GHFA PSH (formerly known as Shelter Plus Care)

The GHFA Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Program (formerly known as Shelter Plus Care) provides permanent housing in connection with supportive services to persons who have a disability and are experiencing homelessness. The program provides rental assistance funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) accompanied by a range of supportive services funded by other sources. The GHFA PSH Program is designed to serve a population that has been traditionally hard to reach - homeless persons with disabilities such as (but not limited to) serious mental illness, chronic substance abuse, and/or AIDS and related diseases. This program is built on the best practice that housing and services should be connected in order to ensure stability for this population. Consequently, GHFA PSH provides rental assistance that local sub-grantees must match with supportive services appropriate to the target population. The goals of the GHFA PSH Program are to assist homeless individuals and their families to increase their housing stability, skills and/or income, and self-sufficiency.

Funding for GHFA PSH projects is awarded competitively through HUD's annual Continuum of Care process. HUD has established guidelines for the competition which may be reviewed in annual notices of funding availability. Local GHFA PSH projects are typically implemented through partnerships that include (1) a grantee, (2) a local housing "Sponsor" (or subgrantee) that owns or coordinates leasing of housing for program participants, and (3) a network of supportive services providers.