Coalition Houses After corrupt and abusive landlords are found guilty of hiring thugs and drug dealers to scare tenants out of three residential brownstones on the Upper West Side, a court orders the buildings turned over to the Coalition. The new project is named Coalition Houses. Rental Assistance Program The Coalition creates the Rental Assistance Program, a pilot program giving homeless families a two-year rental subsidy and case management services so that they can become independent by the end of the program period. Koch and Affordable Housing Mayor Koch commits to 15,000 units of affordable housing for homeless families and individuals. Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act is signed into law, following intensive advocacy by the Coalition and national allies in support of the broader Homeless Person’s Survival Act introduced the year prior and marking the first major Federal legislative response to homelessness. Koskinas v. Boufford and Heard v. Cuomo Following the 1984 Klostermann case, the Coalition files two other lawsuits (Heard v. Cuomo and Koskinas v. Boufford) seeking to expand protections for people living with mental illnesses facing discharge from State psychiatric centers and City hospitals. The New York State Court of Appeals ultimately holds that City hospitals must follow plans that provide for adequate, appropriate housing upon discharge from psychiatric units, thereby curbing the common practice of hospitals discharging homeless patients directly to shelters or the streets. The State was found not to have violated the same requirements, in part because it was investing in the development of housing for this population, even though it did not have enough such housing for everyone.
