Missouri State Agency Urged to Allocate Credits to Help Domestic Violence Victims

Recently, Missouri Treasurer Clint Zweifel urged the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) to use its LIHTC allocation to help combat affordable housing issues that are exacerbated among victims of domestic violence. In a letter, he cited a study stating that survivors of domestic violence were the third largest subpopulation of homeless individuals in Missouri. Zweifel noted that even these numbers may be underrepresented and don’t take into account victims who are forced to stay with their abusers because they have nowhere else to go because of a lack of affordable housing options.

In 2011, the MHDC set aside a third of Missouri’s LIHTC allocations for developments that serve populations with special needs. So, Zweifel proposes that the MHDC could “expand the definition of special needs to include survivors of domestic violence.” If approved, this proposal could increase the number of LIHTC allocations to projects aimed at serving victims of domestic violence. 

The proposed changes would still have to go through a series of public hearings and a final approval process before they could impact MHDC’s future LIHTC allocations.