Photo Courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
“Our administration is tackling this crisis head-on by focusing on moving New Yorkers into stable, high-quality, affordable housing. That’s what will define success for this administration, and that’s what these reforms are about,” Mayor Adams said.
By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced a package of major new housing reforms that will help New Yorkers exit the shelter system – or avoid it entirely – and move more quickly into permanent affordable housing, including in higher-income neighborhoods that have long been out of reach for lower income families.
The reforms include significant improvements to the City Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) housing voucher program that will ensure more New Yorkers are eligible for the program and make the voucher more flexible and easier to use; a groundbreaking pilot program – “Street to Housing” – that will place New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness directly into supportive housing; and a major expansion of the city’s housing mobility program, which helps families with federal housing vouchers access apartments in more neighborhoods across the five boroughs.
Together, these reforms deliver on key commitments in Mayor Adams’ “Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness,” which reoriented the City’s approach to homelessness, treating it as a housing problem. This package also complements other key initiatives in the housing blueprint, including efforts to accelerate the creation of supportive housing, expand overall housing supply, and eliminate unnecessary obstacles New Yorkers face to obtain housing.
The administration will implement a package of reforms to the CityFHEPS city-funded housing voucher program that will make vouchers more widely accessible and easier to use more quickly. As part of this package, the administration is:
- Expanding CityFHEPS eligibility to include single adults working full-time on minimum wage, even if their income is slightly higher than 200 percent of the federal poverty level,
- Putting money back in New Yorkers’ pockets by reducing the monthly contribution by CityFHEPS tenants who move into single-room occupancy units from 30 percent of their income to a maximum of $50 per month,
- Supporting working families by reducing the number of hours families are required to work to become eligible for CityFHEPS from 30 to 14 hours per week,
- Covering the cost of apartment application fees for New Yorkers living in New York City Department of Homeless Services shelters,
- Creating an option for CityFHEPS voucher-holders who choose to secure an apartment that rents above the CityFHEPS maximum to utilize a voucher by paying up to 40 percent of their income,
- Expanding Supplemental Security Income eligibility for CityFHEPS families from an adult in the household to any household member, such as a child,
- Piloting a limited bonus equal to one month’s rent for landlords renting to CityFHEPS voucher-holders in high-cost neighborhoods,
- Significantly increasing staffing at the City Department of Social Services (DSS) to speed up voucher processing and increase placements,
- Significantly increasing New York City Human Resources Administration staff presence in Housing Court to ensure eligible clients get quick access to financial assistance that will allow them to stay in their homes, and
- Creating consistency across CityFHEPS, Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV), and the Special One-Time Assistance (SOTA) program by providing a “unit hold” incentive payment equal to one month’s rent for landlords who agree to hold an apartment while an EHV holder or SOTA participant’s materials are processed.
The implementation process for the benefit enhancements and pilot programs listed above will begin immediately. For the reforms that must be implemented through DSS rulemaking, the process will begin immediately and include legally mandated public hearings.
Launching a Street to Housing Pilot
The Adams administration’s Street to Housing pilot program creates a direct pathway for New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness to access permanent supportive housing without having to go through the shelter system. This initial pilot will connect up to 80 single adult clients with supportive housing. Once placed in housing, clients will be supported by experienced not-for-profit provider-partner Volunteers of America Greater New York (VOA-GNY) as they complete the application from the very unit that can become their permanent home.
The city will fund the supportive housing units during the transitional period when VOA-GNY staff work closely with each client to connect them to vital housing supports, including rental assistance. VOA-GNY case managers will work closely with participants to connect them to key housing supports, such as rental and cash assistance; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and referrals for health and mental health supports. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is providing funding for additional social workers at each of the VOA-GNY supportive housing programs to provide dedicated mental health and other health supports.
This pilot builds on the city’s ongoing efforts and unprecedented investments to address unsheltered homelessness and commitment to exploring every avenue to further expedite moves to supportive housing, especially for the most vulnerable. In its housing blueprint, the Adams administration committed to accelerate the creation of supportive housing by completing the 15,000 supportive homes promised by 2030 two years ahead of schedule. The blueprint dedicates an entire chapter to reducing administrative burdens and unnecessary paperwork that slows down the process of getting New Yorkers – particularly those in the shelter system – into permanent, supportive housing. The administration also initiated a shift in focus from deals closed on paper to New Yorkers moving into homes, as reflected in the thousands of New Yorkers who had formerly experienced homelessness who moved into permanent homes in Fiscal Year 2022 and the new metrics included in the 2022 Mayor’s Management Report.
Making the Most of Federal Housing Vouchers
Many families with federal housing vouchers live in neighborhoods that lack amenities, like high-performing schools, easy access to parks, public transit, or fresh food. They often face barriers that limit their ability to move to higher-rent neighborhoods with these amenities, including landlord and broker discrimination, a lack of information about their ability to move, and voucher benefits that pay too little. As a result, more than half of the city’s federal housing vouchers are used in a small number of communities representing only 10 percent of the city’s census tracts.
Using $7 million in grants from Enterprise Community Partners and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will expand its housing mobility efforts to reach 1,400 families through 2027, up from 50 families in 2020. HPD’s housing mobility programs support families’ ability to move to new neighborhoods with:
- Pre-move counseling, which includes credit counseling, banking, budgeting, saving, and identifying and addressing barriers to accessing housing;
- Housing search support, which includes payment of brokers’ fees and assistance in identifying available apartments and attending viewings;
- Financial assistance for public transit and moving costs; and
- Higher rental assistance payments to reflect market conditions (available to all HPD Section 8 voucher holders in eligible neighborhoods).
“Our administration is tackling this crisis head-on by focusing on moving New Yorkers into stable, high-quality, affordable housing. That’s what will define success for this administration, and that’s what these reforms are about,” Adams said. “Like our housing blueprint, these changes were informed by those with lived experience of homelessness and on the front lines of this crisis. And today, we’re starting a major effort to fast-track New Yorkers in need to permanent housing and getting stuff done for those who need help the most.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. added, “While we continue to build affordable housing across Queens as a long-term fix, we must also invest heavily in short-term solutions. The litany of reforms announced today will not only divert homeless New Yorkers away from the shelter system and into supportive homes; it will prevent families from falling into homelessness to begin with. I look forward to working with the Adams administration on these programs and more.”
