STATE NIXES CITY PLAN TO CHARGE HOMELESS FAMILIES RENT

(Article published in HWW June 2009)

Speaking to a rally on the steps of City Hall one rainy day last month, State Assemblyman Keith Wright announced he had introduced a law to end the city’s plan to charge rent to homeless New Yorkers in the shelter system. “In the midst of the Great Recession, the last thing New York State needs to do is to punish the most vulnerable of our society,” said Wright. “Charging the homeless rent to stay in often squalid and dangerous conditions is prepos-terous and deleterious to the mission of our State’s social service safety net.”

A large group of NYC politicians and advocates including Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Comptroller Bill Thompson gave Wright their support and agreed that charging rent will only punish the poor and prolong shelter stays.

Starting May 1st, the plan – called the “Income Contribution Require-ment” (ICR) -- was to make families on public assistance who have “employment income or other recurring payments” pay part of their shelter cost. It was based on a 1997 state law that had never been enforced. The city, that is the Department of Homeless Services, (DHS) was to decide the amount each family would pay and shelters would collect the money.

Starting immediately, shelters and DHS were bombarded by complaints about mismanagement -- families who had not been properly notified asked to pay rent, errors in calculating what rent was due, and more.

A week after Wright’s announcement, the city’s Department of Homeless Services announced the plan was on hold. In a letter to shelter directors, Anne Heller, DHS deputy commissioner, said the plan was temporarily “suspended” by the State until “technical issues” over charging clients could be resolved. And, she ordered, shelter providers “must return to clients any monies that had been collected as part of ICR.”

TIPS FROM LEGAL AID’S HOMELESS RIGHTS PROJECT

• If you were told before May 21, 2009 -- either by letter or in person -- that you had to pay a “contribution” to your shelter, that was a mistake. The City has now taken back those notices, so no one has to pay -- for now.

• If you paid any money to your shelter, the shelter has to give it back to you right away.

• You don't have to go to a fair hearing about “Income Contribution” notices dated before May 21, 2009.

• The City says it will start this program up again in the future. If it does, it has to send new notices that say how they figured out how much your family should pay. You cannot ignore those notices.

• If you are told to pay in the future and have questions, call Legal Aid’s Homeless Rights Project at 1-800-649-9125.