What are Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs):
- The American Rescue Plan (ARP) of 2021 appropriated $5 billion for the EHVs
- 70,000 were awarded to appr. 700 Housing Authorities
- Sacramento received 494 vouchers (potential to receive more)
- Separate from Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program
- All referrals must come through the Continuum of Care’s (CoC’s) Coordinated Entry (CE) System or from a Victim Service Provider
- EHV eligibility is limited to households (individuals and families) who are:
- Homeless;
- At-risk of homelessness;
- Fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking; and
- Recently homeless, and for whom providing rental assistance will prevent homelessness or risk of housing instability
- Additional information on EHVs:
Latest Information on EHVs
On July 2022, Sacramento Steps Forward, in partnership with Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), has re-open the EHV assessments for clients currently enrolled and housed in eligible Rapid Rehousing (RRH) Programs. Rapid Rehousing is a short-term rental assistance program. This allows new candidates that are at risk of returning to homelessness once their RRH assistance ends, to be referred to EHV.
To be prioritized for a referral, clients must meet the following criteria:
- Actively working with a service provider/agency with HMIS access.*
- Currently housed AND leased in an eligible Rapid Rehousing Program.
- Households must not need ongoing services or will be connected to an ongoing service provider (minimum of one year) after leaving RRH.
- Was literally homeless prior to Rapid Rehousing Program.
*If you are currently not working with a service provider, please call 2-1-1 to get connected.
Please see the attached document for instructions on submitting an EHV Assessment:
Please remember, submitting an assessment does not guarantee an EHV referral. Referring providers will be contacted directly if their clients are selected and will be expected to support in completing necessary paperwork.
On August 20th, 2021, Sacramento Steps Forward completed the referrals to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) for the 494 EHVs available in our community. More detailed information will be provided in the near future on the referrals that were made, in the meantime here are updated numbers:
- 1,523 assessments completed
- 663 referrals made
- 66 different contributing agencies
A comprehensive client referral list will be provided to identified contact persons based on responses from the EHV assessment next week to confirm the status for each client. Please remember, submitting an assessment did not guarantee an EHV referral. Based on application progress and guidance from SHRA we will determine if and when we need to re-open assessments, and please be assured that advance notice will be provided.
Stay informed by visiting the SHRA EHV webpage. SHRA provides monthly reports which are available at the bottom of the SHRA EHV webpage.
Please see the EHV Dashboard for more information. This is updated once per month. See more at the button below!
Coordinated Entry Guiding Principles
EHVs Resources:
- EHV Eligibility Verification and Referral Form – fillable PDF, required for all clients
- Move On Forms – fillable PDF, required for eligible Move On clients
Check this page for new information and updates. Updated: December 21st, 2021.