“Hundreds of thousands of New York City households depend on government benefits to avoid eviction and homelessness. Yet countless households are experiencing ongoing and systemic delays when attempting to apply or renew their benefits.”
Sources familiar with the plan say the city is looking to open 950 shelter beds at sites run by dozens of religious organizations in the coming months.
Immigrant-headed households make up only 17 percent of the city’s population but constitute 21 percent of households earning below the “true cost of living.”
The mayor issued a directive to the NYPD, emergency medical services and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene empowering them to “involuntarily transport” people experiencing acute mental health crises to hospitals, even if they do not present an immediate threat to themselves or others. But it remains unclear where they will go for continued assistance and housing after they are discharged.
A new report describes the path to social housing in New York through 20 policy proposals, from overhauling the property tax code and abolishing the city’s tax lien sale to cracking down on landlord violations and boosting public funding for tenant organizing.
“It is time for the governor and the legislature to step up to the plate and start acting like a partner to Mayor Eric Adams instead of a spectator. In fact, in recent years the state has been reducing its support for the city’s shelter system by not keeping up with its financial obligation.”
The city’s ‘right to shelter’ provides a basic safety net not seen anywhere else in the country, allowing anyone who wants a shelter bed to get one (at least temporarily). But that right appears to be under siege as the city struggles to meet shelter demand amid a surge in homelessness.
Supporters of the legislation, which would require the city to fund the placement of mental health professionals on-site at all homeless shelters with children, say it would increase access to care for families experiencing the crisis of housing insecurity. But some advocates worry it could inadvertently ensnare more low-income families in the child welfare system.
For at least the third time in three months Monday, New York City’s homeless services agency violated its legal obligation to provide temporary shelter to anyone who requests it—this time delaying placement for dozens of men seeking a bed at an intake facility on East 30th Street.
A six-month cap on stays and a lack of permanent housing options have combined to drive more than 1,550 families out of domestic violence shelters and directly into the Department of Homeless Services system over the past two years, records show.
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