Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Waiting List
Receiving a voucher requires applying for the voucher waiting list, a process centralized across communities and
which is run by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials
through its subcontractor GoSection8. The Centralized Waiting List was opened in January of 2013 and has
remained open since then.
The AHA’s voucher waitlist is prohibitively long. According to information provided in the public engagement
process, some voucher holders were on the waitlist for upwards of six years before finally obtaining a voucher.
Other tenants reported difficulties in completing all necessary paperwork upon finally reaching the top of the
waitlist, with agencies refusing to provide accommodations during medical emergencies. Unfortunately, public
engagement participants did not shed light on how successful the efforts to reach marginalized communities, as
those who the AHA did not reach were, of course, not included in the focus group. Looking solely at the
experience of those who did apply for vouchers would provide an incomplete assessment of how effective the
outreach efforts were.