Ava Jacru: IDNYC barriers trapping shelter clients in homelessness

Hello, my name is Ava Jacru.

I'm a case manager at one of New York City's safe havens, facilities that serve as a last resort safety net for our most vulnerable neighbors, including LGBTQ plus youth.

Every day I work alongside New Yorkers who are ready to leave shelter behind and rebuild their lives in permanent housing.

But I am here today because my colleagues and I across the city are hitting a wall, an administrative catch-22 that leaves thousands of people trapped in homelessness for no reason other than a missing piece of plastic.

Here is the problem in its simplest form.

IDNYC requires a photo ID to get a photo ID.

Among my clients that are affected by this barrier,

100% of my queer clients are among this group.

For someone with a stable home and a file drawer full of documents, this makes sense.

But for populations we serve in safe havens, runaway and homeless youth, survivor of domestic violence, immigrants fleeing danger, people whose belongings have been swept away or destroyed, and individuals living with severe mental illness, this requirement is an impossible barrier.

These are New Yorkers who have never had an ID or who have had their documents stolen, withheld as a tool of abuse, or discarded during a street sweep.

Without a government-issued photo ID, they cannot apply for the very programs designed to lift them out of homelessness, the 2010E supportive housing, HRA benefits, public assistance, city FEPS, or SOTA.

Currently, IDNYC

does allow certain caretakers to vouch for a client's identity in lieu of a photo ID.

But the list of eligible agencies is narrow, and in what I believe to be a profound oversight, it does not include the Department of Homeless Services.

We are the very agency charged with housing this population, yet we are locked out of the process that could unblock their path to housing.

IDNYC currently accepts vouchers only from the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, the NYS Department of Health, the NYS Office of Mental Health, and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

DHS Safe Havens, which serve as a catch-all for New York's most marginalized residents, are absent from this list.

What I propose is that we add DHS to the caretaker list, allow DHS case managers who have established ongoing relationships with their clients and access to verified case records to waive the photo requirement for IDNYC.

This simple change would immediately unblock housing for thousands of shelter clients.

We are already carrying the trust and documentation to vouch for our clients'identities.

We simply need the city to recognize that authority.

Thank you.

You can begin when ready.