The mission of the Housing Assistance Program is to assist homeless and near-homeless families and individuals to secure and sustain afforadable permanent housing. In the process of attaining this goal, the program attempts to reduce and eliminate the need for the use of motels and hotels to house homeless families.

The program staff consists of four housing search specialists. These workers are bilingual, multi-skilled individuals who deal directly with landlords; negotiating and mediating disputes when necessary.

The program works with an average of 150 to 180 families at any given time. Families are referred by the Department of Tranasitional Assistance (DTA). Due to the lack of funds for additional staff, the Housing Assistance Program has limited their assistance to those families and individuals who are referred by DTA unless the individual is over 60 years of age.

Since the program's inception in 1988, CAPIC/HAP has placed over 1,500 families in permanent housing. Each worker is also responsible for keeping in contact with recently moved families for up to twelve (12) months as part of the stabilization component of the program.

The Program's primary requests from families and individuals is for food assistance, followed by requests for rental assistance.

The Housing Assistance Program's main goal is to assist families and individuals to become self-suffiicient. The program is funded through the Department of Transitional Assistance.