Luzerne Times

Clinton County issued the following announcement on Jan. 11.

The county's Emergency Rental Assistance Program has helped over 200 renters so far remain in their homes in 2021.

Jeff Rich, executive director of the Clinton County Housing Authority, offered the commissioners a breakdown on the ERAP during the board's work session Monday morning.

Rich said ERAP was implemented in March 2021 through the United States Treasury Department. From there funding was shifted to the Department of Human Services, and then to Clinton County, he said.

In the end, the county received $2.5 million in rental assistance which they've been using since.

"At the very beginning of March, we had very few applications. But then rather quickly it picked up," Rich said.

As of December 2021, the authority received 652 applications for rental assistance. Of that number, 342 have been approved, 96 denied and 214 to be reviewed. If approved, the county would be able to assist in rent or utility payments such as gas, electric and fuel oil.

To qualify for the program, Rich said their are two criteria an applicant should meet.

An applicant must be income eligible and have faced an economic impact due to COVID-19.

Income eligible applicants are those who fall below 80 percent of the county's area median income.

"For instance, for a family of four the current area median income for Clinton County is $52,100," he said.

Rich noted more people meet the COVID-19 impact qualification than they realize.

"At first we were kind of struggling with that definition or that criteria. Folks didn't really recognize some of the impacts that they actually did experience due to COVID."

For example, Rich said parents who had to homeschool their kids would have additional costs for food and supplies.

"Really, the definition of impact by COVID was kind of a given to most of the households because of the leniency that is written into the guidelines," he said. "And quite honestly, all of us to some extent have had impacts due to COVID."

Rich touched on the 96 applicants that were denied assistance.

"The ones that were denied I can say there's probably a handful - maybe just 10 - that didn't qualify through criteria," he said.

The majority were denied due to a lack of information needed to process the application or receive approval.

"We need their lease, we need their ID, some documentation to show what they owe... for whatever reason they could not produce that information," he said. Contacting these applicants also could prove to be difficult, he noted.

Comparing 2020 and 2021's numbers, Rich said the authority only received 64 applications for rental assistance.

"This has really geared us up," he said of this year.

In terms of statistics. Rich said the majority of applications came from the Lock Haven zip code - 17745 - with a few other outlying addresses too.

Commissioner Angela Harding asked if the inclusion of Jersey Shore's zipcode, 17740, was due to the overlap into Clinton County.

"When you get down to that Pine Creek area there's some overlap. Originally DHS did not include the Jersey Shore zip code for our reporting. But I had to add that in because we have folks that qualify," he said.

The ERAP program is scheduled to run out in September, Rich said.

Although funds are slowly trickling out to renters in the county, Rich noted the county will receive another round of ERAP funding. He said $805,000 will be put toward rental assistance.

"To date we have not spent any of that money," he said. "However, we have recently noticed that some of the folks in round one have maxed out their eligibility with all 15 months of assistance."

Rich said those renters would be able to qualify for another three months under ERAP2. "So we quite likely will start distributing funds out of this within the next 30 days or so," he said. He noted the ERAP2 funding will focus specifically on those that are 50 percent AMI or less.

With a small staff, Rich said he doesn't know exactly when the authority will have processed the remaining 214 applications.

"It's a moving target," he said. Staff are able to process about 60 to 70 applications a month, however the authority is also getting about 80 applications a month too.

Those who would like to apply for ERAP have multiple options, Rich said.

Interested applicants may find a print or online application on the Department of Human Services' website or the authority's - www.cchousingcoalition.org. They may also visit the county's website to print out an application, or stop at the authority's office, 330 E. Main St., Lock Haven, to pick up a copy at the building's rear entrance.

Commissioner Miles Kessinger was absent from the work session held in the Piper Building. The commissioners will hold a voting session on Thursday, Jan. 13 at 10 a.m.

Original source can be found here.