housing connections workshop

Housing Connections Workshop

Content1) What do we do?

2) Applying for Housing

3) How to Keep Application Alive

4) Making Housing Choices

5) Special Priorities

6) Adverse Decisions

7) How to Use Online Services

8) Housing Programs

9) Community Partners

What do we do?• Assess eligibility for and manage the

central waiting list for subsidized housing in Toronto

• Manage the Rent Supplement Program in private-market buildings

• Manage various housing programs

• Following City rules and Ontario laws

Social Housing Reform Act, 2000 OntarioWe apply SHRA rules to:

• Waiting list administration

• Eligibility

• Special priority victims of abuse

• Review process for adverse decisions – opportunity for applicant to provide further info on their case and a right to an Internal Review of the process

Applicants on the waiting list

Total number of people on the central waiting list: 142,555 Total Household Applications:76,549

As of December 31, 2010:

How long is the wait?Special Priority 12-18 months

Bachelor 1-5 years

One-bedroom 7-10 years

Two-bedroom 5-10 years

Three-to-four-bedroom 10-12 years

Five-bedroom 4-6 years

Rent-geared-to-income

• Rent is 30 per cent of gross household income; goes up or down depending on income

• 70,000 social housing units located across the city in various social housing buildings

• Choose from housing listings

Applying for HousingHow to fill out an application

Application• Complete an application online at

www.housingconnections.ca

• Download an application form and instructions (English or French) from www.housingconnections.ca

• Pick up and get help with an application at one of Housing Connections’ Community Partners located across the city

• Fill out an application at our Resource Centre at 176 Elm Street

• Call and request an application

Filling out your application • Household information

• Detail of arrears

• Alternate contacts

• Income

• Housing choices

• Declaration

• Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information *Must be signed by applicant, and all household members 16 years

of age or older

Waiting list eligibility• All household members must have legal status in

Canada (Canadian citizenship, landed immigrant status, refugee status or claimant) See our website.

• Must be 16 years of age or older to apply

• No enforceable deportation, departure or exclusion order against any household members

• No household member can owe arrears to a social housing provider in Ontario (unless there is an up-to-date repayment schedule in place)

• No household member or former member has convictions of RGI fraud or misrepresentation

Checklist Everyone must have status in Canada – proof of Canadian status for all household members

If you owe arrears, provide a copy of arrears repayment agreement signed by housing provider

If any of your children are in the custody of theChildren’s Aid Society, provide a letter from the CAS

If you requested an additional bedroom because of a legal custody

agreement or visiting rights, provide a copy of the agreement

If you requested an additional bedroom for disability, provide proof of disability

Incomplete applications

• The applicants are sent a letter outlining what is missing to complete the application

• The date of application is the date that the completed application is received with Canadian status documentation for each household member

What happens after you apply?• An acknowledgement letter is mailed to you

when we have received your application telling you whether you are eligible

• Another letter will be mailed with a personal identification number (P.I.N.) so that you can use the website and the automated telephone system to make changes to your application

How to Keep Your Application Alive

The applicant’s responsibilitiesInform Housing Connections whenever there is a change in:

• name, address, phone number and/or designated contact person

• income or assets

• health or special needs

• household composition

• housing choices

Keep your application alive!• Update information once a year to keep

application on the waiting list

• If there has been no activity on a file for 12 months, a letter is sent to the last known address asking the applicant to make contact to confirm interest

• If the mail is returned, or if there is no response, every effort is made to contact the applicant or designated contact person by phone, before the file becomes ‘inactive’

Full Update Package

• Sent to all applicants on waiting list to ensure application information is up to date

• If this package is not completed and returned within 30 days, attempts are made to contact the applicant by letter or phone

Inactive applications• Applications can remain ‘inactive’ for two years

• If there is no contact by the end of the ‘inactive’ period, the file is automatically cancelled

• If the applicant has been identified as ‘homeless,’ inactive status could remain for up to five years before being cancelled

• Once a file is cancelled, the applicant will have to start all over again with a new application at the end of the waiting list

Occupancy Standards

• Spouses/partners share a bedroom and can request to share a bachelor unit

• Two children of the same sex share a bedroom regardless of age (room must be at least 4 sq. metres per person)

• Children of the opposite sex are given separate bedrooms (unless the applicant submits a request to have the children share a bedroom)

• Parent can request to share a bedroom with their dependent child

How to make housing choicesTo select or update housing choices, applicants with a P.I.N. can:

• Go to www.housingconnections.ca for the interactive Housing Listings that show how many people are waiting for a unit and the application date currently being housed

• Use the automated telephone system

Housing Listings online

New! Search by zone, unit size, building type, etc.

Rent Supplement• Tenant pays rent tied to 30 per cent of gross household income; Housing Connections pays the landlord the difference between rental rate and what the tenant pays• About 3,000 units located in various private market buildings

• Choose zones from map of Rent Supplement Housing Zones

Housing Choice Date

The date you add a housing choice to yourapplication is the housing choice date formost buildings.

Toronto Community Housing has many locations. It

uses the first date you added one of their buildings

to your application for any buildings added later.

Housing Choice DatesYou will get a new Housing Choice Date for each housing choice you add to your list.

Housing Offers

• offers are made directly by the housing provider

• maximum of three refusals of housing offers before being removed from the waiting list

• applicants should not accept a housing offer with the expectation of transferring later

Priorities

• Waiting list works on a first-come, first-

served basis• Exception to this rule is the special priorities

designated in provincial law and in city

guidelines

Priorities in Toronto1) Victims of domestic abuse2) Terminally Ill3) Over housed

In addition to these priorities, housing providers

must offer one-of-every-seven vacancies to the following households:

– Homeless/newcomers who are homeless– Separated families with a child in care of

Children’s Aid Society– Youth who are 16 years old at the time of applying

Special Priority Household CategoryApplicants who:

• are living with or have lived with their abuser and intend to live permanently separated from the abuser

• are at least 16 years of age

• apply within 12 months of living with their abuser

• provide proof that they were living with the abuser and demonstrate that they have been subject to abuse

Special Priority Household Category Application• Verification that the applicant is living with or has

lived with their abuser

• A completed and signed Confirmation of Abuse form

• Referral letter from an eligible professional that outlines one or more incidents of abuse

• A completed and signed Declaration of Abuse

Terminally Ill Medical Priority• Applicant with a life expectancy of two

years or less (must be verified by doctor)

• Local priority in Toronto – housing providers have the option to not acknowledge this local priority

Over housed householdsIf the unit a tenant occupies is larger than

what they are eligible for, they are considered

‘over housed’. A tenant who is over housed must

move to a smaller unit.

(Those who are considered over housed are required to list at least five housing

choices)

• When an adverse decision is made, the applicant is notified and invited to provide more information within 30 days

• If new information is submitted, it is reviewed by a supervisor

• If the adverse decision is upheld, the applicant is told about their right to request an Internal Review

Adverse Decision:Opportunity to provide more information

What is an Internal Review?

• SHRA requirement

• review of process - not an appeal

• panellists are trained community stakeholders

Scope of Internal Reviews• panel reviews the processes and decisions

• panel doesn’t rule on fairness of policy

• decision can’t be influenced by new information

• processes cover the following:– general eligibility – dates – number of bedrooms requested– number of offers refused– annual rent calculation– request for transfer within Rent Supplement– loss of subsidy within Rent Supplement– eligibility for Special Priority Household Category– eligibility for priority for the terminally ill

Online servicesWith an application number and personal identification number (P.I.N.) applicants can make a password to:

• view and update application information

• view and print summary of application and housing choices

• view ‘Housing Up To’ dates on the first-come, first-served waiting list

• reply to letters asking for confirmation of interest in being on waiting list or requesting an information update

Log on to www.housingconnections.ca and select Application Update from left menu or Applicants tab

Getting started

Pop-up Blocker Settings

You will need to set your browser to allow pop-ups from www.housingconnections.ca, since many sections in My Application use pop-ups.

To adjust these settings go to your internet browser under Tools and then Pop-up Blocker.

New UsersClick on New users, orange button if it is your first time using Application Update.

Registered UsersClick on the Registered Users, green button if you already have an application number and password.

How to register

.

Make sure you click on Register and the Register for Web Accessbox will display.

Enter application and P.I.N. numbers and then click Verify.

How to register

• Select a password with 6 - 20 characters and one alpha character,

confirm password

• Click on arrow to select a security question

• Enter security answer (may be up to 80 characters long)

• Click Submit

How to register

Applicants should keep this info private, and store for future reference.

Applicant LoginIf an applicant doesn’t know their number, they may request their application number by clicking click here.

• Enter Application Number

• Enter Password• Click Login

Applicant Login

Screen options are displayed in left menu, click on desired menu option.

My Application

Screen shows a listing of the applicant’s housing choices. Housing

Choices can be added or deleted individually or by zone.

This is a scrollable screen. Drag the scroll bar up or down to view

choices not shown in the screen view.

Housing Choices

Save your changes and logout

1. Make sure you save all your changes2. Logout!

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Translating web info

New! Use Google Translator on most pages of our website to translate web info in just seconds

While you wait:Being on the waiting list for subsidized housing means you may be eligible for other housing options. Some recent programs were designed to help applicants on the waiting list afford their rent while they wait:

• Short Term Rent Support Program– $180-$350 allowance a month to help pay rent where they

currently live or in a new location will help up to over 4,000 households while they keep their place on the waiting list

– when the program ends, the tenant can stay in their unit if they are able to pay the rent without the allowance

• Canada-Ontario-Toronto Housing Allowance Program– allowance of up to $550 a month (now full) helps 1000

households afford their rent and keep their place on the waiting list

– participants were required to move to a landlord participating in the program

Other housing programs:At Home/Chez Soi Research Project• research project funded by Mental Health

Commission of Canada (MHCC)

• applicants can be referred to the program from community agencies

• participants selected through research team and assigned to service agency providing support (COTA, TNSS or Across Boundaries)

• $600 a month housing allowance is provided to make housing more affordable

• project ends March 31, 2013

Community Partners

• have access to the waiting list database;

• know Housing Connections policies and procedures; and,

• help clients apply for housing and maintain their applications.

Community agencies provide services in a variety of languages and help applicants with their housing search and application process. Community Partners:

Community PartnersAgincourt Community Services Association Seaton HouseAlbion Neighbourhood Services – North Streets to HomesAWIC Community and Social Services St. Stephen’s Community HouseBirkdale Residence Toronto Christian Resource CentreBloor Info and Life Skills Centre West Hill Community ServicesB’Nai Brith Canada Woodgreen Community CentreCommunity Action Resource Centre York Housing Help CentreCommunity Centre 55 West Toronto Housing Help ServiceCOSTI Women’s ResidenceEast York Housing Help Fred Victor CentreEtobicoke Housing Help Centre South Catholic Crosscultural ServicesFamily Residence Shelter Midaynta Community Services

Flemingdon Neighbourhood Services Mid-Toronto Community ServicesNative Men’s Residence The RedwoodNeighbourhood Link/Senior Link The Assessment and Referral CentrePolycultural Immigrant & Community Services South Asian Women’s CentreRobertson House The Tamil Eelam Society of CanadaScarborough Housing Help Centre Elizabeth Fry Society of TorontoHomewardSistering

• Visit our website to apply online or to update an application at www.housingconnections.ca

Email at ask@housingconnections.ca

Call our automated telephone system 24/7 at 416-981-6111 or call during regular business hours to speak to an agent

Fax at 416-981-6112

• Visit our Resource Centre at 176 Elm Street• To request an off-site workshop: Email us at outreach@housingconnections.ca

Many ways to keep in touch

Many ways to keep in touchRent Supplement ProgramPhone: (416) 981-6160Fax: (416) 981-6114Email: housing.programs@housingconnections.ca

Housing Allowance ProgramPhone: (416) 981-6128Fax: (416) 981-6114Email: housing.allowance@housingconnections.ca

Questions?