BILL NUMBER: S136
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act in relation to enacting the supportive housing modernization act
 
PURPOSE:
To save and empower the next generation of New York's Supportive Housing
by allowing NYSSHP Participants to transition over to ESSHI.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Creates the supportive housing modernization act; legislative intent
provides necessary background; creates a 5 year window allowing NYSSHP
Participants to transition over to ESSHI.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The New York State Supportive Housing Program (NYSSHP), established in
1987, introduced a pioneering approach to helping people at risk of and
experiencing homelessness and other related challenges. By funding
services within housing, NYSSHP connected tenants with essential commu-
nity-based services such as mental health counseling, substance use
treatment, and job training. These early supportive housing inter-
ventions demonstrated success as a cost effective solution to homeless-
ness and a model for preserving existing affordable housing stock. As a
result, New York State developed a succession of new and better-funded
supportive housing programs to more comprehensively meet tenants' needs,
paying for both services and rental assistance/operating costs.
The subsequent New York/New York agreements focused on long-term home-
less individuals and later families who were struggling with mental
health challenges, substance use disorders, and HIV/AIDS in New York
City. However, for organizations outside New York City, only programs
serving people with mental illness were made available. In NYC, certain
NYSHHP-funded programs serving other populations - including survivors
of domestic violence and those with justice involvement - were excluded
from these additional funding streams. This all changed in 2016, when
the state created the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI)
a statewide initiative promising to create 20,000 new units of support-
ive housing over 15 years. ESSHI funded both services and operating
costs at $25,000 per unit and expanded eligible populations to include
frail elderly and survivors of domestic violence.
Despite these advancements, NYSSHP's funding -- $2,964 per year for
individuals,$3,900 for families -- has remained largely unchanged since
1987. Currently NYSSHP partially funds services in more than 20,000
supportive units and is the sole source of service funding in 9,000 of
those units. This bill allows providers of the 9,000 NYSSHP-only units
to apply for ESSH-PI funding, granting them access to much-needed
services and operating funds for their residents.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New proposal In 2025.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Overall Savings To The State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
First Of January, Next Succeeding.