From the World Socialist Web Site:
Already at record levels, New York City’s homeless population is poised to skyrocket further as fifteen thousand families face elimination of rent subsidies. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the elimination of the program, known as Advantage, earlier this year, cutting off the availability to new participants in March. Those already enrolled in the program were also threatened with immediate invalidation of their promised aid, but a court temporarily ordered the City to continue payments at least through July while court proceedings continue.
A combination of budget cuts at the city, state and federal level resulted in the elimination of the $140 million-a-year program, which partially subsidizes rent for working New Yorkers in the shelter system. As a result, the city’s Department of Homeless Services predicts a huge spike in the number of homeless. The agency admits: “The family census [for homeless shelters] will increase by a startling 50 percent by June 2012. The cut would also be catastrophic to formerly homeless clients in the community—tenants who have obtained leases through the program and have only just begun to stabilize in their apartments. No longer receiving the subsidy, these households would soon be at-risk of eviction and shelter re-entry—sending them in a downward spiral of confusion and upheaval.”
New York City slashes aid to homeless
Dan Brennan
21 July 2011
http://wsws.org/articles/2011/jul2011/home-j21.shtml
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