Homeless Families in the Wake of Section 8

New York, NY —

In early December , Federal Section 8 housing vouchers dried up and there was nothing available to replace them. Many homeless families sitting in shelters saw their hopes for housing disappear. But last week that all changed when the state approved a new city program that will allow for families to once again search for a permanent place to live. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports:

28 year old Gwendolyn Manigault and her 2 year old have been at a Brooklyn shelter since June. She's applied for the new rental assistance program. It's called Housing Stability Plus.

I'm scared to take part because I may not meet the requirements and then we will have to go back to the EAU all over again.

The EAU is the Emergency Assistance Unit that all homeless families must enter to get placement in a city shelter:

I can't even explain how I would feel if we had to go back through that again. That really is an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy. That is no place for a child.

Under the new program, a family of three will receive 925-dollars per month for rent. The subsidy then decreases by 20-percent each year until it runs out in five years. Participants must be on public assistance to be eligible for the subsidy which means they must not be working full time. But a job will soon be required in order to meet their share of the rent each month.

Manigault has a job history. She worked as a receptionist and a data entry clerk, an off the books cashier at a liquor store, and a temp at Chase bank. Since she became homeless she's applied for dozens of mostly retail jobs. She doubts her ability to get hired:

With the job market being so hard right now, I don't know if I will. I've been out of work since April of 2004 and I have been faxing my resume, going on interviews, doing this and doing that and still no response so it is very hard to find a job.

Department of Homeless Services Commissioner, Linda Gibbs is more optimistic about Gwendolyn Manigault 's chances of as well as the chances of the more than 87-hundred families now living in shelters.

What we know about our families is that they are hardworking and determined to overcome their obstacles. 79 percent of homeless fams in shelters have had an employment history. They are not individuals who have never worked before. What they need is more ongoing support, more childcare, enhanced training, and employment referrals and resources….

The city says it will monitor families once they leave shelter for permanent apartments. And caseworkers will intervene if a family is at risk of not being able to pay the rent.

And that's exactly what some landlords are worried about. Edward Guggenheim is a broker that rents up to 200 apartments a year to homeless families. He says the new Housing Stability Plus program is too risky and the incentives to take part in it are lacking.

I'm not saying the new program is bad I'm just saying there are legitimate questions that landlords have.

Guggenheim says landlords are complaining because the new program does not offer bonuses. For renting to a family of three, a section 8 landlord used to receive 3-thousand dollars. He also complained that rents are going down. Under the new program the city provides 820.00 for a one bedroom apartment. Section 8 used to pay 925.00.

Now a landlord for 925.00 he could get 925.00 for a working tenant, he could get 1-thousand dollars from a working tenant TR 26/ he wouldn't have to deal with all the extra baggage that comes along with taking somebody who might not be able to pay the rent.

The city acknowledges the program is not as generous to landlords but says the section 8 rents used to inflate rents in poor neighborhoods. The new amounts offered are supposed to help bring rents down to realistic levels.. The city says 200 landlords support the and Gibbs is confident more will be willing to participate.

We are looking to work closely with them…to provide a brokers fee of 15 percent, for landlords who participate to provide an up front payment of three months of the rent….and to create an early warning system….so that the landlord doesn't find themselves with a non-compliant, non-paying tenant.

One thousand families have already been certified to take part in the program and 6-thousand more are likely eligible and will be filling out applications over the coming weeks and months. Last year about 7-thousand families were moved from shelters into permanent housing through section 8 vouchers and placements in public housing. And the city hopes this new program will help to keep up a similar pace.

For WNYC: I'm Cindy Rodriguez