The state of New York has announced a $45.9 million Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to help vulnerable people access stable, safe housing. Applicants must submit proposals by July 23.
The Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI) is designed to provide support services to help residents get their feet back under them with adequate housing. The program does not provide funds for capital projects – it instead prioritizes services and operations needed to maintain existing affordable housing units.
While the ESSHI program will not allocate capital funding, all awards will support other funding mechanisms that will build, rehabilitate or repair housing units designed to alleviate homelessness. Entities that receive conditional awards through ESSHI may qualify to apply for the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP), New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) and other similar capital funding programs.
Eligible applicants for ESSHI include tribal organizations and not-for-profit service providers that are incorporated or organized under New York laws. These entities must demonstrate experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Housing for homeless families, individuals and/or young adults.
- Housing for families, individuals and/or young adults with an unstable housing history.
- Housing for families. Individuals and/or young adults who are at risk of homelessness.
- Housing for families, individuals and/or young adults that have health, mental health, intellectual or developmental disability and/or substance use disorders.
- Housing for youth/young adults with significant histories of mental health, foster care or criminal/juvenile justice involvement.
- Providing services and support to help families, individuals and/or youth/young adults that have disabling conditions or life challenges that require specialized support services to become and remain stably housed.
All funds received through ESSHI must be used for rental assistance and services to help target populations remain housed. These may include covering rental subsidies and other occupancy costs or costs associated with services or staff that help people stay housed, such as program supervision, housing counselors or specialists and employment counseling.
Other use cases include using funding for services or staff to identify and locate eligible individuals that need safe, stable housing. Funding may also be used for a variety of services designed to help families, individuals and youth/young adults live independently and remain housed. These services may include behavioral health services, legal system and court assistance, employment and vocational training or assistance and family reunification and stabilization among other options.
All ESSHI projects must have a low barrier for entry, posing as little challenges for admission as feasible. Enforcing a low barrier to entry ensures that all vulnerable populations can rapidly transition from homelessness to stable housing. Examples of prohibited policies include:
- Credit checks or debt-to-income ratios.
- Criminal system background checks, except for screening for applicants listed as lifetime registrants on a sex offender registry.
- Checking eviction and housing court history.
- Application and background check fees.
- Guarantors or co-signers, with the exception of not-for-profit government entities acting on behalf of their clients.
- Home visits or representations of the applicant’s living situation.
- Outreach to current or previous landlords, neighbors or others associated with the applicant’s previous living situation.
The state will utilize the Continuum of Care (CoC) model utilized by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to ensure all funding is used effectively and efficiently. Working in tandem with not-for-profit providers to develop anti-homelessness strategies, the state plans to develop 20,000 housing units over a 15-year period. ESSHI will help New York meet its goal of developing 1,400 supportive housing units annually for that purpose.
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