CITY WOULD SAVE $5.7 BILLION BY ENDING SHELTER STAY LIMITS AND EXPANDING CITYFHEPS, NEW BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS SHOW
Recommendations Would Combat Homelessness While Saving City Billions
NEW YORK, NY – Earlier today, Win, the largest provider of transitional and supportive housing for families with children, shared detailed recommendations with the Mayor and City Council outlining common sense budget priorities for fiscal year 2025 that would save the City over $5.7 billion if included in the City’s budget.
Current City policy like shelter stay limits and limited housing voucher access continue to unsustainably perpetuate the homelessness crisis, while wasting billions in taxpayer funds. If adopted in full, Win’s recommendations would provide the City a total net savings of $5.78 billion dollars while creating a more hospitable path to permanent housing for thousands of families living within the shelter system.
“At a time when the City is strapped for cash and facing a growing homelessness crisis, the need for commonsense, cost-saving policy has never been clearer,” said Christine C. Quinn, CEO & President of Win. “Ending shelter stay limits and expanding housing vouchers are the kinds of simple solutions that will combat homelessness and save taxpayers billions. As the City negotiates a budget for fiscal year 2025, a coordinated slate of solutions to the crisis we face is absolutely critical.”
Budgetary Policy Recommendations for FY25
Expand Access to Housing Vouchers, Regardless of Immigration Status: New York City should expand the CityFHEPS housing subsidy to households regardless of immigration status. The move would provide a pathway to permanent housing for more families, increase shelter capacity, and divert costs.
Housing vouchers for noncitizens would cost the City $673 million per year, whereas providing emergency shelter for this population costs $3.58 billion dollars annually. Expanding voucher eligibility could result in $2.9 billion in annual savings.
Continue to Push for the Full Implementation of CityFHEPS Expansion: City Hall should adopt Local Laws 99, 100, 101 and 102 of 2023, which expand eligibility to the CityFHEPS voucher would help more than 92,000 New Yorkers gain and maintain housing.
The legislation, passed by the New York City Council in July 2023, would relieve the current strain on the shelter system and save over $730 million per year by reducing the number of people housed in the shelter system.
Pass Intro 210 and End the 30- and 60-Day Shelter Limits: The City should pass Intro 210, which would prohibit the Department of Social Services or any other city agency from imposing length of shelter stay restrictions in a shelter of any type, including shelters operated by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), Health and Hospitals (H+H), Emergency Management (NYCEM), Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
Current policy forces migrants out of shelter, perpetuating homelessness and potentially costing the City an additional $2 billion per year in negative consequences, according to a May 2024 Independent Budget Office report.
Fully Fund and Implement Local Law 35: The City should implement Local Law 35 to provide clinical mental health services for families in shelter. The full implementation of this law would ensure families in shelter have the clinical mental health services they need to address their trauma and lead to financial returns through better health and employment outcomes.
Win estimates that the rollout of Local Law 35 would cost $13,338,303.99 to service the approximately 4,500 families at the City’s 30 largest families with children shelters. Based on a 2016 World Health Organization report, every $1 spent on scaling up treatment for anxiety provided $4 in returns through better health and improved employment capacity. As such, we anticipate that the investment to fully implement Local Law 35 would result in net savings of $40,014,911.7
Increase Funding for Childcare (Promise NYC): The city should baseline $25 million in funding for Promise NYC, which will help migrant families and deliver significant returns on investment for the City.
Research shows that high quality birth-to-five programs for disadvantaged children can deliver a 13% return on investment annually, meaning that the $25 million investment would result in net savings of $1,170,000.
Reform the Supportive Housing Application: The City should reform the supportive housing application process to broaden eligibility requirements so that vacant units can be filled quickly by those in need. This includes mainstreaming the application process by reviewing the Coordinated Assessment and Placement System and utilizing the Access HRA system.
Decades of research shows that supportive housing provides unparalleled stability, while also saving municipalities money through reduced reliance on costly emergency services, and has helped decrease chronic homelessness by 30%. However, there are significant inefficiencies in the City’s supportive housing application and administrative system.
According to the 2024 Mayor’s Management Report, last year there were 4,042 individuals experiencing street homelessness, while approximately 2,200 supportive housing units sat vacant. A 2020 New York State Department of Health study found that providing supportive housing to chronically homeless individuals produced a net savings of $3,500 per person than the status quo model. If the City addresses its administrative hurdles and prioritizes filling all its vacant units, it can save at least $7,700,000.
Fund Right to Counsel in Housing Court: The City should increase funding for Right to Counsel to support the nearly 140,000 eviction filings brought before the court last year. Increasing funding for the right to counsel in eviction proceedings will decrease the rate of eviction in NYC and help with combatting the homelessness crisis.
It is estimated that funding for right to counsel will prevent eviction for 9,316 families who would otherwise be evicted. Assuming 20% percent of evicted families would enter a homeless shelter, as previously suggested in a report done by CSS citing the New York City Department of Social Services eviction-to-shelter-eventually rates, right to counsel could prevent eviction and shelter entry for 1,863.2 families or around 5,590 individuals, resulting in a total cost savings of $105,556,864.
Win is the largest provider of family shelter and supportive housing in the nation, operating 14 family shelters and 9 supportive housing facilities across New York City, as well as more than 100 supportive housing units in the Bronx and Brooklyn. In the past year, Win served nearly 9,200 homeless people – including more than 5,000 children – helping them to break the cycle of homelessness. Housing instability can stymie a child’s healthy socio-emotional and cognitive development, with implications for mental health, behavioral health, and success in life. Through Camp Win, an immersive summer-long program, and other programming, Win works to provide a safe, engaging environment for children in shelter.
June 24th, 2024
The Honorable Eric Adams
Mayor of the City of New York
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Dear Mayor Eric Adams,
As the largest shelter and service provider to families with children in New York City, Win is advocating to advance an agenda of commonsense and cost-saving policies that will support our collective goal of ending homelessness for families with children, and, in doing so, save New Yorkers up to $5.78 billion in the next fiscal year.
The following policy recommendations will help struggling New Yorkers achieve the economic stability needed to exit shelter and move into permanent housing, while saving NYC taxpayers billions of dollars:
- Access to Housing Vouchers Regardless of Immigration Status
Expanding the CityFHEPS housing subsidy to households regardless of immigration status would give more families a pathway to permanent housing, increase shelter capacity, and divert costs. Many legal groups agree that the City has the legal authority to unilaterally expand CityFHEPS to people regardless of immigration status.
Savings: A Win report shows that expanding CityFHEPS housing vouchers to noncitizens would cost the City $673 million per year, whereas providing emergency shelter for this population costs $3.58 billion dollars annually. Expanding voucher eligibility could result in $2.9 billion in annual savings.
- Implement the Expansion of CityFHEPS
Local Laws 99, 100, 101 and 102 of 2023, which expand eligibility to the CityFHEPS voucher would help more than 92,000 New Yorkers gain and maintain housing, relieve the current strain on the shelter system, and save over $730 million per year.
Savings: A Win report demonstrates that the cost of the CityFHEPS bill expansion would be $1,016,000,000 to prevent homelessness for approximately 38,000 families, whereas the cost of homelessness for that population would be $ 1,753,000,000, resulting in $730,000,000 of savings.
- End the 30- and 60-Day Shelter Limits
Your Administration’s shelter limits unnecessarily force migrants into street homelessness, which is both dangerous and costly to taxpayers. We urge your agencies — the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), Health and Hospitals (H+H), Emergency Management (NYCEM), Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) — to reverse course and pursue more compassionate and sustainable measures that better assist migrants in accessing legal services, workforce development programs, employment opportunities, and permanent housing.
Savings: According to a May 2024 Independent Budget Office report, your Administration’s shelter exit policies for new migrants and asylum seekers can cost the City an additional $2 billion per year in negative consequences. IBO’s estimates reflect three categories: healthcare costs, overall economic impact of missing work authorization, and increased transportation costs for school children.
- Fully Fund and Implement Local Law 35
Local Law 35 requires clinical mental health services for families in shelter. The full implementation of this law would ensure families in shelter have the clinical mental health services they need to address their trauma and lead to financial returns through better health and employment outcomes.
Based on Win cost estimates, the FY24 roll out of Local Law 35 would cost approximately $13 million to service roughly 4,500 families (or about 13,500 individuals in shelter) at the City’s 30 largest families with children shelters. Based on a 2016 World Health Organization report, every $1 spent on scaling up treatment for anxiety provided $4 in returns through better health and improved employment capacity. As such, we anticipate that the investment to fully implement Local Law 35 in FY25 would result in net savings of $40,014,911.97.
- Increase Funding for Childcare (Promise NYC)
Promise NYC childcare is only budgeted to serve a fraction of eligible migrant children. The city should baseline $25 million in funding for this childcare, which will help migrant families and deliver significant returns on investment for the City.
The Citizens Committee for Children and the New York Immigration Coalition have requested a baseline of $25 million in the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) budget for Promise NYC. Based on research by Professor James Heckman, high quality birth-to-five programs for disadvantaged children can deliver a 13% return on investment annually, meaning that the $25 million investment would result in net savings of $1,170,000.
- Reform the Supportive Housing Application Process
Permanent affordable supportive housing is central to Win’s mission of breaking the cycle of homelessness. Decades of research shows that supportive housing provides unparalleled stability, while also saving municipalities money through reduced reliance on costly emergency services, and has helped decrease chronic homelessness by 30%. However, there are significant inefficiencies in the City’s supportive housing application and administrative system. The City should reform the supportive housing application process to broaden eligibility requirements so that vacant units can be filled quickly by those in need. This includes mainstreaming the application process by reviewing the Coordinated Assessment and Placement System and utilizing the Access HRA system.
Savings: According to the 2024 Mayor’s Management Report, last year there were 4,042 individuals experiencing street homelessness, while approximately 2,200 supportive housing units sat vacant. A 2020 New York State Department of Health study found that providing supportive housing to chronically homeless individuals produced a net savings of $3,500 per person than the status quo model. If the City addresses its administrative hurdles and prioritizes filling all its vacant units, it can save at least $7,700,000.
- Fund Right to Counsel in Housing Court
Since 2017, New York City’s landmark Right to Counsel law has expanded legal representation to tens of thousands of low-income New Yorkers facing eviction. However, with eviction filings rising to nearly 140,000 cases last year, Right to Counsel funding is deeply inadequate. Increasing funding for the right to counsel in eviction proceedings will decrease the rate of eviction in NYC and help with combatting the homelessness crisis.
Legal nonprofits estimate that it would cost an additional $226 million to fully fund right to counsel for the anticipated 71,400 cases (whereas now only about 44,000 eviction cases are covered under the existing funding structure-62% of eligible tenants), equaling $461 million in total going to the cause. That means, $226 million would go towards an additional 27,400 cases. Based on results from a Legal Aid Society and Bar of the City of New York program, warrant evictions resulted in 10% of the cases where legal counsel was present and 44% of the time when legal counsel was not. Therefore, we estimate that funding for right to counsel will prevent eviction for 9,316 families who would otherwise be evicted. We assume that 20% percent of evicted families would enter a homeless shelter, as previously suggested in a report done by CSS citing the New York City Department of Social Services eviction-to-shelter-eventually rates, meaning that right to counsel would prevent eviction and shelter entry for 1,863.2 families or around 5,590 individuals. Based on a Win report, the cost of homelessness annually is $18,883.16 per person, meaning that the investment in right to counsel would save $105,556,864 in costs. (These calculations just project savings for families who go to shelter, not families who experience eviction and incur other costs).
Overall, the adoption of Win’s policy recommendations in the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget would result in net savings of $5,784,441.776. We urge your Administration to adopt an equitable and compassionate FY25 budget and we look forward to continuing our partnership in addressing the social and financial needs of families experiencing homelessness.
