Shelter Supplement Program Will Aid Efforts to End Chronic Homelessness

December 10, 2004 - Commissioner Robert Doar of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) announced that OTDA has approved New York City’s request to provide a shelter supplement program through two proposals.

The city submitted the Housing Stability Plus proposal to increase the number of families and individuals leaving homeless shelters for permanent housing. Another proposal, the Family Eviction Prevention Supplement, aims to prevent lease-holding families from losing housing and becoming homeless in the first place.

“This program for New York City is consistent with Governor Pataki’s welfare reform policies which have helped to move thousands of New Yorkers into jobs and toward self-sufficiency,” Commissioner Doar said. “The city strongly believes – and we agree – that these programs have tremendous potential to reduce and prevent homelessness, while also encouraging those receiving public benefits to move toward self-sufficiency.”

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg released an ambitious action plan in June 2004 to end chronic homelessness in New York City, and to reduce by two-thirds the size of the street and shelter populations. Central to this action plan are strategies to ensure that at-risk and homeless New Yorkers have greater access to affordable housing and to coordinate and streamline rental assistance delivery in the city.

The Housing Stability Plus program will offer a five-year subsidy to homeless families, chronically homeless single adults in shelter, and parents awaiting housing in order to reunite with children in foster care. Set at market rates and decreasing in value by 20% each year, the subsidy promotes personal responsibility and self-sufficiency by emphasizing existing Temporary Assistance requirements that encourage individuals and families to seek and secure employment.

“We thank the state for acting with the urgency and generosity this situation merits,” said Commissioner Linda Gibbs of the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS). “Help has arrived for homeless families and individuals to make their way home. Housing Stability Plus is a critical new resource to help homeless families and individuals move from shelter to independence.”

“This is wonderful news for our families who have been kept apart only because they lacked adequate housing,” said Administration for Children’s Services Commissioner John Mattingly, referring to the ability of parents needing housing in order to reunite with children in foster care to access Housing Stability Plus. “A shelter is no place to reunite parents and children. Increasing access to safe and affordable housing is a critical component to our mission to strengthen families and protect children.”

Additionally, as a part of the approved plan, New York City's comprehensive program includes the Family Eviction Prevention Supplement, a subsidy to eligible families facing an eviction for non-payment of rent. This initiative will help decrease the number of families entering the shelter system by keeping them housed in their current residence.

Human Resources Administration Commissioner Verna Eggleston said, “I am happy that my staff and I participated in the completion of a comprehensive plan that would allow families to remain stable in the communities of their choice.”

Doar noted that City’s comprehensive plan is exactly what the State envisioned when OTDA gave localities the option to initiate rent supplement programs tailored to the unique local problems of housing and homelessness. “The New York City plan reinforces yet again that the best and most creative solutions are designed and implemented locally," he said.