A Campaign to End Homelessness in New York City 2021 - CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT
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A Campaign to End Homelessness in New York City
2021
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 1
Homelessness in New York City
HOMELESSNESS IS A CRISIS IN NEW YORK CITY
BUT IT IS SOLVABLE.
77,934
New Yorkers experienced homelessness on a single
night in New York City (January 2020).
This does not include people living in doubled-up or other unstable
housing situations not counted by HUD.
CONFIDENTIAL
Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development “CoC Homeless Populations DRAFT WORK
and Subpopulations ReportPRODUCT
2020”: 3
https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_PopSub_CoC_NY-600-2020_NY_2020.pdf
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the prevalence of and
disparities in housing instability in NYC’s rental market.
The recovery will provide an opportunity to end homelessness, rather than manage homelessness.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 4
Sources: New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) ”DHS Daily Report.” XLSX file available for download from NYC Open Data https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/DHS-Daily-Report/k46n-sa2
US Census Household Pulse Survey: December 9 – December 21, published January 6, 2021. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2020/demo/hhp/hhp21.html
Homelessness hurts New York City’s kids the most.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 5
Source: New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) ”DHS Daily Report.” XLSX file available for download from NYC Open Data hSps://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/DHS-Daily-Report/k46n-sa2m
Children in NYC households that identify as Black and
Latino are 15 times more likely than children in white
households to have NOT had a regular place to live in the
past 12 months.
Not having a regular place to live is defined as reporting living in a family shelter, public place, or doubled up with family or friends.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 6
Source: NYC Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene. 2019. "Social environment of New York City children aged 3-12 years, 2015." https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/databrief112.pdf. Data sourced from
Child Health, Emotional Wellness, and Development Survey (CHEWDS) 2015; Data are weighted to the population of children age 0-12 years per 2011-2013 American Community Survey.
Family homelessness is down nationally, but up in NYC.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT
Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development "2007 – 2019 PIT Counts within CoCs”; XLSX file available for download from hSps://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3031/pit-and-hic-data-since-2007/7and
hSps://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_PopSub_CoC_NY-600-2020_NY_2020.pdf
Over the last decade, the number of families experiencing
homelessness in New York City has increased by ~50%.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 8
Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development "2007 – 2019 PIT Counts within CoCs”; XLSX file available for download from hSps://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3031/pit-and-hic-data-since-2007/ and
hSps://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_PopSub_CoC_NY-600-2020_NY_2020.pdfPartnering with Healthcare:
Housing is a prescription for health
As laid out by the American Public Health Association, the relationship between housing status and health is multi-
faceted and substantial. While most conversations around the intersection of housing and health focus on the
impacts of physical space on health, the social and emotional impacts of unstable housing are equally harmful.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 9
Hilovsky, K; Lim, K; Taylor Williams, T. American Public Health Association. Creating the Healthiest Nation: Health & Housing Equity. May 2020. https://www.apha.org/-/media/files/pdf/topics/equity health_and_housing_eqCONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 10
Solving Homelessness
New Yorkers experiencing homelessness deserve
more than just shelter.
New York City uses a one size fits all, linear approach to homeless
assistance that focuses on emergency shelter before permanent housing.
On average, a family with children experiencing homelessness in New York
City spent 443 days in a Department of Homeless Services emergency
shelter facility in fiscal year 2020.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 12
Source: Mayor’s Office of Operagons. “Fiscal 2020 New York City Mayor’s Management Report.” Page 200. File available for download from: hSps://www1.nyc.gov/assets/operagons/downloads/pdf/mmr2020/2020_mmr.pdfWhat needs to change for us to end homelessness in
New York City?
We need to transform New York City’s homeless service system to focus
on housing.
By preventing housing vulnerability and rapidly resolving experiences
of homelessness, we can achieve an emergency response system that is
designed to end homelessness.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 13The next Mayor of New York City can end
homelessness.
To create lasting change, New Yorkers need to elect a Mayor who is
committed to ending homelessness.
Why is a Mayoral commitment to end
homelessness important?
New York City’s charter grants the Mayor vast executive and administrative
powers that allow them to enact and fund policy priorities without the input
or approval of the City Council. If the next Mayor commits to ending
homelessness, they can quickly direct resources and staff to enact this
policy priority as soon as they take office.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 14Is homelessness a key issue for New York City voters?
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 15
Source: Change Research survey conducted Dec 11-15, 2020, commissioned by RxHomeVoters support investing in prevention.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 16
Source: Change Research survey conducted Dec 11-15, 2020, commissioned by RxHomeHow can we solve homelessness in New York City?
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 17CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 18
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 19
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 20
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 21
NYC has the financial resources to solve homelessness
The majority of the $3 billion NYC
spends annually on services for
people experiencing and at risk of
homelessness is on providing
emergency shelter, not on preventing
homelessness.
We need to change the budgetary
priorities.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 22
NYC OMB Budget Funcgon Analysis, FY21 Adopted Budget (published June 30 2020), hSps://www1.nyc.gov/assets/omb/downloads/pdf/adopt20-bfa.pdf; NYC OMB Supporgng Schedule, FY21 Adopted Budget (published
June 30 2020), hSps://www1.nyc.gov/assets/omb/downloads/pdf/ss6-20.pdf; NYC HRA OCJ Annual Report 2019 hSps://www1.nyc.gov/assets/hra/downloads/pdf/services/civiljusgce/OCJ_Annual_Report_2019.pdf; NYC
DSS/DHS/ HRA City Council Budget Hearing Tesgmony: May 2020 Budget hearing:hSps://www1.nyc.gov/site/hra/news/tesgmony.pageNYC has the financial resources to solve homelessness
While much of this
$3 billion is
supported with rigid
Federal and State
funding, about 60%
is City funding, which
is highly flexible.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 23Steps the next NYC mayor can take to solve homelessness:
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 24APPENDIX
Source: Change Research survey conducted Dec 11-15, 2020, commissioned by RxHome
Policy context: New York City is legally required to provide
emergency shelter to any individual or family that needs it.
New York City and State are legally mandated to provide emergency
shelter accommodations to individuals experiencing homelessness. This right
was established in Callahan v. Carey, when a group of men experiencing
homelessness sued New York City and State for the legal right to shelter. The
New York State Supreme Court agreed with the plaintiffs that the state and
city had a Constitutional mandate to provide shelter to homeless men.
“The aid, care and support of the needy are public concerns and shall
be provided by the state and by such of its subdivisions...”
Article XVII § 1, New York Constitution
Adopted by the 1938 Constitutional Convention and approved by a vote of the people on November 8, 1938
Callahan was settled in 1981 through a consent decree which established the
right to shelter and detailed the standards for shelter facilities.
In 1983, Eldredge v. Koch, extended the right to shelter to single women.
In 1986, McCain v. Koch won families with children the right to access
shelter, but only if they are found to meet certain shelter eligibility criteria.
There is no shelter eligibility criteria for single adult men and women.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 27Policy context: Homes solve homelessness, while shelter
provides a temporary place to sleep.
The right to shelter mandate has led the NYC Department of Homeless Services to
pursue a myopic shelter focused strategy that looks to “prevent and address
homelessness in New York City” rather than solve homelessness.
In Turning the Tide, the City’s most recent strategic plan to address homelessness,
the City detailed their plan for reimagining shelter, which included:
• Opening 90 new high-quality shelter facilities
• Discontinuing the use of cluster apartments and commercial hotels
• Renovating 30 existing shelters to expand capacity at those facilities
The Turning the Tide strategy has reduced the footprint of the DHS shelter system
but it has not shortened lengths of stay in shelters. A family stays in shelter on
average 443 days.
Rising homelessness is the result of failed policies. Research has shown that policy
and program factors, rather than family characteristics, are responsible for long
shelter stays.
New York City is the only large municipality in the United States that does not use
housing first policies, an evidence supported approach to rapidly rehouse
individuals without any programmatic prerequisites.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 28Definitions:
Coordinated entry system: standardized access, assessment, and referral process for housing and other
services across agencies/service providers used to assist individuals and families at risk of or currently
experiencing homelessness get the help they need to remain or regain permanent, stable housing.
Emergency Shelter: Any facility with overnight sleeping accommodations, the primary purpose of which is to
provide temporary shelter for the homeless in general or for specific populations of the homeless. There are four
different agencies that provide emergency shelter to New Yorkers in need; each agency focuses on a different
group of New Yorkers:
• DHS provides services for families and individuals experiencing homelessness
• DYCD provides services for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness
• HRA provides services to families and individuals who are experiencing homelessness due to domestic
violence
• HPD provides services to families and individuals who are experiencing homelessness due to fires or city-
issued vacate orders.
Homeless: A term used to describe the experience of an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and
adequate nighttime residence, meaning: (i) Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place
not meant for human habitation; (ii) Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide
temporary living arrangements; or (iii) Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and
who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that
institution.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 29Definitions:
Housing First: a proven homeless assistance approach that prioritizes providing permanent housing to people
experiencing homelessness, that has no preconditions or barriers to accessing housing that are dependent on
sobriety, income, service interventions or case management.
Performance based contracting/results-driven contracting: a type of government procurement that focuses
on aligning data, outcomes, performance tracking and performance management with the achievement a
specific goal detailed in the service contract. This type of procurement strategy has been shown to be an
effective tool for improving the outcomes of homeless services contracts.
Permanent Housing: housing that is accessed via the open market and allows a tenant or occupant to stay for
the term of a lease agreement or an ownership agreement. Types of permanent housing that can be legalized,
and developed to help increase affordable housing options for low-income New Yorkers, include:
• Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) - an additional residential building that occupies the same lot
as a primary residence; examples: guest house, detached garage with a rented apartment above;
• Basement apartment units – Citizens Housing and Planning Council estimated that there are
between 10,000 and 38,000 basement spaces that could become new safe and legal rental
housing with minimal cost and effort without pursuing amendments to the zoning resolution
• Conversion and infill development on as-of-right City owned properties – the City owns
properties, such as emergency shelters, that can be redeveloped into affordable housing and new
development on those sites for low-income housing does not require any discretionary action by
the City Planning Commission or Board of Standards and Appeals.
CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT WORK PRODUCT 30Definitions:
Rapid rehousing: an intervention that follows the principles of the Housing First approach and is designed to
help individuals and families that don't need intensive and ongoing support services to quickly exit
homelessness and return to permanent housing through targeted financial assistance and community-based
social services.
Rental assistance voucher/subsidy: government funded programs that provide low-income individuals with
additional money to allow them to access and afford rent on an independent apartment. Eligible households
lease apartments in a neighborhood of their choice and pay 30% of their adjusted income towards rent. The
government subsidy is paid directly to the landlord and covers the difference between the tenant contribution
and the actual rent of the unit, up to a specified limit. The largest rental assistance voucher program in the
United States is the federally funded Housing Choice Voucher program, which is also known as the Section 8
rental assistance program. In New York City, there are three city operated rental assistance programs used to
help New Yorkers afford their rent: CityFHEPS, FHEPS, and SOTA.
Right to shelter: the legal obligation of all jurisdictions within New York State, including New York City, to find
a bed for every person who is experiencing homelessness and needs one. In New York City, if the City’s
emergency shelters are full, people cannot be turned away, which is why New York City also uses hotels to
provide emergency shelter.
Street homelessness services: specialized services targeted towards individuals who are sleeping rough on
the streets or other places not intended for human habitation. These services look to help transition a person
from the streets into an emergency shelter or housing and can include case management, healthcare, and
assistance obtaining public benefits.
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