Opinion: It's time for a fuller narrative about preventing homelessness

President and CEO of The Partnership for the Homeless Áine Duggan. Photo courtesy of The Partnership for the Homeless

By Áine Duggan

Eviction moratoria versus rental assistance is a false dichotomy. Ending the moratoria is not a prerequisite for providing rental assistance. Providing sufficient rental assistance should be a prerequisite for ending the moratoria.

The $2.7 billion granted to New York State in December by the federal COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program can only assist 200,000 people, less than one in four of the one million tenants in arrears in New York City alone. And, the State has yet to make that funding available.

The real headline is if the moratoria end, New York City is on the brink of an eviction tsunami and homelessness crisis at a level never before experienced.

Preventing this crisis for tenants and landlords alike is simple, as has been modeled by nonprofits and private funders throughout the pandemic. Together, they have helped New Yorkers pay arrears bills, keeping families safely housed, helping landlords pay their bills and safeguarding important housing in the market. It is time for government to follow suit.

Immediate measures needed include an increase in the federal pot of funding for rental assistance, and action by New York State to leverage its infrastructure of nonprofits to distribute rental assistance.

Prevention is the most humane and cost-effective answer. The average annual rent for a family who needs assistance is $20,000, less than one-third of the $68,000 it will cost the State if it allows that family to end up in the homeless shelter system, and hundreds of thousands less than the cost of the intergenerational homelessness that results from allowing children to end up in shelters. Moratoria have already helped reduce the New York City shelter population by 10,000.

We need a more responsible narrative. Simultaneously preventing evictions and providing rental assistance saves money, homes and generations of lives.

Áine Duggan is the president and CEO of The Partnership for the Homeless.