To get food stamps, you need the make and model of your car. To get rental assistance, you need your child’s social security number. To get supportive housing, you must complete a series of screenings to prove your need for services. Even if you have lived in a homeless shelter for years, you still have to verify that you are low-income to get access to housing.
From in-person meetings, visits with case workers, shuttling documents from one City agency to another, to paperwork that never seems to be filled out correctly, we have a complicated system in place to help those most in need. Is it working? Given what we know about how much New Yorkers depend on these programs for their health, safety, and success, are we doing everything we can to ensure the process moves as swiftly as possible?
In this new policy brief, CHPC analyzes NYC housing lottery data to examine how long it takes for tenants to move into new affordable housing.
Key Findings
How can we improve the affordable housing lottery process? Given what we know about how much New Yorkers depend on these programs for health, safety, and success, are we doing all we can to ensure the process moves as quickly as possible? City agencies must: