1 / 11

Housing Needs: A Legal Advocacy Perspective

Housing Needs: A Legal Advocacy Perspective. Presentation to IOC Committee HIV Planning Council January 4, 2012 Tracy L. Welsh, Esq. Executive Director. HIV Law Project. Legal & advocacy organization for PLWHAs Handled over 22,000 individual cases as well as several class-action lawsuits

eugene
Download Presentation

Housing Needs: A Legal Advocacy Perspective

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Housing Needs: A Legal Advocacy Perspective Presentation to IOC Committee HIV Planning Council January 4, 2012 Tracy L. Welsh, Esq. Executive Director www.hivlawproject.org

  2. HIV Law Project • Legal & advocacy organization for PLWHAs • Handled over 22,000 individual cases as well as several class-action lawsuits • We have handled thousands of housing and eviction cases • We handle about 1,000 cases each year • Roughly 500 new cases opened annually • In 2011, we received roughly 300 calls about housing-related problems through our housing hotline, and opened 99 cases www.hivlawproject.org

  3. Our Housing Services • Eviction prevention • Supported by benefits advocacy • Connection to longer-term social support services • We do NOT: • Provide housing • Locate housing • Pay rental arrears or issue housing grants www.hivlawproject.org

  4. Our Housing Objectives • Preserve stable housing through eviction prevention, arrears advocacy & income maintenance • Expand eligibility for housing options for undocumented clients • Improve health and safety of clients’ housing • Connect clients to housing service providers if need emergency housing, housing placement, rental assistance, etc. www.hivlawproject.org

  5. Housing Stability FY 11 • All clients assessed at intake for housing stability • 487 new cases, about 10% or 48 clients identified as living in SRO, shelter or with friends • Of those 48, only 5 presented with housing as their primary legal issue • We opened 99 new housing cases • Thus 142 clients, or nearly 30% of our cases involve clients who are either homeless, marginally housed or at-risk for homelessness www.hivlawproject.org

  6. Common Eviction Case • Non-payment of rent • Holdovers – including chronic non-payment, hoarding, nuisance www.hivlawproject.org

  7. Some Specific Recommendations • Advocate for broader interpretation of eligible legal services under RW • Eviction and immigration • Create more Ryan White funded housing programs • Mentally ill, substance users, MICA www.hivlawproject.org

  8. Some SpecificRecommendations • Enhance RW rental assistance funds for those not HASA-eligible • Include start-up funds, rental arrears and on-going rental assistance • Avoid time limits • Create or enhance resources for financial management services • Mentally ill, substance users, MICA www.hivlawproject.org

  9. Other Possible Solutions • Advocate for HOPWA to fund eviction prevention efforts • Enhance resources for active housing placement assistance (not just info. and referral), consider allocating funds for start up costs • Fund housing “education” services under RW, which would allow clients to obtain legal information about their housing rights www.hivlawproject.org

  10. Other Possible Solutions • Create independent education/ mediation program for clients’ facing eviction from publicly supported housing models • Scattered-Site Programs • SROs www.hivlawproject.org

  11. Contact Information Tracy L. Welsh, Esq. Executive Director HIV Law Project twelsh@hivlawproject.org 212-577-3001 www.hivlawproject.org

More Related