Notice, application process, selection of eligible families and issuance of rental assistance certificates; special considerations

assistance certificates; special considerations (4) protecting witnesses to a crime; (a) The department shall provide notice to the public in newspapers of general circulation when the waiting list for the rental assistance program will be opened. The notice shall include information regarding where pre-applications can be obtained and submitted, and the dates when the department will be accepting pre-applications. After the period for accepting pre-applications has concluded, the department or its agent shall conduct a lottery using all pre-application forms received. The department or its agent shall place a predetermined number of applicants on the waiting list for the rental assistance program in the order in which they were randomly selected by the lottery. (b) If selected from the lottery, an eligible family shall complete a rental certificate application form that shall include, but not be limited to, information on family size and composition and the amount and sources of all income. The commissioner or the commissioner's agent shall verify the family's income. (c) When the department or its agent determines that a family is eligible for rental assistance, the department or its agent shall issue the family a rental assistance certificate. The department or its agent shall inform the family of the family's obligations under the program as well as the responsibilities of the owner of the dwelling unit, and shall provide the family with applicable forms and information that may assist the family in finding a suitable dwelling unit. (d) The rental assistance certificate shall be used within ninety days of issuance. The department or its agent may extend the expiration date of the certificate in one or more increments, such extensions not to exceed a total of ninety days. The certificate holder shall have a maximum of one hundred eighty days to locate a suitable dwelling unit unless the department or its agent finds good cause to extend the maximum period. (e) The ninety day time limit stops running on the day the department or its agent receives a request for tenancy approval. If for any reason the dwelling unit cannot be approved, then the certificate holder shall be notified and the time limit shall resume running on the date notice is mailed. (f) If it is determined that an applicant is ineligible to participate in the rental assistance program, the department or its agent shall notify the applicant, in writing, of the reason why he or she was determined to be ineligible. The applicant shall have the right to appeal this decision in accordance with section 17b-812-14 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. (g) The commissioner shall have discretion to grant rental assistance payments, within available funding, to individuals who may or may not be on the waiting list but who are otherwise eligible, and are homeless, have been displaced by governmental action, whose dwelling unit has been extensively damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster declared or otherwise formally recognized pursuant to federal disaster relief laws, or are participants in programs approved by the commissioner. Programs approved by the commissioner may include, but are not limited to, programs for: (1) Assisting individuals residing in nursing facilities or public institutions to leave such facilities or institutions; (2) preventing individuals from becoming institutionalized; (3) providing housing for children with severe disabilities and their families; (4) protecting witnesses to a crime; or (5) addressing the housing needs of individuals and families where lack of housing results in a significant threat to the health or safety of such persons.