NEW YORK—The state Supreme Court gave city government the go-ahead on Sept. 13 to discontinue the Work Advantage program, which provides rental assistance to more than 16,000 formerly homeless people.
An earlier appeals court ruling had obliged the city to continue the program until a final decision was made. Although the appeals court ruling is still effective, the Sept. 13 decision allows the city to void the appeals court decision and halt payments to the program.
Some city officials joined homeless people and housing advocates on the steps of City Hall on Thursday to voice their objections to the ruling, and to call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take action.
“When it comes to homelessness Mayor Bloomberg is worse than Giuliani. The amount of homelessness has increased tremendously,” said city Councilman Charles Barron. “And it has increased when we have a record city budget of $66 billion, when we have a $3.7 billion dollar surplus in the city, when we have a rainy day budget of $2 billion.”
The Work Advantage program provides rent subsidies to formerly homeless working families and individuals. Program recipients pay 30–40 percent of their monthly income toward rent. The program aims to support individuals in the transition from temporary shelters to self-sufficient housing.
An earlier appeals court ruling had obliged the city to continue the program until a final decision was made. Although the appeals court ruling is still effective, the Sept. 13 decision allows the city to void the appeals court decision and halt payments to the program.
Some city officials joined homeless people and housing advocates on the steps of City Hall on Thursday to voice their objections to the ruling, and to call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take action.
“When it comes to homelessness Mayor Bloomberg is worse than Giuliani. The amount of homelessness has increased tremendously,” said city Councilman Charles Barron. “And it has increased when we have a record city budget of $66 billion, when we have a $3.7 billion dollar surplus in the city, when we have a rainy day budget of $2 billion.”
The Work Advantage program provides rent subsidies to formerly homeless working families and individuals. Program recipients pay 30–40 percent of their monthly income toward rent. The program aims to support individuals in the transition from temporary shelters to self-sufficient housing.
Work Advantage is financed in equal shares by local, state, and federal governments. The state has failed to pay its share since the program was renewed in May 2010. Due to the state’s nonpayment, the federal government withdrew its funding earlier this year. As a result, city government sent a notice to Work Advantage tenants and landlords informing them that the program would be discontinued in 2011.
Steven Banks, chief attorney for the Legal Aid Society, brought a case to the state Supreme Court on May 2, 2011 on behalf of the 16,255 people currently in the program. Banks argued that the defendants (the city and agencies involved in the program) have a contractual obligation to continue the program.
State Supreme Court Justice Judith J. Gische has ruled that the city’s move to discontinue the program is legal.
“The court holds that the Advantage program, no matter how laudable its goals, is nothing more than a social benefit program, which defendants had the right to terminate, based upon the lack of funding available for its continuation,” Gische wrote.
The city Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond and the city’s chief lawyer Michael A. Cardozo have approved of the judge’s decision. Those gathered outside City Hall on Thursday oppose the ruling.
“In order for people to participate in the Work Advantage program they have to have jobs. So we’re talking about low-wage workers that were in the shelter system and most of them are families with children. These are home health care workers, these are people that are cashiers in supermarkets that we go to, these are people that work in dry cleaning places,” said Lynn Lewis from Picture the Homeless.
Lewis questioned the motivation for discontinuing the program. According to Lewis, it is unreasonable to pay more than $3,300 a month to shelter a homeless person, while the city previously paid $962 a month to subsidize an apartment for the same individual.
Steven Banks, chief attorney for the Legal Aid Society, brought a case to the state Supreme Court on May 2, 2011 on behalf of the 16,255 people currently in the program. Banks argued that the defendants (the city and agencies involved in the program) have a contractual obligation to continue the program.
State Supreme Court Justice Judith J. Gische has ruled that the city’s move to discontinue the program is legal.
“The court holds that the Advantage program, no matter how laudable its goals, is nothing more than a social benefit program, which defendants had the right to terminate, based upon the lack of funding available for its continuation,” Gische wrote.
The city Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond and the city’s chief lawyer Michael A. Cardozo have approved of the judge’s decision. Those gathered outside City Hall on Thursday oppose the ruling.
“In order for people to participate in the Work Advantage program they have to have jobs. So we’re talking about low-wage workers that were in the shelter system and most of them are families with children. These are home health care workers, these are people that are cashiers in supermarkets that we go to, these are people that work in dry cleaning places,” said Lynn Lewis from Picture the Homeless.
Lewis questioned the motivation for discontinuing the program. According to Lewis, it is unreasonable to pay more than $3,300 a month to shelter a homeless person, while the city previously paid $962 a month to subsidize an apartment for the same individual.
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