File #: Int 1191-2025    Version: * Name: Requiring a study of and changes to information requested in the supportive housing application.
Type: Introduction Status: Committee
Committee: Committee on General Welfare
On agenda: 2/13/2025
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring a study of and changes to information requested in the supportive housing application
Sponsors: Sandy Nurse, Diana I. Ayala, Farah N. Louis, Tiffany Cabán
Council Member Sponsors: 4
Summary: This bill would require the Department of Social Services (DSS) to conduct a study of the 2010e supportive housing application to determine which parts of the application are mandated by federal or state law or through contractual agreements. The study would review all questions, evaluations, interviews, and documentation requirements in the application, identifying any items that are not legally required. Following the study, DSS would be required to remove non-mandated items from the application. The bill would also prohibit DSS from requiring any information or documentation in the supportive housing application unless that information or documentation is mandated by federal, state, or local law, or through contractual agreements with state or federal entities.
Indexes: Report Required
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No. 1191, 2. Int. No. 1191, 3. February 13, 2025 - Stated Meeting Agenda

Int. No. 1191

 

By Council Members Nurse, Ayala, Louis and Cabán

 

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring a study of and changes to information requested in the supportive housing application

 

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

 

Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 21 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 21-148.1 to read as follows:

§ 21-148.1 Supportive housing application. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Supportive housing. The term “supportive housing” has the same meaning as set forth in section 21-148.

Supportive housing application. The term “supportive housing application” means the 2010e application or any successor application, along with any related application processes, including but not limited to interviews, documentation, and evaluations, required by the department to collect information from individuals for the purposes of determining eligibility for supportive housing.

b. Study. 1. The commissioner shall conduct a study to review the supportive housing application. The study shall include:

(a) A review of all questions, evaluations, interviews, and documentation requirements in the supportive housing application to determine whether the information sought is required by federal or state law, or through a contractual agreement with a state or federal entity, to determine eligibility, including, as applicable, a citation of the specific law, regulation, or contractual provision that mandates such information, or whether such item is not required by federal or state law or contractual obligation; and

(b) Consultation with relevant stakeholders, including housing providers, advocacy groups for tenants and applicants of supportive housing and people with mental illness, individuals who have applied for supportive housing, and representatives from each subpopulation group eligible for supportive housing, to assess the utility of the supportive housing application’s requirements for purposes of determining eligibility.

2. Within 3 months of the effective date of this local law, the commissioner shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council, and post on the department’s website, the findings of the study. This submission and posting shall include:

(a) A summary of the study’s findings; and

(b) A citation of the federal or state law, regulation, or contractual provision for each item required in the supportive housing application, or, where no legal mandate or contractual obligation exists, an indication that no law, regulation, or contract requires such information, evaluation, interview, or documentation.

c. Removal process. Based on the findings of the study required pursuant to subdivision b of this section, the commissioner shall, within 6 months after the submission of such study findings, eliminate any items from the supportive housing application that are not required by federal or state law or through a contractual or funding agreement with a state or federal entity.

d. Report. The commissioner shall submit a report to the mayor and the speaker of the council within 1 year of the effective date of this local law. Such report shall include a list of all items removed from the supportive housing application as part of the removal process described in subdivision c of this section.

e. Prohibition. The department shall be prohibited from requiring any documentation or information in the supportive housing application unless (i) such items are mandated by federal law or regulation, state law or regulation, local law, or through a contractual or funding agreement with a state or federal entity, and (ii) the department provides a citation to the specific law, regulation, or contractual provision that requires the inclusion of each requirement.

§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.

 

JL

LS #16359

1/13/2025 4:12 PM