with HUD regulations
and requirements.

VA Catchment Area is defined as the geographical area served by a specific VA facility.

Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) are authorized health care facilities that provide
medical services to veterans enrolled in the VA’s health care system. There are more than 800
CBOCs across the country and VA continues to expand the number of CBOCs in its network, including
in more rural areas. These clinics provide the most common outpatient services, including health
and wellness visits.

Continuums of Care (CoC) is a local planning body for a defined geographic area that is responsible
for establishing and operating a system to prevent and end homelessness for that area and to apply
for grants under HUD’s CoC Program annual grant competition

Chronically Homeless (defined by The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act as amended by S.
896 The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2012)
means:
   • A “homeless individual with a disability,” as defined in section 401(9) of the McKinney-Vento
       Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360(9)), who:
           o Lives in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency
              shelter; and
           o Has been homeless and living as described in paragraph (1)(i) of this definition
              continuously for at least 12 months or on at least 4 separate occasions in the last 3
              years, as long as the combined occasions equal at least 12 months and each break in
              homelessness separating the occasions included at least 7 consecutive nights of not
              living as described in paragraph (1)(i). Stays in institutional care facilities for fewer
              than 90 days are not considered a break in homelessness, but rather such stays are
              included in the 12-month total, as long as the individual was living or residing in a
              place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or an emergency shelter
              immediately before entering the institutional care facility;
           o An individual who has been residing in an institutional care facility, including a jail,
              substance abuse or mental health treatment facility, hospital, or other similar facility,
              for fewer than 90 days and met all of the criteria in paragraph (1) of this definition,
              before entering that facility; or
           o A family with an adult head of household (or if there is no adult in the family, a minor
              head of household) who meets all of the criteria in paragraph (1) or (2) of this
              definition, including a family whose composition has fluctuated while the head of
              household has been homeless.

DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty refers to a Report of Separation
that is generally issued when a service member performs active duty or at least 90 consecutive days
of active duty training. The Report of Separation contains information normally needed to verify
military service for benefits, retirement, employment and membership in veterans' organizations.
The Report of Separation form used in most recent years is the DD Form 214, Certificate of Release
or Discharge from Active Duty.

Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is the payment made by the PHA to the owner of a unit under
lease by an eligible Family, as provided under a Housing Assistance Payment Contract. The payment
is the difference between the Contract Rent and the tenant rent.

Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program is a program through which a voucher is issued to eligible
families to allow the families to lease an eligible rental unit in the community. Based on the family’s
income and other factors, the issuing PHA will make HAP payments to the owner on behalf of the
family.

Homeless (defined by The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act as amended by S. 896 The
Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009) means:
  • An individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning:
         o An individual or family with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private
             place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for
             human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport,
             or camping ground;
         o An individual or family living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
             designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters,
             transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by
             federal, State, or local government programs for low-income individuals); or
         o An individual who is exiting an institution where he or she resided for 90 days or less
             and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation
             immediately before entering that institution;
         o An individual or family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence,
             provided that:
                 ▪ The primary nighttime residence will be lost within 14 days of the date of
                     application for homeless assistance;
                 ▪ No subsequent residence has been identified; and
                 ▪ The individual or family lacks the resources or support networks, e.g., family,
                     friends, faith-based or other social networks, needed to obtain other permanent
                     housing;
         o Unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or families with children and youth, who
             do not otherwise qualify as homeless under this definition, but who:
                 ▪ Are defined as homeless under section 387 of the Runaway and Homeless
                     Youth Act (42 U.S.C. 5732a), section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C.
                     9832), section 41403 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C.
                     14043e-2), section 330(h) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b(h)),
                     section 3 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012), section 17(b)

of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(b)), or section 725 of the
                     McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a);
                 ▪ Have not had a lease, ownership interest, or occupancy agreement in
                     permanent housing at any time during the 60 days immediately preceding the
                     date of application for homeless assistance;
                 ▪ Have experienced persistent instability as measured by two moves or more
                     during the 60-day period immediately preceding the date of applying for
                     homeless assistance; and
                 ▪ Can be expected to continue in such status for an extended period of time
                     because of chronic disabilities; chronic physical health or mental health
                     conditions; substance addiction; histories of domestic violence or childhood
                     abuse (including neglect); the presence of a child or youth with a disability; or
                     two or more barriers to employment, which include the lack of a high school
                     degree or General Education Development (GED), illiteracy, low English
                     proficiency, a history of incarceration or detention for criminal activity, and a
                     history of unstable employment; or
            o Any individual or family who:
                 ▪ Is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
                     assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to
                     violence against the individual or a family member, including a child, that has
                     either taken place within the individual's or family's primary nighttime residence
                     or has made the individual or family afraid to return to their primary nighttime
                     residence;
                 ▪ Has no other residence; and
                 ▪ Lacks the resources or support networks, e.g., family, friends, and faith-based
                     or other social networks, to obtain other permanent housing.

Housing Quality Standards (HQS) are the HUD minimum quality standards for housing assisted under
the tenant-based programs.

Moving to Work (MTW) is a demonstration program for public housing authorities that provides them
the opportunity to design and test innovative, locally-designed strategies that use Federal dollars
more efficiently, help residents find employment and become self-sufficient, and increase housing
choices for low-income families. MTW gives PHAs exemptions from many existing public housing and
voucher rules and more flexibility with how they use their Federal funds. The Office of Public Housing
Investments (OPHI), within the Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) at HUD headquarters,
oversees the MTW Demonstration.

Project-based Voucher (PBV) Program is a program administered by a PHA that already administers
the tenant-based voucher program under an annual contributions contract (ACC) with HUD. In the
PBV program, the assistance is ‘‘attached to the structure.’’ The PHA enters into a HAP contract with
an owner for units in existing housing or in newly constructed or rehabilitated housing. Rental
assistance is therefore paid for families who live in specific housing developments or units.

Public Housing Agency (PHA) means any State, county, municipality, or other governmental entity or
public body, or agency or instrumentality of these entities that is authorized to engage or assist in the

development or operation of low-income housing under the 1937 Act.

Unit Months Leased (UMLs) refers to the number of cumulative number of units leased each month
in the year to date. Example: a unit month is one unit leased for one month. If the PHA has one unit
leased all twelve months, the total unit months leased would be 12.

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides a wide range of benefits to Veterans,
their dependents, surviving spouses, children, or parents of a deceased Veteran, uniformed service
members, and present or former reservists or National Guard members.

VA Medical Centers (VAMC) are federally funded entities in place to assist Veterans.

Voucher Management System (VMS) is the system that supports the information management needs
of the HCV management functions performed by the Financial Management Center (FMC) and the
Financial Management Division (FMD) of the Office of Public and Indian Housing and the Real Estate
Management Center (PIH-REAC). The system's primary purpose is to provide a central system to
monitor and manage the Public Housing Agency (PHAs) use of vouchers. The VMS collects PHA data
that enables HUD to fund, obligate, and disburse funding in a timely manner, based on actual PHA
use.