Officials are working to provide more housing assistance in Logansport and expand that assistance into Cass County.
The Logansport Housing Authority provides and oversees housing assistance vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to residents living in Logansport and a 5-mile fringe around the city.
A press release from Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell's office announced the local housing authority's board plans to vote on a resolution to accept more vouchers from the federal government that will be available throughout Cass County.
Molly McBride, executive director of the Logansport Housing Authority, said in an email Friday that 272 of the authority's 283 vouchers are being used and that the waiting list exceeds 100.
The amount of additional vouchers the authority would receive remains to be determined, she continued, adding they'd be available in late 2016 or early 2017.
She added the authority was structured to provide vouchers to residents living in the city and 5-mile fringe.
Kitchell said in his release Cass County residents seeking assistance have to do so from other agencies outside the county.
If the Logansport Housing Authority gets the additional vouchers, McBride said it would contract with the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to make assistance available throughout Cass County.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Indianapolis Field Office could not be reached for comment Friday.
Kitchell's release states he, McBride and Logansport Housing Authority Board member Patrick McNarny met with Department of Housing and Urban Development officials recently to discuss the expansion.
Kitchell said the vouchers allow residents "to have control over their own housing" while ensuring landlords will get paid. He added agencies that manage the vouchers at the local level like the Logansport Housing Authority provide the important service of investigating voucher fraud and abuse.
"With so many empty homes, we have to do what we can to ensure we're improving the demand for our housing stock and that the quality consumers want and need is available," Kitchell said in the release.
McBride praised the meeting as well.
"We greatly appreciate Mayor Kitchell's efforts to facilitate the meeting with the Logansport Housing Authority and HUD officials," she wrote. "I feel very confident that the additional vouchers that we are requesting will be available to the residents of Cass County in the near future."