Bucks County Housing Authority Opens Waiting List

The Bucks County Housing Authority 

Bucks County Housing Authority is reopening its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program waiting list for Bucks County residents effective March 14, The waiting list will remain open indefinitely. 

Bucks County residents can have an application mailed to them by requesting one via email (Section8@bucksha.net) ensuring they include their name and full address or by calling 215-945-6110 215.348.9469 (phone) info@bucksha.net

The Bucks County Housing Authority Locations are not accepting walk-ins. 

Main Office and Housing Developments Waiting Lists 

PO Box 1329 Doylestown, PA 18901 

215.348.7140 (fax) 

Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM 

Housing Choice Voucher Program 

240 Levittown Parkway Levittown,

 PA 19054 215.945.6110 

(phone) 215.946.0669 (fax) 

Section8@bucksha.net 

Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

 except holidays

PHA Establishes Second Chance Program for Returning Citizens

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In June 2011, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) urged housing authorities to provide returning citizens with a second chance to become productive members of society under the Second Chance Act of 2007.  PHA's new Second Chance program is intended to address the housing barriers returning citizens face after incarceration. The new program will provide 10 Housing Choice vouchers for applicants who are in good standing in the federal Supervision to Aid Reentry (STAR) Program and Mayor Nutter's Office of Re-Integration Services (RISE) Program.

Federal Judge Timothy Rice, who helps administer the STAR program, told the PHA Board that everyone who benefits from the program is a City of Philadelphia resident. He also stated that participants in the Second Chance program are monitored very closely. “The program is based on having people come in to meet with you . . . every two weeks. They’re intensely monitored by U.S. probation and we provide not only counseling and encouragement, but also tangible assistance such as job placement, job training, and assistance with various programs,” Rice said. “It’s a basic fact of human dignity that everyone deserves their own place.” The judge noted that this innovative program has been hugely successful. About half of the people on federal parole have it revoked. Last year, 100 former inmates graduated from the STAR program and lowered the City’s recidivism rate from 18 percent to 14 percent. The federal court in Philadelphia is one of the first jurisdictions in the U.S. to run a specialty court geared toward the reentry of former inmates. The STAR program was founded in 2007 with the goal of decreasing the rate of violent crime in Philadelphia. 

See more at: http://pennsylvania.realestaterama.com/2013/11/08/pha-establishes-second-chance-program-for-returning-citizens-ID0717.html#sthash.1DipifO1.dpuf