TESTIMONY
Will Watts, Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy at the Coalition for the Homeless, on the Impact of Shelter Stay Time Limits and Recommendations for Policy Reform
2:51:38
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142 sec
Will Watts highlights the negative effects of time-limited shelter stays and advocates for policy reform.
- Watts stresses the Coalition for the Homeless' dedication to defending the right to shelter for over 40 years.
- He presents a concerning case of Mister Amir from Sudan, who faced hardship due to a 30-day shelter time limit, highlighting the individual consequences of such policies.
- Observes the current policy's insufficiency in addressing the unique needs of individuals, leading to people resorting to sleeping in subways and experiencing worsened health conditions.
- Differentiates between the experiences of families and single individuals, while arguing that the 60-day limits for families are inhumane.
- Urges the administration to pressure the governor for improvements in the migrant relocation assistance program to facilitate better resettlement options for families.
Will Watts
2:51:38
Good afternoon.
2:51:40
Thank you, deputy speaker, and the council this opportunity to speak with you today.
2:51:44
My name is Will Watts, and I am the deputy executive director for advocacy with the coalition for the homeless.
2:51:50
Which has over 40 years been defending and expanding and protecting the right to shelter along with our partner, legal aid society.
2:51:59
When I was here in August, I opposed arbitrary time limits on shelter stays that failed to consider each person's individual circumstances.
2:52:07
What we have witnessed at Saint Brigitte reinforces our conviction that no policy should relegate people to sleeping on chairs, on bare floors, the streets, or in the subway.
2:52:19
We encountered numerous people who liked the gentleman from earlier today, or experiencing such horrors after reaching the end of their 30 day sin shelter.
2:52:30
Take for instance, Mister Amir, from from Sudan.
2:52:33
At the time we met him, he had been without a placement for 20 days.
2:52:38
He diligently returned to Saint Brigitte day after day.
2:52:41
Waiting for his number to be called for a new shelter bed.
2:52:45
Unsuccessful, his only option was to return to a church that he had been staying at in order to escape the coal.
2:52:52
Something that was actually really important for him because he suffers from a heart condition that is aggravated by cold weather.
2:53:00
Yet there were evenings when he wouldn't make it back to the church in time.
2:53:03
And so his only option was to stay in the subway.
2:53:07
Now, this was a foreseeable result of a policy focusing more on shuffling people around than keeping them in shelter engaging in the casework that's necessary to facilitate transition to self sufficiency.
2:53:20
To our knowledge, families with minor children are not having the same experience.
2:53:25
Nonetheless, the 60 day limits are equally inhumane and unnecessary, especially when the states migrant relocation assistance program has housed only a 174 families.
2:53:37
Instead of subjecting children to disruptions in their education, and further trauma.
2:53:42
This administration should, among other things, be putting pressure on the governor to improve this that program so that more families can be resettled in permanent housing.
2:53:52
Otherwise, it's just a matter of time before families with children will be sheltering in subways just like Mister of the year.
2:53:59
Thank you.
