Mary Anne Schretzman, DSW, LCSW, Deputy Commissioner of Policy and Planning, NYC Department of Homeless Services

While I was sitting in a pizza parlor recently, a homeless man came in waving $2, stating “This is my last $2. Give me a slice.” I invited him to share half of my calzone if he would sit at my table. He accepted. I found out that he came from San Francisco, was addicted to heroin, had a bicycle, had never tried to stop using drugs, and only used detox to keep his habit affordable. He stated further that his outreach worker, who told him about a new drug treatment for opiate addicts, buprenorphine, had agreed to hold his bike, and to take him to detoxification and rehabilitation the next day. He finally had hope and a plan.

This encounter exemplifies the type of efforts made daily by counselors and social workers actively engaging homeless people into placements that can provide the answers to ending homelessness in New York City. Today, it is the hope that every homeless person, whether living on the street or in a shelter, is known to his or her team and has a housing and service plan.

In June 2004, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg released Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter, a vision and an action plan for New York City (NYC) to reduce homelessness by two-thirds over five years. Since the implementation of the action plan, NYC has seen a steady decline of people living in the homeless shelter system. The total number of individuals in homeless shelters has decreased from 36,642 in June 2004 to 32,094 in October 2005, a reduction of 12 percent. The total number of children in shelters has been reduced by 18 percent, from 15,361 to 12,641. In addition, from fiscal year 2001 to 2004, the number of families moving from shelter to permanent housing has increased from 3,349 to 7,090, an improvement of 111 percent.

In February 2005, the City conducted its first citywide street count and estimated that there were 4,395 unsheltered individuals living on the streets, in parks, in encampments, under highways, in airports, and in the subway stations and trains in New York City. This first annual street count will serve as a baseline to measure the City’s success at reducing street homelessness.

The five-year action plan calls forth a vision to replace the cookie-cutter approach with a focus on non-linear strategies to promote individual dignity in making responsible decisions. Current shelter policies employ a linear step approach which only places into permanent housing those people deemed “housing ready.” The radical and fundamental shift introduced in the action plan “to end chronic homelessness” envisions providing multiple pathways and services to those who are precariously housed, homeless and formerly homeless.

Contextualizing Homelessness in NYC

New York City is perhaps the most generous city in the nation in its response to homelessness. Each night, the city provides shelter to anyone who shows up, no waiting lists. The City’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) provides shelters for three populations: 1) families with children; 2) families that include no minor children; and 3) single adults.

Historically, the homeless population in NYC was largely composed of elderly, white, single males suffering from alcoholism. In the 1980s, it became evident that the demographic characteristics of the homeless population were beginning to shift.

Today, there is a great diversity and heterogeneity among the homeless population. Personal characteristics and life histories of the people entering DHS shelters are as varied as leaves on a tree. Structural factors such as poverty, racism, affordable housing, and low wages interact with life histories and personal characteristics that can cause individuals and families to enter a shelter.

There are many situations found in the homeless family group, from working families with children, former lease-holders who do not seem to differ from other poor families, to a substantially smaller group of people who suffer from mental illness and/or addiction.

The second group, adult couples or families that include no minor children, is the only growing population. Here, similar to the single adult population, the range is from people who are temporarily unemployed to those coping with mental illness and addiction. All three systems include individuals aging out of the foster care system, disengaged youth, and those discharged from prison, jail, and psychiatric facilities. The diversity of the homeless population and the complex issues that they face illuminate the multifaceted approach that is needed to reduce homelessness.

In the 1990s, faced with a large and relatively stable shelter population, the City’s strategy was to improve existing shelters and their services. The City was reactive in dealing with capacity issues and managing a large, diverse shelter system.

 In 1993, DHS was created as an independent City agency; its service structure was reevaluated at that time. The agency chose to leverage the expertise and resources of community-based organizations and contract out the majority of the City’s shelter services. This allowed the agency to diversify and target its services to varying populations while beginning to hold providers accountable for their clients’ outcomes.

The overarching context of the 1990’s was to have a decent and service-enriched shelter system. As a consequence, shelters became safety nets for mainstream system failures, primary providers of addiction treatment and job rehabilitation, rather than an answer to emergency housing crises.

The City responded to various groups of homeless people by adopting policies based on a “linear model” and/or continuum-of-care approach. This approach, which works for some, consists of assisting homeless people along a set of logical steps with an array of services, including outreach, placement into shelters and drop-in centers, employment training and treatment programs, and, finally, permanent housing. The case manager works with clients at each step along the path, ensuring that they reach their goals. This linear model typically includes an assessment of whether a client or family is “housing ready,” a policy which can result in some people spending years in shelter programs.

New Policy Directions

Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter outlines a non-linear approach for delivering improved outcomes to the homeless, as well as to people at risk of homelessness. The plan provides for initiatives emphasizing prevention, community-based placements for families with children, decreasing lengths of time people stay in shelter, and aftercare.

Under this new action plan, pathways to housing stability are not limited to shelter, but include other solutions and housing resources. Data is collected, analyzed and used as a basis for policy decisions. All participants - clients, service providers, and the City - are accountable to each other.

For example, NYC’s response to housing instability – potential eviction, household tension, medical emergency, or falling behind on rent – has become more nuanced, allowing flexible interventions that help people stabilize their housing, prevent homelessness and retain community ties. These “Home-Base” prevention interventions currently in place in six high need community districts are being tracked and evaluated to determine specific community strategies that lead to a reduction in the number of community residents who enter shelters.

The action plan includes creating pathways for people to successfully move from institutional and custodial settings to community housing. DHS is using data to track individuals discharged, from jails and prisons, treatment centers and other mainstream systems, into homeless shelters and collaborating with these systems to ensure optimal discharge planning.

Many mainstream systems have viewed “release to shelter” as an acceptable discharge plan. At present, homeless shelters are no longer viewed as a positive placement for anyone leaving a residential facility and the practice is being rendered obsolete.

Two initiatives, Housing Stability Plus (HSP) and New York/New York III, are key attempts to reach the two major sub-groups of homeless people: those who have lost their housing but do not differ substantially from other people experiencing poverty, and a much smaller group of people who need housing that is linked to supportive services.

HSP is the first city rental assistance program that supports individuals and families as they leave the shelter system. The client is given a rental subsidy consisting of a public assistance shelter allowance and the HSP supplement. Each year for five years, the HSP supplement portion is reduced by twenty percent, or about ten percent of the total rent, to gradually prepare the individual or family for self-sufficiency. Since its inception in December 2004, over 4,000 individuals and families have been able to move into their own apartments with the support of HSP.

The other key initiative, the landmark New York / New York III agreement between the City and the State, will provide 9,000 supportive housing units in NYC. These supportive housing units will be available for clients living with substance abuse problems, HIV/AIDS, and mental illness, as well as families with disabled parents and young people aging out of foster care and residential treatment.

These housing units help achieve the action plan’s goal of creating 12,000 supportive units. Together with the City’s commitment of 65,000 new affordable housing units, these resources will provide valuable tools to house homeless individuals and families and prevent future homelessness.

Using Social Work Principles and Strategies

Homelessness is a solvable problem. Through creative prevention efforts such as “Home-Base” and new initiatives to increase the affordable and supportive housing stock in NYC, we can solve homelessness.

With continued perseverance, hard work, and innovative policies, NYC can meet the goals outlined in Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter. The key principles and strategies in this plan are based upon the knowledge, skills and values that social work as a profession encompass. They remind us that we must begin at the client’s level, have a non-judgmental attitude, be open to change, employ effective–base programs and share our best practices. The social work profession has a rich history that encompasses the principles of social justice and advocacy. Today, social workers are using this legacy and inherent commitment to end homelessness.