State & City Funded Rental Housing Programs

The Homeless Assistance program was established in 1993 to provide grants to state agencies, local governments, regional housing authorities, and non-profit corporations to address the emergency needs of people who are homeless. The purpose of the HAP program is to support activities that prevent displacement from permanent, affordable housing and rapidly return displaced persons to permanent housing, while also providing safe, temporary housing. HAP funds are generally used to operate emergency or transitional housing facilities, provide financial assistance to prevent homelessness, and to provide housing placement assistance and other supportive services such as case management or life skills training. However, due to limited funds, agencies generally use HAP funds to provide short-term rental assistance. On average, direct assistance covers one month of rent for each household, with an average cost of $556 in FY12.

Funding Description:
Funding is provided by the State General Fund, appropriated by the Alaska legislature. Corporate earnings from the Alaska Housing Finance Agency had provided the bulk of the funding for the program, but the economic downturn has limited this funding source. For FY12, $645,900 went to short-term rental assistance and an additional $482,880 provided security deposits and targeted assistance for persons leaving homeless facilities. For FY15, $5,964,806 was provided to fund 40 agencies.