NYAPRS Note: The following summary of how this week’s NYS budget agreement affects community housing comes courtesy of our friends Ted Houghton and Maclain Berhaupt of the Supportive Housing Network of NY (SHNNY), who regard this as an historic budget for the supportive housing community.
MRT Supportive Housing Development Program
$60 million MRT Supportive Housing Fund – Following the recommendations of the Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT), the budget establishes and funds a new Supportive Housing Development Program that will provide service funding, rent subsidies and capital dollars to create supportive housing for high-cost Medicaid recipients. The new fund will be funded with $60 million of State general funds this year, and $75 million State general funds in each of the following two years, with funding originating in the NYS Department of Health, to be distributed to HCR, OTDA, OMH, OASAS, OPWDD and the DOH AIDS Institute. It also allows the fund to grow to $150 million annually if the State can convince the federal Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services to provide matching funds. We expect this funding to leverage tens of millions more in additional public and private investment, beginning in its first year.
The State’s draft spending plan envisions approximately one-third of this year’s fund going to scattered-site rental and service subsidies, another third going to capital development of supportive housing units at NYS Homes and Community Renewal, and as much as $14.5 million to OTDA Homeless Housing Assistance Program (HHAP) for upstate projects, with the rest going to specific projects including $7 million to provide capital funding for the development of community-based permanent housing for residents of Goldwater/Coler Hospital. Details will be fleshed out in the coming weeks, as the State agencies work together to ensure that this funding is spent quickly and effectively.
Community Reinvestment in Supportive Housing
In addition to the $60 million in funding this year, the budget authorizes a new, ongoing community reinvestment vehicle, the Supportive Housing Development Reinvestment Program. This new program will redirect savings achieved by closing nursing home and hospital beds to build and operate new supportive housing in the community for high-cost Medicaid recipients. While it is unclear how much savings will be achieved, and therefore how much additional funding will become available, we are very pleased by the Governor’s strong commitment to community reinvestment, strengthened even more by helpful language changes proposed by Assembly Health Chair Richard Gottfried.
The new MRT Supportive Housing Fund makes real the State’s Medicaid Redesign Team’s plan to use supportive housing to reduce Medicaid spending in New York State. It is a significant step forward in the effort to provide every vulnerable New Yorker with a safe, healthy and affordable home. We are thankful for the leadership of Deputy Secretary Jim Introne, Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson, and DOH Deputy Commissioner Mark Kissinger for holding firm and seeing that this important initiative was funded this year. We would also like to thank Assembly Health Chair Richard Gottfried, Senate Health Chair Kemp Hannon, Senate Housing Chair Cathy Young and Assembly Housing Chair Vito Lopez for their commitment to seeing this program become a reality.
NYS Supportive Housing Program (NYSSHP) & NYS Solutions to End Homelessness Program (STEHP)
The budget also increases funding for NYSSHP and STEHP by $1.5 million each, a total of $3 million in additional funding to the Homeless Housing and Prevention Services Program. The Governor’s Executive Budget Proposal funded the Homeless Housing & Prevention Services Program at $27.3 million, so this will bring the entire appropriation to $30.3 million. This increase will allow OTDA to restore some funding for homelessness prevention and single adult, youth and family supportive housing programs that were cut or left unfunded this past year. Details about which types of programs will be restored will be decided in the coming weeks. We are grateful to Assembly Social Services Chair Michelle Titus, Senate Social Services Chair Patrick Gallivan, and Labor/Human Services Budget Table Chairs Assemblyman Keith Wright and Senator Joe Robach for their efforts on our behalf. Also a special thank you to our advocacy partners, Homeless Services United, who worked tirelessly on these issues with us.
Neighborhood Preservation Corporations (NPC) & Rural Preservation Corporations (RPC)
The Budget restores the Neighborhood Preservation Corporations at $10.07 million and the Rural Preservation Corporations at $4.2 million. Both had been eliminated in the Executive’s proposed budget, but were restored by a bipartisan group of Assembly members and Senators led by Housing Chairs Assemblyman Vito Lopez and Senator Cathy Young. Restorations for these programs were made from the State’s general fund and a grant from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, paid out of the National Mortgage Servicing Settlement Agreement. The restoration will provide each local NPC/RPC group approximately $67,000, a $10,000 increase over last year’s funding levels. This was the first increase in funding in five years. Additionally, the statewide advocacy groups and Network allies, the Neighborhood Preservation Coalition and the Rural Housing Coalition each received grants of $150,000. Congratulations to them both for achieving this positive outcome.
Capital Programs
The Budget maintains funding for the Housing Trust Fund at $32.2 million and $30 million for OTDA’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program.
The budget also adds $4 million to both the Urban Initiatives (UI) & Rural Area Revitalization Programs (RARP), programs that provide financial/technical resources to communities for the restoration and improvement of housing, commercial areas and public/community facilities in rural and urban areas. The Main Street Program that provides financial resources and technical assistance to communities to strengthen Main Streets and neighborhoods was increased by $3 million, to $5.2 million.
State’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (SLIHC)
The budget accepts and extends for two years the Executive’s proposal to double the State’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (SLIHC) program, funding it at $8 million. The budget did not include a proposal to bifurcate and make refundable the credit, though legislation to achieve this may be introduced this session.
Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Program
The Budget provides $9 million for the continuation of mortgage foreclosure counseling services to be administered by Homes and Community Renewal over the next 6 months. At that time, additional services financed with proceeds of the National Mortgage Servicing Settlement Agreement will be continued out of the State Attorney General’s office.
General Welfare Grants
The Budget provides an additional $15.3 million to support the full ten percent public assistance grant increase scheduled for this year, to be implemented in two stages in SFY2012-13, with a five percent increase in July, 2012, and another five percent in October, 2012.
Other Social Service Program Restorations
The Budget restored $50.6 million to the Human Services Budget Table, covering dozens of programs, including the Emergency Needs for Homeless Persons program ($500,000), Runaway and Homeless Youth Program ($214,456) and $450,000 for Settlement Houses. A partial list of restorations can be found here.