Manhattan City Councilmember Carlina Rivera introduced legislation Wednesday that would expand eligibility criteria for city-funded supportive housing to include people with justice system involvement in the last year—a change long sought by advocates, who say it would increase options for New Yorkers cycling between jail and shelter.
NYC Health + Hospitals says it’s found permanent homes for more than 1,200 of its patients and their families, both through supportive housing placements and in affordable apartments on its own land. The marker comes as the mayor directs all city agencies to examine their property holdings for places to build new housing.
Funding sought in this year’s budget, alongside updated eligibility criteria, could increase housing options for New Yorkers cycling between jail and shelter.
“New York is a national model of supportive housing, which has been proven time and again to be among the most successful methods of ending chronic homelessness. But the system has grown unwieldy, thanks to the vast disparities in available services, funding, and unit maintenance.”
“Black New Yorkers are disproportionately affected by homelessness, making up 58 percent of shelter residents; 80 percent of the workers caring for these individuals are women of color, yet the top ranks of the organizations that employ them and set organizational policies are overwhelmingly white.”
“Let us keep in front of mind that these were people who had hopes, dreams and stories,” said George Nashak, CEO of Care for the Homeless.
The “Just Home” proposal to house seriously ill people leaving jail cleared one of its final procedural hurdles at a heated public hearing, where locals repeatedly testified that they feared for their safety.
“How can the agencies make this process more streamlined for the applicant, easier to navigate, less given to subjectivity and less prone to error and discrimination?” asked Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala.
“For many nonprofit building owners like us, it is not a question of if we will be able to keep these buildings as supportive housing; rather, it is a question of how long we can afford to.”
The so-called Fair Housing Framework, sponsored by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and passed unanimously by the Council Thursday, will task city agencies with creating a housing plan every five years that includes production targets for each of city’s 59 community districts—though stops short of mandating development.
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