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POLICY MATTERS
A monthly update on policy issues in the fight against homelessness in NYC.
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815,000 NYC Area Households At Greater Risk of Homelessness
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As more tenants across America struggle to afford housing, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has released a “Worst Case Housing Needs” report documenting that there are 8.3 million very-low income U.S. renter households spending more than half their gross income on housing or living in severely substandard housing based on 2015 data. That number includes 815,000 struggling tenant households in the New York City metro area.
These “worst case” housing needs households are, at greatly heightened risk of losing their home and becoming homeless. The HUD report concludes that demand for affordable housing is growing faster than the construction of housing that low income households can afford to rent. Clearly in New York City in particular, but across the country as well, the fight to end homelessness requires a far greater effort to produce a supply of affordable housing for very low-income households to meet that demand.
The report portrays a picture of unmet housing affordability and “worst case” housing needs that includes every region of the country and across all racial and ethnic groups, but with higher prevalence among very low-income Hispanic and Black tenant households, and in the South and the West. Although the problem exists nationwide, it is most prevalent in densely populated urban suburbs and central cities. The study also reports greater needs among households with children, senior citizen households and persons with disabilities.
In the New York City metro area, the study reported about 1,834,000 very low-income households (defined as earning below 50% of the area median income), with 815,000 of these households spending more than half their gross income on housing, living in severely substandard housing, or in many cases both. That equates to 44% of very-low income households in our region falling into HUD’s definition of a “worst case” housing needs household. The New York City area “worst case” figure represents 9% of all such households nationwide, according to the HUD report.
While HUD has been issuing its “worst case” housing needs report for some time, this most recent study was their first to break down estimates for local metropolitan areas. HUD has promised to report these worst cases for large metropolitan areas every two years going forward.
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Care for the Homeless concluded our 2017 Voter Registration Drive with an outreach event at our Susan’s Place facility in the Bronx on National Voter Registration Day (September 28), that signed up 30 new voters. Our annual nonpartisan voter registration drive targets clients and staff.
Care for the Homeless never endorses candidates or campaigns, but we do urge everyone to participate in the process by registering and voting. The recent New York City primary election had a disappointing 14% turnout among registered voters, and many eligible people aren’t registered. The 2017 general election, which in New York City will include voting for the Mayor, Public Advocate, City Comptroller, Borough Presidents and all City Council seats, will occur on Tuesday, November 7. The last day to register is October 13.
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Congress Misses Health Center Fiscal Cliff; But There's Still Time to Fix It!
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September 30, last Saturday, was the end of the federal fiscal year, and with it the date that authorization for the largest federal support of Community Health Centers, like Care for the Homeless, expired. That failure to authorize funding has been called the “Health Center Fiscal Cliff”. But Congress can still fix it – and they need to do it promptly to avoid real financial hardships.
The good news is that in the last week legislation to reauthorize that funding has gained momentum in both the U.S. House and Senate. In fact, that is significant bipartisan support for reauthorizing health center funding. Advocates are confident the measure will pass if it just gets scheduled for a vote.
In the House of Representatives, the CHIME (Community Health Investment, Modernization and Excellence) Act was introduced by New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and has well over 170 co-sponsors, including both dozens of Republicans and Democrats. The House Bill is H.R. 3770, which would extend authorization for the Community Health Center Fund for 5 years. Last fiscal year that funding sent about $3.6 billion to community health centers across the country that served about 27 million individual patients.
The House Energy & Commerce Committee is scheduled to consider the legislation in what is referred to as a “mark up” session. If, as expected, they send the bill on for a full House vote, that is a real step toward fixing our fiscal cliff problem.
The CHIME Act was also introduced last week in the U.S. Senate, by Senators Blunt (R-MO) and Stabenow (D-MI). They already have both Republican and Democratic co-sponsors. That Senate Bill is S. 1899, currently in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.
We’re asking all supporters of community health centers, and of Care for the Homeless, to call your U.S. Senator and ask them to be a co-sponsor of S. 1899, the CHIME Act, and to push for the earliest possible floor vote on reauthorizing the Community Health Center Fund.
You can contact New York Senators Schumer at (202) 224-6542, and Gillibrand at (202) 224-4451.
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The Busy Advocate's October Calendar
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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Thur., Oct. 5th, 7:00 p.m. – 9 p.m., Theatre of the Oppressed NYC and Housing Works present “Apartment Complex,” Judson Memorial Church, 239 Thompson St., New York, NY 10012.
RSVP here.
Thur., Oct. 5th, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m, Criminalizing Poverty, Community Organizations, and Fighting Back, Brooklyn Historical Society is sponsoring a panel discussion on how community organizations are fighting back against the criminalization of poverty New York City, 128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
You can register here.
Wed., Oct. 11th, 10:00 a.m., Joint Committee Hearing with the Committee on General Welfare and the Committee on Education, Meeting will discuss support for homeless students. Amendment proposed by councilperson Rafael Salamanca, Jr. that would require the DOE to report on students in temporary housing. Committee Room on the 16th Fl. 250 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Fri., Oct. 13th, All Day, Last day to register to vote to be eligible for the November 7, 2017 general election, voter registration forms must be postmarked or received by Voter Registration office by this date.
Information here.
Tue., Oct. 24th, 10:00 a.m., Joint Public Oversight Hearing by New York City Council Public Housing Committee and Aging Committee, Discussion on seniors in NYCHA Housing, Council Chambers, New York City Hall, New York, NY 10007.
Wed., Oct. 25th, 12:30 p.m., CAB Client Leader Meeting, CFH Conference Room, 30 E. 33rd Street, Manhattan, NY.
Mon., Nov. 6th, 5:00 p.m., CFH “First Monday” Policy Briefing on Domestic Violence and Its Impact on Homelessness, CFH Conference Room, 30 E. 33rd Street, Manhattan, NY.
You can RSVP here.
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A monthly update on policy issues in the fight against homelessness in NYC.
Thank you for your generous support of our mission.
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