as discussed


NYC’s Homeless Spending Surges to $1.6 Billion
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[Institution Affiliation]
[Date]

Abstract
Homelessness has continued to be a thorny issue in developed countries where it is the leading indicator of poverty. The reason for this phenomenon is the exponential growth in rent rates and real estate property prices. Although the US government has attempted to eliminate the problem through the introduction of policies that rescue the homeless or support those threatened with homelessness. Through these efforts, the rate of homelessness has reduced across the United States. However, the phenomenon is still rising in some states, one of them being New York. New York is facing the highest levels of homelessness despite De Blasio campaign pledges to eliminate the vice three years ago. Despite a bloated budget towards solving the problem, the problem is still inherent. The reason for this is that the administration has concentrated its efforts on temporary solutions such as shelter operations. However, the cause which is the rising rent rates remains in the system, and thus for every family rescued by the city administration; another is threatened with eviction. The solution for the problem can therefore only arise from policies and measures that reduce the rate at which rent rates grow.

Name of Newspaper: The Wall Street Journal
Date of Publication: Nov. 20, 2016, 4:16 p.m. ET
Title: NYC’s Homeless Spending Surges to $1.6 Billion: Mayor Bill de Blasio spends record amount on services as shelter numbers climb; quest for ‘magic bullet.

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Summary
This newspaper article is an analysis of the efforts by the State government of New York to curb homelessness. Homelessness is a critical problem in many urban centers in the US. This article does not lay forward the reasons for the rising numbers of homelessness but clearly, presents statistical data on the growing trends of homelessness. According to the article, curbing the cases of homeless is critical for Mayor de Blasio’s administration as it was one of his pledges when assuming office. In any case, New Yorkers rate the challenge of homelessness as a severe problem. Since the role of the Mayor’s office is to solve the problems of the resident of a town, it is, therefore, essential that the De Blasio finds a solution for the homelessness dilemma. In any case, it is critical that the municipal office ensures there are adequate facilities for every individual and thus the problem of lack of affordable housing falls squarely in the mayor’s docket. In his campaigns, Mr. de Blasio labeled the previous mayor Mr. Bloomberg’s efforts as a failure and therefore his continued inability to solve the challenge of homelessness is met with sharp criticism. (Dawsey, 2016)
So far, New York is spending the highest ever budgetary allocation for homelessness standing at 1.6 billion. This is approximately 60% greater than the amount that was spent before de Blasio assumed office. However, the number of families spending time in shelters has risen by about 20%. In a single week preceding the publication of this article, the number of people that slept in shelters exceeded 60650. This figure included 23800 children. Additionally, the average time spent by adults in a shelter has risen to 563 days for adult days. Single adults, on the other hand, spent an average of 355 days in shelters. In light of such data, it seems the efforts of the mayor and inflation of the homelessness budget is ineffective in containing the crisis. (Dawsey, 2016) So far the $1.6 billion is split into $206 to cater for rent arrears, $150 million for rent assistance, $79 million for outreach services, $190 million for security in the streets, $62 million for legal services for the homelessness and $1.08 billion for shelter operations. Although the homeless shelter services take the largest share of the budget, the administration does not construct more shelters supposedly for political reasons. Despite these statistics, stakeholders believe that de Blasio is significantly more effective than Mr. Bloomberg and his administration. These include Scott Stringer who is the city comptroller and George McDonald a homeless services organization operator. According to the article, the chief failure of the administration is concentrating on temporary solutions instead of investing in the long-term investments which can solve the challenge comprehensively. (Dawsey, 2016)
Response Letter
I agree with the fact that concentrating on the short term at the expense of more concrete and long-lasting solution is the chief cause of the exacerbating homelessness. Research from other articles has shown that overall statistics in homeless has been dropping over time. However, this phenomenon is not experienced by many western states where the cost of rent continues to grow exponentially. Homelessness in New York is currently experiencing the highest level of homelessness after the great depression. The rapid growth in rent rates is the main reason why the temporary solutions in New York do not bear any fruits. As the mayor’s office multiples efforts to provide shelter for individuals without homes, there are more people being sent out of homes. Rent assistance led to a reduction of people evicted from homes from 29000 families to 22000 families. While this is a positive development, 22000 families are still a significantly high figure. Instead of investing in shelters and temporary homes, a concentration on measures to reduce or at least contain inflation in rent rates is more likely to produce more lasting influences.
It is high time that the administration stops acting on short-sighted goals to seek long-lasting solutions. This does not mean that the currently homeless and near homeless population should be abandoned. However, the current figures indicate that this budgetary allocation will continue to grow unless permanent solutions are sought. Obviously, the city cannot sustainably shoulder such costs for an unprecedented length of time into the future. I would suggest that the town begins the process towards sustainable housing programs by looking into policies regarding real estate management processes. There should be policies preventing ridiculous rent hikes by property management. If this is not ensured, even if the administration increases rent assistance, the increases in rent enlarges the difference that the individuals have to pay for themselves. As a result, even the aid does not prevent the eviction of families. The policies are the initial step because they create a stable platform as the government seeks alternatives solutions. These should include construction of cheaper quality residential houses through housing schemes that will ease demand and thus bring down cost.

References
Dawsey, J. (2016). NYC’s Homeless Spending Surges to $1.6 Billion. WSJ. Retrieved 26 November 2016, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/nycs-homeless-spending-surges-to-1-6-billion-1479676408