State of the Homeless — Coalition for the Homeless

Coalition for the Homeless has released its seventh “State of the Homeless” report, an annual assessment of homelessness in New York City. This year’s report documents the persistence of record homelessness in New York City at the midpoint of the decade as well as major flaws in Mayor Bloomberg’s Housing Stability Plus (HSP) program for formerly homeless families.

The report documents the record rise of homelessness over the past five years compared to previous decades. Throughout the first half of the decade, an average of 32,609 New Yorkers slept in homeless shelters each night compared to an average of 23,295 in the 1980’s. In the same period, the number of homeless families in city shelters each night has nearly doubled from an average of 3,947 families in the 1980’s to a mid-decade average of 7,640 families in 2005. The most drastic increase came in the number of children seeking shelter. This decade - through 2005 - an average of 13,616 children are in New York City shelters each night, a 55 percent increase on the number of children who used city shelters on average throughout the 1990’s.

“This decade is turning out to be the worst decade for homeless New Yorkers since the Great Depression. The number of children in city shelters has risen by more than half since the 1990's, while the population of families in shelters has skyrocketed,” stated Mary Brosnahan Sullivan, Executive Director of the Coalition for the Homeless.

The report outlined an immediate action plan to reduce New York City homelessness with an emphasis on repairing the flaws in the City’s new homeless rent subsidy program, Housing Stability Plus. In particular the report called for an immediate suspension of the 20 percent annual reduction in the rent supplement for formerly homeless families, and an end to the exclusion of the working poor and disabled people from the program. Under the current rules families in the program are prohibited from leaving welfare for work.

“It just doesn’t make sense to ask formerly homeless families struggling to get on their feet to absorb a 20% rent hike”, stated Brosnahan Sullivan. “And it doesn’t make any sense to end housing subsidies for those leaving welfare for work. We should be doing everything we can to encourage economic self-sufficiency.”

“Unless these problems are fixed, HSP will be a revolving door back to homelessness for thousands of families in the program,” stated Brosnahan Sullivan.

“As builders, we know that a stable foundation is key to building a strong and lasting home. Likewise, a good foundation is essential to building a successful housing assistance program,” said Roland Lewis, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity – New York City. “We urge the City and State to put Housing Stability Plus on solid footing by ending the annual 20 percent decrease, crafting more flexible time limits and creating incentives—not disincentives—to financial independence.”

The seventh annual State of the Homeless report comes on the heels of last week’s announcement of the airing two 30-second television ads in New York City aimed at reminding New Yorkers and Mayor Bloomberg about the ongoing crisis of homelessness in New York City.

The ads produced by BBDO New York and airing on broadcast and cable television through February “are a tongue-in-cheek attempt to remind the Mayor and all New Yorkers that there are still 35,000 homeless New Yorkers,” stated Patrick Markee, Senior Policy Analyst at the Coalition for the Homeless.

“Today’s report and these ads are the beginning of an effort to prod policymakers to pass real reforms that fix the flaws in the Mayor’s homelessness policy,” stated Markee.

Paralleling the TV ads, volunteers and staff will be leafleting a print version of the ad at transit stops across the city. Print versions of the ads are set to appear in subway stations and community newspapers in February and March.