Good morning and welcome to today's New York City Council hearing for the committees on women and gender equity joint with general welfare.

At this time, we ask that you please silence all cell phones and electronic devices to minimize disruptions throughout the hearing.

If you wish to testify, please see a sergeant arms for assistance.

At any time throughout today's proceeding, please do not approach the dais.

We thank you for your kind cooperation.

Chairs, we are ready to begin.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm Councilmember Amanda Fadias, Chair of the Committee on Women and Gender Equity.

I'm excited to be joined by the Chair of the Committee on General Welfare, Councilmember Crystal Hudson for today's hearing on housing instability among LGBTQ plus individuals in New York City.

As we celebrate Pride Month here in New York, it is important to recognize the reality of the LGBT plus community's ongoing struggles, one of them being that in the United States, LGBTQ plus individuals are more likely to face housing insecurity than non-LGBTQ people.

When we look back at the origins of Pride at the 1969 Stonewall riots, we are reminded that the modern LGBTQ plus liberation movement was largely formed by housing insecure people.

The Stonewall Bar was a haven for young LGBTQ plus individuals who had nowhere else to go.

Housing injustice and LGBTQ plus rights have been the in have been intertwined since the beginning.

Today, LGBTQ plus individuals continue to face challenges in accessing safe, stable, and affordable housing.

Often this begins tragically early when many young people are forced to leave their homes due to family rejection or unsupportive environments.

Almost half of all homeless youth in New York City identified as LGBTQ plus, and one in four have experienced homelessness or housing insecurity at one point in their lives.

But these challenges often persist throughout an LGBTQ plus person's life with LGBTQ plus elders facing high risks of being turned away from or being charged or being charges higher charged with higher rents at independent or assisted living centers.

As nationwide, 48% of LGBTQ plus seniors experience discrimination when applying for housing.

For LGBTQ plus individuals, the challenges don't end when they gain access to shelter services.

Many experience discrimination, harassment, and even violence when seeking support.

Furthermore, if staff are not equipped to serve LGBTQ people, it can often lead to additional harm, especially when staff fails to honor a person's gender identity and houses a person based on their sex assigned at birth rather than where the person feels the safest.

New York City has historically been a progressive leader and a safe haven for individuals of all gender and genders and sexual orientations, boasting the largest population of LGBTQ plus people of any U.S.

metro area.

Our city needs to bolster our support of housing services for LGBTQ people and the development of more affordable and supportive housing options for this community.

So today we'll ask the administration how you are working to address housing instability among LGBTQ plus individuals in New York City.

What specific housing resources are available to the LGBTQ plus community, and what trainings are available available for people working in shelters around engagement with LGBT plus individuals.

Now I'd like to invite Chair Hudson to deliver her opening remarks.

Thank you so much.

Good morning, and welcome to today's oversight hearing.

I'm Crystal Hudson, General Welfare Committee Chair, and my pronouns are she her.

I would like to also thank Councilmember Fideas, who, from my own personal experience as well as my professional experience working with her, puts allyship into action.

And I'd like to thank the Committee on Women and Gender Equity for joining the Committee on General Welfare and holding this hearing.

Additionally, we are joined by Council members Viles, Ung, Morano on Zoom, Wilson, and El Deball.

Despite New York City's reputation as a place of inclusion, LGBTQ plus individuals, particularly transgender and gender nonconforming people, LGBTQ plus youth, and LGBTQ plus people of color remain disproportionately impacted by housing insecurity.

Many are forced from their homes due to family rejection.

Many face barriers to accessing safe and affirming shelters, and many encounter discrimination when seeking permanent affordable housing.

Compounded by rising rents, a shortage of affordable housing, and economic inequality that continues to affect our most vulnerable neighbors.

The challenges can feel insurmountable.

New York City's overall homelessness crisis continues to grow, with tens of thousands of people residing in shelters nightly.

Within this broader crisis, LGBTQ plus individuals, particularly transgender people, youth, and people of color face unique barriers to obtaining and maintaining stable housing.

In the LGBTQ plus homeless youth provider survey, providers reported that being forced out by parents or they ran away because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression was a primary reason for homelessness in over 55% of their LGBTQ youth clients over and over 67% of their transgender clients, with general family issues underlying homelessness for an additional 16.5% of LGBTQ and 7.3% of transgender clients.

Among respondents to the most recent US transgender survey, 70% of respondents who experienced homelessness and stayed in a shelter the previous year reported some form of mistreatment, including being harassed, assaulted, or kicked out because of being transgender.

More than 36% of respondents who experienced homelessness in the previous year avoided staying in shelter because they feared being mistreated as a transgender person.

We recognize that addressing housing instability among LGBTQ plus New Yorkers requires more than awareness.

It requires tangible action.

As lawmakers and governmental officials, we need to be thoughtfully and intentionally creating policies that not only respond to immediate needs, but also address the systemic inequities that place LGBTQ plus New Yorkers at greater risk of homelessness.

We hope that today's hearing will inform an assessment of how we can reduce the barriers that LGBTQ plus people experience when it comes to achieving housing stability and financial sustainability more generally.

Thank you for your commitment to this important issue, and I look forward to today's discussion.

And I'd like to conclude by thanking the committee staff for their work on this hearing, Aminta Kilowan, Panina Rosenberg, Justin Campos, Farija Ramon, and Elizabeth Childers Garcia.

And I'd also like to thank my staff, Andrew Wright, Alika Ruentan, and Demi Brown.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Hudson.

I'd like to thank the members of the Women and Gender Equity Committee and the General Welfare Committee who've joined us today.

I'd also like to thank Committee staff, Julia Goldsmith, Pinkham, Katie Selena, and Ali Stolfer, as well as my own staff, Dan Curtin and Josephine Caras for their work on today's hearing.

I would like to remind everyone who wishes to testify in person today that you must fill out a witness slip when you, which you can find on the desk of the sergeant at arms in the back of the room near the entrance.

Please fill out the slip even if you have already registered in advance that you will be testifying in person today.

If you wish to testify on any of the legislation, please indicate on the witness slip whether you are here to testify in favor of or in opposition to the legislation.

I also want to point out that we will not be voting on any legislation today.

To allow as many people as possible to testify, testimony will be limited to two minutes per person, whether you're testifying in person or on Zoom.

I'm also going to ask my colleagues to limit their questions and comments to five minutes.

Please note that witnesses who are here in person will testify before those who are signed onto the Zoom webinar.

I'm now going to turn it over to the Women and Gender Equity Committee Council to administer the oath.

Good morning.

In accordance with the rules of the council, I'll administer the affirmation.

I will call on you each individually for response.

Please rate your right hand.

Do you affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before these committees and respond honestly to council member questions?

Thank you.

Thank you.

As a reminder to all of our witnesses, please state your name prior to your testimony for the record.

If anyone here today requires an accessible version of the presentation given today at today's hearing, please email testimony at counsel at nyc.gov and we'll turn it over to you folks to begin.

Okay, I might check.

All right, can everyone hear me?

Great.

My name is Taylor Brown, I use she her pronouns.

I serve as the inaugural director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual Affairs.

Thank you to the members of the Committee on General Welfare and Committee on Women and Gender Equity for the opportunity to testify on the critical issues of housing instability and homelessness among LGBTQI New Yorkers.

I appreciate the City Council's attention to these issues and desire to work towards meaningful solutions.

I appreciate the testimony and ongoing partnership with my fellow agencies represented here today and across the administration, as well as the community-based organizations, advocates, and community members working every day to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to safe, affordable, and stable housing and supportive services.

Part of the broad mission of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQI affairs is to address both emerging and systemic barriers that prevent New Yorkers from thriving across all facets of life.

We recognize that for every person, access to housing and housing stability are foundational to health, safety, economic opportunity, and overall well-being.

We also understand that housing insecurity and homelessness do not impact all populations equally.

LGBTQI New Yorkers, particularly transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary people, youth populations, older populations, those living with disabilities, and LGBTQI people of color have and continue to experience disparate barriers that place them at increased vulnerability of housing insecurity and homelessness.

The seriousness of these issues is reflected in the testimony and data provided by our partner agencies and service providers.

Their testimony demonstrates that housing insecurity and homelessness among LGBTQI New Yorkers is not the result of a single factor, but the culmination of a myriad intersecting and entrenched inequities.

These inequities have been further exacerbated by current economic market and political challenges facing us all.

While every person's circumstances are unique, it is well established that educational opportunities, employment opportunities, and access to health care are equalizers and key determinants in a person's overall quality of life and ability to lead a stable, meaningful, fulfilled, and independent life.

But for most of our history, discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and LGBTQI status was permissible both socially and legally.

This discrimination was perpetrated and condoned explicitly and implicitly by individuals, the private sector, and the public sector, including federal, state, and local governments.

The consequences of longstanding discrimination are borne out in the multitude of disparities facing LGBTQI New Yorkers today.

Longstanding discrimination has resulted in LGBTQI people experiencing disparate rates of poverty, unemployment and lack of employment opportunities, income inequality, educational limitations, barrier to medically necessary health care, social and economic immobility, political and social exclusion, hostility and violence, and criminalization.

These issues have compounding and collateral consequences, including direct implication and impacts in the context of housing insecurity and homelessness.

The legacy of discrimination that informs contemporary disparities in the areas of housing insecurity, homelessness, and other critical areas of life, must also be to understood in the context of the current economic and political climates.

Across our city, state, and nation, most people are waking up every day to ever declining economic conditions and forecasts not seen in decades.

At a societal level, we are collectively experiencing surging affordability crises across the spectrum of life, increased levels of indebtedness, stagnant wages and employment opportunities, the inability to save money, and long-standing issues in the housing market that further drive disparities in housing insecurity and homelessness for LGBTQI New Yorkers and other minority communities.

These longstanding market issues include a lack of housing supply in both rental and ownership markets, skyrocketing rental costs, affordable housing deficits, lending barriers and costs, barriers to home ownership, unfair private sector housing and real estate practices, and lack of meaningful governmental solutions and intervention over decades to address systemic issues.

Concurrently, the Trump administration has weaponized almost every part of the federal government to attack and roll back the progress we have made in establishing LGBTQIA legal equality and government-driven intervention models in redressing systemic discrimination and its collateral consequences.

These macroeconomic conditions and federal political hostility compound and exacerbate the underlying causes of and disparities in housing insecurity and homelessness facing LGBTQIA New Yorkers, as well as other minority and marginalized communities.

Against this backdrop, the Mayor's Office of LGBTQI affairs, housed within the New York City Mayor's Office of Equity and Racial Justice and within the portfolio of the New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice, has already begun its broad strategic thinking and planning to develop meaningful solutions to combat these specific disparities and other priority issues holistically through interagency leadership, partnership and coordination, and through innovative governmental solutions grounded in law, policy, humanity, and the lived experiences and realities of LGBTQI New Yorkers.

Over the course of its inaugural year, the Mayor's Office of LGBTQI affairs will be a phase, will take a phase in analytical approach to ensure that we are that we meaningfully understand and prioritize all major issues facing LGBTQI New Yorkers, with a focus on quality of life issues and baseline needs, including in the broad context of housing and subcontext like housing insecurity and homelessness.

The Mayor's Office of LGBTQI Affairs will work to ensure that all New York City agencies are in compliance with non-discrimination law and protections, and that they are utilizing best policies and practices to meet the needs of and their obligations to LGBTQI New Yorkers.

The Mayor's Office of LGBTQI affairs will ensure that at the executive level, across agencies and across government, we are delivering bold and innovative solutions and meaningful interventions to redress and eliminate disparities and further needed progress.

Finally, the Mayor's Office of LGBTQI Affairs will work to ensure that we are community-based and driven governmental office that provides meaningful leadership and responsive governance to the communities we serve.

Some of our current plans to implicate to implement this work include agency-wide regulatory and policy audits to examine current policies and practices, assess what has been successful, and where improvements can be made, and to work collaboratively towards better solutions and innovations to ensure that agencies are serving LGBTQIA New Yorkers and addressing their unique needs.

Agency-wide programmatic evaluations to understand what city agencies have historically done and what they are currently doing in order to supplement improve and develop innovative governmental interventions through programmatic and funding models grounded again in law, policy, data, community partnership, and centrally the shared goal of materially improving the lives of LGBTQI New Yorkers.

Substantive issue-based stakeholder convenings with our agency partners, inter and intra-governmental partners, experts, advocates, and community-based organizations, as well as community members to ensure that the work of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQI affairs is collaborative, holistic, responsive, and centered on the needs of the communities we serve.

And finally, executive level strategy coordination and innovation geared towards bold solutions and government interventions to eliminate the myriad of disparities facing LGBTQIA New Yorkers.

This includes combating documenting federal hostility and the direct harms caused to LGBTQI New Yorkers, addressing historic and contemporary data and research needs and gaps that inform and drive our initiatives and goals, and assessing and addressing governmental inefficiencies, policies and practices that impact governmental operations and services.

For example, communications, contracting, funding, and other operational elements to ensure that we are delivering better, more equitable, and more responsible services and models of governance.

The nexus of factors driving housing insecurity and homelessness disparities for LGBTQIA New Yorkers are entrenched, intersectional and complex, but they are not insurmountable.

As the work of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQI affairs is developed and implemented, we want to assure committee members and city council that we bring considerable substantive expertise and experience, true vision and leadership, an unwavering dedication to the communities we serve and this city, and a deep commitment to transformational government and cross-government collaboration, cooperation, and innovation to ensure that we are meeting the moment and establishing a lasting foundation for a more equitable, affordable, and accessible city for all.

Shared responsibilities and lasting solutions require us to address these interconnected challenges together.

The Mamdani Administration, the Mayor's Office of LGBTQI Affairs, and our agency partners stand by as ready and proactive partners.

We look forward to new and continued partnership and collaboration with City Council on the issues before the committee today and those in the future.

Because LGBTQI New Yorkers, like all New Yorkers, deserve the opportunity to live and thrive with safety, dignity, and stability.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify, I'll welcome the committee's questions.

Good morning.

My name is Aaron Dalton, and I serve as the commissioner for New York City Department of Social Services, and my pronouns are she and her.

I would like to thank Chair Hudson, Chair Frias, and the members of the Committee on General Welfare and members of the Committee on Women and Gender Equity for convening today's hearing on housing and stability among LGBTQIA individuals in New York City.

I am joined today by John Rojas, HRI Chief Special Services Officer Rima Rivera, HRA Deputy Commissioner for Domestic Violence Services, Andrea Reid, HRA executive deputy commissioner for housing services, and Sonia Russell, DHS Interim Deputy Commissioner for Adult Services and Shelter Operations.

Serving vulnerable populations is an integral part of our work at DSS.

Through our work at the Human Resources Administration or HRA and the Department of Homeless Services or DHS, we understand that our clients are reaching out for assistance precisely because they are an acutely vulnerable moment.

As stewards of critical programs and resources, it is incumbent upon us to recognize that one size does not fit all.

That is why recognizing the unique experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, intersex and asexual, LGBTQIA, transgender and gender-nonconforming TGNC communities is so important to our work.

To that end, DSS is committed to ensuring our services are culturally competent and welcoming.

At DSS, we are cognizant of the scale of the challenge in addressing housing security for LGBTQIA and TGNC communities.

Unique drivers for homelessness include familial rejection due to sexual orientation or gender expression and unlawful housing and employment discrimination.

An intersectional lens informs this conversation and our policies by bringing to the fore the way social identities interact with these communities.

Systemic inequalities and discrimination can compound the challenges members of these communities face, and we cannot flatten the diversity experiences within the LGBTQIA and TGNC communities.

For example, the many impacts of age, race, ethnicity, language, disability, class, documentation status, education, mental health, and more.

Providing culturally competent services includes recognizing the reality of our clients' experiences at those intersections of identities, strengthening our partnerships with community-based organizations, and ongoing engagement to gather feedback and improve services.

Building cultural competence begins with a foundation of setting expectations and training staff to meet those expectations.

DSS Office of LGBTQIA affairs works to identify and address systemic barriers affecting clients across DSS HRA DHS programs.

This work includes improving service delivery, strengthening strengthening internal and external partnerships, and responding directly to client concerns related to access discrimination or safety.

All DSS, DHS, and HRA staff are required to attend an LGBTQIA inclusion training.

In addition to the mandatory one-time training, employees are also required to attend refresher trainings every two years.

Providers and their staff are required to comply with New York City human rights law and citywide equal opportunity equal employment opportunity policy.

Providers may also require that staff attend trainings beyond what's required by city law and policy, including trainings focused on the unique needs of TGNC clients.

One such training available to city and provider staff is the placement procedure training for transgender and gender nonconforming clients, which focuses on creating a safe affirming system for clients who self-identify as TGNC and raises awareness about more gender affirming placement options for TGNC individuals that are seeking shelter.

There are limitations we must acknowledge, especially as it relates to data collection.

DHS seeks to affirm each individual's gender identity and ensure that they are appropriately placed by giving clients the option to self-identify their gender through a voluntary gender identity screening, which occurs at intake.

Clients who self-identify as TGNC are then given their gender affirming a place gender-affirming placement options.

DHS clients are also offered voluntary sexual orientation and gender identity survey at intake.

However, because this is voluntary and not linked to a person's case or placement, it means participation is low and our data on LGBTQIA and TGNC clients is limited.

On the HRA side of the house, sexual orientation and gender identity data is voluntary and offered for clients enrolled in cash assistance, SNAP and IDNYC benefits programs as well as those seeking services for domestic violence per local law 130.

We acknowledge our data represents an undercount of LGBTQIA and TGNC clients.

Thus, the data we have significantly underrepresents the actual number of individuals receiving services across the DV and DHS shelter system.

The voluntary data we collect is a factor that assists DSS in determining programmatic capacity needs and potential policy adjustments that could be made to better address the needs of the population.

All DHS sites and provider locations are required by contract to be LGBTQIA affirming environments.

Our goal is to create safe environments where LGBTQIA individuals are treated with the same degree of respect and dignity as all other identities.

Affirming environments include visible signs in client and staff areas to make clear LGBTQIA people are welcome and valued parts of the community.

For example, DSS ally cards, welcome palm cards, LGBTQIA themed posters.

In addition to the responsibility of all shelter staff staff to be LGBTQIA affirming environments, DHS also has specialized shelters and beds that are exclusively dedicated to serving the LGBTQIA and TGNC clients.

DHS goal and current practices is for individuals who self-report TGNC to receive expedited placement to a TGNC designated bed if that's what they choose.

ACES Place serves as the nation's first TGNC-specific shelter site that can accommodate 150 residents.

Similarly, Marsha's House focuses on serving the broader spectrum of LGBTQIA residents, accommodating 80 residents overall.

In addition, there are 42 beds at six shelters focused on serving TGNC clients at shelters in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.

Regarding HRA programs, gender identity is considered by HASA when making emergency housing placements and flagged by clients preference.

Domestic violence services supports to both residential and non-residential services that are available to LGBTQIA and TGNC survivors.

Our OCFS licensed DV shelters and tier two shelters within the DHS system are required to serve all survivors who meet domestic violence eligibility criteria, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

So LGBTQIA and TGNC survivors have full access to residential services when DV shelter is the safest option.

In addition, we fund non-residential supportive services in the community, including services specifically dedicated to LGBTQIA survivors through a contract with the lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer center known as the Center.

Through this partnership, clients can access culturally competent, culturally competent counseling, safety planning, case management, advocacy, support groups, and referrals without needing to enter shelter, ensuring there are affirmative affirming options for both inside and outside the residential system.

The agency regularly checks in with advocates and clients on ways to improve our service model and to ensure that there are mechanisms and systems in place for LGBTQIA plus individuals to share their feedback on agency policy services and programs.

To that end, both clients and advocates serve on advisory boards.

For example, the LGBTQIA Plus Work Group, HASA Community Advisory Board, and the Shelter Accessibility Advisory Board.

We also receive feedback and complaints directly from clients through 311, the Office of the Ubudsman, the DSS Office of Equal Employment Opportunities, or the Office of LGBTQIA Plus affairs within DSS or any other avenues in which we receive feedback.

Our goal is to ensure this population has ample options to offer that feedback.

I want to take this opportunity to spotlight our forthcoming TGNC advisory group.

It is a group that has been several years in the making.

This client advisory group aims to engage community-based expertise, bring insights around what is working and what is not working, and what measures we can take to improve program services and the experiences of TGNC individuals in the shelter system.

This advisory group will include six to eight clients who have experience with homelessness, and we aim for this advisory group to begin meeting later this year.

I also want to highlight the work of our shelter accessibility board here.

This nine-member board meets quarterly and is the result of Local Law 23 of 2023.

The board issued its first suite of recommendations in January.

Those initial recommendations centered on access, support, workforce and staffing, and critical amenities.

The board also focused on inclusivity, especially the safety needs of the TGNC population.

The board recommended providers assess and mitigate client safety concerns in their community for individuals and their independent living plan.

For example, the advisory board recommended shelter staff offer escorts to the bus and train.

As a result of these recommendations, the TGNC shelter is now offering these escorts.

The board also recommended that DHS take into account and consideration accessibility of transportation when making shelter placement determinations.

We are taking a close look at how we can move forward with the board's recommendations and remain committed to an approach to service provision that ensures client safety and breaks down obstacles to housing and security.

To provide an example on the point of breaking down barriers, we know that identification document mismatch can create barriers for our transgender clients.

In our DSS HRA, DHS systems providers and staff, in accordance with New York City law, use a person's preferred name even if it is if they have not legally changed it.

External entities, credit checks, proof of employment or lease documents, present challenges for transgender people seeking housing.

In alignment with our commitment to helping clients find the support they need, staff are expected to work with TGNC clients to facilitate their road to independent living, including referrals for legal assistance with name changes.

Our Office of Community Outreach alongside our Office of LGBTQIA affairs serves as a crucial hub in connecting LGBTQIA plus and TGNC communities.

Their work includes providing resources to community organizations like the Center, Aliforney, and Bronx Legal Services who work with DSS HRA DHS clients and assisting them to navigate benefits access.

Our work includes providing dedicated trainings on benefits to community providers, sharing monthly updates through a newsletter to community providers and coordinating access for more than 450 community-based organizations in total using the Access HRA provider portal.

We also participate in panels, school and community events, shelter house meetings, and LGBTQIA Plus support groups.

I would like to take this opportunity to share what Mayor Mamdani has said.

New York City is proud of its LGBTQIA Plus community, will refuse to deny healthcare safety or dignity to anyone on the basis of their identity.

DSS will continue to uphold our commitment to ensuring all of our services for the LGBTQIA plus culturally competent and welcoming.

I will conclude by expressing my gratitude to my colleagues at DSS and across government, as well as countless human services providers, advocates, and community members, uplifting the dignity of our LGBTQIA plus and TGNC family friends and neighbors.

We appreciate this opportunity to testify today to say happy pride in this forum, and we welcome your questions.

Thank you.

Good morning.

I'm Chairs Hudson and Farias and members of the Committees on General Welfare, Children and Youth, and Women and Gender Equity.

I am Associate Commissioner Wanda Asherill, pronouns she and her at the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.

I am joined today by Tracy Thorne, pronouns she and her, Senior Director of Runaway and Homeless Youth Services.

On behalf of Commissioner Escamilla Davies, we thank you for the opportunity to discuss how DYCD addresses housing instability among LGBTQI Plus individuals.

We also wish a happy Pride Month to LGBTQ New Yorkers and allies.

DYCD recognizes that LGBTQ youth may face discrimination and harassment that puts them at disproportionate risks of housing instability, exploitation, and adverse health and mental health outcomes.

Access to trusted adults, affirming environments, and high-quality services is critical to ensuring their safety, well-being, and long-term success.

Today, with our dedicated provider network, advocates, and the city council, DYCD has built a comprehensive continuum of services designed to meet the diverse needs of runaway and homeless youth ages 16 through 24.

Our Runaway and Homeless Youth RHY programs provide holistic youth-centered services that help young people achieve stability, independence, and opportunity.

Through residential services, drop-in centers, and street outreach programs, DYCD and its providers serve more than 40,000 young people annually.

Residential services include crisis services programs and transitional independent living support programs.

Across the city, residential programs serving youth ages 16 through 24, providing a total of 863 beds.

For homeless young adults ages 21 to 24, DYCD funds six programs with a total of 160 beds, 50 of which are scheduled to open in the next six weeks.

We are especially pleased that in partnership with the council and under the leadership of Chair Stevens, this capacity was expanded by 100 beds for homeless young adults in this fiscal year, strengthening our ability to meet growing needs.

DYCD's eight contracted drop-in centers are a safe place for LGBTQ youth and other young people to access essential resources such as food, clothing, and hygiene supplies, alongside a wide range of supportive services, including counseling, educational and health workshops, recreational programming, and referrals to additional services and shelter when needed.

Specialized staff, including housing navigators, financial coaches, peer navigators, and mental health clinicians work closely with young and young adults to help them identify goals and take meaningful steps toward long-term stability and self-sufficiency.

To ensure accessibility, at least one drop-in center in every borough operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Our street outreach programs engage young people where they are, focusing on locations where runaway and homeless youth are known to congregate.

Outreach teams provide immediate support, information, safety planning, and connections to housing and other critical services.

DYCD funded RHY providers help young people navigate a wide range of challenges through individualized counseling, case management, and service referrals.

From intake assessments through ongoing case management, providers work to identify each young person's strengths, needs, and goals while connecting them to services that support their overall well-being, and including uh in specialized mental health care when appropriate.

All our RHY providers are trained for and welcoming to LGBTQ youth, including mission-oriented organizations like Ali Forney Center, all of which have particularly particular expertise and focus on serving LGBTQ plus young people experiencing homelessness.

This includes professional development regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, gender-affirming interactions that foster respect and appreciation, physical, safe, physically safe and culturally positive environments, and swift response to issues of bias and discrimination.

In RHY programs, counselors work collaboratively with youth to develop individualized service plans that establish both short and long-term goals.

Through direct services and community partnerships, youth can access a broad range of supports, including physical and mental health services, educational and career development opportunities, substance use prevention services, violence intervention, and prevention counseling and housing assistance.

When appropriate, providers also support family reunification efforts or help youth transition to longer-term housing and supportive programs.

Thank you again for the opportunity to discuss the EYCD's efforts to address housing instability among LGBTQ plus youth.

We remain committed to working alongside the council providers, advocates, and young people with lived experience to strengthen services and expand opportunities for the youth we serve.

We are pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you so much for all of you for such thoughtful testimony.

I would like to start off with some questions for the Office of LGBTQ affairs.

What supports will be offered by the Office around housing for LGBTQ plus individuals?

Thank you for the question.

So that is certainly still within our planning.

As you know, we're a new office.

We're about two months in.

We're also in the midst of budget season.

And so while our strategic planning has been ongoing, I want to stress that a big part of it will be based in agency partnerships and again making sure they are abiding by the law, making sure that they have the best policies and practices, but most importantly, I think what I have brought to this office is innovation, and to me, that means doing more.

I think that's what's required.

And so some of the agencies you're planning to coordinate with are like DSS, HRA, DYCD around housing services for LGBTQ.

Absolutely.

As I understand the mandates for this office as informed by the mayor's agenda, we reach across all agencies in New York City and all agencies that touch the lives of LGBTQI New Yorkers.

Do you think there's any necessary budgetary items that your office will require in order to accomplish some of this?

So those negotiations are ongoing, and we have contacts with OMB.

We're housed within the Mayor's Office of Equity and Racial Justice, and so our budget is also tied to that as well.

And so right now I would defer to my OMB colleagues in contacts, but I remained.

Okay, we'll bother them.

Please do.

Are you planning on offering any specific trainings on serving LGBTQ plus individuals seeking housing services from the office itself?

Absolutely.

You know, I think one thing that I'm careful of in coming into this position is not, you know, being unnecessarily repetitive.

And so um I want to make sure that I have a good assessment of what's available now.

There are trainings that are offered through CCHR.

Obviously, there are mandated trainings that are required by law.

There's um trainings provided by DSS as Commissioner Dalton mentioned.

Um I inherited ongoing work and compliance with local law 71 and 73, which also tie into rights and resources, um, and also as well as um different kinds of campaigns which include trainings um focused on um uh rights and resources for TGNC and MB New Yorkers, as well as the unique needs of um immigrant um um LGBTQI New Yorkers as well.

And so I certainly have the expertise and certainly could make that available, and I think again, I think it just takes an assessment of what's available, but would be happy to offer it.

That's great.

The New York City Unity Project has maintained a guide of organization working, organize organizations working to support housing and shelter services for LGBTQ plus individuals in the past.

Um as the new office is set to absorb the unity project, will you keep the guide up to date?

Absolutely.

Um, and not just in the housing space, but across all areas of life.

Um, and are there any thoughts on planning or offering any community outreach or education campaigns around the issue itself?

Um right now in this moment, I cannot say that we have any active plans, but I think again that is something that we are considering.

I think from my own personal experience and background, and people are informed of their rights and aware of their rights, that is how they're best enforced and people are best made to abide by them.

Um so certainly something um we will consider.

Um, and just my last question for us as chairs, do you have an allocation for your budget already set for the office?

So that terminology um is new to me, um, to government.

Um, so as I understand it, we do have an allocation for staffing lines, we do have an allocation for some programmatic work, which was one of the primary functions of the unity project.

Um, and again, I think that um my understanding is those exact amounts are the negotiations are ongoing.

Okay, do you know the previous amount?

If there if there were any towards the services that are under your bucket now.

So the way that the Unity Project worked um primarily was through budget allocations outlied in other agencies.

For example, I'm aware of a 400,000 dollar fund that lies within D OHMH, um, and so this would be specifically tied to sort of health care program and funding.

There were some one-time grant opportunities, including the Transgender Emergency Fund, um the Unity grants.

Um, but from my general understanding of the 10 years of Unity Project sort of funding model is that none of them were sort of I think the 400,000 dollar one is the only one that's sort of every year.

Okay, yeah, got it.

Good for us to know.

Um thank you so much for answering my questions.

I'm gonna move over to DYCD.

How many LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness are currently being served through DYCD funded uh programs?

Thank you for the question.

Uh youth uh currently are not required to disclose um gender identity or sexual orientation with their RHY programs.

Um but today, as of May 2026, 700 youth uh who reported as identifying as LGBTQ IA plus were entered into our residential programs, and then we had 564 young people that reported as identifying LGBTQIA plus, started receiving case management and serv and services and the drop-in centers.

Got it.

And what percentage of youth in DYCD funded runaway and homeless youth programs identify as LGBTQ plus?

Thank you.

Uh we have 38% of the young people have been entered into our programs and identifying as LGBTQIA, and then we have 35% of the young people who entered our residential um programs that reported um the same, and then 42% were in our drop-in centers.

Okay.

Um and how do you folks at TYCD ensure that the LGBTQs know about the available services and can access them safely?

Obviously, like the drop-in centers are a great example where there's 24-hour care and they can go in at any point, but other than services like the drop-in centers, how are we looking at making those available and the outreach?

Yeah, um, I think one of the the things that works, and we've seen it historically, and I think it works with any programs like word of mouth.

I think young people come, you know, talk to each other and they and they and they hear about the great things that are happening.

And so that's been really really helpful, especially for LGBTQIA um young um population.

They we rely on refer.

Sorry, thank you so much.

We rely um on referrals, DY City also has a strong social media presence and Instagram and and um facebook twitter we also have Discover DYCD where all the services are are available and accessible and people can inquire about these programs.

And then we have the palm cars which we actually brought extras um so we can distribute some of those um and that's also um available and then we also have the street outreach um piece where we have six days per week um assisting youth in need and then as you mentioned the um our drop in centers and then the street outreach grants as I mentioned.

In terms sorry okay in terms of the street outreach team how do you folks determine where the outreach team needs to go is it data aggregated is it again a word of mouth situation where we're hearing from folks that are already receiving services that there's a a big need in a community um yeah thank you for that question the street outreach is run by StreetWorks a safe horizon program and they determine every week they send out uh a list of where they're gonna be there's a north and a south van and it's based on what they see when they're out there it's based on what they're hearing from young people at the drop-in centers and so it it changes their locations change as they as needed but they cover parks, subways and any other places uh they're hearing that young people are and is it um they're providing services on site like immediate care that's needed or resource that's needed but also helping bring folks into a drop-in center that's correct that's absolutely correct thank you um can you folks describe any long term housing outcomes if we if we have that data um for LGBTQ youth who participate in the DYCD funded programs and if we know how many LGBTQ youth successfully transitioned into permanent housing um each year for the last five years or three years.

So according to the most recent uh data concerning long-term housing um we have 15% of our young people um were returned to home and 20% had established other residents um whether it was through friends or relatives we had 12% that transitioned into independent living and then we also we had forty two percent that um received a variety of services including um crisis services foster home care dhs shelters um and supportive housing and then there were some that were unknown um for us and then we have a more detailed report that we can make available yeah um we don't um have the information readily available for like the five year trend and we're we're gonna look into that and and make that look for you extremely helpful obviously as we're trying to see where trends are and where more resources need to go every budget fight requires this kind of data to look into so that would be really helpful.

In terms of the percentages for folks you know quote unquote returned home and um either finding placement with friends or family are we looking at ensuring that they have like an individual room we're not making sure folks are maybe transitioning into some on some into someone's home but like on a couch for six months like are we tracking post one year post two years how long are we also tracking the folks that are coming in for services.

I can I can start and then you'll correct me if I'm all right I'll take the lead.

I'll start and then I'll I'll tap in Tracy if I'm if I'm missing something.

She'll keep me on it.

I will say that um our young people have continuous um counseling and support services and so our providers um ensure that there's a touch point and there's a continuous connection to make sure that the young people are receiving services, additional supportive um services, whether it's in employment or education, and so they try to continue to make those content con um connections even while they're in a in a in a in a in a place in a house in the home.

Is that correct?

And then I I hear or in the testimony there was the um a program or initiative for preventing family rejection or reducing or or uh reunifying I think the language is reunification.

Um what are what are some of those programs or initiatives like what do they look like and um how do we get to it before it occurs or we are we reactive in a way in terms of the like re you know reunification back into the home.

So our drop-in centers um they offer um uh supportive services for our um our young people that are becoming that are going toward you know becoming homeless and so some of the services includes counseling and referrals uh to health care education and employment opportunities when LGBTQ uh youth are served in our programs there is a unique opportunity um to create a safe and protective space um they build relationships with the young people that are there um the programs offer an opportunity for you to create a caring caring communities um and then because the programs are youth centered uh services including family unification are driven by young people's vo youth voice so they let pr pretty much let the provider um and the counselor know whether or not they want to reunite with their families and then they receive if they don't they receive ongoing support and counseling if they do the family receives support services as well as um so the the whole family as well as individuals are we hearing from family or from young people what the reasoning is for you know the either the disconnect at home or getting kicked out of their home from their family like are are we using any of that information to kind of dictate the type of whether it's um therapy sessions or what what what the reunification process looks like I imagine patriarchal systems are are something that are heavy on why some folks have to leave their household or religious and cultural issues.

I'm just wondering how are we taking those lived experiences and then responding both as a city I think beyond just this moment we really should be looking at how to deal with machines and patriarchal systems in this way but also just like how are we empowering the young people in this position and going back to their family or living independently like is are those conversations a way that part of how we're determining services to young people.

Yeah I think um when when one mentioned that the young people drive the services that they require that's how we're ensuring that we're offering young people the what they need to feel supported to move to move along in their um journey toward self-sufficiency and um feeling and increasing their resilience so it's a it's a case-by-case basis but um we know that from our intakes that family rejection is what and family discord is one of the number one reasons that young people are coming to us for services and and we're here for them.

Um when youth age out of the runaway and homeless youth shelter shelters there's a process by which they can be referred directly to DHS according to the most recent streamlined referral process report from the period of January 1 through June 30th of 2025 40 young people were referred to DHS.

How does DYCD ensure that LGBTQ plus youth who are referred to DHS get placed within a shelter which matches their gender identity or into a specialized LGBTQ plus bed um should that be their preference?

The uh intake staff at DHS are our partners we're in contact almost every day and they do a great job making sure that young people are placed in programs that are affirming and meet their needs um we have a lot of great um we have a lot of great placements with Marcia's house, ACES Place, and other and other sites.

And if the if there is um a need for further clarification, if maybe there was something that wasn't listed on the streamline referral form, their uh DHS is really responsive to make you know making sure that people are placed in the right in the right locations.

And as we've already spoken about a bit, young people enter crisis shelters by referral, walking in themselves, or walking into a drop-in center or even via the street outreach team.

Do you folks have an idea of what percent of young people enter shelters via each of these pathways?

Do we have that breakdown of whether it's um street team, whether it's the referral or walking in that on their own?

We could get back to you about that.

Okay.

Yeah.

Um and uh my last question before I kick it over to Chair Hudson.

Um, according to local law 79 report on the runaway and homeless youth service access report for the period July through December of 2025, 500 of the 592 youth not placed, 36% identified as LGBTQ.

Do you know the reason for the lack of the placements?

Generally, the reason for lack of placements is um lack of bed availability.

Sorry, lack of bed availability, bed availability.

Got it.

Okay, thank you so much for answering my questions.

I'll take it over to council member Hudson.

Thank you so much.

Uh I did have one follow-up question um from Chair Fodias about the support services that are provided for families.

Who provides those services?

Are those provided by DYCD or do you subcontract to other organizations?

The CB, the around family mediation and reunification.

Our providers provide those services directly.

So who are some of those providers?

Uh Ali Forney, um off the top of my head, I can't remember how all of them.

Rising ground.

Okay.

Um to name a few.

Okay, thanks.

I'm gonna ask uh questions of DSS.

Um, so how does DSS coordinate with other city agencies to meet the needs of homeless and housing insecure LGBTQ plus individuals?

Thank you for the question.

Um, and as you know, uh Chair Hudson and others probably know, I've been here just a couple of months, and so it's a great opportunity for me to learn a little bit more deepen my understanding of the work we do in this area.

Um this one I can take, but I will probably rely on uh my colleagues here, probably um especially Deputy Commissioner Russell for for detailed questions.

But yes, for um when it comes to addressing the issues of housing insecurity for this population, we certainly work across uh the the team who is here at on the dais.

We also work with our partners in housing like HPD and NYCHA, and so um in addition for special populations like older adults, we work with our partners in aging and so on.

So I think there's a good amount of collaboration and I think a good amount of advocacy from the mayor's agencies um and departments to ensure that the clients that they're working with are um treated well and um get that access to the resources they need in our systems.

Thank you.

How does DSS coordinate with the Department for Veteran Services to ensure that LGBTQ plus veterans seeking shelter are housed appropriately?

And can you share what that intake process looks like?

Thank you for the question.

So DHS has intake shelter intake centers that serves those that are seeking temporary housing assistance throughout the five boroughs.

We have intake centers for families with children, we have those for adult families, as well as single men and single women, and it's at the intake center where we ask a series of questions for those that are seeking temporary housing to better assist them based on their circumstances and needs that brought them into the system.

Um we also offer a voluntary gender ID screener for those um who while we don't ask for their specific sexual orientation, we do have this voluntary screener, and depending on how they if they choose to either complete the screener or if they prefer to self-identify.

So for those individuals that prefer to self-identify as either being part of the LGBTQI or TGNC, in addition to if they articulate that they are a veteran, we will work with them to provide accommodation that best suits that their needs as LGBTQI, TGNC and or veteran.

Or if they just choose to go into a TGNC program, we will definitely offer those accommodations as well.

Thank you.

And then the same question with regards to NYC aging and LGBTQIA plus older adults seeking shelter and whether or not they're housed proper appropriately.

Thank you again.

So it's similar to the intake process that we offer for those who are veterans.

So we do have shelters that are specific to our mature unhoused population 55 plus or 60 plus who are unhoused.

And again, while we don't ask for their secular orientation, they can um complete the voluntary ID screener andor self-identify.

And for those individuals who have a mobility andor accessibility needs, the agency does offer what's called a reasonable accommodation process.

And this is for those individuals where the um accommodation is not apparent and or obvious.

So if someone has specific needs, they will complete this reasonable accommodation, they will go through the process, and we will place them into facilities that's specific to their mobility and accommodation needs.

Thank you for that.

And then Chair Fadias and I were discussing, I mean, it's we we totally understand obviously and particularly as legislators, the legal limitations that exist around identification, but we're curious to know how aggressively, for lack of a better word, you all are offering the opportunity for people to, you know, identify a particular way, because if it's if it's something where somebody mentions it in a passing conversation, as opposed to a staff and the front lines, you know, saying if you happen to identify this particular way, we have resources and services available to you to address specific needs.

So we're just trying to understand how aggressive those options are being provided.

And just as a, you know, an example for an accessibility need or a disability, I'm sure we're pretty aggressively offering if you have uh you know a need that or a disability that isn't visible to us, we want you to know that you know, are we doing the same for LGBTQIA plus folks that are coming through the system?

Thank you for that question.

So, while we don't want to necessarily push or force individuals to identify as such, again, we do ask if they want to complete the voluntary um gender ID screener.

So you're asking everybody that correct.

Okay.

And we're also asking for their preferred um name.

So some individuals may come in as Sonia, but I may say my preferred name is Samuel, and is that point that we will ask whether or not they want to voluntarily complete the um screener, and if not, if they say, you know, well, I identify this way and I wish to be placed in a shelter that, you know, based on how I identify, then we will accommodate that.

But again, we want to be sensitive and not overly aggressive with individuals that come into our shelter system and allow them to identify how they wish to do so.

And they may choose not to identify at intake, but perhaps they identify once they are placed in their shelter.

And again, they're offered the opportunity to say, you know what, I'd rather be placed in a shelter, you know, again, based on how I self-identify, and which we will allow them to transfer to that specific shelter as well.

I probably should have used proactively rather than aggressively.

I didn't mean to imply you should aggressively ask people, but the point is, and I just want to clarify are you actually asking everyone during intake if they'd like to complete the form, or is it only once somebody has perhaps shared some bit of information relevant that maybe then they're being offered the opportunity to complete that uh form or assessment?

Thank you.

So I would say it's both.

We are required to ask them, but again, if someone offers information, then the staff will definitely say, you know, please, you know, you should fill the um questionnaire, the gender screener.

Okay, thank you.

Um DSS says dedicated outreach to street homeless individuals.

What training do outreach workers receive in relation to engaging with LGBTQ plus individuals who are street homeless, especially in relation to supporting them, their transition into shelters.

Thank you for that question.

Um all DHS staff as well as DHS contractor providers are required to have an LGBTQIA plus training within 90 days of start date and with uh every two years thereafter.

So there is required training.

In addition, our providers uh may offer additional support and training.

Just one example that of training that's available to city and provider staff is the placement procedure training for transgender and gender nonconforming clients.

Um so that's one uh additional opportunity, and when it comes to coordinating placement in the shelter system, um I think particularly for folks who are on the street unhoused, we really do need to be um at least aspiring to creative individualized solutions for those folks.

We know our shelter system works pretty well for the vast majority of people, but for people who are on the streets today, we want to make sure we're offering those individualized solutions.

We we do train our our staff and our providers when new um opportunities for housing come on board, and so we're doing that kind of work, but also I'm particularly I'm particularly interested in understanding how individualized and creative we can be for people who are on the street.

Thank you.

And um, do you all track incidents of harassment, bullying, or violence towards LGBTQ plus shelter residents?

We do.

Um, and I'm I can provide that data for the for the last year if that's helpful.

Yeah, that'd be great.

Thank you.

Okay.

And I'm providing it in the way that it is tracked in our systems, which may not uh correspond exactly uh to the question.

So this is for uh July 1, 2025 through June 16th, 2026, so not through the full year.

Right.

Um, and so in terms of discrimination type uh for for gender discrimination across DHS shelters and HRA shelters, the count is 61.

I can break that down further if you'd like.

If you've got it for the I've got it, I've got it.

So um for gender for gender discrimination for DHS it's 54.

For HRA, it's seven for a total of 61 within the shelter system for TGNC discrimination for DHS 24 for HRA zero, and that's 24 for TGNC harassment within shelter for DHS five for HRA zero, so total of five, and then for TGNC retaliation in the DHS shelter system, that's two HRA that's zero, and for a total of two, so a total of uh 92 reports across that that system, and just um to note those figures reflect concern concerns raised through the IQ system that may come through the Ombudsman 311 nyc.gov, one number, mail, walk in, email does not include 911 calls, provider level managed complaints, uh other incidents.

Okay, do you track those other incidents though?

Um I'm gonna defer to um Deputy Commissioner Russell on the whether we have access to the shelter uh shelter level incidents.

Um 911 calls is certainly something I might think I mentioned in a previous hearing.

I'm trying to make sure we have ready access to across all of our shelters.

Thank you, Commissioner.

So, yes, as it relates to the shelter-related incidents, while I don't have that specific data with me today, we do track those incidents that are reported at a shelter level.

You do track them.

We do.

Do you have any numbers to share?

I actually do, I think.

And and also I would love the FY25 numbers if you have them.

Yeah, those as well.

Yeah.

All right.

So I can give you the FY FY25 numbers just as I did before.

So the category.

Yeah, that would be great.

Yep.

So starting with gender discrimination, DHS 46, HRA 11 for a count of 57, TGNC discrimination, DHS 7, HRA zero, total of seven, TGNC harassment, DHS 5, HRA 0 for a total of five, TGNC retaliation, DHS 6, HRA zero for a total of six.

And so thank you.

Yep.

And then I don't have we can, as Deputy Commissioner suggested, we can get you priority one incidents that I know are tracked.

I do have them for ACES Place and Marsha's house, if you'd like those.

And what are the standard actions?

Yes, I uh you can follow up with us with those if you want.

Um unless our council wants them to say it now on the record.

Okay.

Um and what are the standard actions that DSS may take in response to these reports?

And I've noticed obviously that the majority of these complaints uh almost almost the entirety of the complaints, if I'm not mistaken, are in DHS as opposed to HRA.

And so specifically with regards to DHS, what are uh you all doing to address these um complaints and experiences?

Yeah, I'll I'll start and the deputy commissioner wants to jump in.

Um I welcome that.

Um I mean it's our responsibility to investigate all of these complaints, and if there are systemic issues to work across the whole system to ensure that we make improvements, and we do that through our DSS Office of LGBTQIA plus affairs.

Um if there are shelter-specific issues, we certainly take those very seriously and work with the shelter to make changes and corrective action plans and so on.

Um, and whenever possible uh when we have the information, we do uh we do work to get that information back to the person who complained and work with them directly to share those those results.

Okay, no follow-up.

Thanks.

All right.

How many dedicated shelter beds exist for transgender and gender non-conforming people across the five boroughs?

I'll take that too.

Today there are 192 beds across four boroughs, so with uh two sites on the Bronx, one in Brooklyn, two in Queens, and two in Manhattan.

Can you give me the bed breakdown by borough?

Sure.

Um so for the Bronx uh 21 beds total, Brooklyn, five beds total, Queens 159 beds total, and Manhattan seven beds total.

Thank you.

Mariah Lopez versus New York City Department of Homeless Services resulted in settlement in which the city agreed to establish shelter units that serve and affirm trans non-binary and gender non-conforming people in every borough and improve policies and procedures to protect TGNC clients pursuant to this settlement, DHS is required to strengthen protections against retaliation for LGBTQIA plus residents who file complaints.

How have you implemented this?

And are there plans to put any beds in Staten Island?

Uh thank you for the question.

So the requirements in the Lopez settlement were specific to G T G and T GNC clients.

All agency and provider staff are required to receive training specific to respectfully working with this population and DHS requires that all new staff complete trainings within 90 days of hiring and refreshers every two years, as I mentioned.

We also have all staff sign a non-discrimination agreement and create a designated categories to track TGNC retaliation complaints.

Note that for every floor at ACES Place.

There's a way for people to complain.

I was out there uh recently and did uh take note compared to any other shelter that I've seen anywhere, um uh how how much care they take.

There's a QR code on the elevators, there's a paper form on on every single floor.

So from my uh perspective, they go out of their way at ACES Place to ensure that people have opportunity uh to complain.

Um, and uh also pursuant to the um to the settlement, we took a number of uh steps to improve the reporting procedures.

Um so we've uh adjusted the rights and responsibilities that every client receives and signs explicitly referring to the rights of LGBTQIA plus and TGNC clients.

Uh we've also for every TGNC client receives a brochure about their rights and how to report concerns outside of their shelter.

We updated our complaint tracking system to have designated categories.

Um so those are some of the ways that we've we've complied.

I cannot speak to um, but certainly um part of any planning process.

Uh I can't speak to whether we are um looking at additional beds in Staten Island, but certainly something I'll take note of.

Great, thank you.

Um I'm gonna pause briefly um and turn it over to Councilmember Wilson to ask a question.

Thank you, Chairs.

Um good morning.

I have um some questions I think best for DSS as well.

Um, first is around LGBTQ older adults.

Uh in 2017, a survey of of queer older adults, you know, nearly one quarter of the respondents earn less than 30% of area medium income, and nearly one in four of the respondents reported living in substandard housing, and some even in shelters.

So, what steps can we take to ensure that seniors uh have state stable, safe housing where their medical and social needs are met, and are there specific programs for LGBTQI plus seniors uh that may be in shelter.

Yeah, thank you for the question.

I'll start.

Um, yeah, I I I think across the country we've seen a rise in older adults uh facing homelessness, and um, you know, from my perspective, certainly not acceptable for um for our folks uh older folks on fixed incomes to be um at this stage in their life trying to figure out where they're gonna stay spend their next night.

And so I think all of our programs um diversion and so on are are of course available to older adults.

Um and I think it's a good point.

I I can't speak to the ways we might be working with our colleagues in aging, but it we have a great uh commissioner there that I'd love to work with to make sure people understand what's available, understand how they might be able to stay successfully within um within their homes, what we might do to um reduce entries into the system.

Um so that's something I can um take as a follow-up.

Um and um it is nice to hear again, being new to New York, that we have specific facilities and shelters for um 55 plus, 65 plus, and um I I suspect, and but I'll let the deputy commissioner speak to it, that there are good partnerships with um with the senior centers and other um aging systems within those within those shelters.

But let me let me see if she has something to add.

Thank you, Commissioner.

So um as Commissioner Dalton started out with our shelter providers do work directly with those um not for profits that perhaps offer assistance for our more mature population um that again that are 55 or 60 plus, so we give uh a level of autonomy with to those providers to build those relationships with organizations that can tailor their services for those that are in that particular shelter.

Um there are programs uh now just pivoting to to support with folks with HIV and AIDS.

There are, you know, there's programs like the Ryan White Parte housing and HIV emergency shelter allowance that are really important ways to connect to people with HIV and AIDS to housing, but you know, they're they're established a long time ago, usually in the height of the uh the epidemic.

And how can we update these programs for the needs of the present?

Yeah, I'm doing there, yeah.

Thank you.

So good morning, um John Rojas.

Um you're right.

Uh a lot of the programs were created.

Ryan White, I believe, was created in 1991.

Uh the Ryan White Parte grant, um, HAPO equally in 1992.

Um both Ryan White um and Hopa, the Housing Opportunity Persons AIDS, through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, have modified and revised their programs recently, HOPA most recently did a hopper modernization.

In the past, they used to calculate how they gave money to eligible metropolitan statistical areas through AIDS only, not including persons with HIV.

And that was changed.

Also in the past, they used to use statistical calculations, including persons who were deceased, instead of including persons who were living and newly diagnosed but not AIDS diagnosed.

So luckily that changed and it really did change the portfolio of the services.

Actually, New York City um took a hit and in probably not probably say this, but it should have more appropriately um divvied up the money to localities across the country who really did need the money more based on a growing number of cases in other states.

So there are um on the federal level modernization and updates to the um to the programs on the local level.

Um the HIV Hate Services Administration HASA has a participant who sits on the HIV Ryan White Planning Council, that's the executive deputy commissioner Jacqueline Dudley.

She sits on the Ryan White Party Planning Council and gives input as overseeing HASA and the services that we provide on how we can update the services, including the aging population of folks living with HIV and AIDS.

Thank you.

And then just one question about um LGBTQ youth.

Um there have you know there have been some organizations that have advocated for like targeting housing assistance programs that consist of one-time cash payments to youth at risk of homelessness along with housing navigation and financial coaching and other forms of guidance uh in order to prevent youth homelessness.

Just curious your opinions on the efficiency of that method and if that's something that's ever been considered.

Uh that's a great question.

Thank you for that.

The um there's been a few um pilots with for young people who are experiencing homelessness, and the it's uh it's you know any resource that could help prevent homelessness and to support young people and to kind of relieve the stress burden that they're experiencing by offering um cash is a is a good idea, um, but at this moment there's no program that uh DYCD is prof is working on is undergoing right now.

The pilots that you mentioned were of those taking place in the city here?

Yeah, they were um it was they were partnerships um with CBOs and one was um the Trust Youth Initiative with Ali Fourney Center and Point Source Youth, and then Point Source Youth is also working on other um groups, and then there's one at Covenant House.

And that's a I've just told you just about all I know about how they're going.

So but yeah, it's a it's a good resource um in in theory.

And I'll say again, coming in, obviously, and still being new and still being planning.

I think that ideas like that and pilot initiatives are very smart.

Um I think again in terms of the framing as I put it down when we look at sort of the drivers of homelessness and housing and security, and especially as that's broken down um by race and socioeconomic status, direct assistance is what people need across the spectrum.

And so I think um, you know, we certainly have to be smart about that in terms of like when we say direct cash, but does that mean working directly with landlords or having contracts with specific um housing projects or creating those housing projects where we have sort of the direct abilities to fund those things to make sure that people have the stability they need, but again, also tying into that pilot initiative and those kinds of programs?

What we is or what I'm understanding is generally described as wraparound services, but moving people towards independence and self-sustainability, so that means ensuring that people are have the educational opportunities, have the employment opportunities to eventually become self-sufficient.

But I will say just hearing like a a one-time shot, and I think there's something, there's programs like that.

I think it requires a more sustained um um investment.

Thank you.

Um okay.

Uh back to DSS.

So, what increased oversight and accountability measures has DHS implemented to address discrimination and unsafe conditions for LGBTQ plus shelter residents.

Thank you.

So we take the dignity and safety of our clients seriously, and we continually monitor conditions to ensure shelter conditions are safe and supportive.

And depending on the circumstances, our responsive are proactive or sometimes reactive.

As relates to the proactive side, our DHS code of conduct mandates that clients have the right not to be discriminated against due to their sexual orientation or gender identity and not be discriminated against by other clients.

The trainings that DHS staff and providers are required to take speak to how to handle these complaints of discrimination from LGBTQI plus and TGNC communities.

We monitor whether staff or providers have taken the required training.

On the reactive side, we do review the data as it relates to incidences and we have conversations with our providers when we notice that there's an uptick or a trend that's starting to occur, and we work on how to mitigate those concerns.

Depending on the level of the complaint, we will make transfer of accommodation make a transfer or other accommodations where we deem necessary as a result.

Provider accountability is consistent in all cases.

DHS shelf shelter operations staff will make regular on-site visits to these locations to ensure safety standards are being upheld by our providers.

And the transfer or accommodations, is that in reference to the residents or the staff?

Like if if there's a complaint about a staff, how are you addressing that?

Are you moving the resident or are you moving the staff?

So depending on the circumstances, it may be that we move the staff or it may be that we move the resident.

Sometimes the resident may request to be transferred, and we will accommodate them accordingly.

Okay.

Um I j I just want to make the point that I think, and I'm sure you all share this, but sometimes what we say in theory doesn't always match what happens in practice, and so um I think it's important to start with the staff.

If a staff needs to be relocated, especially considering you know the the shelter population, um, and making sure that we're addressing whatever needs to happen at the staff level before we're moving residents that might be in shelter.

And I agree with you.

Yeah, I knew you would.

Um, how is DHS working to better address the unique needs of LGBTQIA plus individuals?

I guess you sort of address that, but I I'll just add I'll just add two things.

It is um uh a real asset to have the DSS office of LGBTQIA Plus Affairs um to sit, of course, over um both DHS and HRA in all of our programs and be another place where um we can be out in the community understanding the issues where that is separate from the shelter system and I hope is seen as as uh independent from from the rest of our services, understand those needs uh again be in community and also again just to mention I mentioned this in my testimony, but we're really excited about the advisory committee that will be standing up later this fall for TGNC uh uh identifying folks uh in particular to help inform us on how the system can uh we can improve services across both DHS and HRA.

So I think in addition to what we've already raised, those two assets I think will be uh will be um important.

Uh thank you and I uh failed to acknowledge that we've also been joined by council member nurse and uh public advocate Williams, who I believe would like to share some remarks.

Thank you, madam.

Hello, hello.

Uh thank you, madam chair.

Much appreciated.

Um I'm still riding high, so I want to say Nixon Five.

Skips that's that's just how I say hello.

Um good afternoon, peace and blessing love to everyone.

My name is Jamani Williams, public advocate for the city of New York.

I'd like to thank Chair Furries, Chair Hudson, members of the women in gender equity and general welfare committee for holding this hearing for the opportunity to share testimony and the admin who's here as well.

Uh New York City is currently in the midst of an unparalleled housing crisis, uh, one that is uh making it difficult for immigrants, uh young people in marginalized communities to obtain any sort of afford any sort of affordable housing.

Rising costs and a lack of deeply affordable housing has slowly but surely pushed more and more New Yorkers from the communities and neighborhoods they have called home.

Forgot to mention this is uh opening statement in the middle of the hearings, but thank you for allowing me to make it.

Uh LGBTQIA plus uh individuals are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis and by discrimination in the rental and senior housing markets.

Research done by Homewood NYC shows that despite representing 7% of the general population, LGBTQ plus youth make up roughly forty percent of unhoused youth.

They face high levels of harassment and violence on the street, shelters and shelter system.

LGBTQ young people are more likely to engage in sex work or survival sex and uh are at high risk for sexual assault.

LGBTQ plus youth consider suicide at more the about four times the rate of their heterosexual insistent appears, and they're up to four times more likely to attempt suicide.

Studies have also shown that housing providers are less likely to respond to rental inquiries from same-sex couples as housing costs continue to rise, many LGBTQ plus seniors on fixed income struggle to remain in their homes and communities and thus are forced to look for alternative living arrangements.

With many facilities run by provider organizations or religiously affiliated groups, LGBTQ plus elders frequently are at risk of facing discrimination in assisted living facilities and or senior housing, and therefore face harassment or pressure to hide their sexual orientation or gender identity.

With increasing attacks from the federal administration or transgender and gender nonconforming siblings face significant barriers in the traditional uh shelter system, often experience targeted violence or a lack of appropriate resources both to discrimination but also a lack uh also due to lack of funding and uh resources.

I do want to make sure we highlight the intersection of uh LGBTQIA plus and being black and brown or immigrant, the intersection makes it even worse.

I always want to highlight uh black trans women in particular who seem to have uh the brunt of uh what's happening.

Housing is a human right, and as a city, we need to ensure that all New Yorkers have equal access to stable housing regardless of their sexuality or gender identity.

Under New York City's human rights law, it is illegal for landlords, real estate agents, or co-op condo owned boards to refuse housing, charge higher rent, or harass individuals based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender.

And at least for now, fair housing laws also make discrimination based on HIV aid status or gender dysphoria illegal.

I'll be remiss in not mentioning the efforts of organizations like Ali Fourney, who established the B Author House, and an 18-bed transitional housing facility in Manhattan for LGBTQIA plus youth and Sage, who continues to support LGBTQIA plus seniors with housing, but we must endeavor to do more.

We as a city must continue to push more affordable and sustainable housing for LGBTQIA plus individuals with a particular focus on housing for the youth and seniors already at a higher risk of homelessness.

Look forward to continuing the discussion today and how my office can continue to support this important work and how we as a city can continue to fight for more equitable New York for all.

And I would say I think the results of the uh races last night really highlight how important this is and how much New York wants to see everyone be able to be housed.

Lastly, I do want to just lift up the name of uh the late Lou Fidler.

May you rest in peace.

Um, this type of housing was actually something that he was very big on, even though his community was not.

So I just want to lift him up for the work that he did on this.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, public advocate.

Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled hearing.

Uh how um I just want to go back to the the staff training.

You you said for um new employees, there's they're required to do the training within 90 days of employment, and then what is the subsequent training after that?

Is it annual?

Every two years.

Sorry, can you just say that into the microphone?

I can.

Every two years.

Okay, thank you.

Um, all right.

ACES Place is the city's first trans and gender nonconforming dedicated shelter following the Lopez settlement and was opened in 2022.

Of the one hundred and fifty beds available at ACES Place, how many are currently occupied.

Yeah I have that.

Um, as of um last week, um there were uh there were 109 individuals at ACES Place which um I I think open in 2025 that's what I have open in 2025 that's what I have yeah okay and sorry I just wanted to reference something in your okay I'll look for that in a second yeah how were uh referrals made for ACES Place yep I will um I'll start and um certainly if the deputy commissioner wants to add anything um it's as we've described at intake uh we ask everyone if they would like to complete a gender identity screener and if um if they um if that if the right if the if their identity suggests ACES place then we would make that offer um amongst other um considerations and just to also note um again this was I think uh stated by the deputy commissioner but um likely we do have a number of folks um who identify later um whether in their current shelter or to their case manager in which case we across all of our programs and shelters um would seek to to make accommodations to have people in the in the right place.

Okay thank you um and sorry I just want to jump to DYCD for one second and just ask of the 40,000 young people you serve annually um are those all unique numbers so or are they repeat clients coming through?

Like you might you count somebody more than once if they're seeking services more than once?

Yes they would be doing it.

Okay do you know how many of the 4000 are unique um or like a percentage a lot um we count outreach for um outreach activities and so the outreach we don't have we don't have uh unduplicated outreach there's thousands of people that we reach out to the drop in centers um go out and do presentations at schools uh other community based organizations and tabling events so that's part of that forty thousand okay yeah okay thanks if it's possible to break any of that down at a later date we would love the follow up um and then just going back to ACEs place um what type of inspection oversight is taking place there um is that where you mentioned you visited recently commissioner I just want to know that there have been recent reports of subpar living conditions safety issues and harassment um so it'd be great if you can just provide an update on how DSS is handling these issues and what type of oversight you all are providing sorry yes uh thank you for the question um it's my understanding that some of the complaints that you're referring to uh were related to facility issues when the pipes burst during the extended code blue um and that was addressed expediently and clients were moved to rooms with heat and water um we we certainly take all complaints very seriously there's an assigned DHS program administrator who works closely with ACES Place to ensure compliance um there were also complaints about alleged client harassment that were investigated and resulted in continued discussions with clients regarding respecting gender identity and expression of other clients and staff and additional training for staff was put in place to better support the diversity of gender expression and gender identity um there um yes and as I said in terms of the actual physical conditions of the location I found the shelter to um be very nice um and um you know went in several rooms the common spaces um throughout the building, the offices, the um where the psychiatric nurse works and so on.

And so from a physical perspective um I found uh ACES Place to be an uh really nice with really nice outdoor space.

Um, but that of course doesn't speak to uh how people might be treated there, which I think we take very seriously.

Um and I think just to highlight sort of the cooperation amongst agencies coming into office, they took a survey of all litigations uh against the city um dealing with LGBTQI issues, including there is ongoing litigation um around that around the settlement agreement um specifically.

Um, and so I just want to flag that those issues were brought to to our office as well, including the letter that was sent to the mayor um back in February.

So it's something that we have paid attention to.

I've been in touch with um the DSS director of um LGBTQI affairs, Brentwoodfield, and have also planned a visit to ACES Place, um, as well as the other um um dedicated sites for TGNC people.

Okay, great, thank you.

And those are um you've scheduled them, so they will be occurring, or have you visited any of them as of yet?

Well, one was actually supposed to happen today, but that's my we're in the midst of rescheduling now, um and the other ones will be scheduled, and also it's gonna be an opportunity to meet directly with um the people that are being housed there and also the staff.

Right, okay, great, thank you so much.

Um according to uh local law 95 Q4 of 2025 report, there were only 478 LGBTQ plus individuals listed as being served by DHS when a typical day has at least 50,000 adults in shelter.

This is only one percent of the shelter population, while by comparison, almost 40% of the clients DYCD serves in their shelter identify as LGBTQ.

What do you think the reason is for such a low LGBTQ plus population in adult shelters, especially given that many reports have found that LGBTQ plus individuals are more likely to be housing insecure than non-LGBTQ plus individuals?

Yeah, I mean, I uh frankly think it's the way, of course, that we are required to administer the survey, which happens at intake, is anonymous and um not related, uh connected for lots of very good reasons to anyone's placement um or um services, and so I think it's it's just a voluntary um uh while while while it's present and available um when people are doing and have all kinds of other issues going on in their lives, conducting, you know, filling out a survey is probably not their their primary um their primary concern.

And so I think you know, I said it in my testimony, I think we we acknowledge this well under counts the um the uh the people who would identify otherwise um in a in a different in a different manner, and so I think um we do I think treat the system though as if it is more diverse than what we see in in that survey um and seek to have the kind of services and supports that will support everyone.

Thank you.

And then how is data collected um for that report?

What sources are used and how and at what point during intake does DSS ask for people to identify as LGBTQ?

Okay, so the data for uh L 95 is based on individuals who meet at least one of the following criteria.

They are either in a TGNC designated bed, they are in ACES Place or Marsh's house, or they have self-identified as T G and C.

Okay, thank you.

I'm gonna kick it back to Chair Ferdias to ask a few follow-up questions.

Yeah, I just have a a couple questions based off of some responses.

In terms of the staff trainings that occur, how are you assessing your training efficiency?

Is it is there like a post-case management referral?

Is it going off of any responses from any of the folks that are experiencing you know um the case managers on site?

What's what's the assessment look like?

If any assessment is done at all.

That's a great question, Chair.

Um, currently we just track data as it relates to those that are taking the survey.

So we have information that relates to the DHS staff that takes to survey as well as the provider staff that takes to survey, but to your question, we don't have anything specific to track the post-training.

Um, so that's a great question.

Yeah, I I would encourage us to consider looking at that just because of the population we're serving.

We want to make sure that there is a a debrief within ourselves about what we're we're doing.

So I would consider that.

Um then I, you know, I just I don't know, I kind of been wrecking my brain here about like the data aggregation, the data collection.

I understand to what you stated earlier around the sensitivity with not having to um force anyone to identify just because of a potential resource or anything like that.

I do think as a city, we should be more of the direct communicator, whether it's with the outreach or the encouragement to get people to uh to be encouraged to identify as as soon as we can, because that's like the early that that is the way we can have early prevention or the earliest prevention marker.

Um so whether we're being aggressive or having direct communication, I do think it should be from us because the worst outcome could that could happen is that people still choose to just not, you know, check that box or you know, self-identify, and um I'd rather us not be the we want to consider the the sensitivity of it and rather just be really, really um direct and c in that in that communication so we can get people the services that they deserve.

Um and and really like I think the the point I wrote from myself was like at the end of the day, bureaucracy really is centered around data aggregation and um whether it's through through a one data that we're aggregating in a local community or whether it's for you know serving our LGBTQ plus neighbors um with direct services and resources, um, I I really just want us to think about how we're we're how we're going to make a generational shift for the next generation with the time that we have in front of us now through through the services we're providing or through the budgetary fights that we're trying to, you know, gain every budget cycle or through readapting our data aggregation because it's really it is the the point that we use to to fund and operate everything in the city.

So I just really would appreciate you folks thinking more about that and creating generational shifts.

Yeah, just to comment and and um there might be other comments as well.

I I mean I I agree, and I think just to separate the two things, um the survey itself is not related to people's care and accommodations.

I'm sure you know that, but I'm I'm certainly open to partnering um uh with folks in the community um across this um across the city to think about how we might um otherwise uh in a safe and effective manner understand the population that we're serving better because um this is not the you know this this is not yielding those kinds of those kinds of that kind of information such that we have to have other information to to augment it.

Yeah.

Yeah, and I'll just add, I think a part of this, and I sort of mentioned this in in my testimony and sort of assessing current agency data practices and gaps and research that's needed because ultimately I think in terms of the ideas that I have in advancing um rights and resources, I think across the spectrum, um, it really is heavy in data.

I think about especially when you think about it from a litigation risk and litigation perspective and how we move legislation.

But one component I think that certainly needs to be assessed and is something that I'm trying to make time to do is looking at our privacy laws.

I think with the NYU Lingon situation, we've now come to understand sort of the reach the federal government can have, even if it is uh hopefully it will be held in lawful as it has in 20 other instances, 21 now, I believe.

Um, but I think we need to examine the extent that both our state and our city privacy laws, the ways in which we can use them to protect the kind of information that we need whenever it's used for a hostile purpose specifically.

I think that's well within the powers of the state um and within the city, um, you know, through um, well at least as I understand the law.

Um, and so I think that's something that both city council and I think um the mayoral administration would certainly be looking into and something I've I've prioritized amongst my ever growing priority list.

Yeah, I appreciate responses.

Thank you.

Uh I'll now pass it over to Councilmember Nurse for questions.

Thank you so much.

I just have one question, which may lead to another one, but um this is based on an experience I had with a young person who was in a um LGTBQ home in the city, undocumented youth.

So what happens after, I believe after after he turned 21, kind of was not able to continue to participate with a lot of services.

Um what happens with undocumented youth who are transitioning out of shelter, um, who can't get into NYCHA or things like that.

What kind of programs or pathways are set up so that they can be successful in the city, at least in securing housing?

Yeah, that that's a great question.

And and because of the recent surgeon um immigrants who came in recently, it's been it's been on our minds a lot.

Um the resources, so we've been expanding the number of shelter beds that are available for um residential beds that are available for 21 to 24 year olds.

So that helps um prolong the amount of time that people can stay in our service in our services.

Um at DYCD.

We also um the state has recently um released housing program called the housing um access voucher program that um immigrants are eligible for, undocumented individuals are eligible for, so that's something that is available to New Yorkers.

Um, thank you for that.

This was um probably like 2017, 2018.

This was before before our terrible president right now, or actually at the after, but you know, it wasn't like this.

Um so I think it's just interesting to see that there's I'm glad to hear that, but a gap in how are folks gonna be able to get set up and work and get a housing if they've if they're by themselves and have been by themselves for a long time.

Council member, um, I'd like to offer um additional um supports that are offered through DSS.

Um, as you know, we're committed to connecting New Yorkers to um stable housing and keeping them stably housed.

Um we do have a rental assistance program called Shares Special Housing Assistance Resources funded by the state, and it is specific for um individuals or households that are in shelter that can't access the other uh government subsidies, and so um that's available to that population.

It is provided irrespective of orientation or expression.

Um and I just want to add too, as a part of, and I think I mentioned this before um you came in um as part of the inherited work we've um the mayor's office of LGBTQIA Ferris has inherited um from the Unity Project in collaboration with the mayor's office of immigration affairs under local law 73.

We're currently working on a rights and resources specifically for migrant um LGBTK New Yorkers, um, and so this will be something um that we specifically address and including the ways that we disseminate that information to make sure people are aware of the resources and that we're being proactive about it.

Um I know that the report to council is due in November, I believe, um, but I think you know we're trying to get ahead of schedule as we can.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chair Chairs.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Um I'd like to shift um to HASA.

Uh does HRA know what percent of HASA clients also identify as LGBTQA plus?

We uh we don't uh collect data on on sexual orientation though.

We do collect data on um transgender uh non-binary and gender nonconformance that is five percent about eighteen hundred or so clients identify as uh transgender, gender non-conforming or non-binary.

Sorry, five percent of eighteen hundred or five percent is equivalent to eight.

Is equivalent to eighteen hundred or so of the total HASA case load.

Got it.

Thank you.

Federal funding for HIV services is at risk, including HAPA and the Ryan White HIV program, HASA's housing program uses federal funding from the HOPA program, and there have been recent proposals to eliminate those grants grants entirely, incorporating this funding into larger block grants.

Does HRA have a plan for how it will preserve services for this population should federal funding be limited or discontinued?

Luckily, in in the prior year, both programs were at risk and continue to be funded till today.

So that's that's good news.

Um but we're watching the developments in the federal budget closely.

Should Hopwood be discontinued?

We will work closely with our partners in the city and federal level to ensure our funding needs are being met to maintain these services.

We're really hoping and advocating for that.

Um are you flagging this for OMB?

Yes.

Like so they are aware that should federal funding be eliminated that they would have to fill in the gap.

Those conversations are ongoing.

Okay.

Great, thank you.

Local law 130 of 2021 requires that DSS, quote, complete a review of the services and resources provided to LGBTQI plus individuals entering domestic violence emergency shelters, including but not limited to efforts aimed at data collection about LGBTQI plus individuals utilizing domestic violence emergency shelter, and shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the city council and post on its website a written report including the following information, end quote.

How many people were offered the survey and what percent of those offered the survey responded?

Thank you for the question.

I'm Vima Vivera, Deputy Commissioner for HRA's domestic violence services.

So we don't track uh uh how many people were offered the survey, but I can tell you that for our submission for Canada Year 2024, which we submitted in 2025, there were 16,318 responses to the survey of those who responded, 16% identified as LGBTQI plus.

There were 114 DVS respondents, 25 percent of them of 25% of whom identified as LGBTQI.

I'm sorry, what was that last number?

114.

114 DBS respondents, of which 25% identified as LGBTQI.

There were 8,906 cash assistance respondents, of which 16% identified as LGBTQ.

I'm sorry, I'm sure I'm moving slowly here.

Can you repeat that last number?

Sure.

There were 8,000 906 cash assistance respondents.

Okay.

And that percentage was 16%.

16%.

And sorry, the first statistics 16,318 with 16%.

What was that for specifically?

Uh how many respondents?

Uh uh, right in total responding to the survey.

Okay, cash assistance was the last one.

Uh there's a couple more.

There was 915 ID NYC respondents.

That's nine hundred and fifteen, of which eighteen percent identified as LGBTQI, and six thousand three hundred and eighty-three snap SNAP respondents.

Of which 15% identified as LGBTQI.

Okay.

Thank you.

That was for calendar year 2024.

Right.

That was submitted in 2025.

We're in the project.

Do you have calendar year 2025?

In the process of gathering that information.

Okay, it would be great if you could follow up with us whenever you have that.

When do you usually have that available?

Actually, they just reached out to my office uh a couple of weeks ago.

Okay.

It's due in August, but they got it.

They tapped my shoulder in.

Okay.

As that I start gathering.

Okay, great.

Thank you so much.

And um, can you just share how personal information is protected among these respondents?

So this information is voluntary, it's kept confidential, it's anonymous, so this information is not shared.

Okay.

Do any respondents express concern about completing the survey in relation to retaliation or data privacy?

And if so, how do you manage those concerns?

I'm not aware of anyone who uh has uh elevated any concerns regarding the survey, but I would imagine that if they were concerns, we would again emphasize that these uh respon this these responses are confidential, they're anonymous, and that they serve to guide and inform our work.

Thank you.

And for the calendar year 2022 report, HRA reported that in calendar year 2022, DVS did not receive any inquiries or complaints regarding domestic violence emergency shelter services provided to residents who identified as LGBTQIA plus.

This includes any inquiries or complaints forwarded via the internet quorum or IQ system.

Do you know how many complaints regarding DV emergency shelters did DHS receive during this period in general?

At this time, our program can't I I can't give an accurate counts of the emergency shelter complaints in 2022 for our IQ system, but I do also want to note that our shelters are overseen by OCFS, they receive operating certificates and OCFS uh regulates our shelters, and if there are any complaints, are the residents usually submit those complaints directly to OTFS and uh HRA serving as the local social service district does not have uh any uh not privy to what these complaints are unless the client signs consent for us to to know of them.

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

I can't say one way or another, but I can say that I think that that's it's so important for us to kind of message the importance of disclosure.

Um it's it's and also emphasize that it's voluntary and and we understand it's deeply personal, but the goal is really, although we don't want to pressure self-disclosure.

I think there are ways in which we can encourage self-disclosure.

I think uh the way we ask uh clients uh uh to to identify is very important.

I think we uh need to also, for instance, with our DB providers that you know when a client comes to a DV shelter, they they're in the moment of crisis, they may not be uh of the mindset mindset to share that information.

So perhaps it would be best to obtain this information once we build trust and to come back and enter that information in our database so that we can have that information.

So I understand why the numbers are so low at time of intake, but I think we just need to encourage that we build trust and and let clients know why this information is is needed, ask it in a way where it's welcomed and uh to receive and make sure that it's documented in our systems data systems.

Thank you.

Um I think that uh concludes our question um section, but I do want to just note before I turn it back over to Chair Fidias.

Um, you know, I know that you all are all uh willing partners in this work, and I just want to encourage you to continue to be proactive in how we're assessing and addressing and serving the needs of um all of our unique populations in the shelter system, um, but particularly the LGBTQA plus uh TGNC populations.

Um it seems like there's great collaboration across the board and um through all of the agencies, and so I hope that that that work continues and thank you all for your testimonies today.

Thank you.

Yeah, we're super appreciative of of all of you showing up and answering all of our questions and obviously want to remain active partners with you.

We're all trying to consistently remain proactive versus reactive, especially in government.

Um so thank you all again.

And you this this portion of the hearing, you all are free to go.

Um, well it would be nice if you stick around and listen to some of the public testimony.

Um, we are now going to open the hearing for public testimony.

Um, as folks are leaving the dais.

I would like to remind members of the public that this is a government proceeding and that decorum shall be observed at all times.

Members of the public shall remain silent unless called upon to testify.

All testimony must be relevant to today's hearing on housing instability among LGBTQ plus individuals in New York City.

I'm going to repeat that.

All testimony must be relevant to today's hearing on housing instability among LGBTQ individuals in New York City.

If remarks stray from the subject matter, speakers will be reminded of the topic and asked to refocus their comments.

The witness table is reserved for people who wish to testify.

No video recording or photography is allowed from the witness table.

Further, members of the public may not present audio or video recordings as testimony, but may submit transcripts of such recordings to the sergeant at arms for inclusion in the hearing record.

If you wish to speak at today's hearing and you have not done so, please fill out an appearance slip with the sergeant at arms and wait to be recognized.

When recognized, you will have two minutes to speak on today's oversight topic and or legislation.

Friendly reminder, you can submit a longer testimony, but you are reserved to just two minutes.

We read all testimony that is submitted.

If you have a written statement or additional written testimony you wish to submit for the record, please provide a copy of that testimony to the sergeant at arms.

You may also email written testimony to testimony at counsel.nyc.gov.

Within 72 hours of this hearing, audio and video recordings will not be accepted.

I will now call the first panel.

Ready Chatney Gudrati.

And Nedalyn Helena Diaz to the dais.

Apologies for any mispronunciations.

One more time.

Alex Guevara, ready, Chatney Goodratti and Netaline Helena Diaz.

Perfect.

Uh Alex, we can begin.

Do you have to click the button on the mic and it'll light up for you?

Oh, gotcha.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Thank you for letting me know.

Okay.

Hi everyone.

My name is Alex Guevara, and I'm a youth advocate at the Ali Fournay Center.

I'm speaking as a queer and trans person who is living through what many LGBTQ plus young people have experienced.

For LGBTQ youth, homelessness is so much steeper than not having a place to sleep.

It's about rejection, instability, and survival.

This is also the case for me as family rejection caused me to need a RHY services.

These experiences cost a lot of pain, and I could not work on healing while waiting for a steady place to stay.

So I had to sleep in chairs or on top of a table.

My case manager didn't refer me to Marcia's house, a DHS shelter, and I stayed there for two weeks.

Marcia's felt more like a prison.

We were yelled at by staff while going about our daily activities, and we were dead named.

It was made clear that we were just another case to solve.

But we're not just that.

We're people with trauma, but most importantly, with stories that deserve to be respected and heard.

If they hired LGBTQ staff, it would have been a much better environment.

Thanks to the city funding of a hundred new beds for 21 to 24 year olds.

AFC was able to open up a new emergency housing site.

Without that site opening, I easily could have been on the wait list for up to six months instead of a month.

Today I live in AFC's traditional housing program.

And I'm looking into rapid rehousing or supportive housing as my next step.

But the options are extremely limited, and the supportive housing process will take at least another year.

If youth had access to vouchers, I could have easily moved out on my own sooner.

To end, I just want to say we as queer youth deserve a housing program that feels like home, where we can find community and where we can feel comfortable.

We'll welcome you staff and peers.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your testimony.

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to testify today.

My name is Chaitanya Gunrati, and I'm a member of the Youth Action Board of New York City.

The Youth Action Board is made up of young people with lived experience of homelessness.

Our goal is to help shape programs, policies that affect runaway and homeless youth in New York City, and to ensure that their voices are heard.

I'm here today because I know firsthand how difficult it is to navigate housing instability as a young person when you do not know where to where you're going to sleep at night, everything becomes harder, like finding a job, continuing your education, taking care of your health, and so on.

Throughout my work with the YAB, I have learned that LGBTQIA plus youth face some of the highest risks of homelessness.

While they represent estimated 5 to 10% of overall youth population, they make up as much as 40% of youth experiencing homelessness.

Many are pushed out by family rejection, discrimination, unsafe home environments, etc.

Despite this disproportionate need, resources, and funding have not kept pace, leaving many young people without access to stable and affirming support.

For LGBTQIA plus immigrant youth, these challenges are often even more severe.

Many come from countries where they face discrimination, persecution, or criminalization because of their identity.

After arriving in the United States, they often encounter additional barriers to housing, legal services, healthcare, and community support.

However, there is no dedicated city funding stream specifically focused on the LGBTQIA plus immigrant communities, leaving some of our most vulnerable youth without targeted affirming services.

This is why I support expanding housing options for LGBTQIA plus youth and increasing funding for organizations that provide affirming services.

I urge the council to expand LGBTQIA plus youth housing, increase investment in affirming services, and establish the proposed $15 million LGBTQI plus immigration fund.

No young person should have to face homelessness alone because of their identity or immigration status.

Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you for your testimony.

You suppose click your microphone.

Yep.

Good morning, but it's not morning.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the council.

My name is Nedeling Helena Diaz, and I am the co-chair of the New York City YAB Youth Action Board and an outreach specialist with Housing Works, LGBTQ plus IA, housing assistance program.

Through my work with housing works, I connect LGBTQ individuals experiencing homelessness or housing instability with housing resources, supportive services, and pathways to stability.

In my outreach, I've met many young people who have been rejected by their families, forced to leave their homes, or left without a safe place to go simply because of who they are.

I have worked with youth sleeping on friends' couch, cycling through shelters, or trying to survive without any support system.

The emotional toll of rejection, discrimination, and housing instability is something no young person should have to endure.

Unfortunately, these stories are far too common.

According to the research from the Trevor Project, 28% of LGBTQ youth have experienced homelessness or housing instability.

Among youth who were kicked out of their homes, 40% said it was because of their LGBTQ identity.

More than half of those who ran away reported doing so because of mistreatment or fear of mistreatment related to their identity.

These experiences have lasting consequences.

LGBTQ, youth experiencing homelessness or housing instability were found to have two to four times greater odds of reporting depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide attempts compared to those with stable housing.

That is why I support the coalition's call for a 15 million LGBTQ, IA plus Immigration Fund.

Many LGBTQ IA plus immigration immigrants faced compounded barriers included housing instability, legal insecurity, language barriers, and difficulty assessing affirming services.

I also support the 10 million supports for persons involved in the sex trade.

Housing is more than shelter.

It is safety opportunity and hope.

I urge the council to continue investing in solutions that ensure every New Yorker has access to safe and stable housing.

Thank you for your time and the opportunity to testify.

Thank you folks for coming in to testify today.

This um you are now excused from the dais.

Thank you so much.

We have no questions.

I would like to call up the following folks to testify.

Asher Blacheney, Black Blockney.

I can't see the last couple letters.

Apologies.

Brian J.

Ellicott Cook, Nadia Swanson, Eva Jacrow, and Ethan Lowe.

Is there an Asher present?

Thank you.

Is there an Asher on the dais?

Okay, so Brian, you can begin.

Good afternoon, chairs, members of the committee.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak on housing instability among LGBTQ plus New Yorkers, particularly LGBTQ older adults.

My name is Brian Ellicott Cook, and I serve as the director of government relations at Sage.

Sage is the country's oldest and largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT plus older adults here in New York City.

We provide housing supportive services and community-based program to thousands of older adults each year, including through our LGBTQ plus affirming housing developments like Stonewall House in Brooklyn and Cortona Pride House in the Bronx.

And yet LGBT New Yorkers are far more likely to experience housing instability nationally.

Approximately 40% of LGBTQ plus older adults live below the poverty line, and fewer than half, just 49%, own their own homes compared to 65% of the general population.

These disparities are driven by a lifetime of this of discrimination and employment, housing, and access to benefits combined with higher rates of social isolation and the greater likelihood of aging without traditional family support.

Here in New York City, broader homelessness crises among older adults underscore the urgency of these challenges.

The number of individuals age 55 and older in the shelter system has increased approximately 250% between 2004 and 2017, with those aged 65 increasing more than 300%.

Without intervention, that population is projected to continue to grow significantly in the coming years within the already vulnerable group of LGBTQ older adults who face greater risks of housing insecurity, discrimination, and unsafe placement.

At this time, there are very limited affirming housing options available while New York City has allowed us to make those developments at Stonewall House in Brooklyn and Quetona in the Bronx.

The total supply of affirming housing for LGBT holder adults remains extremely limited and real and very much needed.

However, HUD's recent proposal to eliminate the access rule threatens to resort reserve reverse all of this process, and we must be prepared to fight for that.

As this committee examines housing insecurity among LGBT plus individuals, there is one thing I want to recommend.

The agency's idea of safety signals for more people to self-identify in those first moments to an ally or a community member would make all the difference.

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon.

My name is Nadia Swanson, pronouns they them.

I'm the director of advocacy and global programs at the Ali Fournay Center.

Tonight, hundreds of LGBT 16 to 24 year olds will sleep on the streets or in drop-in centered chairs, waiting six months for a crisis bed after escaping unfathomable levels of abuse.

Without stability, therefore the risk of criminalization, sexual violence, decompensating mental and physical health, substance misuse, and profound developmental harm.

90% of AFC's youth are BIPOC and come from low-income households, 20% of the youth at Rikers or LGBT.

And since 2020, we have grieved 25 deaths, and those are just the ones we know of.

LGBT unhoused youth die at more than double the rates of their peers.

These connections are not coincidental.

We serve over 2,000 youth a year.

We have 400 on a wait list for a bed, and last year that number was 300.

When youth had access to vouchers, it was under 100.

And youth moved into stable housing with an increase by 350%.

Now there are none, and there's a bottleneck.

Statewide, RHY rose more than 70% in a single year.

The funding structure guarantees failure.

DYCD pays 50K per bed per year.

The real cost is 80K.

That gap has real human consequences.

The state and city exec cut RHY funding.

The mayor's housing plan did not include any housing youth can access through DYCD, and HUD proposed gutting the equal access rule.

The shameful thing is this is fixable and it's not expensive.

We've been telling you what works.

Youth homelessness can be rare, brief, non-recurring, and safe.

We need the city to raise the RHY beds to 80K, fund LGBT youth mental health beds, increase crisis beds to eliminate wait lists.

We need more funding for case management and therapy, restore DYCD voucher access and expand supportive housing.

Baseline the $5 million speaker initiative, fund $15 million for LGBT immigrant legal services, youth homelessness is a choice.

New York City cannot call itself safe for LGBT youth, while 400 of them are decompensated on a wait list.

I'm tired of begging for the government to show it cares with action.

This should be top priority.

You can be the administration that eliminates wait lists.

Thank you.

And I have a lot more I can say, as you know, so if you have questions on there.

Thank you, and please submit anything additional that is helpful to your testimony.

Hello, my name is Ava Jacru.

I'm a case manager at uh one of New York City's safe havens facility facilities that serve as a last resort safety net for most our most vulnerable neighbors, including LGBTQ youth.

Every day I work alongside New Yorkers who are ready to leave shelter behind and rebuild their lives in permanent housing.

But I am here today because my colleagues and I across the city are hitting a wall, an administrative catch-22 that leaves thousands of people trapped in homelessness for no reason other than a missing piece of plastic.

Here is the problem in its simplest form.

ID NYC requires a photo ID to get a photo ID.

Among my clients that are affected by this barrier, 100% of my queer clients are among this group.

For someone with a stable home and a file drawer full of documents, this makes sense.

But for populations we serve in safe havens, runaway and homeless youth, survivor of domestic violence, immigrants clean danger, people whose belongings have been swept away or destroyed, and individuals living with severe mental illness, this requirement is an impossible barrier.

These are New Yorkers who have never had an ID or who have had their documents stolen, withheld as a tool of abuse or discarded during a street sweep.

Without a government-issued photo ID, they cannot apply for the very programs designed to lift them out of homelessness.

The 2010 E supportive housing, HRA benefits, public assistance, CitiFEPS, or soda.

Currently, IDNYC does not does allow certain caretakers to vouch for a client's identity in lieu of a photo ID.

But the list of eligible agencies is narrow, and in what I believe to be a profound oversight, it does not include the Department of Homeless Services.

We are the very agency charged with housingless population.

Yet we are locked out of the process that could unblock their path to housing.

IDNYC currently accepts vouchers only from the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, the NYS Department of Health, the NYS Office of Mental Health, and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

DHS safe havens, which offer which serve as a catch all for New York's most marginalized residents are absent from this list.

What I propose is that we add DHS to the caretaker list, allow DHS case managers who have established ongoing relationships with their clients and access to verified case records to waive the photo requirement for ID NYC.

This simple change would immediately unblock housing for thousands of shelter clients.

We are already carrying the trust and documentation to vouch for our clients' identities.

We simply need the city to re-recognize that authority.

Thank you.

You can begin when ready.

Good afternoon, members of the committee.

My name is Ethan Lowe, pronouns he him, and I'm a staff attorney with the Legal A Society's LGBTQ Law and Policy Unit.

Based on Legal Aid's work in representing New Yorkers experiencing housing instability, we offer several recommendations to improve access to safe and affirming shelter.

Shelter is often the first step towards stable housing, but many LGBTQ individuals, especially transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary New Yorkers, avoid or leave shelters because they do not feel safe.

We commend the city for opening ACES Place, the first transitional housing program for TG and CNBI New Yorkers.

However, LEGO A continues to hear from TG and C MBI clients who struggle to access affirming placements.

The city should continue expanding affirming shelter capacity across all boroughs so that every TGNC and BI New Yorkers can access safer shelter when they need it.

We also urge the city to increase awareness of existing rights and resources.

Many TG and C and BI individuals do not know that they can request placements in affirming shelters and TGNC units or request accommodations related to their gender identity and medical needs.

We routinely hear from clients who remain in unsafe placements simply because they are unaware that safer options existed.

The city shelters should have clear multilingual notices of rights and have more proactive outreach at intake and throughout a client's shelter's day.

Some clients hesitate to disclose their identities without understanding its purpose and knowing about the placements available.

Finally, the city should expand the capacity of DSS LGBDQ affairs and ongoing comprehensive LGBTQ training for shelter staff.

Legal A continues to receive reports from LGBTQ clients, especially TGNC MBI clients who experience problems even in DHS shelters designated as affirming because some staff lack sufficient understanding of TGNC MBI identities and needs.

Additional and improved training would help ensure LGBTQ New Yorkers can safely remain connected to shelter and housing services.

DSS LGBTQ affairs has been a valuable resource for LGBTQ clients and DHS shelters, but it's limited capacity delays responses to urgent needs.

We recommend dedicating resources to expanding DSS LGBTQ affairs and creating additional LGBTQ liaison positions throughout the shelter system.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Nada, you mentioned um.

Sorry, capacity.

In your in your testimony, can you just speak a little bit more about the issues around that?

Yeah, absolutely.

So we serve over 2,000 youth a year.

That's between our 24-hour drop-in center and our housing.

We have 212 beds that are a mix of emergency and transitional.

We currently, as of today, have 400 youth on a wait list for that crisis bed.

Um, when youth had access to vouchers, there was a period of about four years where youth had access, whether it be the FEPS pilots or through EHV, where we got below 100.

Um, we're in this bottleneck.

Youth can't get in because youth aren't moving out.

And sorry, you said can you just repeat the numbers again?

Uh 2,000 youth a year, 400 on a wait list today, 300 on a weight on our wait list last year, and a hundred when we had access to vouchers.

No.

On that same note, I just I was writing a lot of notes during their questioning.

During uh Councilmember Nurse's question, um, I think it was an important note that, and I'm glad she said uh the years.

So over 10 years ago, we were fighting with Lou Bittler to raise the age that DYCD would uh fund beds for 21 to 24 year olds.

It didn't pass until 2018.

So that's also leads to what that question was with Councilmember NERS.

We had 40 open beds, 60 kind of, up until last year when we got that extra hundred.

Um AFC took on 45 of the those new beds.

20 were of the ones that Alex spoke about.

Other RHY programs have been hesitant and didn't take on the beds that we know we need because the bed rate is so low, we can't afford to take them on.

Um, and so this is like the biggest sort of crux of it all, and there's been this push to you know fund housing navigators and all of this, which is wonderful, we need that, but there's nowhere to navigate them to.

And so we need more resources of people to have a crisis bed in that moment, right?

Because they're only gonna decompensate sitting on that weight list and in that drop-in center, um, and then also being able to move people on to something like stable and supportive.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, folks.

Um, we'll now move on to the next round.

We appreciate your testimony.

I'd like to call up, um, I have ex Pamela Farcour, Henry Love, Timothy Pena, David Miranda, and Mateo Guerrero.

Anyone can begin when ready.

You can begin.

Good afternoon.

My name is Timothy Pena.

I'm a service-connected Navy veteran with PTSD.

I'm also a former resident of Borden Avenue Veterans Residence, which is a um veterans program, transitional program in Long Island City.

I resided at Borden Avenue Veterans Residence in 2022 while participating in New York City's homeless services system and pursuing permanent housing.

During my time at Borden, I observed frequent ambulance and police activity.

Residents regularly discuss concerns and saw involving safety, mental health issues, substance abuse, and living conditions within the facility.

I was concerned.

So I I spent um five months at Borden Avenue.

Um in support of housing now.

Uh, been there for about three and a half years.

Um, and my concerns are the um conditions in the shelters, especially for veterans in the VA system.

Um, and I did it in a FOIA that I did with Borden Avenue.

Um this is the only program that we have available to us, uh, for us that are in the VA system in a 16th 16 month um period of time, 24 to 25.

There were thirteen hundred and sixty-five emergency calls.

One every nine hours.

Um this is also at considerable cost uh to the city, um somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty thousand dollars per person per year.

I appreciate you coming in to give both of our committees your testimony and the facts here.

I read through and understand that you are raising it here today because you want more folks to be aware, and the other committees have not.

As as in your words, taking the allegations seriously.

We will make sure to raise it to the commissioner and to raise it to our veterans committee chair as well.

Um, but I just wanted to state, you know, I I understand why you're here today giving us this testimony.

Um, and we'll make sure to raise it to the appropriate folks.

I do I do want to just thank you for that.

Um, it's not easy being HIV positive as a veteran in a in a program in a shelter like that.

Um it doesn't take much.

I was I was pretty terrified for the five months that I was at Borden.

Yeah.

Um New York City's an incredible city, but that was my introduction to New York City, and it's the introduction that a lot of us are getting.

And it's none it's it's not fair.

It's not fair to New York, it's not fair to New Yorkers, um, to have a situation like that.

And um I watched lots of you know, we've watched veterans die of overdose.

Um, and this is the same as happening in a VA hospital.

So those are the same type of um applications that are supposed to apply.

So thank you very much for hearing that testimony.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Hello.

I'm a child of Stonewall, a child of Marcia and Sylvia.

My name is Dr.

Henry Love, and many of you know me from my time at Wynn, Women in Need.

Um, but today I'm here for something a little different.

Um I now lead the targeted housing instances program um at Point Source Youth, a national organization focused on ending LGBT youth homelessness as a queer black man and a person living with HIV and unfathomable trauma.

I've done the decorum, I have done the degrees, I've done the politeness.

Today I'm gonna be real, I'm gonna apologize if it makes you feel a little bit uncomfortable, but that's the point.

I'm here as living proof of what happens when support arrives on time.

This testimony is for the ones who did not have that opportunity.

Earlier, the young people spoke about the data and the stats, the deaths, and in our community, we have a saying, we survived Atlanta.

It makes it marks who made it and memorializes those of us who didn't make it.

Cordell Fowler was my best friend.

In 2016, his funeral was in Detroit.

He was the it girl of Atlanta, magnetic, brilliant.

And in our last conversation at the Aloff Hotel in Harlem, he spoke about how he wanted to move here and be a part of this city.

He was surviving through sex work sex work, begging for help and was turned away, and he ultimately died in 2016 in a drug-related accident, but don't call it a drug related accident.

It was related to housing instability, and that's ultimately what led to his death.

In 2017, Devon Way passed away and his funeral was in Houston.

Devon was my partner, my soulmate, my safe place in an unsafe world.

He was from the deep south, and he made it out to Columbia University.

One month from completing his PhD, he was taken too soon from us.

When I found out about Cordell's death, Devon carried me, and weeks later when I received my HIV diagnosis, Devon carried me, and then he was gone.

Sorry, almost done.

He was killed by someone who was housing unstable, untreated, and one month from that finish line.

Frank in Arkansas, James in Virginia, Jeremy Delano from Detroit, people I saw every Thursday at Trappy Halloween Harlem.

I made it out, but so many didn't.

So why TAP?

Why the targeting housing insists program?

LGBT youth, as we early mentioned, are 40% of the homeless youth, and only 9% of the population.

Housing instability raises suicide attempts by 3.7 times.

And up to 20% of homeless youth in NYC are living with HIV.

They can't maintain HIV treatment.

They can't stay connected to care.

And TAP creates the stability that makes survival possible.

TAP is simple.

98% of those who receive who participate in the TAP program, which on average gives about $3,700 in direct cash to young people within 48 hours to stabilize them.

98% of them of recipients at Henry Street and at the door had no shelter compact uh contact in six months per our evaluation of Johns Hopkins University.

So in lake of the time, I asked that Cordell and Devon's or Bitries are here on the table as just proof of what happens to young people who don't make it.

Neither of them made it past 30.

4.7 million dollars is being asked by the city council to fund tap the targeted housing assistance program.

It's imperative that we do this now and to show that we are fully human.

And in the end of that, I want to show you just this tattoo as I was doing this.

I thought about it.

Devon had this same tattoo here.

And it says empathy, and that's what his dissertation was about.

And I ask that as you are in these final conversations on the budget, that you think about all the young people, and you think about Devon, you think about Cordell, who didn't make it past 30 because they didn't have someone to intervene.

They didn't have policy to intervene for them in the time.

That's not good.

Good afternoon, everybody.

My name is David Miranda, and I'm an attorney with the LGBTQ Plus and HIV advocacy project at Manhattan Legal Services, which is part of Legal Services NYC.

We have offices in all five boroughs, a dedicated team of advocates providing services specific to LGBTQIA folks, many of whom experience housing instability, poverty, and discrimination.

New York City's housing affordability crisis affects residents across the city, but LGBTQIA plus New Yorkers often face additional barriers that exacerbate housing insecurity, including pervasive discrimination, limited access to affirming housing and shelter environments, and administrative obstacles within public benefits systems.

Today I will discuss the HIVA services administration, known as HASA for case management and rental assistance, the homeless crisis crisis among LGBTQIA plus youth, and the failure of demographic data to capture the severity of this crisis.

I'm going to start by talking about HASA, and I do think that there are several issues within the HASA program, which is operated by HRA.

We have seen that housing opportunities are often lost due to administrative delays within the HASA program.

And there is also a severe lack of transparency, which means that clients either lose housing or are unable to get to get the housing that they deserve.

And by way of example, I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about a client uh who we shall call Miss W.

Ms.

W is from the Bronx, and she had been trying to get a HASA housing voucher for five years.

Uh she identifies as a lesbian, and she reached out to us because she could not handle another denial.

During those five years from her time of her application to the time when we finally were able to resolve the issue, she and her adult daughter who suffers from severe autism were forced into the shelter system.

Nobody ever told Ms.

W at Hasa that there was that the issue was that the rent was too low, even though she had found three apartments within within New York City, NYC Connect.

And every time she would get rejected because the rent was too low.

So her and her daughter would go from shelter to shelter and couch to couch.

And that is that is a fundamental failure within a system that we can actually fix.

Moving on to the youth shelter, I would not to youth homelessness.

I would not, a conversation about housing instability within this community would not be complete if we did not talk about youth homelessness.

Without familiar support, the city must provide additional support to ensure that youth are valued, supported, and have the opportunity to create a better life for themselves.

Additionally, LGBTQIA youth are disproportionately represented in the foster care system, with more than one-third of youth identifying as as LGBTQIA, and then there aren't systems in place to ensure that they can go into stable housing.

Instead, there's a foster care to homelessness pipeline.

And onto the final topic.

New York City's demographic data collection creates a home a hidden homelessness crisis.

There are many more people who are LGBTQIA plus who are who do not have stable housing who are not in shelter.

And if we're only counting by who who's in shelter, then we're missing those folks who are out there couch surfing or sleeping on a train or going from friend to friend or in houses, right?

Like in sort of those less traditional where we where there might be some more stability that could be provided.

So we do have to figure out ways to measure that data.

I think it could be done.

It's gonna take a lot of street walk, street walking, literally, like walking on the street and hitting that pavement and talking to community members, and I think that's important.

And just to wrap up, I just want to thank the council uh for your attention to this issue.

I urge the council to ensure that the agency serving LGBTQIA New Yorkers, including HRA, DHS, and DYCD, fulfill their mission of providing safe, affirming and equitable services.

Pride must be more than a celebration.

It must be reflected in policies and programs that protect the housing stability, health, and dignity of LGBTQIA plus New Yorkers.

And again, this hearing speaks volumes to that.

At least we're somewhat the one on the way there.

So I thank you for that, and I thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

Hi, good afternoon, everybody.

Uh thank you.

Uh Chair Hudson and Chair Farias for the opportunity to testify today.

My name is Mateo Guerrero.

I work at Make The Ver New York.

I'm the Trans Justice and Leadership Program Manager.

And I'm also trans myself and a migrant myself, and I get to work with those communities who are at the intersection of police harassment, housing instability, employment discrimination, immigration processes, etc.

I want to share three stories before I uh name my demands, my asks.

The first story, this is one that we hear very common.

Um, one of our members who I'm gonna refer to as E.

She's a trans woman, a migrant trans woman and her partner K, uh queer migrant men, they were assaulted at a shelter by other people housed at the same facility based on their gender identity and their sexual orientation.

The staff at the shelter, instead of providing support to intervene, or providing support to de-escalate, they called the police and everybody involved involved.

When the police arrived, they did not provide access to interpretation and they ultimately arrested Kay.

This case was dismissed in court, but it could have resulted in immigration complications for K, as he was adjusting his immigration status.

In this case, we see multiple systemic failures occurring at once.

One, the discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, the denial of language access by police, as well as police interaction that can exacerbate complications for their immigration status.

Second story is M, uh, someone who we love very deeply in our community.

She is one of our trans migrant elders.

She was very tired of waiting for Section 8 voucher or any other housing subsidy from the city.

Um, and she came to believe that the only way uh to accessing stable housing was becoming HIV positive.

M has been doing sex work for more than four decades.

Um, and as someone who is aging in the in the industry, she found herself without a reliable source of income, and so she felt that this was the only pathway uh to prevent from herself from being unhoused again.

And I'm also going to share the story of F.

He was illegally locked out of uh their basement apartment just two weeks ago.

This was on June 11th.

F landlord has been denying them the access, the the opportunity to bring friends over, even though this was a separate unit.

Uh, they were denying them of a lease, denying them of proof of payment of rent, denying them of receiving letters or any proof of residence um in their in their home.

Um, and they have been harassed because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

Uh on June 11th is when the landlord uh decided to lock F out of the basement apartment and the police uh helped the landlord without giving an opportunity to F to be able to share what had happened and that they actually live in that apartment.

They deny access to interpretation, and by the way, this was the 102nd precinct.

Um and they changed the locks.

Uh since then, F has been couch surfing until this resource results in court, uh, but they are terrified of going into a city shelter.

They were housed at a male shelter in the past and was very harassed and so he does not want they do not want to return there.

And these are stories that are not unique for our communities.

We hear this very often in our transmigrant project we know that there is a housing crisis for in New York City but for trans and queer migrant New Yorkers this is a crisis that is compounded by multiple systems of discrimination that include exposure to violence instability criminalization and displacement and so the the two asks that I want to make is a one I want to ask the council to continue to put pressure on the Mamdani administration to end the lawsuit against the 2023 20 City FEPS expansion.

That expansion is so important for our communities to be able to have access to these vouchers to have access to this program and also that is regardless of immigration status which is so important for our trans and queer migrants and the second one is to increase funding through the budget process so at the state level we passed the housing access voucher program but I also believe that is the city duty to expand that program and to allocate budget for that program as well the 900 vouchers that were allocated in New York City are simply not enough when there are around 1000 people who are facing homelessness and 3 million people who are rent burdened and are in danger of losing their home and this program is intended to support people who are on house as well as people who are at risk of losing their housing.

And lastly I want to name that as make the road will also deeply support all the uh budget demands of the New York City trans and queer coalition uh 15 million for gender affirming care for juice 10 million for trans equity initiative fund for support persons involved in the sex trades and 15 million for LGBTQ immigrant fund because when we think about housing instability is also all these other areas that provide support for folks thank you so much for your time thank you folks for testifying we don't have any questions so this panel is now excused I will move to virtual testimony we have three four we have four folks for virtual testimony I'm going to begin with a team a ton and Erica Lashbo um a team if you are available to unmute yourself you may begin when ready you may begin good morning good morning chairs Hudson and Farias thank you for sharing this hearing my name is Atta Multone I am the nurse care manager for HIV and gender affirming care at Project Renewal.

For over 55 years we have provided comprehensive shelter health care and employment services to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

We are deeply grateful to the city council for its continued commitment to addressing housing instability particularly among LGBTQIA plus individuals.

Project Renewal operates Marsha's house in the Bronx New York City's first shelter tailored specifically for LGBTQIA plus young adults aged 18 to 35 these young people need far more than just the bed many have faced severe family rejection trauma and systemic discrimination.

Traditional shelter environments can often create additional fear and vulnerability if the care provided is not explicitly affirming and responsive to their needs.

Marsha's House offers 81 beds and provides crucial coordinated support including primary healthcare mental health services occupational therapy and job readiness programs.

Our holistic approach delivers tangible results.

In fiscal year 26, we successfully placed 28 residents into permanent long-term housing, exceeding our annual targets we also know that true housing stability requires addressing trauma and access to health simultaneously.

Thanks to the New York City Council, the LGBTQIA plus community services initiative provides critical support for our gender-affirming primary and behavioral health care to homeless trans and GNC New Yorkers and NYC.

As the council considers housing instability among LGBTQIA plus New Yorkers, we urge continued investments in shelter and housing models that are designed with LGBTQIA plus communities in mind.

Thank you, your time expired.

Thank you.

Thank you for your partnership.

Thank you so much.

I'll now call on Erica Larshbaugh.

You may begin.

Good afternoon.

My name is Erica Lorishbaugh.

Any pronouns are fine, and thanks for the opportunity to speak about drivers of housing instability in the intersex community in New York.

I'm a queer, genderqueer, and intersex New Yorker and the executive director of Interact Advocates for Intersex Youth, the nation's largest intersex advocacy organization.

Intersex is an umbrella term for people with innate variations in our sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, hormones, and internal or external anatomy.

We don't have city specific data on housing insecurity to share as a gravely understudied population, but intersex people face the same socioeconomic challenges as subsident community due to inequitable treatment.

Over six years of nationwide surveys, intersex people tend to report higher rates of discrimination than other LGBTQ plus people and more than triple the rate of people without intersex traits.

One study found intersex people more than four times as likely to require housing assistance as other LGBTQ plus community members.

In a recent study, a quarter of intersex people reported housing discrimination in the prior year, compared with 10% of LGBTQ plus people and just 4% of all non-intersex respondents.

Intersex people also report high levels of employment discrimination and are more likely than other community members to have children and to be physically disabled.

Limited access to larger apartments in ADA compliant housing are more likely to be compounding factors in housing instability for our community as well.

To the extent that inequitable treatment of intersex people drives housing instability, the council does have an opportunity to take action.

Council Member Caban's bill, intro 131, would make anti-discrimination protections for intersex people explicit on the face of the city human rights law.

Just as Director Taylor Brown stated earlier today, making these protections plain will help intersex New Yorkers understand their rights and enforce them and underscore the importance for employers and housing providers as well.

For community that disproportionately experiences discrimination, clarity in the law can make a real difference, especially given that the intersex community is often overlooked when considering the broader LGBTQ plus community.

We urge the council to hear and pass intro 131.

Thanks for your time and consideration, and I'll do my best to answer any questions.

Always feel free to follow up with us at Interact.

Thank you.

Um I'll now call on Payton Moody.

You may begin.

You may begin.

Seeing no others both here in person or virtual looking to testify.

We will now close the public portion for testimony.

And this hearing is now adjourned.