Yvonne Peña of Community Service Society presents survey findings on CityFHEPS
Yvonne Peña of the Community Service Society presents a survey of 727 CityFHEPS applicants and renewers. She says 93% valued the program but more than half had to resubmit documents, 76% experienced source-of-income discrimination, and 25% had rental assistance stop, often leading to arrears and eviction.
Thank you, Chair Hudson, for the opportunity to testify today.
My name is Yvonne Pena, and I'm a policy analyst at the Community Service Society of New York, or CSS.
We are a nonprofit that promotes economic opportunity for all New Yorkers.
Earlier this year, CSS surveyed 727 New Yorkers who had applied for or renewed city FEPS.
Of these, 550 had been determined eligible and 497 were currently housed.
We asked about their experiences applying for and maintaining city FEPS, searching for housing, and resolving problems with their subsidy.
Our findings speak directly to several issues the committee is considering today.
First, we want to emphasize that CityFEPS is highly valued by recipients.
93% said the program was worth the effort required to apply for and maintain it, and more than one quarter said they would change nothing or offered positive feedback.
While most said the instructions of the paperwork were clear and knew which documents to submit, respondents still experienced delays and unnecessary hurdles.
More than half had to submit the same documents more than once, and 44% said the process took a long time to complete.
A respondent said, the waiting period is very long and stressful, and it's hard to get updates on where my application stands.
Having a CityFEP shopping letter does not mean quickly securing housing.
More than half of our respondents had trouble finding an apartment within CityFEP's rent limits, and more than one-third spent $1,000.
five months or longer searching.
76% experienced some form of source of income discrimination, which contributed to shopping letters expiring.
One respondent said, finding a place that accepts the program is nearly impossible.
Finally, payment interruptions can risk housing stability,
25% of respondents said their rental assistance stopped at some point in the previous three years.
And of those, 83% accumulated rent arrears, 65% were taken to housing court, and 56% reported being evicted.
One respondent told us, I'm having a problem with CityFest paying my rent.
I just moved in not that long ago, but they're not sending payments on time.
I don't want to lose my place that I just got.
While our research does not tell us what every legislative or administrative solution should look like, it does show the importance of timely decisions,
understanding how long it takes to find housing, and having systems for tenants, landlords, and DSS to identify and resolve payment problems before they threaten stable housing.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.