Disability Lifeline's Oct. 31 disappearance could spell trouble for those hoping to get into housing
A welfare program for the state's poorest people will expire on Halloween, leaving some in a tricky situation. After cutting a program known as Disability Lifeline-Unemployable (DL-U), state leaders scared up some stopgaps, but there may not be enough to go around.
Three programs will replace DL-U. One will provide cash assistance to seniors, the blind and those who have established long-term disabilities. One will help pregnant women in need.
The remaining clients currently receiving monthly checks of $19, will be eligible for the Housing and Essential Needs program, dubbed HEN.
Under HEN, no cash will be handed over to clients. Instead of spending money, the client would have the opportunity to obtain necessities they can't buy with food stamps, such as toilet paper and soap, at various sites throughout the county.
HEN will make rental payments directly to landlords. In King County, Catholic Community Services will administer the program. A homeless client enrolled in HEN will be able to tell prospective landlords that HEN will pay up to $200 per month toward rent and utilities.
At the October general meeting of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, Kate Speltz, a program manager with King County Housing and Community Development, said she expected that most who move into housing using HEN will make arrangements to share apartments with others. For example, a client might pay to sleep on an acquaintance's couch. As long as that acquaintance turned in a W-9 form, HEN would pay.
Subsidized housing providers are on board with HEN and will generally accept their minimum rent amount from HEN clients who have no additional income. Minimum rents range from $25 to $50, so, the more HEN clients are housed in subsidized housing, the further funds can stretch.
But there's a problem. It's estimated there's only enough money from the state to fund an average of $60 per client per month, if everyone eligible enrolls in the program, Speltz said. So if too many rent payouts are much larger than that, closer to the upper limit of $200, funds could run out before every client is served. It isn't clear if any more than a fraction of current DL-U clients could obtain housing through HEN.
Another concern is the lag between the loss of DL-U and the start of HEN. Anyone enrolled in the state's Medical Care Services program (which includes anyone in DL-U in October 2011) can enroll in HEN, but enrollment is not automatic and takes time. In the interim, a client will likely endure 10 days of zero support, apart from food stamps.
Catholic Community Services is now taking calls at 206.328.5755 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to set up appointments to enroll.