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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Rebecca Henry, Housing Specialist and Case Manager, on Supportive Housing and Intro 1100
4:15:19
·
126 sec
Rebecca Henry, a housing specialist and case manager for a women's mental health shelter in Manhattan, testifies about the challenges in supportive housing and the need for expansion to include justice system-impacted individuals. She emphasizes the current inadequacies in the system and the urgent need for comprehensive reform.
- Advocates for Intro 1100 to expand supportive housing eligibility for justice system-impacted individuals
- Highlights issues with current supportive housing: long qualification times, understaffing, and insufficient units
- Stresses that supportive housing alone is not enough, calling for a cultural shift in approach to truly make a difference
Rebecca Henry
4:15:19
Good afternoon, I'll be quick.
4:15:21
My name is Rebecca Henry.
4:15:23
I am the housing specialist and a case manager for a women's mental health shelter here in Manhattan.
4:15:30
I'm here specifically about Intro 1,100 and expanding supportive housing to include the justice system impacted individuals.
4:15:40
And part of that is also looking at the nuance of supportive housing because as it stands right now, we don't have enough for the people who are already qualifying.
4:15:53
It takes an exceptionally long time to qualify, and then for everything to be submitted, I am having to escort people to their interviews.
4:16:05
I'm also talking a lot of my clients have come through Rikers as well as off of the street, and once we get them into supportive housing, then what?
4:16:19
The supportive housing places are not staffed enough.
4:16:24
There's not enough of anything.
4:16:26
There's not enough units.
4:16:28
I have multiple clients that I placed and they ended up back on the street because they did not get the help that they needed in supportive housing, which is kind of the whole point, right?
4:16:39
Throughout this whole meeting we've talked about supportive housing being this end goal, but it isn't.
4:16:46
The initial testimony when they talked about the commission for closing Rikers, they brought up that it's a cultural issue, and I believe that applies across the board because without changing how we are doing everything, like literally everything that has been discussed in this committee, we're not making a difference.
4:17:08
People are going to end up back on the street and the clients that we're receiving in my shelter are worse.
4:17:15
Every day, every client that comes in, they are more actively psychotic.
4:17:20
Their psychosis is more severe.
4:17:23
It is overwhelming.
4:17:25
Thank you.