State and city officials announce plan for 9,000 units of supportive housing.Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Governor George E. Pataki announced last week the New York/ New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of III agreement, a $1 billion pact to finance and develop 9,000 new units of supportive housing Supportive housing is designed to support individuals, not just socially but with basic life skills. Housing is coupled with social services such as job training, alcohol and drug abuse programs and case management. in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Supportive housing is subsidized permanent housing with social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales . The State and the City will share capital costs during the 10-year agreement. The New York/New York III pact will produce nearly twice the number of units that was generated by the first and second New York/ New York agreements combined--5,300--and will affirm the City's commitment to building housing for chronically homeless individuals and families, and reducing the shelter and street homeless populations by two-thirds in five years. Mayor Bloomberg committed to funding and developing 12,000 units of supportive housing along with state, federal and private partners in June 2004, when he announced the administration's plan to end chronic homelessness. The 9,000 units in the New York/New York III agreement, along with the more than 3,000 additional units being produced by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the State and federal government, will fulfill the administration's commitment to increase by over 50% the existing 20,000 units of supportive housing available today in the City. "Our goal is nothing short of ending chronic homelessness through proven, cost-effective solutions like prevention and supportive housing--and we're taking a giant step in that direction today," said Mayor Bloomberg. "I thank Governor Pataki for his support in making New York/New York III a reality. Investing in solutions and reducing reliance on expensive shelter is good for our neighborhoods, taxpayers and, most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , homeless New Yorkers." "We are proud of the work we have done to help people break cycles of dependency and today there are one million fewer people on our welfare rolls, but we know there is more work to be done," said Governor Pataki. New York/New York I and II, signed in 1990 and 1999, respectively, together produced approximately 5,300 units of supportive housing for persons with mental illness and some history of homelessness. But whereas the first two agreements produced units solely for single adults with mental illness and some history of homelessness, the new pact targets a broader range of clients to better reflect the population of chronically homeless people on city streets and in shelters today. New York/New York III includes units for clients with substance abuse disorders substance abuse disorder n. Any of a category of disorders in which pathological behavioral changes are associated with the regular use of substances that affect the central nervous system. , HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome , and mental illness. Also included for the first time are families with disabled heads of households and young people aging out Aging out is popular culture vernacular used to describe anytime a youth leaves a formal system of care designed to provide services below a certain age level. There are a variety of applications of the phrase throughout the youth development field. of foster care and residential treatment. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion