INCREASING HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo last week announced pilot projects at three public housing authorities to help formerly incarcerated New Yorkers safely reunite with their families under a new pilot program. These authorities in the cities of Schenectady, Syracuse, and White Plains have heeded a call from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to allow carefully screened and monitored people with convictions to live in public housing with their families.

"Stable housing drastically reduces the risk of recidivism and, under this initiative, qualified individuals who meet careful screening and monitoring guidelines will be able to be reunited with their families," Governor Cuomo said. "This pilot program will help break down barriers, aid in their reintegration into society and increase public safety.”

In an effort to aid the authorities’ efforts, the New York State Department of State is providing funding for case management that will track these individuals, and the Department of Correction and Community Supervision will monitor participants through their parole officers and undertake home visits as part of the normal course of supervision as well as any other time that the housing authority requests they do so.

Public housing authorities supported by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, including all of the urban housing authorities in New York State, have the lawful discretion to screen housing applicants with past criminal behavior on an individualized basis – excluding sex offenders and methamphetamine producers. However, many authorities refuse to give applicants this fair assessment. This results in people who present little risk to society being separated from family members, and forced into unstable housing or homelessness at the expense to themselves and our communities.

A 2016 study by the Vera Institute showed that reuniting carefully screened individuals with family members living in public housing is safe for the community.  Not one of the 85 individuals who participated in an ongoing housing pilot program in the New York City Housing Authority has been convicted of a new crime since enrollment.

The Governor’s Council on Community Re-Entry and Reintegration introduced these results to other housing authorities, and these three authorities decided to pilot the approach. Schenectady County Community Action, Inc., PEACE, Inc. of Syracuse, and the Westchester Community Opportunity Program will provide the case management services to enrollees and their family members. These public housing authorities will have the ability to review a number of important factors to ensure any participant does not pose a public safety concern to residents. These include an individual’s criminal background, their path to rehabilitation, and family structure. At the end of the pilot program, successful participants may be added to the household on a permanent basis.

Richard Homenick, Executive Director for the Schenectady Public Housing Authority, said, “In Schenectady, we are excited and optimistic about this opportunity to reunite and strengthen families, empower individuals, and increase public safety. We look forward to providing a fresh start for returning citizens through a supportive network.”   

William J. Simmons, Executive Director for the Syracuse Housing Authority, said, “The Syracuse Housing Authority is happy to participate in the Family Reunification Pilot program’. The case management support is a critical element in the successful return of the participants to their communities.”

Mack Carter, Executive Director for the White Plains Housing Authority, said, "The Mayor, Board of Commissioners, Residents, Management and Staff look forward to the reunification of family members re-entering their homes and their communities, and for some families this time could not have come soon enough. The White Plains Housing Authority have been asked for many years to be more tempered and considerate of family members who have been incarcerated and barred out of Public Housing we believe we are answering that call."
 
Secretary of State Rossana Rosado, Chair of the Governor’s Council on Community Re-Entry and Reintegration, said, "Governor Cuomo has been a champion of the formerly incarcerated by offering them opportunities that will help them succeed in becoming productive members of our State.  Housing is a vital first step that can reunite these individuals with their families and this pilot will foster an environment where they can prosper."
 
Anthony J. Annucci, Acting Commissioner of the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said, “I applaud Governor Cuomo for once again having the foresight to recognize that a key facet in reducing crime is helping people leaving incarceration reenter society and successfully become law abiding citizens. Several years ago the Governor created the Reentry Council to address issues such as housing, employment and access to health care for those on parole. This latest program will most certainly further his vision.”

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, “Research shows that stable housing and family connections help to reduce repeated recidivism and homelessness, yet individuals who have been incarcerated often face direct and tacit discrimination when applying for housing.  This pilot program, coupled with our agency’s efforts, will expand access to housing for the formerly incarcerated, allowing families to reunite and stabilize. Governor Cuomo’s continuing initiative to break reentry barriers provides the key to opening these doors, bringing families back together and setting the example of how to create a fairer and more forgiving society.”

Governor Cuomo’s Council on Community Re-Entry and Reintegration
 
This pilot expansion is preceded by several other recent reentry-focused housing reforms through Governor Cuomo’s Council on Community Re-Entry and Reintegration, all of which are now underway and making a substantial impact.

In 2015, the Governor announced that he was accepting and directing the State to implement several initial housing-related recommendations from the Council.  As of today, these recommendations have led to thousands of additional housing options available for eligible people with criminal convictions.

These housing-related recommendations have already begun to have a positive impact, and in 2016 alone:

  •    Less than one percent of the 16,755 applicants for New York State-distributed Section 8 rental assistance were denied because of previous convictions.
    ·    Six organizations recently received conditional awards in the Empire State Supported Housing Initiative to create 86 units statewide of supported housing that is targeted specifically at the formerly incarcerated.
    ·    100 supportive housing units for the formerly incarcerated who are mentally ill are currently being built in New York City.
    ·    Close to 200 individuals with domestic violence histories have been allowed to live with partners with whom they have no history of violence, changing prior exclusionary practices that left them homeless in many instances.

Nicholas Turner, President of the Vera Institute of Justice, said, “We commend Governor Cuomo for supporting public housing authorities across New York State to expand access for people reentering society from prison. As our New York City Housing Authority Family Reentry Pilot shows, housing and supportive services are fundamental to success after incarceration. By reuniting more families in public housing, we can improve public safety and strengthen family ties.”

Kristin Miller, CSH Director in New York, said, “What we have seen from our hands-on experience is that everyone wins when those reintegrating into communities are reunited with family in a home that promotes stability and strong connections to supportive networks.  Thanks to the Governor’s support, we are confident White Plains, Syracuse and Schenectady will realize the same positive outcomes we witnessed with the New York City pilot: successful reintegration for those leaving incarceration; stronger family bonds; reduced costs and a safer environment for everyone, including neighbors residing in and around the public housing.”

David Condliffe, Executive Director of the Center for Community Alternatives, said, “Governor Cuomo and Secretary of State Rosado once again lead the way in demonstrating that supportive reentry services make our communities safer.  The support of family and stable housing provide the platforms on which we all depend to succeed.”

Unbarred

Improving Access to Stable, Permanent Housing for New Yorkers with Criminal Justice Histories

The high prevalence of mental health disorders in prisons and jails, the record numbers in our homeless shelters, and growing concerns over the predatory, unsafe three-quarter house industry demand that New York take a hard look at how it addresses the needs of people with a history of incarceration.Returning Home Ohio

For the third consecutive year, CSH has worked with several partner organizations representing housing, mental health, and legal services providers, academia and advocacy groups to focus on solutions that emphasize housing and services to keep people away from a destructive cycle moving them from incarceration into homelessness and then back to jail or prison.

This year, 17 organizations joined CSH to co-author recommendations that touch on improving access to supportive, affordable, public, and market rate housing for individuals leaving incarceration. Our efforts aim to:

  • Ensure people with criminal justice histories are considered for new City & State supportive housing resources;
  • Remove blanket bans keeping people with justice histories from accessing public, affordable, and market rate housing; and
  • Reduce and eventually end reliance on shelters and three-quarter houses.

If adopted, the policy reforms in this document would:

  • End the practice of relying on unstable and unsafe housing;
  • Improve access to supportive and other affordable housing for persons with mental health and substance use disorders; and
  • Reduce recidivism and improve public safety.

Implementation of these recommendations will mean thousands of New Yorkers will find stable and safe housing, reconnect with their families, transform their lives and avoid recidivism, which makes all of us safer.

Read the recommendations by clicking here.

Castle Gardens

Castle Gardens is home to formerly incarcerated homeless individuals with special needs or have someone in their family that meets those criteria. At Castle Gardens residents can access counseling, substance abuse treatment, and financial planning skills among other services. Additionally, this building is a certified “Green” building based on LEED Gold Standards.

Home to Stay

Home to Stay: Creating Quality
Supportive Housing for Aging Tenants
New York City’s Supportive Housing Aging Learning Collaborative
Core Competencies Checklist & Resource Guide

Recognizing very little is known about the homeless aging population and far less about those aging in place within supportive housing, the CSH New York City Supportive Housing Aging Learning Collaborative has released “Home to Stay: Creating Quality Supportive Housing for Aging Tenants Core Competencies Checklist & Resource Guide.” The Learning Collaborative developed this new Guide to call attention to the unique housing and service needs experienced by aging formerly homeless adults. It also provides promising approaches for improving supportive housing providers’ capacity to deliver and coordinate flexible and responsive services to aging residents with complex health and social support needs.

The guide serves as a 3-in-1 resource for New York City supportive housing providers:

  • A self-assessment guide for agencies to assess their readiness to respond to the needs of aging adults, from physical space as well as program design aspects.
  • A compilation of accumulated promising practices for serving aging tenants, including effective socialization strategies, care coordination, staffing models, and other issues/areas important to aging tenants and the providers who serve them.
  • A guide to NYC-specific resources to promote healthy aging in place in supportive housing.
  • NYC aging

“Our mission at the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) is to work for the empowerment, independence, dignity and quality-of-life of New York City’s diverse older adults and for the support of their families through advocacy, education, and the coordination and delivery of services.   This City’s large older adult population is one of the most diverse in the nation with wide-ranging service needs. Through the provision of DFTA services, we aim to address the social, culture and care needs of all of our City’s aging, especially the most vulnerable among us. The DFTA-related resources provided in the CSH Core Competencies Guide will expand providers’ awareness of and access to critical supports that promote healthy aging in place. We encourage the expansion of partnerships with community-based organizations for the provision of programs and services to foster independence, safety, wellness, community participation, and quality-of life.” -Karen Taylor, Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Community Services, NYC Department for the Aging

photo1“The aging process never stops, until it does with conclusive finality.  Each person experiences a shifting relationship to health, physical capacity, emotional status, and community shaped by the dynamic interplay of class, race, ethnicity, and gender.   Complicated enough with advantageous alignments; a deal more dicey if histories of homelessness and chronic mental health conditions are factors.  Project FIND, where I work, has a unique focus on older adults, partnering in keeping them housed, independent, connected and respected.  One of our residential programs, the Woodstock Hotel, is designed to be responsive to the needs of 280 formerly homeless or very low income persons over the age of 54.  Poverty and homelessness often accelerate the aging process, but they do not alter core universal imperatives for friendship, engagement, respect, accommodation.  The CSH Core Competencies Guide touches on many of the considerations provider agencies will encounter as their tenants reach their golden years.” -David Gillcrist, Executive Director, Project FIND

photo2

Age-friendly NYC is a partnership of the Office of the Mayor, the New York City Council, and the New York Academy of Medicine that works to maximize the social, physical, and economic participation of older people to improve their overall health and wellbeing and strengthen communities. Some of the improvements made by Age-friendly NYC include a reduction in senior pedestrian fatalities by 11%; increased walkability through the addition of public seating; new programming for older people at parks, educational, and cultural institutions; and a better consumer experience offered by many local businesses. Access to safe, accessible, and affordable housing has been a priority for Age-friendly NYC since its inception in 2007. Age-friendly resources included in this guide are intended to help supportive housing providers in addressing the broader determinants of health for their aging tenants to mitigate the risks of falls, polypharmacy, and elder abuse; prevent/reduce social isolation; and promote increased physical activity and healthy choices.” - Lindsay Goldman, Director, Healthy Aging, Center for Health Policy and Programs, The New York Academy of Medicine

Kristen-Miller.CSH_“We undertook the mission of compiling this Guide book because the Learning Collaborative has realized there are good practices and resources out there, it’s just that no one has zeroed in and pulled them together in one clear document. Our goal is to shine a spotlight on what is working and share this information with as many providers as possible. We chose to include check lists as a way to make the Guide tangible and convenient for providers. We also are hopeful the many resources cited will come in handy. The bottom line is always about improving the overall quality of life for aging tenants in supportive housing and those now homeless who should be in supportive housing.” -Kristin Miller, Director, CSH Metro (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania)

The Core Competencies Checklist & Resource Guide is made possible through the generous support of Mizuho USA Foundation, Inc. of Mizuho Bank, and The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.

 

CSH Urges "Smart" Supportive Housing Strategy for Reentry

Testimony of CSH

New York State Assembly Committee on Correction and Subcommittee on Transitional Services Joint Public Hearing

Devising a Smart Supportive Housing Strategy for Ex-Offenders upon Reentry

My name is Kristin Miller, and I am the Director of the Metro Program at the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH). CSH’s mission is to advance solutions that use housing as a platform to deliver services, improve the lives of the most vulnerable people, and build healthy communities. CSH has 25-year track record of innovation and investment in New York, leading demonstration projects, analyzing data and assisting in the creation of over 15 thousand permanent supportive and affordable housing units across the state. CSH is deeply committed to improving access to supportive housing for people with criminal justice histories and has been working in this arena for more than a decade.

An estimated 25,000 people are released from New York State prisons each year and, of these, nearly half return to New York City.[1] Of all the issues facing returning prisoners, the need to secure safe, affordable housing is one of the most essential. Many of those released each year are homeless and have traditionally cycled out of prison and into the shelter system or unlicensed, unregulated three-quarter houses. In fact, analyses of the NYC Department of Homeless Services shelter populations indicate that between 20 and 23% of homeless adults have been incarcerated at some point in the two years prior to entering shelter and about 19 percent of persons released from NY State prisons listed shelters as their first known address. [2],[3]

There is an evidence-based, cost-effective solution. Supportive housing, a model coupling affordable housing and support services, is effective in improving outcomes for this population while also decreasing public systems use. CSH piloted the Frequent Users Services Enhancement (FUSE) initiative here in New York almost 8 years ago, which utilized supportive housing as an intervention for people cycling between the criminal justice system and homeless system. The Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health completed an evaluation of this groundbreaking initiative that placed over 200 individuals into supportive housing. [4] The rigorous evaluation compared the outcomes of FUSE participants versus a comparison group, and demonstrated some major findings impacting the use of jails, shelters and crisis care services.

The evaluation indicates that supportive housing can reduce homelessness, incarceration and costs of public systems. FUSE participants averaged just over two-weeks of shelter stays in the 24 months after placement into housing as compared to the 164 days in shelters spent by the comparison group. Overall FUSE generated a $15,000 cost offset for each participant.

While this model has become a nationally recognized approach and is being implemented in almost 20 communities across the country, here in New York people with criminal justice histories have been shortchanged in every supportive housing production initiative to date, and thus, very few units have been targeted at this population.

In this year’s State of the State address, Governor Cuomo proposed a bold housing plan and committed to creating 20,000 new units of supportive housing over the next 15 years, with 6,000 of the new units to be created over the next 5 years. In order to deliver on this promise, the Governor must sign an MOU with Legislative leadership before the end of session, which is this Thursday, June 16th. Additionally, last September, the Governor adopted the New York State Council on Reentry and Reintegration’s recommendation to “include the formerly incarcerated as a target population for supportive housing”. As such, a portion of the 20,000 new supportive housing units will be targeted to serve this population.

This commitment could effectively stop the cycle of homelessness and criminal justice involvement for the thousands of New Yorkers exiting prisons each year. We ask that Governor Cuomo honor these commitments by signing an MOU before session ends on Thursday, and targets a portion of these units to people exiting the criminal justice system.


[1] NYS DOCCS. 2010. 2007 Releases: Three Year Post Release Follow-up. Albany: New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

[2] Burt et al. 1999; Eberle et al. 2001; Kushel et al. 2005; Schlay & Rossi 1992.

[3] Navarro, Mireya. November 14, 2013. Ban on Former Inmates in Public Housing Is Eased. The New York Times.

[4] Aidala, Angela; McAllister, William; Yomogida, Maiko; Shubert, Virginia. 2013. “Reducing Homelessness, Incarceration and Costs through Supportive Housing – The New York City FUSE Evaluation”. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

CSH Testimony to Gov's Task Force on Combating Heroin in NY

Written Comments of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)

Governor's Task Force to Combat Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse

Submitted by Kristin Miller, Director of CSH Metro Region

Lieutenant Governor Hochul, Commissioner González-Sánchez, members of the Governor's Task Force. Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony to this important and distinguished group of policymakers and advocates.

CSH has offered similar testimony to the New York Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction and applauds the efforts of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature, including Senator Terrance Murphy who serves on this Task Force as well, for elevating this issue and keeping it in the spotlight where it belongs.

CSH has a 25-year track record of innovation and investment in New York. Since 1991, CSH has made nearly $140M in loans to supportive housing developers for the creation of over 15,000 permanent supportive and affordable housing units in this state. Through our promotion of supportive housing, we are intimately familiar with the housing and services needs of residents who struggle with substance addiction and desperately seek stable lives to pursue recovery.

As you have undoubtedly heard again and again as you travel throughout the state, heroin and opioids are destroying people’s lives and damaging families and neighborhoods. My testimony is focused on supportive housing, a proven solution and valuable tool in our fight to stem this epidemic.

CSH this year released Supportive Housing’s Vital Role in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic in New York State , which provides a background of the opioid epidemic in New York communities and cites research showing supportive housing as a solution for individuals facing substance use disorders. Supportive housing combines affordable housing and services that help people facing complex challenges live with stability, autonomy and dignity. It has been demonstrated that through the stability found in supportive housing, people using heroin successfully avail themselves to the treatments that address their substance use disorder.[1] In fact, a study published in 2014 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that supportive housing was successful in reducing the use of, and costs associated with, substance abuse and crisis care services, including shelters, detox centers, jails and medical care (hospitalizations and emergency room visits). The findings suggest that individuals actively using substances can be housed successfully and stabilized without forcing treatment requirements on them.[2]

New York, too, knows supportive housing is an answer. Governor Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have publicly committed to creating a combined total of 35,000 new supportive housing units in the City and throughout the rest of the state within the next 15 years.

CSH congratulates the Mayor and Governor for taking these important steps to house our most vulnerable New Yorkers. We urge this Task Force to help us ensure these new units are realized as soon as possible, and that people and communities living with the opioid epidemic have access to them and the important services they will need to achieve substance use recovery.

Housing is essential as an anchor of stability. Home forms a firm platform from which individuals can pursue the services they need. It is our responsibility to make sure our most vulnerable New Yorkers have access to the services as well as a home. That is what supportive housing provides. A person consumed by addiction can have access to the best treatments in the world, but recovery is highly unlikely if they are living on the street or in a shelter.

Without supportive housing, many individuals with opioid or heroin addiction will continue to cycle endlessly between homelessness and expensive public services delivery systems including inpatient hospital beds, psychiatric centers, detox services, jails and prisons, at an enormous public and human cost.

We ask members of this Task Force to help these individuals by ensuring that the recent commitments to new supportive housing in New York are realized, and that these resources are accessible to people struggling with substance use disorders, particularly heroin and opioid addictions.

_____________________

[1] Gray, Paul; Fraser, Penny. Housing and heroin use: The role of floating support. Drugs: Education, Prevention, and Policy. Vol. 12, Iss. 4, 2005.

[2] Neighbors, Charles; Hall, Gerod; et.al. Evaluation of NY/NY III Housing for Active Substance Users. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. 2014.

CSH & Partners to NY: Expedite Plan to Create Affordable Housing

Dear Governor Cuomo, Majority Leader Flanagan and Speaker Heastie:

Our coalition of New York’s leading housing organizations applaud your recent approval of nearly $2 billion for affordable housing in the 2016-2017 state budget. Your commitment was a powerful step in advancing the State’s unprecedented $20 billion plan to build and preserve affordable housing and combat homelessness.

We are also writing to urge you to expedite the disbursement of this new budget funding, including the housing funding subject to a memorandum of understanding to be agreed upon by you, in order to address the affordable housing crisis that affects millions of New Yorkers.

New York’s housing crisis is becoming more urgent with each passing day. More than half of renters across the state are rent-burdened and pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs.  More than 80,000 New Yorkers are homeless on any given night and many are in desperate need of supportive housing to achieve housing stability. The statewide senior population is expected to increase by 40 percent by 2040 and hundreds of thousands of seniors are already severely rent-burdened. The foreclosure crisis has resulted in tens of thousands of foreclosures in New York State and still more homeowners are struggling to make monthly mortgage payments.

Our coalition stands ready to partner with you to ensure these funds are used expeditiously and cost-effectively to address this crisis, especially for low- and middle-income housing, supportive housing and senior housing programs across the state. We welcome the opportunity to work with you to develop a comprehensive action plan for the new budget funding as quickly as possible.  The sooner we put together a plan, the sooner those resources can be put to work in communities that need them the most.

While we appreciate that there are many issues to be considered prior to the conclusion of the legislative session, we believe housing is a fundamental need critical to our economy and the welfare of all New Yorkers, especially vulnerable populations of children, seniors and low and middle income families. Due to your recent historic commitment of State funding, we know you agree, and we look forward to working with you to quickly put this funding to work to address New York’s housing crisis.

Thank you for your strong support for affordable housing. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

NY Plea Logos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Recommendations Released – Call for Fair Treatment for the Formerly Incarcerated

Today, CSH and 16 community partners released a set of recommendations to the New York City Supportive Housing Task Force focused squarely on the overwhelming need to ensure supportive housing for persons with criminal justice histories.

People reentering our communities from incarceration have been shortchanged in every New York State and City supportive housing agreement to date. In the face of incredible barriers, many who have served their time are confronted with a second punishment when they attempt to begin new lives but are denied access to affordable housing and the services they desperately need to stabilize. This sets off a chain of despair that often leads to homelessness, poverty and recidivism.

CSH and its partners know it doesn’t have to be this way. Of all the issues facing returning prisoners, the need to secure stable, affordable housing is one of the most essential, and supportive housing can and should play a crucial role.

Over 77,000 people were released from New York City Department of Corrections’ jails in FY 2015[1] and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recently announced plan to add 15,000 units of supportive housing to the City provides an unparalleled opportunity to address the needs of the growing numbers of individuals hoping to rebound, rebuild and reestablish in our community.

These collaborative recommendations call for at least 15% of new supportive housing resources to be dedicated to individuals and families with criminal justice histories. CSH and its partners also recommend:

  • targeting criteria to ensure access to housing for people who need it the most
  • policies that bar discrimination and assure equal access to supportive housing for people with criminal justice histories
  • strategies to better develop the referral system for justice-involved populations
  • effective programming structure and service budget guidance

CSH and its partners believe that by including this population in the next supportive housing agreement, the City can expect reductions in recidivism, parole violations, shelter use, and use of crisis services, particularly among those who find their new home in supportive housing.

[1] NYC Mayor’s Office of Operations, Preliminary Fiscal 2015 Mayor's Management Report

New Recommendations Focus is on Aging in Supportive Housing

 

CSH has been leading an Aging in Supportive Housing Learning Collaborative for the past year to determine best practices for serving an aging population in supportive housing. “Aging” is not a specific supportive housing population, but there are unique service needs and programs to best serve older people who are formerly homeless and/or leaving institutions. To that end, and on behalf of New York’s best minds in this field, CSH is sharing a brief compilation of key recommendations we recently made to the New York City Supportive Housing Task Force. A dozen organizations dedicated to promoting health and stability for our most vulnerable residents believe these recommendations support promising, healthy aging-in-place practices for future supportive housing initiatives. Also, a Core Competencies Toolkit will be released this spring and it will provide more detail on program models for aging in supportive housing.

 

 

 

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CSH Report on Non-Time-Limited Youth Supportive Housing

CSH Releases Report on Non-Time-Limited

Youth Supportive Housing

Highlights NYC's True Colors Residence

Today, CSH released No Strings Attached: Helping Vulnerable Youth with Non-Time-Limited Supportive Housing, a brief which explores innovative non-time-limited supportive housing models to serve the most vulnerable youth.

Read the Report   


Open letters to the NYC Supportive Housing Task Force from West End Residences HDFC & Lantern Community  Services

Recently there has been much discussion over time or age restrictions on supportive housing for youth, and fears that without these limits, tenants may never move out. As a result of those fears, and limitations in service funding, most youth supportive housing programs have age or length of stay restrictions. But locally and nationally, several non-time-limited youth supportive housing programs are showing positive outcomes demonstrating youth are indeed moving out steadily as they are ready.

The brief highlights outcomes of West End Residence’s True Colors Residence, the first non-time-limited youth supportive housing program in New York City. Data on True Colors Residence first residents suggests that non-time-limited supportive housing is effective in providing youth the appropriate dose of affordable housing and support services. Youth who no longer need services are able and incentivized to move on with a tenant-based housing subsidy. More than half of the youth moved on in an average of under 2 years. In fact, if the youth who have applied for their housing subsidy move on as planned, 72% of the residents will have moved on within the first five years of the program.

“Some communities are beginning to find success with housing for youth that does not include traditional time limits or programmatic requirements. Many of these programs also provide trauma-informed services that address the physical, socio-emotional, intellectual, and life skills development of youth on a pathway to independence.”
-U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

 

Learn more about:

West End Residences HDFC

Lantern Community Services

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