Mike Bloomberg Needs To Improve Services For the Homeless in NYC

NYC Number of Homeless Single Adults in Municipal Shelters, 2008-2009

Capacity Crunch: The NYC Shelter System Risks Running Out of Shelter Beds for the Rising Number of Homeless Single Adults
By Patrick Markee, Senior Policy Analyst, Coalition for the Homeless
October 4, 2009
LINK

The number of homeless single adults in the New York City municipal shelter system has risen dramatically this year, largely as a result of rising unemployment and the continuing shortage of affordable rental housing. As winter approaches, the municipal shelter system is virtually at capacity and is at enormous risk of running out of available shelter beds. Indeed, on the night of September 30th there were only two available shelter beds for homeless men, and eight available beds for homeless women.

Unfortunately, NYC Department of Homeless Services officials have offered no plan to expand shelter capacity to meet rising need, even as temperatures are falling and the number of homeless single men and women in municipal shelters continues to increase.

Coalition for the Homeless urges the Bloomberg administration to add needed shelter beds immediately in order to meet the growing need for emergency shelter for homeless men and women this winter. In the long term, the Coalition urges Mayor Bloomberg to accelerate the development of permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals living with mental illness and other special needs, and to restore the City’s longstanding and successful policy of prioritizing homeless New Yorkers for Federal housing assistance.

Background: Dramatic Increase in Homeless Individuals in NYC Shelter System

Amidst rising unemployment and the acute shortage of low-cost rental housing, the number of homeless single adults has risen dramatically this year. Following are highlights of this trend:

* Even before winter begins, the number of homeless single adults in the municipal shelter system this year has increased by more than 7 percent - the largest one-year increase since the 2001 economic recession, and one of the largest year-to-year increases in more than two decades.

* So far this year, the number of homeless single adults in the municipal shelter system has risen every month except for one – a virtually unprecedented trend.

* Historically, the homeless adult shelter population rises in winter months and declines in the warmweather summer months. However, this year the number of homeless single adults in municipal shelter rose throughout the summer, a trend which has not occurred since the 2001 economic recession.

* So far this year, the number of homeless men seeking shelter at the City’s central intake center (located at the Bellevue shelter on the east side of Manhattan) has increased by 8 percent compared to last year. The number of homeless men seeking shelter who are new to the shelter system has increased by 10 percent.

NYC Homeless Men Seeking Shelter Each Day at Intake Center

* This year is the first to see an increase in the homeless adult shelter population since 2004. The number of homeless adults residing in NYC municipal shelters had declined in recent years, largely due to an expansion in the number of permanent supportive housing units and the targeting of supportive housing units to long-time shelter residents..

NYC Municipal Shelter System Running Out of Beds for Homeless Single Adults

* As the number of homeless adults has risen this year, municipal shelters for homeless single men and women have been at more than 99 percent of capacity. At the same time, shelters for homeless veterans and for chronic street homeless individuals (so-called “safe haven” shelters) – whose use is restricted to special populations – have also been near capacity.

* Currently there are 7,704 total municipal shelter beds for homeless single adults (which includes 6,912 municipal shelter beds, 411 “safe haven” beds, and 381 beds for homeless veterans). On many recent nights there have been more than 7,500 homeless adults in municipal shelters, utilizing more than 97 percent of all shelter beds.

* This September, the number of available municipal shelter beds for homeless adults has reached critically low levels. On many nights there were fewer than 25 available beds for homeless women and fewer than 50 beds for homeless men. On the night of September 30th, there were only two available shelter beds for homeless men, and only eight available beds for homeless women.



NYC Homeless Men Seeking Shelter Each Day at Intake Center

* Despite the acute shortage of shelter beds, NYC Department of Homeless Services officials have failed to articulate a plan for adding needed shelter capacity. (In fact, this summer the City actually closed a 150-bed shelter for homeless men.) In the cold-weather winter months, the nightly homeless adult shelter population historically increases by hundreds of people.

The Need for Immediate and Long-term Action

The Bloomberg administration needs to act now In order to avoid an even worse shelter capacity crisis this winter. Coalition for the Homeless calls on Mayor Bloomberg to enact the following immediate and longterm measures:

1. Expand Emergency Shelter Capacity for Homeless Adults This Winter:

* The NYC Department of Homeless Services must add new shelter beds to the municipal shelter system this winter sufficient to meet the rising need for shelter.

2. Accelerate Construction of Permanent Supportive Housing:

* In 2005, the City and State signed a ten-year agreement to provide permanent supportive housing for homeless people living with mental illness and other special needs.
* However, more than half of the newly-constructed supportive housing – 3,276 units of the planned 6,250 new units – will not be built until at least 2011.
* City and State officials should accelerate the development of supportive housing for homeless people with special needs.

3. Target Federal Housing Aid to the Homeless:

* In 2005, the Bloomberg administration cut off homeless New Yorkers from longstanding priority for Federal housing programs, including Section 8 vouchers and public housing.
* This year the City will distribute more than 12,000 Section 8 vouchers and more than 5,000 public housing apartments will be available to rent – but virtually none to the homeless.
* Numerous studies show that Section 8 vouchers successfully reduce family homelessness.
* Reversing the City’s misguided policy will move thousands of homeless families and individuals to permanent housing – and will save City taxpayer dollars spent on emergency shelter.

Note: All homeless shelter population data is from the New York City Department of Homeless Services. For more information, please visit www.coalitionforthehomeless.org.

Mayor Bloomberg needs to stop hiding on the homeless issue
by Errol Louis, Sunday, October 4th 2009, 4:00 AM
LINK

The arrival of autumn's first chill coincides with a bombshell report, to be released by the Coalition for the Homeless this week, showing that the city's shelter system is filled to bursting, unable to take in another homeless person.

New York City maintains more than 7,500 beds for single homeless adults, but on Sept. 28, according to Patrick Markee, senior policy analyst of the coalition, official city figures revealed that virtually every single adult bed was filled, leaving only nine empty beds for homeless men and 30 for women.

Two nights later, on Sept. 30, there were only two empty beds in the entire city system for homeless men. Two.

"You have a municipal shelter system that is literally on the verge of running out of beds," says Markee.

That's not supposed to happen. The system for homeless adults includes 6,912 municipal shelter beds, 381 beds for homeless veterans, and 411 "safe haven" beds for domestic abuse victims and other special cases. And even when those beds are all filled, the city literally isn't allowed to run out of beds.

In 1981, the courts established that in New York State the homeless have a constitutional right to shelter, and a standing court order, known as Callahan vs. Carey, remains in effect to this day. The order requires the city to shelter however many homeless people arrive at the front door.

So as a practical matter, the city must find a way to accommodate more people when the weather grows cold.

Department of Homeless Services officials say the agency decides how and when to expand shelter capacity as the need arises. Unused space in existing shelters will be used first, they say, with new shelters opened as a last resort.

"We are looking to bring on additional beds," says George Nashak, a DHS deputy commissioner. "We have seen an unprecedented demand for shelter on the adult side."

But advocates say City Hall, warned of growing problems, dithered while the crisis grew.

"The city literally has no plan," says Markee. On a recent visit to the central intake center for homeless men in Manhattan, says Markee, he met a man who showed up at 7:30 in the evening, desperate for a place to sleep - and was still waiting for help at 2:30 the next morning.

"It was complete chaos," he says. "Next month, if they don't do something dramatic, they're going to literally run out" of space.

The timing - "next month" - matters greatly, given the Nov. 3 mayoral election.

Voters must judge whether Mayor Bloomberg responded to indicators that were obvious long before the economy crashed last year.

According to the Mayor's Management Report, the 311 system recorded a steadily rising number of calls related to homelessness in recent years.

The 105,150 calls received in fiscal year 2009 are nearly triple the 50,751 calls in FY 2005.

The same report shows the number of homeless families increasing by more than 61% during the same years, to 12,959 from 8,027.

Nashak touts administration successes like moving 10,000 adults a year out of shelters and into permanent housing.

At least he's willing to talk about the issue. Bloomberg, on the other hand, would just as soon change the subject.

In August, when challenged on the city's homeless policies by his Democratic challenger, Controller Bill Thompson, the mayor told my Daily News colleague Frank Lombardi there would be "plenty of time" to debate the matter "after the election."

That won't cut it. The Bloomberg administration needs to answer questions right now about what it did - and did not do - to stem a growing homelessness crisis that's about to get much worse.

elouis@nydailynews.com