BRING NEW YORKS HOMELESS HOUSING POLICIES

INTO THE 21ST CENTURY WITH

PROGRESSIVE VALUES AND INTELLIGENT FUNDING

Introduction:

New Yorks homelessness crisis remains at alarming and historically high levels. More
than 59,000 homeless New Yorkers including 14,000 families and 24,000 children
sleep each night in the New York City shelter system, while thousands more bed down
on the streets and other public spaces. The crisis is the result of New Yorks worsening
housing affordability crunch and the disastrous homeless policies of the past decade,
which saw previous State and City administrations sharply reduce permanent housing
assistance to the neediest New Yorkers, with predictable results a soaring homeless
population.

As bad as the current crisis is, it can be reversed but only if Governor Cuomo and the
New York State Legislature adopt a genuinely progressive vision and abandon the
failed policies of the Pataki era. Indeed, even though Cuomo has been governor for five
years, his administration has done little to change the broken policies and deeply
inadequate funding levels of the Pataki years.

Starting now, Albany must work with the City to expand funding for permanent housing
assistance and to enhance prevention efforts. Equally important, State officials need to
work collaboratively with the City to make improvements to the shelter system instead of
engaging in accusations and counter-productive media skirmishes.

After more than a decade of policy failures, the City at last has taken important steps to
reverse course. It has provided thousands of homeless families with permanent
housing aid and has stepped up prevention programs. And Mayor de Blasio has made
a historic commitment to create thousands of units of permanent supportive housing to
begin finally addressing the street homelessness crisis.

But the City cannot solve this problem alone, and it is hampered by Pataki-era policies
and inadequate funding. Albany must play a larger and more effective role to reduce
New York Citys enormous homeless population. Currently, the State pays the majority
of the cost of sheltering homeless families but only a relatively small share of
programs aimed at moving those families from shelters to permanent housing.
Likewise, State funding for prevention programs remains deeply inadequate. Its time to
change that equation.

In order to tackle the homelessness crisis, the Governor and the State Legislature must
move beyond the failed policies and practices of the Pataki era and embrace genuinely
progressive ideas.

Albany must:
Move beyond Pataki-era austerity and increase funding for rental assistance and
prevention programs for the neediest households;
Match the Citys commitment to create thousands of units of permanent
supportive housing; and
Work collaboratively with the City to improve conditions in many shelters.

If Albany genuinely partners with the City to fund and implement progressive solutions
to the homelessness crisis, New Yorkers will begin to see far fewer vulnerable children
and adults sleeping in shelters and the streets.


ALBANY THREE-PART PROGRESSIVE ACTION PLAN TO
TACKLE THE NYC HOMELESSNESS CRISIS:

ONE: INCREASE FUNDING FOR RENTAL ASSISTANCE AND PREVENTION

One of the major reasons family homelessness in New York remains at historically-high
levels is that the poorest families have few protections from homelessness. Each year,
thousands of poor tenants suffer evictions that could have been prevented with
sensible, adequately-funded programs programs that are a fraction of the cost of the
shelter system. And this is largely because Albany has failed to provide these
protections, and has maintained the inadequate policies and funding levels of the Pataki
administration.

Indeed, for poor families receiving public assistance, the State-mandated housing
allowance the amount these families receive to pay rent is still at levels set by Pataki
in 2003, levels which were inadequate even then. A family of three gets only
$400/month to rent an apartment, while a singe individuals gets only $215/month.

Likewise, the rent levels for the Family Eviction Prevention Supplement (FEPS) program
which helps public assistance families at risk of eviction remain in their apartments
have not been increased since 2005 and remain far below federal Fair Market Rent
levels. And many domestic violence survivors and their families are unable to receive
FEPS assistance when facing eviction.

Making matters worse, last year the State cut some $22 million in funding annually for
the Emergency Assistance for Families program, the majority of which goes to prevent
homelessness.

In addition, the State continues to underfund vital rental assistance programs for
homeless and at-risk people living with HIV/AIDS. These programs not only prevent

homelessness, but they are vital to the health and wellbeing of individuals living with
HIV.

Finally, the State has provided inadequate funding and enacted restrictive rules for the
joint State-City Living in Communities (LINC) programs, which provide rental assistance
to help homeless families move from shelters to permanent housing. As a result, these
program have helped far fewer families than expected, and the City has had to add
additional funding to enhance the programs.

Following are some steps the Governor and State Legislature must take in the coming
weeks to move beyond failed Pataki-era policies, and to expand funding for rental
assistance and prevention programs:

Increase the Housing Allowance for Public Assistance Recipients

Currently $400 for a family of three and $215 for a single adult.
The federal Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,515/month and
for a studio apartment is $1,196/month.

Increase the Family Eviction Prevention Supplement (FEPS) Rental Assistance Level

The State-set rental assistance level ($1,050/month for a typical family) must be
increased to the federal Fair Market Rent level for New York City ($1,515/month
for a two-bedroom apartment).
The rent level has not been increased since the inception of the FEPS program
in 2005

Make Domestic Violence Survivors Eligible for the FEPS Program

Currently survivors of domestic violence are not eligible for the FEPS program
because they do not meet the State-set criteria of being subjected to an eviction
proceeding.

Allocate $50 Million to Increase State Funding to Expand Housing Assistance to Low-
Income HIV+ New Yorkers.

All research shows that homelessness among HIV+ people takes days off their
life, and leads to an increase of HIV transmissions due to people being unable to
stay treatment adherent and engaging in risky behavior to negotiate housing.
Currently, low-income HIV+ New Yorkers without an AIDS diagnosis are denied
access to New York Citys HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA), which
provide enhanced rental assistance, as well as food and nutrition allowance.
Across the state, such benefits do not even exist.
New York City has taken the first step by committing funding to pay a portion of
expansion of HASA benefits.

Eliminate the Cut in Emergency Assistance for Families (EAF) Funding

Last years State budget cut some $22 million in funding for the EAF program,
which largely funds homeless prevention efforts, and Governor Cuomo proposes
retaining that cut in this years budget.

TWO: CREATE SUPPORTIVE HOUSING AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR
HOMELESS NEW YORKERS

While enhancing rental assistance is a crucial step in reducing homelessness
particularly among children and families Albany needs to revive its largely abandoned
role in creating new affordable and supportive housing for homeless New Yorkers.

The need for greater State investments in new housing is especially clear when it
comes to the worsening crisis of street homelessness. The number of unsheltered
homeless people sleeping on the streets, in the subway system, and in other public
spaces has been growing for years. Homeless individuals on the streets have
alarmingly high rates of serious mental illness (e.g., military veterans suffering from
PTSD) and other serious health problems, including HIV infection. Two decades of
research have shown that the only effective solution to street homelessness is a model
of housing called permanent supportive housing, which combines subsidies with
support services to help people get and maintain treatment. And numerous studies also
show that supportive housing saves taxpayer dollars otherwise spent on shelters,
hospitals, and other expensive institutional care.

Back in the 1980s New York actually pioneered supportive housing as a solution to
street homelessness. And the State and City have historically partnered to create such
housing, going back to the landmark 1990 New York/New York Agreement between
Governor Mario Cuomo and Mayor Dinkins, which created thousands of supportive
housing apartments and reduced street homelessness in the nineties. Even Governor
Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg whose administrations slashed other housing programs
for homeless New Yorkers signed a 2005 agreement to create 9,000 supportive
housing units. But with that agreement ending and few vacancies in the existing stock
of supportive housing, it is no surprise that street homelessness is back on the rise.

Advocates have identified a need to create 30,000 supportive housing units in New York
City over the next decade (along with 5,000 additional units outside the city). But for
two years Governor Cuomo refused to anything beyond a proposal last year for a paltry
3,900 units in NYC, with the state shouldering a smaller share of the costs a proposal
even smaller than the Pataki-Bloomberg agreement.

So in November, faced with Governor Cuomos intransigence and the worsening crisis,
Mayor de Blasio announced that, with no help coming from from Albany, the City would
go it alone to create 15,000 supportive housing apartments, the largest supportive
housing initiative in history.

The Citys commitment spurred the Governor to make a larger commitment of his own:
6,000 new supportive housing units over the next five years, a welcome and substantial
increase from his proposal last year. However, there remain some unanswered
questions about the States new supportive housing plan, including how many units will
be created in NYC versus the rest of the state, what kinds of programs will be created,
and which populations will be served. Thus there remains a need for more
transparency and closer collaboration between the State and City.

In addition, the Governor needs to detail how the State will match the Citys commitment
to create 15,000 supportive housing units in New York City, and how the State will
create 5,000 units elsewhere in the state.

In addition, the Governor announced a plan to create 100,000 affordable housing units
over the next five years, a significant increase in State commitments. However, it is
unclear whether any of these new housing units will be allocated to homeless
households. And experience has shown that such affordable housing commitments
only make a significant impact on homelessness when a substantial number of units are
directly targeted to homeless families and individuals.

Following are some questions the Governor and State Legislature must answer
with respect to the affordable and supportive housing plans:

Will the State fully match the Citys commitment to create 15,000 supportive
housing units in New York City, as well as 5,000 units elsewhere in the state?
How many supportive housing units will be created in NYC? How many
elsewhere in the state?
How many units will be congregate and how many scatter-site units?
What populations will be served by the new supportive housing?
What is the timeline for creating the new housing?
How many affordable housing units will be created in NYC? How many
elsewhere in the state?
For the affordable housing, what income levels will be served?
How many units will be allocated to homeless households?
How many to the poorest households (i.e., those with extremely low incomes)?

THREE: THE STATE MUST COLLABORATE WITH THE CITY TO IMPROVE
SHELTER CONDITIONS AND SERVICES

For more than a decade, homeless people and advocates have reported serious health
and safety hazards at a significant number of shelters for the most part, those
operated by for-profit operators and those directly run by the City. These reports were
echoed by numerous government investigations and news media reports, most notably
the acclaimed New York Times series about Dasani and her family and numerous
investigations of so-called cluster-site shelter (i.e., private apartment buildings used as
temporary shelter).

It is notable that many of the worst conditions in the growing shelter system emerged as
the City turned to more and more for-profit shelter operators including well-known
slumlords who own most cluster-site buildings and so-called welfare hotels and that
the State continued to pay for such shelter arrangements. Indeed, for a decade the
Pataki and Cuomo administrations allowed the Bloomberg administration to create
3,000 cluster-site shelter units and contract with more and more commercial hotels
and motels most of them in buildings owned by slumlords in low-income communities
of color.

Moreover, State officials under the Pataki and Cuomo administrations long maintained
that they could not inspect or enforce conditions in cluster-site shelter nor in hotels and
motels, but continued to allow previous City administrations to create such shelters
nonetheless. And the horrendous conditions at the notorious Auburn shelter, where
Dasani and her family lived for years, were documented in numerous inspection reports
by the State and City, with neither taking action to address the hazards.

Therefore, while it is indeed welcome, if overdue, news that the Governor and Mayor
and government agencies are now acknowledging the severity of hazards in many
shelters, it is disingenuous, to say the least, for State officials to pretend that they have
only now discovered such hazards and in shelters that the State permitted the
previous City administration to create in such vast numbers! And skirmishes between
State officials and the City, like the States recent false report about an alleged gang
rape at the Bellevue shelter a discredited claim irresponsibly published in the New
York Post do nothing to improve shelter conditions for homeless New Yorkers.

It is also deeply troubling that the Governor has proposed additional levels of State
oversight in the shelter system, without actually providing the resources necessary to
address longstanding hazards a purely bureaucratic proposal that will only distract
from genuine reforms.

To its credit, the City has taken steps to address some of the worst hazards in the
shelter system from the removal of children from the Auburn and Catherine Street
shelters, to the Depart of Investigation report released last year, to the multi-agency
task force addressing shelter hazards.

But it is clear that more needs to be done. Indeed, many older shelter facilities are in
need of significant capital investment merely to remain operational. And closer
collaboration between the State and City, instead of warring accusations and false
media reports, would go a long way to enacting genuine reforms.

Most important among these reforms would be the end of the cluster-site shelter
program. While the City has pledged to phase out the use of cluster-site shelter, the
three-year timeline the City proposes is too long, and the State could help by
addressing violations in the largely rent-regulated buildings where most cluster-site units
are located.

Following are some steps the State can take to work collaboratively with the City to
improve shelter conditions for homeless New Yorkers:

Abandon the current proposal to create unnecessary and cumbersome new levels of
bureaucratic oversight of the shelter system.
Develop a joint City-State task force to inspect shelter conditions and prioritize needed
repairs, and to jointly finance critical capital funding needs.
Work with the City to accelerate the phasing out of all cluster-site shelter units, and
ensure that building owners return apartments to the market at appropriate rent-
regulated rent levels.


CONCLUSION:

BRING HOMELESS HOUSING POLICIES INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
WITH PROGRESSIVE VALUES AND INTELLIGENT FUNDING

Cuomo has been Governor for five years and has asserted his role as a national
progressive leader. But sadly that progressive vision has so far been absent from the
States homeless housing policies. Indeed, much of the States homeless policymaking
is still stuck in the Pataki years, with inadequate Pataki-era funding levels and rules.
This is one of the major causes of New Yorks continuing homelessness crisis.

As Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature negotiate the State budget, there is an
opportunity to change course and to partner with the City to address the need for more
permanent housing resources and enhanced prevention programs. In the coming
weeks the Governor and State Legislature must:

1. Move beyond Pataki-era austerity and increase funding for rental assistance and
prevention programs for the neediest households, including:

Increase the Housing Allowance for Public Assistance Recipients
Increase the Family Eviction Prevention Supplement (FEPS) Rental Assistance
Level
Make Domestic Violence Survivors Eligible for the FEPS Program
Allocate $50 Million to Increase State Funding to Expand Housing Assistance to
Low-Income HIV+ New Yorkers
Eliminate the Cut in Emergency Assistance for Families (EAF) Funding

2. Match the Citys commitment to create 15,000 units of permanent supportive housing
in New York City and create 5,000 units elsewhere in the state.

3. Work collaboratively with the City to improve conditions in many shelters, including:

Abandon the current proposal to create unnecessary and cumbersome new
levels of bureaucratic oversight of the shelter system.

 Develop a joint City-State task force to inspect shelter conditions and prioritize
needed repairs, and to jointly finance critical capital funding needs.
Work with the City to accelerate the phasing out of all cluster-site shelter units,
and ensure that building owners return apartments to the market at appropriate
rent-regulated rent levels.