Categories: Funding, New York State
01.14.2016
This commitment is many times greater than any Governor has ever made to supportive housing.
Governor Cuomo made an historic commitment to supportive housing yesterday in his State of the State address by committing to fund 20,000 units of supportive housing statewide over the next 15 years! This commitment, combined with that of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 15,000 units of supportive housing in New York City, means a combined pledge to creating 35,000 units of supportive housing in New York State, the largest commitment to supportive housing in the country. This historic commitment would not have been possible without your support and dedication. Your help in working with local stakeholders, the media, and participating in more than a year of sustained advocacy made this extraordinary achievement possible. Thank you!
This long-term supportive housing program is part of the state’s $20 billion five year affordable housing and homelessness plan unveiled yesterday at the Governor’s State of the State address. The five year program will invest $9.7 billion to establish 94,000 units of affordable housing, $2.6 billion for 6,000 new units of supportive housing and will also establish 1,000 new emergency shelter beds. Over 15 years, the plan will result in 20,000 new supportive housing units and an additional 1,000 shelters beds. The budget is committing $640 million in settlement funds towards the 5 year plan.
The supportive housing program will be a statewide program and all 20,000 units will be congregate; the plan does not include the scattered site model. In addition, to the supportive housing commitment, the Governor said that the state will work with the local Continua of Care on local homeless initiatives, but it’s unclear at this time, in what capacity. In addition, his homelessness plan will give the state new oversight of the NYC homeless shelter system and will partner with the State Comptroller, the NYC Comptroller and the Buffalo Comptroller to review and inspect shelters across the state.
The Network is looking forward to hearing more about the Governor’s housing and homelessness plan and working with the state to help make the supportive housing commitment a realty. We will let our members know as more information becomes available. In the meantime, here is our first analysis of the various SFY 2016-17 budget areas important to the supportive housing community.
Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance
- Homeless Housing Assistance Program (HHAP) - $63.5 million
The Executive Budget funds the HHAP capital development program at the same level as last year. - Homeless Housing Prevention Services Program - $34.181 million
The Executive Budget kept whole the Homeless Housing Prevention Services Program that funds the New York State Supportive Housing Program (NYSSHP), the Solutions to End Homelessness Program (STEHP) and the Operational Support for AIDS Housing Program from last year’s final budget.
HOMES & COMMUNITY RENEWAL
- Housing Trust Fund - $54.2 million
The Executive budget proposes INCREASING the Housing Trust Fund by $6.5 million, up from $47.7 million last year. These funds can be used for capital construction of both supportive and affordable permanent housing. - State Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (SLIHC)
The Executive Budget authorizes an additional $8 million for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program in each of the next five fiscal years to help expand affordable housing in New York by providing credits to qualifying projects.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH/MEDICAID REDESIGN TEAM
- MRT Supportive Housing Fund - $127 million
The Executive Budget funds the MRT Supportive Housing Fund at $127 million, the same level as last year. This fund will continue to provide service funding, rent subsidies and capital dollars to create supportive housing for high cost Medicaid recipients.
OFFICE OF MENTAL HEALTH
- The Executive Budget provides $50 million to support new residential opportunities and provides full annual support to continue ongoing residential projects, including nearly 1,200 units planned to open this year from the New York/New York III Agreement and about 800 other residential pipeline beds.
- The budget does not provide any rate increases for the Scattered Site Supported Housing program.
OASAS
- The Budget includes $7 million in new funding for 300 new beds scheduled to be developed over the next two years. This includes 170 new congregate units associated with NY/NY III and 130 new units in Suffolk, Albany, and Westchester counties, and in the Southern Tier to support the Governor’s Combat Heroin initiative. It’s unclear at this time if the additional 130 units are supportive housing units.
New York State's Blueprint to End the AIDS Epidemic
- The Executive Budget reflects a $200 million 5-year commitment of new funding toward HIV/AIDS efforts. Specifically, these funds will be used to expand the availability of affordable housing and housing assistance for those living with HIV and identify undiagnosed persons, link them with treatment and facilitate access to necessary medications to keep them HIV negative to prevent spreading of the disease.
The budget must now be passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor no later than March 31st. In the next few weeks, the Senate and the Assembly will hold budget hearings and negotiate with the Governor. The Network’s advocacy in the upcoming weeks will focus on supporting the Executive’s proposed initiatives outlined above. We are currently planning a March 8th Advocacy Day. We encourage all Network members to participate, please mark your calendars!
On behalf of the Network and our members, we would like to thank Governor Cuomo and his staff, the Division of Budget, and all of our State Agency leaders who worked tirelessly to put this budget together. We deeply appreciate your continued commitment to supportive housing. The Network and its members look forward to working with our state partners to ensure adequate funding is secured in the final budget and the vision realized.