A bit more on these new Katrina vouchers

The folks at the National Multi-Housing Council, who should know since they're in the Joint Housing Solutions Center loop, have a fairly fresh update posted on federal Katrina relief developments.

Possibly most important, they have a copy of the HUD memo by Deputy Assistant Secretary Milan Ozdinec that says the KDHAP housing relief program will be replaced Jan. 31 by a new "Disaster Supplemental Voucher Program." Not really any more details than before, but at least a little more context. Oddly, this memo seems to have been an official response to a particular inquirer -- Douglas Rice of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities -- and not a generally distributed notice. No idea when generally distributed notices will appear on this subject. [P.S. It looks like Mr. Ozdinec was responding to this Dec. 23, 2005 letter, in which nine advocacy groups asked HUD to extend evacuees' registration deadlines and to raise official "Fair Market Rent" amounts in the disaster-affected Gulf Coast.]

The NMHC people also have a facsimile of the different Jan. 20 FEMA memo that says at least some of the existing disaster relief housing contracts under Sec. 403 of the Stafford Act are to be continued until the aid recipients can be switched over to FEMA Individual Assistance under Sec. 408 of the Stafford Act.