PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Robert Desir, Staff Attorney at Legal Aid Society
1:30:12
ยท
3 min
Robert Desir, representing the Legal Aid Society, testified about the shortcomings of the CityFHEPS program and proposed improvements. He emphasized that despite good intentions, the program has not lived up to its promise due to inefficiencies, delays, and complexities.
- Desir called for the implementation of CityFHEPS reform laws passed in 2023, which expand eligibility and simplify the application process.
- He recommended targeting high-risk households, ensuring access for homeless youth, increasing rental assistance caps, and streamlining the review process.
- Desir acknowledged the City Council's efforts, including securing $215 million in the City of YES legislation as a potential stopgap measure.
Robert Desir
1:30:12
Good morning.
1:30:15
Good morning, and thanks for, the opportunity to speak today.
1:30:19
I'm Robert Dezier.
1:30:20
I am a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society.
1:30:23
We also have written testimony that we'll be submitting later.
1:30:26
And when I say we, I'm talking about in conjunction with, Vocal Community Service Societies and, Coalition For the Homeless.
1:30:34
So first, we wanna thank the city council for their tireless efforts in, trying to improve the voucher program, trying to make sure that, the most vulnerable people are included in the program, and that the program reaches its potential.
1:30:49
Unfortunately, the City Theft program has not lived up to its promise.
1:30:53
While well intentioned, the program is riddled with inefficiencies, delays, and unnecessary complexities.
1:31:00
Families who qualify for assistance often struggle to access the help that they need because of burdensome eligibility criteria, low rental assistance caps, and a lack of coordination between agencies.
1:31:13
As a result, families remain at risk of homelessness.
1:31:17
Unfortunately, these problems aren't new.
1:31:18
They've been flagged by audit auditors, elected officials, and stakeholders for years, but meaningful reform has been slow to materialize.
1:31:28
The October 2024 controller audit highlights the program's continued failures, problems like inefficient support services, poor communication, and delays in processing applications.
1:31:41
If we are serious about preventing homelessness, we need to make key changes.
1:31:47
1st, we need to implement the CITFEP's reform laws that were passed in 2023, which expanded eligibility and simplified the application process.
1:31:55
We also need to focus on targeting high risk households, and that was part of the, efforts with the reforms, and we hope that, the reforms will come into play if there is a successful, decision in the courts.
1:32:11
But we also thank the council for securing the $215,000,000 in the City of YES legislation.
1:32:18
We're very encouraged that that will be, something that will at least work as a stopgap if, we're unable to implement the reforms that were passed.
1:32:28
I don't know how much time I have left, but I just wanted to go through a couple more, recommendations.
1:32:33
We also wanna ensure access for homeless and unsheltered youth by upholding the laws that grant them access to city feps without having to enter a shelter.
1:32:43
We want to increase the rental assistance caps to reflect the true cost of housing in New York City and eliminate policies like the rent reasonableness rule, which restrict restrict access to suitable housing.
1:32:56
Finally, we wanna streamline the review process.
1:32:58
I know, many have talked about that, but we really need to focus on that, to eliminate the delays that prevent families from securing housing and, leaving shelter.
1:33:10
With these changes, city feb's will continue without these changes, sorry, city feb's will continue to fall short of its goals to provide safe, stable housing for New Yorkers in need.
1:33:20
It's time to take action to fix the system and ensure families don't continue to fall through the cracks.
1:33:26
Thank you.