Posted on September 9, 2015 by Giselle Routhier The Bloomberg administration prided itself on using data to inform policy. But a recent Op-Ed from a top member of his administration on the current homelessness crisis deliberately ignores the data and the important story they tell. For starters: The number of New Yorkers in homeless shelters increased by a staggering 71 percent during Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure, from roughly 31,000 to 53,000 people. But even this stunning increase doesn’t tell the whole story. The largest, steadiest increase in homelessness came after 2005, when Bloomberg broke with a longstanding and effective policy of prioritizing homeless families for federally assisted housing programs like public housing (NYCHA) and Section 8 vouchers. Study after study show that these programs successfully reduce homelessness and – equally important – keep families stably housed and out of shelter for years to come. That’s why the Coalition for the Homeless has recognized and steadfastly promoted this approach for its effectiveness, financial sense, and humanity. Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg replaced this effective approach with a short-term rental assistance program called “Advantage,” which proudly featured an abrupt cut-off date for participants and provided no supportive services. Advantage was flawed from the start: Fully a quarter of Advantage families wound up returning to NYC’s costly emergency shelter system – even before the program was suddenly cancelled in 2011. In the wake of families returning to shelter in unprecedented numbers, rather than replacing the ‘one size fits all’ cut off dates with more realistic time limits and adding services to ensure families were able to flourish after their subsidies ended – or attempting to replace Advantage with program that featured components historically proven to stabilize homeless families – Bloomberg simply chose to do nothing. So beginning in 2011 – and for the first time in decades – New York City had no program whatsoever for moving families out of the shelter system. Unsurprisingly, homelessness soared. In a recent piece by former HRA Commissioner, Robert Doar, the former Bloomberg aide actually attempts to shift blame for this entire tragic chapter in NYC history on the Coalition for the Homeless. Actually, during the period outlined in Doar’s piece, the Coalition was tireless urging the City and State to fund more effective rental assistance programs – programs that: Provide homeless families with vulnerable children deeper and longer-term subsidies; Don’t terminate abruptly, forcing formerly homeless New Yorkers to return to emergency shelter after an arbitrary cut-off date; Provide meaningful support services, including job training to give parents a better shot at the earning power needed to maintain their new housing without a subsidy, and afterschool programs for formerly homeless girls and boys to catch up to grade level, after falling behind their peers from the chaos and instability of long-term homelessness. But rather than facing his central role as creator and chief administrator of Advantage – a role in which he squandered millions in taxpayer dollars while forcing thousands of families to endure another chapter of complete destitution – Mr. Doar intentionally twists the Coalition’s steadfast advocacy for greatly improving Advantage or replacing it altogether with a better program. In short, Doar tries to blame the Coalition for the State’s decision to stop funding the program altogether. Since our inception, the Coalition has consistently advocated for the only true solution to the homelessness crisis: permanent, affordable housing. The most recent proof of the efficacy of this approach? Mayor De Blasio’s introduction of a series of housing-based programs for homeless New Yorkers – including rental assistance vouchers modeled on Section 8 and a restoration of public housing priority for 750 homeless families per year – has resulted in the first multi-month decrease in the number of homeless families since 2011. The number of children in shelter has in fact dropped by more than 9 percent in the first seven months of 2015. These are promising first steps, but much more is needed. The increasingly visible presence of homeless men and women suffering on our city streets highlights the need for further investment in housing-based solutions for single adults – particularly those with disabilities, including mental illness and substance abuse issues. Again, the answer is not a mystery. For the past 25 years, the supportive housing model (permanent housing with onsite support services) has been well-documented as most effective at stabilizing homeless individuals with mental illness and other disabilities – while also saving taxpayers more than $10,000 for every person housed. To meet the current need on our streets and in our shelters, the Mayor and Governor must immediately commit to a NY/NY IV agreement that funds 30,000 units of supportive housing in NYC (and another 5,000 statewide) over the next 10 years. Only with adequate commitment to these proven, housing-based solutions will we be able to ameliorate the suffering of our homeless neighbors and see a sustained reduction in the New York City’s crisis of homelessness.
