Imagining a Right to Housing for Families in NY
HOMEworks seeks to address the New York City (NYC) homelessness crisis with concrete, cross-disciplinary, and researched-informed solutions. To support this effort, the HOMEworks Research Advisory Group recommended a policy study to explore the impact of a Right to Housing for NYC families with children. This study documented the views and proposed solutions to housing instability in the city from a wide range of experts and families who have lived expertise. The study examined the transformation of the current NYC housing and homeless ecosystem into a Right to Housing system via systemic changes and reimagining, with an aspirational goal to make family homelessness in NYC infrequent and brief while helping to stabilize families who are at risk of losing their housing.
This policy study was conducted in two parts. Part One examined the possible legal, legislative, and administrative pathways to establishing a Right to Housing for families in NYC. During Part Two, HOMEworks asked interviewees about the current Right to Shelter NYC system and how they envisioned a potential NYC Right to Housing system that would assist families who are homeless, rent-burdened or unstably housed via support of safe affordable housing for all NYC families, while preserving a homeless shelter system necessary for emergencies.
