Rental Assistance
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Missouri Department of Mental Health
Housing Team
Rental Assistance for People With Disabilities
Housing is an integral part of health care. The DMH Housing Team strives to help people with disabilities find decent and affordable housing because without it, services are more difficult to deliver, illnesses are exacerbated and homeless populations increase.
The Housing Team operates rent subsidy programs statewide for people with disabilities called Shelter Plus Care that are funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Mental Health. Shelter Plus Care subsidies are provided to nearly 1000 individuals and families living in various communities around the state.
Shelter Plus Care began in Missouri in 1995 when DMH received two contracts through HUD to administer three Shelter Plus Care programs to provide rental assistance for homeless individuals and families. Two of these grants were in St. Louis and one was in Kansas City, with the two St. Louis grants covering that entire metropolitan region. These grants were first renewed in 1999 and DMH continues to administer them. Since 1999, DMH has received funding for an additional twenty Shelter Plus Care grants, bringing the total to twenty-three HUD grants administered by DMH.
Shelter Plus Care is an important source of permanent housing assistance for individuals and families with disabilities who are homeless. Since 1993, HUD has awarded Shelter Plus Care grants to states and local governments to serve a population that has been traditionally hard to reach, with disabilities such as serious mental illness, chronic problems with alcohol and/or substance abuse, severe developmental disability, and AIDS or related diseases. This program was built on the premise that housing and services need to be connected in order to ensure the stability of housing for this population. For more information about Shelter Plus Care and how to apply, please go to the Shelter Plus Care section of this web site.
From 1996 through 2001, DMH also applied for and received funds from the Missouri Housing Trust Fund administered by Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC), which DMH matched dollar for dollar to provide rental assistance. In 2002, DMH stopped receiving the MHDC funding, so the Department used its own funds to create the Rental Assistance Program (RAP) for individuals and families receiving services through DMH who are in need of affordable housing but are not necessarily experiencing homelessness.
DMH's Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services also has a rental assistance program for people with serious mental illness funded under their Supported Community Living Program (SCL). For more information about both RAP and SCL, contact the Housing Team.
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