100 City Workers Remain Homeless;

100 City Workers Remain Homeless

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Almost four months after District Council 37 discovered 300 city workers living in homeless shelters, more than 100 of them are still languishing without permanent housing.

An effort to craft a special program for municipal workers did not materialize. Instead, the workers are eligible for a subsidy program launched this spring that is available to all shelter residents who work more than 20 hours per week. DC 37 members are also eligible for assistance from the union's housing program.

'Making Progress'

"A lot of people are already in the pipeline in our program, for Section 8 or public housing," said Henry Garrido, DC 37's assistant associate director, who oversees the union's housing program. "I think we're making significant progress."

Mr. Garrido said the union was working closely with the Department of Homeless Services and was satisfied with the city's efforts. He stressed that moving people from shelters into permanent housing was often a complex process and that each family had unique issues. "There's one family with eight children," he said. "You just can't put them in a one-bedroom apartment."

Housing advocates say that even when the head of a household is employed, high rents, loss of employment by another adult, domestic violence or sudden health problems can force a family living paycheck to paycheck into homelessness. Sometimes addiction and mental-health issues also play a role.

Some homeless advocates believe that the blame for the record number of families living in the city shelters lies with the Bloomberg administration. "The number one problem is the administration's really badly designed policies for housing assistance for homeless families," said Patrick Markee, senior policy analyst at the Coalition for the Homeless. He pointed in particular to Mayor Bloomberg's decision in October 2004 to stop giving homeless families preference for Section 8 housing vouchers, and to the Housing Authority's decision last fall to halt the same preference for its apartments.

HA used to have a program in which the homeless, domestic violence victims and intimidated witnesses were given emergency status, and therefore preference for the HA's approximately 6,000 apartments that become available every year. Under past administrations, about one-third of those apartments went to homeless families.

Section 8 'Unreliable'

DHS officials stated that because the Federal Government changed Section 8 funding from year to year, it was not possible to use the program in a consistent manner. "Section 8 was an unreliable way to plan for helping families leave shelter," said DHS spokeswoman Tanya Valle-Batiste.

There are about 110,000 families currently on waiting lists for Section 8 vouchers and about 100,000 for public housing. In February, Mayor Bloomberg announced that about 22,000 new Section 8 vouchers would be available to city residents.

The average length of stay in city shelters this year for families is 321 days, or just over 10-1/2 months, according to DHS data. The average stay for single adults is 86 days, or just under three months.

About a quarter of the families who come through the shelter system have been placed in permanent housing this year. Permanent housing, instead of clients doubling up with family members or other temporary solutions, is the agency's goal since it often provides better accommodations for the family. Statistics also show that less than 4 percent of those placed in permanent housing have returned to seek shelter this year.

Break for City Workers

In 2005, DC 37 won agreement from the city for preference for eligible city employees in the lottery for 5 percent of affordable apartments and owner-occupied homes financed by the Department of Housing Preservation and the Development and Housing Development Corporation.

DHS's Work Advantage program pays a rent subsidy to shelter residents working 20 hours or more, whether or not they are city employees, who are also eligible for public assistance under Federal poverty guidelines. The program covers one year of rent costs, depending upon the size of the family. The sliding scale ranges from $889 for one person to a maximum of $1,354 for a family of seven.

The individual or family can contribute up to 20 percent of the rent amount to a savings account, and the city will match that amount by the end of the program. Residents enrolled in the program must pay $50 per month directly to their landlord, which will also be matched and added to the savings account. DHS can decide to extend the program to two years.

"We are doing everything we can," said Mr. Garrido. "But the real solution is going to be more housing in this city that working people can afford."