Senator Avella Holds Press Conference Announcing Proposals to Address Homelessness Problem in NYC

(New York, NY) Today, State Senator Tony Avella, who serves as Chair of the Task Force on the Delivery of Social Services in New York City, announced his proposals to address the rise of homelessness in New York City. The proposals follow his recently released report summarizing the testimonies given by agency Commissioners and homeless advocates during the Task Force Public Forum entitled “The Current State of Homelessness in New York City”.

The proposals incorporate several recommendations made by the witnesses who attended the Task Force’s Public Forum on the Current State of Homelessness in NYC. Testimonies made by the Commissioners of the Department of Homeless Services and the Human Resources Administration, former Commissioner Gilbert Taylor and Steven Banks respectively, as well as leading homeless advocates in New York provided a firm background on the current obstacles the City and State face.

Senator Avella’s proposals offer a two pronged approach to addressing the rise of homelessness by both strengthening and expanding the shelter system, and by expanding and reforming programs that help keep people in a home of their own. The set of proposals includes an investment into supportive housing of $2 billion over five years, increasing shelter allowances, reforming shelters to be cleaner safer and staffed by a licensed social worker, and recalculating affordable housing eligibility with an area median income (AMI) by zip code are all key aspects of his recommended solutions.

Also included include are increases of funding and reforms to “Living in Communities” (LINC) rental subsidies, Family Eviction Prevention Supplements (FEPS), and Single Adult and Adult Families Eviction Prevention Supplements (SEPS), providing priority status to homeless veterans and victims of domestic violence and increasing shelter capacity for homeless youth. These are just a few of the recommendations made by Senator Avella, as detailed in the attached document.

“There is no denying that rising homelessness is one of New York City’s greatest challenges, but it is not an insurmountable problem. However, if we act with too little, or too late, the solutions will be limited. It is important that we act fast with a serious investment. The truth is that, in the past decade alone, rents have risen a staggering amount in every borough of New York City. Yet, funding for programs keeping people in their homes and into programs returning the homeless to a place they can call home have nowhere near kept up with pace with the rise in costs or need. The City and State can and must offer more than patchwork solutions and this must be the year we do it,” said State Senator Tony Avella.

***See attached document for the full list of Senator Avella’s proposals***