NYC social services department accused of poorly managing rental assistance program in new audit report
NEW YORK — A scathing new audit report says poor management of a New York City-run rental assistance program led to major problems for families in need of housing.
The state comptroller says the process of finding your new home and getting approved to move in takes an average of 10 months under the city's Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement, or CityFHEPS, program.
The audit report says those delays are due to weak monitoring and oversight from the city's Department of Social Services.
Lack of regular inspections puts tenants at risk, audit says
Back in July, affordable housing advocates told CBS News New York Investigates that they regularly hear about CityFHEPS recipients struggling to get repairs after they move in. David Lopez, for example, says he emailed the building management for weeks to get his air conditioning fixed, but it didn't get resolved until CBS News New York's Tim McNicholas started investigating.
The audit found a lack of regular inspections from the Department of Social Services puts tenants at risk of living in hazardous conditions.
The social services department inspects homes before a tenant moves in, but some affordable housing advocates have called for regular, bi-annual inspections after the lease starts.
"The New York City Department of Social Services really needs to step up its game in terms of oversight of this program. It's not serving the people that need the service very well, a lot of inefficiencies that we've pointed out," State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.
Department of Social Services pushes back against audit
The Department of Social Services is aggressively pushing back, saying the audit points to anomalies from a small sample of cases and is "rife with misleading assessments and inaccuracies" and "completely fails to acknowledge the monumental scope of the city's efforts."
In a statement, a department spokesperson said:
"DSS connected a record number of households to permanent housing using CityFHEPS vouchers last year despite a 1.4% housing vacancy rate. The significant increase in households relying on CityFHEPS over other subsidies to move out shelter is a testament to the city's vital investments in city-funded rental assistance, wide-ranging reforms to expand access, and focused process improvements to expedite placements. And we're leaving no stone unturned as the city's social services agency is also stepping up to create new high-quality, deeply affordable housing using these vouchers. The audit is rife with misleading assessments and inaccuracies, completely fails to acknowledge the monumental scope of the city's efforts and fundamental challenges with the larger housing ecosystem, and points to anomalies pulled from a small sample of cases going back to 2019 that are not representative of the majority of placement outcomes in recent years. The proof is in the numbers: with a 42% increase in permanent housing placements using CityFHEPS vouchers and a record-breaking 18,500 households moving from shelter to housing in FY24, the city's efforts are clearly delivering for New Yorkers in need."
Back in July, the commissioner told CBS News New York she also works with the housing preservation department regularly to combat bad landlords.
