Morano asks Smalls about median time to permanent housing

Thank you.

I have a number of questions, but I want to be respectful of the members of the public that have been waiting here for two and a half hours to share their perspective on what's going on, not only with Borden Avenue, but on a lot of the legislation that we're considering today.

But Commissioner Mata, before we wrap.

You described an extensive process involving vouchers, apartment inspections, documentation, approvals, and multiple agencies.

Can you tell us the median number of days between a veteran first requesting housing assistance and actually moving into permanent housing?

How long does the whole thing usually take?

Thank you for that question.

I'll pass it on to my Associate Commissioner, Donnie Smalls.

Thank you for that question.

The median can take anywhere between seven months to eight months for a veteran to move into permanent housing.

situation or each circumstance is different depending on what this veteran has.

If he has, he or she has documentation coming into shelter, if they do not have any documentation and we have to help, then that time period makes it a little bit longer.

But my housing team

walks through that process with them along with DHS and our community partners to get the adequate documents that they need to move into permanent housing.

So for that seven months, which step usually takes the longest amount of time?

And is there anything we could do to reduce that?

It can be the documents.

The documentation, because most veterans could come into shelter.

They might not have a birth certificate.

They might not have a social security card or a photo ID.

And in order to get those, you need one or the other.

So that can take an extensive amount of time.

I know because I've helped many veterans try to get their documents.

I've also walked through the steps with them.

So just getting their legalization documents can take a long time.

And then once they get that, it can move a little bit faster.

But then, you know, we have to go through the different agencies to move forward with housing.