“Between 2002 and 2005, median income in the city fell by 6.3%, but median rent increased by 8.3%," he continued. "In the same time period, according to the city’s 2030 plan, the number of apartments available to low and moderate income New Yorkers fell by 205,000 units. In this kind of market, homeless families will need rental assistance for far more than one or two years.”
Heidi Siegfried, a supervising attorney at the Partnership for the Homeless, which provides shelter, legal aid, job training and a variety of other services to the homeless, says even families earning more than minimum wage will struggle to stay afloat after the subsidy runs out.
“The jobs that our clients have been able to get will not allow them to pay the rent after the first year and probably not after the second – and this is the case even for those with jobs well above the minimum wage,” Siegfreid said. “The Work Advantage Program effectively faults people for not being able to make above the minimum wage. The program thus continues to be a trap for those in poverty, keeping them out of shelter for a time, but not creating real, sustainable economic prosperity.”
In an interview with City Limits, Councilmember De Blasio praised DHS for its “ability to recognize mistakes” were made under HSP, for its “willingness to correct course” now that the shortcomings of HSP are apparent, and its “commitment to homelessness prevention.”
“In a big picture sense, I think the glass is half full,” De Blasio said. “The new program represents progress because DHS has recognized what did not work with Housing Stability Plus.”
During the hearing however, De Blasio expressed concerns that the new plan has “a lot of moving parts,” suggesting that there were too many opportunities for a breakdown in the program that would allow homeless families to slip through the cracks and wind up back in the shelters.
“When you change the approach an agency takes toward a problem, simplicity works best,” De Blasio said after the hearing. “This program is fairly complex and I’m not convinced the department has given due consideration to how to make it work day-to-day.”
DeBlasio’s office will be working actively with DHS to shape the program as the agency hammers out its details in the coming months, a spokesperson for the councilmember said.
