NYC Health Department Releases Updated Request for Proposals to Expand Supportive Housing for Formerly Incarcerated and Homeless New Yorkers
$4.8 Million to Expand the Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) initiative, an Evidence-Driven Permanent Supportive Housing Model for Formerly Incarcerated and Homeless New Yorkers
Updated Request for Proposals Aims to Add up to 190 Homes Supporting People With Behavioral Health Needs Who Have Histories of Cycling Through the Justice and Homelessness Systems
Combined With the Mamdani Administration’s Commitment to Just Home, the City Aims to Increase the Number of JISH Apartments to More Than 350
February 12, 2026 — Today, the NYC Health Department is releasing an updated Request for Proposals (RFP) to fund new supportive housing for people with behavioral health needs who have histories of cycling through the criminal justice and homelessness systems. With $4.8 million in new funding for the Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) initiative, the department aims to create up to 190 new homes supporting New Yorkers who were previously incarcerated. Combined with the Mamdani administration’s commitment to advance Just Home, the NYC Health Department’s updated RFP puts the city on a path to more than 350 supportive homes for justice-involved New Yorkers in the coming years. New research released by the NYC Health Department underscores the need for this investment and expansion of the JISH program.
“Housing is a human right. Prioritizing housing first is a tremendously effective health and justice intervention,” said New York City Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse. “As we work to end the disproportionate incarceration of people of color in New York City, we recognize stable housing as a necessary starting point. This program has a proven track record of reducing homelessness and preventing the cycle of recidivism. Through this updated Request for Proposals, the NYC Health Department will provide up to 190 homes for New Yorkers with a history of incarceration.”
“Creating more opportunities to connect formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with stable, supportive housing is integral to breaking cycles of trauma preventing long-term recovery,” said Executive Deputy Commissioner of Mental Hygiene Dr. H. Jean Wright. “These new contracts will allow us to better reach more people with holistic services that meet their unique needs – from healthcare and financial counseling to social support fostering community.”
“Housing is the foundation for stability and opportunity. The Justice-Involved Supportive Housing initiative provides affordable, supportive homes for individuals with behavioral health needs as they reenter the community. This approach reduces long-term costs, strengthens public safety, and ensures housing is a platform for lasting stability,” said Dina Levy, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
“We were thrilled when, within his first month in office, Mayor Mamdani announced the resumption of work to make Just Home a reality. Just Home will provide 58 permanent studio apartments for our medically complex patients after they leave Rikers. Justice Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) funding helps make Just Home possible, and we are excited that DOHMH’s updated JISH RFP will create even more such permanent, supported housing opportunities,” said Senior Vice President for NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services Dr. Patsy Yang. “Nearly 30% of our patients report being homeless prior to entering jail or likely to be unhoused on release and each one deserves the chance to return safely and successfully to the community. On behalf of our patients, we thank the Administration, City Council, and the NYC Health Department for sustaining and expanding the JISH initiative."
Created in 2015, the JISH program is an evidence-driven permanent supportive housing model leading to fewer returns to jail, less shelter use, less emergency room use, and improved health outcomes. The program currently provides 120 homes scattered across New York City to support people with behavioral health needs who have histories of cycling through the criminal justice system. Over the decade since its creation, JISH has made a profound impact on the people it serves. The most recent data show 50% of JISH residents have lived in their homes for six to 10 years, and nearly 90% had no interactions with law enforcement resulting in an arrest during the same time frame.
In light of this success, the NYC Health Department seeks to expand the number of JISH homes, using both a scattered-site and a congregate supportive housing model. The additional option of congregate supportive housing for this population will offer a greater sense of community, on-site assistance to develop independent living skills needed to successfully remain housed, and access to support staff in times of crisis.
Newly published research from the NYC Health Department demonstrates the vital need for improved access to health and social services, economic assistance, and housing — all of which supports more JISH housing. Among the report’s findings are that people who have been incarcerated are more likely to experience serious psychological distress, difficulty functioning, and social isolation. New Yorkers who were ever incarcerated were more than twice as likely to have serious psychological distress (17% vs. 8%) and to report high difficulty functioning due to their mental health in the past month (14% vs. 6%) compared with those who have never been incarcerated. The prevalence of feeling socially isolated in the past month was more than twice as high among those ever incarcerated compared with those never incarcerated (15% vs. 7%).
In January, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his administration’s commitment to advancing Just Home, a first-of-its-kind housing initiative to serve formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with complex medical needs on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi. The fully affordable housing project will create 83 new apartments in an underutilized building on the Bronx hospital grounds, including 58 permanent supportive studio units for individuals who are too medically fragile to live in shelters after leaving jail and 24 affordable studio units for income-qualifying New Yorkers.
According to the NYC Health Department’s new report on the impacts of incarceration among New Yorkers, the United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, with an incarceration rate three to six times that of Mexico and Canada. The New York City jail system is among the largest in the country, incarcerating over 7,500 people on any given day, over 80% of whom have not been convicted of a crime. Although the impact of incarceration is felt across all communities, those experiencing structural oppression — including Black, Native, Latino, transgender, and gender-expansive residents — are incarcerated at much higher rates, experience harsher treatment and higher rates of violence while incarcerated, and receive inequitable access to resources upon release. People who have been incarcerated also face extremely high rates of unemployment and low average earnings. The structures of oppression that lead to increased incarceration of marginalized groups also impact these groups’ experiences during and after incarceration, affecting the physical, mental, and financial well-being of individuals, as well as their family, friends, and community.
The goals of the JISH program are to provide rapid access to supportive housing units for individuals with recent and frequent contact with the criminal justice system, homeless services systems, and mental health treatment systems who have a mental illness or substance use disorder. The program provides case management services to link tenants to physical health and behavioral health services, as well as other resources to prevent further use of jail, shelter, or other emergency services. Using a congregate supportive housing model, services will be easily accessible and occur in JISH apartment units, at program sites, and in the community. Case management is provided to help residents successfully maintain their housing, link and engage with service providers, and support positive integration into the community in order to decrease homelessness and antisocial behaviors. The program aims to serve single adults with two or more encounters with New York City jails or homeless systems within the past four years and who have a mental illness or substance use disorder. The NYC Health Department plans to identify potential tenants using a combination of appropriate data matching, outreach, and collaboration with health and justice systems and city government partners.
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