Mainstream Vouchers
Program Funding
Annual program obligations reported to SAM.gov.
Funded Projects
Examples of what this program has supported.
Program Objective
The Mainstream Vouchers (previously referred to as the Mainstream 5-Year Program and/or the Section 811 Voucher Program) were originally authorized under the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-625). The Mainstream Vouchers provides tenant-based assistance to persons with disabilities. Until the passage of the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-374) (Melville Act), the program operated as a separate program distinct from the regular tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher Program. The Melville Act converted the Mainstream 5-Year Program to the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program under 8(o) of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937. Under the Melville Act, except for serving a specific population, Mainstream vouchers are to be treated the same as regular voucher assistance. In other words, the same regulations at 24 CFR Part 982 (Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance: Housing Choice Voucher Program) apply to Mainstream vouchers. There is no authority to treat families that receive a Mainstream voucher differently from other applicants and participants of the HCV program. After enactment of the Melville Act (i.e., subsequent to conversion of this assistance to section 8(o) voucher assistance), funding for Mainstream voucher renewals and administrative fees was first provided in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (P.L. 112-55) under its own paragraph under the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) heading. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 provided funding for incremental Mainstream vouchers for the first time since the enactment of the Melville Act (in addition to renewal and administrative fee funding). These incremental vouchers exclusively assisted non-elderly persons with disabilities. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 ("2019 Act") also provided funding for incremental Mainstream vouchers for non-elderly persons with disabilities, in addition to renewal and administrative fee funding. In addition, the 2019 Act states that all new and existing Mainstream vouchers must be provided to non-elderly persons with disabilities upon turnover. Consistent with prior appropriations acts, all funding for 2017-2019 Mainstream vouchers was provided under its own paragraph (e.g., paragraph (4) under the TBRA heading in the 2019 Act). While the Melville Act requires Mainstream vouchers to be treated the same as regular voucher assistance, the separate HCV Mainstream appropriations results in an accounting of Mainstream activity separate from the HCV program.
Eligibility
Eligible Applicants
- State
Public housing agencies (PHA)that is defined as any State, county, municipality or other governmental entity or public body (or agency or instrumentality thereof) which is authorized to engage in or assist in the development or operation of housing for very low-income families.
Beneficiaries
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A family that includes a non-elderly person with disabilities that is income-eligible under the Housing Choice Voucher program regulations at 24 CFR 982.201(b) (1) as well as other wise eligible under the regulations at 24CFR 982.201, may be selected from the PHA's housing choice voucher waiting list and receive a voucher.
How to Apply
Application Procedure
2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program.
Submission of Application for Housing Assistance Payments Program (Form HUD-52515).
Award Procedure
HUD generally makes the final decision based on the results of the rating and ranking process.
Decision Timeline
- Approval: From 60 to 90 days
Program details & compliance
Description
Mainstream vouchers assist non-elderly persons with disabilities. Aside from serving a special population, Mainstream vouchers are administered using the same rules as the Tenant-based Rental Assistance program (14.871). Funding and financial reporting for Mainstream vouchers is separate from the regular tenant-based voucher program. Please see PIH Notice 2020-01 for more information. The 2017, 2018, and 2019 Appropriations Acts provided funded for new Mainstream vouchers. Since 2018, HUD has awarded over $500 million in funding to public housing agencies (PHAs) to support 50,000 new Mainstream vouchers.
Use of Funds
Allowed Uses
Provides housing assistance payments to participating owners on behalf of eligible tenants to provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing at rents they can afford. Housing assistance payments are generally the difference between the local payment standard and 30 percent of the family's adjusted income. Mainstream Vouchers can be provided to families that include a non-elderly person with disabilities. Mainstream Vouchers can be provided to families that include a non-elderly person with disabilities.
Required Documentation
In the Mainstream Voucher Program, the PHA must demonstrate in its application a need for these vouchers by providing information documenting that the demand for housing for non-elderly persons with disabilities would equal or exceed the requested number of vouchers. Currently, most Mainstream Voucher programs are relatively small and do not support a separate division by itself in a PHA’s organizational records. Typically, staff that work on the HCV program (i.e., waitlist, recertification, inspection functions) perform the same required functions for the Mainstream Voucher Program. If the PHA does not have a separate accounting for Accounting Brief #25: FDS Reporting Guidance for the Mainstream Voucher Program, then the PHA will need to account for the Mainstream Voucher Program costs using a reasonable cost allocation method as required under 2 CFR 200. PHAs should not use a fee concept in determining the administrative costs of the Mainstream Voucher Program where the PHA’s HCV Program would charge a set fee to the Mainstream Voucher Program regardless of the actual costs incurred by the Mainstream Voucher Program. The use of the fee concept incorrectly assumes that all administrative fees earned by the Mainstream Voucher Program is the actual cost of the program. As such, a fee methodology could result in an overstatement of the HCV program administrative expenses and the actual costs of the HCV and Mainstream Voucher Program would be co-mingled in the HCV Program.
This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles.
Reporting & Compliance
Applicable 2 CFR 200 Subparts
- Subpart F — Audit Requirements