North East Community Action Corporation (NECAC) will soon begin mandatory criminal background checks on applicants for rental housing assistance.NECAC administers federal funds through the Housing Choice Voucher Program, aka Section 8. The program subsidizes the cost of rent for low-income families, as well as elderly and disabled people who need assistance to afford decent housing.Beginning Oct. 1, applicants for the housing vouchers will be screened for drug-related and violent criminal charges, in addition to previously required sex offender screening. The new requirements were detailed in a letter distributed by NECAC and the Lincoln County Public Housing Agency.Dianna Clair, director of NECAC’s Section 8 programs, said voucher applicants were previously asked to self-declare any relevant criminal charges, and were liable for fraud if they lied. The new, stricter application requirements are part of NECAC’s accountability to taxpayers, she said.“We’re probably one of the few housing agencies that don’t background check. We just need to do it,” Clair said. “We will try to prevent people with (criminal) charges from getting vouchers, when there’s plenty of people who need the help who don’t have charges.”In a time when drug use is on the rise and federal funding for housing assistance is becoming less reliable, Clair said the agency has to make every dollar count.“The times are showing that it’s necessary, unfortunately,” she said.Once the expanded screening requirement goes into effect Oct. 1, all new voucher applicants will be required to undergo a criminal background check.So will any person over age 17 who is added to a Section 8 household, and any current household member who turns 17 after Oct. 1.In addition, NECAC will run a background check on any current participant if there is strong reason to believe that person has charges against them, according to the letter from the organization.The program will deny admission to anyone with drug-related or violent criminal charges or convictions within the past five years, or a pattern of such charges within the past 10 years, according to the letter.NECAC will terminate a family’s assistance if it finds any household member is engaged in or has a history of such criminal activity.Some flexibility could be available for voucher recipients who can show they are in a drug rehabilitation program, Clair said. Otherwise, anyone whose voucher assistance is terminated can ask for an informal hearing to state their case, she said.NECAC