Categories: New York City
12.15.2016
Awards for first 550 units announced.
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On December 12th, the Mayor’s Office held a press conference at Breaking Ground’s The Schermerhorn announcing the recommendations of the Supportive Housing Task Force and awards to 11 organizations to provide 550 new scattered site supportive housing units as part of the NYC 15/15 Initiative, his commitment to creating 15,000 units of supportive housing over the next fifteen years.
Council Member Steve Levin said "Supportive housing is the linchpin in addressing homelessness among those with the most challenges,” He also took the opportunity to exhort other communities to embrace new supportive housing residences saying “I could not be more proud to have The Schermerhorn in my district -- it has transformed this community and I hope to have many more residences like it in the future.”
Department of Social Services Commissioner Steve Banks presented both the recommendations and the awards. The recommendations distill the six months of work by more than 28 experts in the field to identify issues in key aspects of supportive housing, including the referral process, development, and delivery of services.
“The collective expertise of this group has provided invaluable insights into how to better serve the most vulnerable in our city.” Also introducing the recommendations was Network Executive Director Laura Mascuch who co-chaired the task force with Commissioners Banks and HPD Commissioner Vicki Been.
The contracts to develop the 505 supportive housing units were awarded to Breaking Ground; Bridging Access to Care, Inc.; CAMBA Inc.; Odyssey House, Inc.; Federation of Organizations; Jericho Project; Unique People Services, Inc.; Faces NY, Inc.; Iris House; Urban Pathways, Inc.; and Institute for Community Living, Inc.
The populations targeted for these units are chronically homeless single adults and adult families who have a serious mental illness or substance use disorder, including those who may have a co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorder.
“We are delighted to see progress being made toward realizing the Mayor's promise of creating 15,000 units of supportive housing over the next 15 years,” said Ms. Mascuch. “The recommendations released today reflect the best thinking of the supportive housing community, including nonprofit providers, government partners, and researchers. These recommendations will help the City design the next generation of what has been the most promising intervention yet developed to help the neediest New Yorkers live in dignity in our communities.”
The Task Force spent six months assessing the current state of programs and providing innovative solutions to improve development and service delivery, streamline processes, and better tailor services to the needs of supportive housing residents.
Among the recommendations issued by the Task Force are:
- Target units to three broad populations – adults, families, and youth – and incorporate a vulnerability index that will allow the City to identify and prioritize supportive housing to target those most in need.
- Implement a holistic family approach to deliver comprehensive services to the entire family.
- Create supportive housing options for youth that are not time limited and use the Moving On model to help young adults transition to independent housing.
For a copy of the report click here.