Ten months after the Biden Administration supplied New York City with a trove of new Section 8 vouchers to house homeless residents, just over 5 percent have actually been used to lease an apartment, federal data shows.
Ten months after the Biden Administration supplied New York City with a trove of new Section 8 vouchers to house homeless residents, just over 5 percent have actually been used to lease an apartment, federal data shows.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided 7,788 emergency housing vouchers to two New York City housing agencies last May as part of the American Rescue Plan, a far-reaching stimulus package that distributed nearly 70,000 rent subsidies across the country. Under the plan, NYCHA received 5,738 new subsidies while the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) received another 2,050, with both agencies agreeing to prioritize the city’s most vulnerable residents, like families in shelter, young adults experiencing homelessness, frequent hospital patients and survivors of domestic violence.
But as of Sunday, HPD and NYCHA have each issued less than a third of their allotted vouchers, according to data tracked by HUD. Just 31 of HPD’s 2,050 vouchers (1.5 percent) and 372 of NYCHA’s 5,738 vouchers (6.5 percent) have been used to rent an apartment, the HUD tracker shows.
New York City officials and housing activists blame the lag time on onerous federal requirements, staffing shortages and the bureaucratic challenges in linking various city agencies and nonprofit providers. Advocates, however, say issuing the subsidies should be a top priority for Mayor Eric Adams and they have criticized his plans to cut spending and staff positions at the agencies involved in administering the rent subsidy program.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime boon to the city and we want to make sure households are able to use the vouchers,” said Eric Lee, policy director for Homeless Services United, which represents nonprofit service providers. “Hiring freezes and budget cuts are not good policies when it comes to homelessness.”
The distribution delays and paltry usage rate come as New York City is mired in a persistent homelessness crisis. About 47,000 people have stayed in a city homeless shelter each night of 2022, according to daily data tracked by City Limits. More than 60,000 individuals stayed in one of the city’s shelters in January, the most recent data compiled by City Limits shows.
The emergency housing vouchers could drive a significant decrease in homelessness, especially among families, who make up the bulk of the shelter population.
In the months after President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, New York City leaders decided to set aside 75 percent of the newly released vouchers for people experiencing homelessness and outlined a plan to distribute a specific number of vouchers to various vulnerable populations. The effort to get the subsidies to people in need of housing has engaged a number of agencies, like the Health + Hospitals Corporation and the Department of Youth and Community Development, that are tasked with identifying potential applicants, navigating unfamiliar technological systems and coordinating with one another. Individuals can submit EHV applications only after being assessed through the city’s existing Coordinated Assessment and Placement System (CAPS), a housing and services portal used mostly by the Department of Social Services and their contracted nonprofit providers.
Last summer, providers participated in trainings on how to use CAPS and help New Yorkers experiencing homelessness apply for the vouchers while assembling reams of necessary documents. The process has since required administrative and technological coordination among HPD, NYCHA, the Human Resources Administration and other city agencies.
HPD and NYCHA acknowledged the low usage rate but said building out the application portal and training providers took time to accomplish. The agencies said they expect to soon distribute more vouchers and see an increase in lease-ups.
“As this program ramps up around the country, we are working closely with our partner agencies and expect to put more of these vouchers to work for New Yorkers who need them, so we can get more families into the safe, affordable housing they deserve,” said HPD spokesperson Jeremy House.
The emergency housing voucher usage rate remains relatively low across the country. Only about 20.6 percent of vouchers—14,412 of 69,879—have been used to rent an apartment nationwide, according to the HUD data.
Outside the five boroughs, the state’s Housing Trust Fund Corporation and several smaller cities in New York received a combined 2,122 vouchers. About 16 percent of those have been used to rent an apartment, while 69 percent have been issued, according to HUD data.
Nowhere else in the U.S. received nearly as many vouchers as New York City, however. The Big Apple accounts for more than 10 percent of the nationwide allotment, but is also home to one of the country’s tightest rental markets, potentially dragging down the usage rate.
HPD and NYCHA have recently begun to issue a number of vouchers, giving advocates hope that more will soon be used to secure apartments.
“It made sense that there was a ramp-up period, and we were frustrated, but we have worked through those barriers at this point,” said New Destiny Housing Executive Director Nicole Branca, whose organization serves survivors of domestic violence. “We’re starting to see a flood of vouchers being issued.”
The city set aside 1,168 of the vouchers for families and individuals who have experienced domestic violence. So far, 200 of the vouchers have been issued to survivors, while another 300 are soon set to reach applicants, Branca said.
But Branca said she worries an overburdened city workforce may struggle to process thousands of applications at once. “It’s very hard to get anything through the city government with the number of staff they have lost,” she said, citing workforce reductions over the past two years.
The Coalition for the Homeless’ annual report, released Tuesday, also urges Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to “devote sufficient resources” to administering emergency housing vouchers without “bureaucratic delays.”
Similar administrative obstacles and concerns over staffing have plagued other housing initiatives in New York City, including the CityFHEPS rent subsidy. Even after New Yorkers receive their emergency housing vouchers, they are likely to face pervasive source of income discrimination—an illegal practice that the city has devoted minimal resources to rooting out, with the number of staffers devoted to enforcement shrinking in recent years, as City Limits reported earlier this month.
Landlords may be more willing to accept the emergency housing vouchers because the Section 8 program is considered the gold standard for rental subsidies. Section 8 is backed by the federal government and pegged to fair market rent, with households paying 30 percent of their income per month. People who recertify their Section 8 will continue to qualify until 30 percent of their income amounts to more than their total rent.
The city also has the benefit of time: Housing agencies have until September 2023 to issue the emergency housing vouchers.
Despite the low nationwide usage rate, HUD disputed criticism that it has made the application process too challenging. A HUD spokesperson said limited housing supply is likely contributing to lease-up delays in New York City.
Still, the agency spokesperson added, “every day that a voucher is not utilized is a day that a family does not have a permanent place to live.”
8 thoughts on “NYC Slow to Issue Thousands of ‘Once-in-a-Lifetime’ Rent Vouchers for Homeless Residents”
I can personally attest to how unproductive this is. Although, I initiated what I understand was a two-week process while I was in the shelter, I didn’t receive mine until two months later. . . A month after I left the shelter using CityFHEPS. In large part due to a NYCHA worker dragging it out with feigned incompetence. I have been informed that I have effectively “lost” my EHV because I didn’t choose to languish in the shelter for an extra month.
I got my EHV voucher in January. I’ve been approved for 1 apartment by a landlord who accepted my voucher but it’s going on a month now waiting for the voucher to get processed. And I currently have 3 applications “under review” on housing connect. It feels like it’s taking forever. My case worker told me it could take up to 3 months for HPD to process my voucher. That’s ridiculous. How does it take 3 months to process what I’m now reading in this article as only a handful of vouchers?! I mean what specifically are they doing that takes so long….carbon dating the application?!?! I imagine property owners prefer to lease up their apartments as quickly as possible instead of waiting for the slow pokes at HPD. Sighhh
I’m currently in a dv shelter and waiting a month so far to hear back from nycha regarding my ehv voucher. I was told that the background checks can take anywhere from 1-3 months and i will receive a call in 1-3 months for an interview. i think 3 months is a bit extreme but what can I do. The biggest incompetence i experienced with the ehv voucher so far, came from the shelter housing worker. She told me she submitted my application 2 months ago, and after a month i never received a call i decided to follow up and contacted the ehv hotline and it turns out my application was never submitted. I asked the housing worker about it and she said she sent the application to the place and also the forms were wrong she asked me to sign a new application. i reported the incident to her supervisor. when the 2nd application was submitted (by the supervisor) i received a call within 2 day for the initial interview. its a long process from here. and some qualified people may get tired of being in shelter and use the fpheps voucher if it comes in first
Am enter the shelter system in August 2021. My case manager had me apply for Nycha housing so i did, at that time i wasn’t working consistently because my 13 month old twins at the time were always getting sick from daycare and also constant daycare closure so i couldn’t appy for CITYFHEPS. In January 2022 i was told that my case manager will be leaving so another case manager will be working on my case. After meeting with my new case manager she informed me that she did not see any EHV application for me and asked me if i applied, i told her that i wasn’t aware of the EHV voucher and my previous case manager never brought it to my attention and the housing working didn’t either. She preceded to complete the application and send it to Nycha . A few days later i received an email from Nycha saying that the received my application and a background check will be conducted, it took Nycha almost 3 1/2 month from the time they received my application to the time i received my voucher. It took my 1 1/2 month to find any apartment that will accept my voucher . it’s May 2022 now, i will see how long they take to process my application so that i can move out of the shelter
I’ve been waiting a yr now for an apartment, been staying with friend at 254 East 7th St., apt. # 13, Manhattan, N.Y., 10009. My name is Pablo Garcia. My bill at storage is now 391 dollars a month. June 1, will make 5 yrs I’ve had my stuff in storage. When I started, I was paying $231 dollars a month. I’m gonna lose my stuff cause my January it will jump to over 450 dollars a month and I can’t afford it so please help me get an apartment in the Lower East Side, Please. I applied for section 8 at NYCHA, and need some help, getting called. Collect Social Security at $691 a month plus food stamps
My phone number is 917-418-8765 and my email is http://www.blackbirdnyc1955@aol .com. My name is Pablo Garcia and my address is: 254 E. 7th. St., # 13, Manhattan, N.Y., 9. Staying with Fran Stahl and her Husband, Mike Mills, and it will be 5 yrs, June 1st. , got there in 2017, need help asap, please
Can someone please explain why my responses to this article were not published?
“HUD disputed criticism that it has made the application process too challenging”. Are you kidding me? First of all , HUD has CGI federal handling the EHV, they are a MESS. While the rental market has its challenges, HUD and/or CGI has made this project fail. It takes MONTHS to get an applicant approved once EHV is submitted and apartment is identified. All CGI can do is dispute criticism, just like HUD. Landlords are not willing to wait MONTHS with a vacant apartment. Inspectors may or may not show up. Higher ups and condensing. HUD does not accept any feedback from the workers who are advocating to make these vouchers work.