BILL NUMBER: S15A

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to authorizing
certain shelters to be reimbursed for housing a single individual in a
room intended for double occupancy

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill will provide temporary housing assistance to a single individ-
ual who meets the residential program providers' eligibility require-
ments for victims of domestic violence as defined in section four
hundred fifty nine-a of the social services law, while allowing the
program provider to be reimbursed by New York State for any payment
differential for housing a single individual in a room intended for
double occupancy in order to address the systemwide lack of shelter for
single adults.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

              

Section one of the bill amends section 131-u of the Social Services Law
to provide that any residential program for domestic violence victims
which provides temporary housing assistance to a single individual shall
be reimbursed for any payment differential for housing such individual
in a room intended for double occupancy, if no other room intended for
single occupancy is available at the facility.

Section two sets an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The domestic violence emergency shelter system was originally created to
provide short-term respite for victims of domestic violence and their
families who were fleeing imminent danger. All across New York State,
but particularly in New York City, domestic violence shelters were
created over several decades to house families rather than single
adults. Nonprofit providers who operate these shelters are reimbursed by
the State (OCFS) per person per night.

This reimbursement from the state is supposed to cover the entire cost
of operating those shelters, including rent, utilities, staffing, insur-
ance, and other inflationary factors.

Any reduction in this reimbursement severely impacts the ability of the
provider to cover the cost of operating the shelter. As a result, domes-
tic violence emergency shelter providers have major financial disincen-
tives to "downsize" a room/apartment in order to accommodate a smaller
family size, including most prominently single adult victims of domestic
violence, human trafficking, and sexual assault.  As a result, single
adult victims of these and other crimes have a much more difficult time
trying to access domestic violence emergency shelters, and instead may
be forced to remain in an unsafe situation.  This legislation will
require the State to preserve the full reimbursement to providers who
"downsize" a room configured for a family of two to accommodate a single
adult victim of violence, and will therefore help increase system wide
capacity for single adults who otherwise faced serious obstacles to
accessing this shelter system.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023: S15 - Referred to Social Services

2022: S843 - Reported and Committed to Finance

2021: S843 - Reported and Committed to Finance

2020: S5471 - Reported and Committed to Finance

2019: S5471 - Referred to Social Services

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.