An act that would allocate $33.5 million to the state Department of Housing could help New Haven’s homeless population.
“This is a statewide problem, and we need a statewide solution. We cannot rely on the larger municipalities to bear the burden of the responsibility,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker in a press release about his testimony in favor of H.B. 6893.
The Connecticut General Assembly’s housing committee heard from Elicker and New Haven Community Services Administrator Eliza Halsey earlier this month when they advocated for the bill.
Elicker explained that New Haven is already raising the general fund budget to $1.77 million during the 2024-25 fiscal year and working with non-profits to expand access to non-congregant and 24/7/365 shelters. The city is also overseeing warming centers and providing navigation hubs. Though Elicker said their efforts are not enough as the number of people who are homeless continues to rise at alarming rates. The number has more than doubled since last year, jumping from 257 individuals to 633 individuals on the verified unsheltered list.
The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) provided a breakdown of where the funds would go and what they’d be used for: $7.8 million would be used for prevention, $5.3 million for eviction prevention and $2.5 million for short-term financial assistance to people on the verge of homelessness. Then,$19.5 million would be used for crisis response, $9 million for homeless response services and $5 million for cold weather emergency services.
The Coordinated Access Network (CAN) hubs that provide coordination entry systems and diversion programs to prevent homelessness would get $5.5 million and $6.2 million would be used for housing, specifically case management to stabilize individuals in Permanent Supportive Housing through Connecticut’s Rental Assistance Program (RAP).
Halsey praised New Haven for being one of the few municipalities that has dedicated staff to addressing homelessness, while also pointing out the problems they still face. She said that New Haven would need at least 500 permanent supportive housing units to meet the needs of the homeless people in the city and provided multiple statistics referencing the rise in homelessness in Connecticut. The city has had an increase in 2-1-1 calls for housing and the consistently full shelter and warming centers despite an increase in the number of shelters.
Currently, the city’s website provides links to multiple services for homeless or soon-to-be-homeless individuals to use like 2-1-1 services, shelters and other resources for people who are unhoused.
Ashish Upadhyaya, director of the Health Professions Advising Center and lecturer at the university, has questions about these resources and how far-reaching their assistance might be.
“Offering resources like no-cost access to vital resources like dental care, rehabilitation and mental health services for the homeless population in New Haven is a great start to addressing the numerous problems they face on a daily basis, but more needs to be done to address underlying issues and systemic barriers that make it so difficult for someone to escape homelessness,” Upadhyaya said.
New Haven is working on various plans to find solutions to homelessness and allocating their money to specific resources needed to accomplish their plans.
