New Lease for Homeless Families 1
Our Mission New Lease for Homeless Families' mission is to reduce family homelessness in Massachusetts by targeting affordable housing units to families in homeless shelters/motels. New Lease works to bring together property owners and managers to work collaboratively with social service providers and state agencies to accomplish this mission. New Lease family cuddles on the couch in their new apartment in Boston.
Who We Serve Families Served 100% of families are Extremely Low Income 100% of families come from State funded Emergency Assistance Shelters Approximately half of our families have lived in state-funded motel rooms, which can further exasperate health conditions: No access to cooking or refrigeration facilities to promote healthy diets Lack of greenspace and playspace to promote physical activity. Multiple moves within the shelter/motel system lead to instability and worsened mental health symptoms. Approximate length of stay in shelter is 11 months and in motels is 13 months. 30% of families have member with disability
New Lease History Homelessness Crisis, 2012 Affordable Housing Owners came together, in partnership with the Dept. of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to address the homeless family crisis in Massachusetts. Action from the Owner Community The depth of the problem spurred 8 Affordable Housing Owners to take action by starting a non-profit, New Lease, to administer a homeless preference for affordable rental units in HUD Multifamily developments. Unique Board of Directors with representatives from for and non profit owners, shelter provider, public agencies and philanthropic organizations to create a first of its kind homeless preference model. 4
Creating A Homeless Preference: How is it Structured? With the help and flexibility of HUD guidelines, owners of affordable private multi-family housing may adopt a homeless preference that fits the needs of your community. Homeless Definition : New Lease’s homeless def inition includes homeless f amilies in certain state-funded f amily shelters in Massachusetts, in order to target the resource to where the crisis is. Identify Housing and Subsidy Programs: New Lease utilizes housing with 2+ bedrooms units in areas of highest demand on EA system. Subsidies must be affordable to ELI f amilies. Primarily Project Based Section 8. Also utilized state voucher in tax credit developments. Referral System : New Lease manages a referral list with partner shelters for each property in it’s program. List are constantly updated with those at top pre -qualified and ready to be referred to next available vacancy. Alternating Selection: Participating Owners have the option to balance their waitlists by alternating the admission of New Lease preferenced applicants with general waiting list applicants. Streamlined Approval Process of the Homeless Preference with HUD: New Lease submits required documents to HUD on behalf of its owners to swif tly implement the homeless preference on each development.
New Lease Manages Critical Functions for Owners & Service Providers Streamlined Communication Plans • Manages Memorandum of Understanding with Owners and Providers outlining Roles and Responsibilities of Each Party Referrals to vacant units to ensure quick turnaround • 4 Business Days : New Lease delivers complete referral packages to properties • 18 Business Days : From when a property manager begins the screening process to when an applicant is fully approved. • Pre-rejection Conferences for One Third of applicants who have failed screenings. Service Provision to promote sustainable tenancies • Participating providers have agreed to certain frequencies of contacts and visits with participating families. • New Lease provides constant tracking of tenancies and facilitates appropriate responses from owners and providers to address family needs or tenancy issues. Data collection to inform the partnership • Frequent feedback to owners and providers regarding referral times, screening barriers and tenancy issues.
New Lease Services New Lease taps into a consortium of talented service providers to help households through the entire tenancy. • Housing Placement Assistance • Application and eligibility documents provided upon vacancy to reduce screening times • Case manager attendance at housing appointments • Mitigation to address barriers such as CORI, poor credit and housing history. • Pre-rejection Conference for applicants who fail screening. • 1-2 business day communication turnaround • Support Tenancies • 12 months of stabilization case management • Continued tracking and support by New Lease Staff • Emergency Tenancy Fund • Reengages Case Management to address serious tenancy issues.
Results, Thus Far… Placed 300 families in 40 buildings across Massachusetts. As a result, over 500 children have a place to call home. 96% of failed screenings are overturned. NO vacancy loss for owners. Maintaining a 98% Retention Rate
Expanding the Model Launching Homeless Individual Preference with City of Boston Launching pilot initiative with Boston Public Schools, Project Hope, DSNI & Higher Ground to address homelessness in schools. Creating and Operating a Homeless Preference for Rhode Island Adopting model to serve victims of Domestic Violence needing housing or emergency transfers. Creating Universal Pre-Application with MassHousing and private owners. 9
Thank You! Q’s re: adoption of preference Tom Plihcik Executive Director, New Lease tplihcik@newleasehousing.org Tel: (857) 233-5821
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