FOURTH PILLAR
Ensuring Access To Affordable Housing For Unsheltered Homeless New Yorkers
While many unsheltered homeless New Yorkers living on the streets or subways want and/or need housing with supportive services, increasingly, there are people who end up on the streets or subways simply because the shelter system is deemed less safe. As it stands, our current system for homeless outreach typically prioritizes those who score high on a vulnerability index, leaving unsheltered New Yorkers who simply need a roof over their head with fewer resources at their disposal. Raising the CityFHEPS voucher to fair market rate and easing the requirements for unsheltered homeless New Yorkers could allow them to find housing before their health deteriorates to the point where they would require more costly supportive housing or safe haven beds.
Our plan
Increase the CityFHEPS voucher amount to Section 8 levels
Ease CityFHEPS eligibility for street homeless to enable rapid housing placement
Ensure street homeless have access to HHA's and referrals to HPD affordable units
Listen to the experts
The CityFHEPS voucher doesn’t work. We need to increase the CityFHEPS voucher amount to Section 8 payment standards so people can move from the streets into their own apartments.
Step 1
Increase the CityFHEPS voucher amount to Section 8 levels
Where we are
It is well-documented that the current payment standard for CityFHEPS vouchers is woefully inadequate in New York City’s housing market, and makes it practically impossible to locate safe, appropriate housing. A recent report from New York 1 showed that only “a tiny slice of those potentially eligible” - less than 4% of voucher holders - were able to find housing month-over-month using their vouchers. Despite the limited success of this voucher program, these vouchers are often one of rental subsidies that individuals are able to access, and may be the most realistic opportunity for an individual to move into permanent, market-rate housing (the report also found that “vouchers are routinely denied by landlords and realtors, which is an illegal source of income discrimination”). Among those that are able to locate housing using CityFHEPS voucher, we have heard repeatedly that there are continued issues with timely payments from the City, leading to mistrust of voucher programs from landlords.
Where we want to be
Increasing the CityFHEPS voucher amounts to Section 8 levels would increase the number of units available to CityFHEPS recipients City-wide. Elected officials must immediately work to pass Intro 146, which would require voucher amounts match fair market rent. This would enable people to find housing throughout more neighborhoods in the City. There is evidence that shows reliable rental assistance vouchers reduce returns to shelter among those experiencing homelessness and are a cost-effective alternative to providing long-term shelter to individuals who have the ability to live independently but cannot afford exorbitant New York City rents. Finally, the CityFHEPS voucher must include language to guarantee landlords that the City will follow through with its commitment to pay the voucher. This will help avoid repeating mistakes made with Cuomo/Bloomberg’s Advantage voucher, which was abruptly cut, and has further turned off landlords from accepting housing vouchers.
Step 2
Ease CityFHEPS eligibility for street homeless to enable rapid housing placement
Where we are
The overwhelming majority of people living on the streets or subways do not know about the CityFHEPS voucher, despite the fact that they may be eligible for it. This is caused by a focus on short-term offers like shelters, a lack of belief among outreach teams that the CityFHEPS voucher will work, and a complex eligibility criteria for receiving the voucher. The current CityFHEPS eligibility criteria require unsheltered New Yorkers to be on an outreach team’s caseload for 90 days before receiving a rental assistance voucher. This means that at minimum an individual must live on the streets for 90 days before they can even gain access to a housing voucher. Often outreach teams only start the application process after this 90 day mark, creating longer delays in applying for and accessing vouchers.
Where we want to be
Elected officials must ensure that those on the streets are being given CityFHEPS vouchers, and that the vouchers work for them. Moreover, the criteria must be eased. Elected officials must advocate for the reduction of time on outreach caseload before one is eligible for a CityFHEPS voucher. Homeless New Yorkers recommend 7-30 days after being added to caseload or 90 days after being entered into the outreach database, regardless of time on caseload, whichever comes first. This change would encourage outreach workers to begin gathering required documents and discussing how to use CityFHEPS vouchers with their clients immediately, rather than after three months of living on the street where mental and physical health deteriorates quickly. Finally, outreach teams must be trained on how to obtain a voucher for someone on the streets, and how to use the voucher or how to connect someone to a Housing Specialist, regardless of whether the individual accepts transitional housing or shelter options. Last, street homeless individuals who have not been able to or are unwilling to engage with an outreach team should be able to verify their street homelessness, and subsequent CityFHEPS eligibility, from places such as soup kitchens and similar service providers, increasing their access to affordable, permanent housing.
Step 3
Ensure street homeless have access to HHA's and referrals to HPD affordable units
Where we are
Lack of affordable housing is one of the main reasons people experience homelessness. Despite this, supportive housing is often overemphasized as the most viable housing option for street homeless New Yorkers, even when this may not be an appropriate or wanted type of housing. While other options for non-supportive housing such CityFHEPS vouchers are often difficult to use, HPD currently sets aside units in newly constructed buildings specifically for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, reducing the barriers in accessing affordable housing. These units require a Homeless Housing Application (HHA) to be completed and sent to HPD for access. However, we have heard from individuals living unsheltered as well as outreach workers that these applications are not regularly offered to street homeless New Yorkers, if at all.
Where we want to be
Street homeless New Yorkers should have the same access to HPD set asides as those living in DHS shelters. To do this, elected officials should ensure that DHS provides access to Homeless Housing Applications (HHA’s) to street homeless New Yorkers via outreach teams and other providers who engage with unsheltered individuals. Once HHA’s are completed, DHS and HPD should work together to refer and connect individuals to units which meet not only their needs, but also their preferences. Enacting this change will require that outreach teams and other service providers are given the necessary information, training, and resources to complete HHA’s and successfully refer individuals to appropriate HPD units. When possible and appropriate, street homeless New Yorkers should be prioritized for HPD units.