The Case for a continued New York State Eviction Prevention Program
NY State funded programs are the backbone of homelessness prevention in many
counties in our State. Not only do they provide a measure of equalization for
unrepresented people in court, but they return enormous economic benefit to the State.
The Client Community
Over one million people live below the federal poverty guidelines in upstate and
suburban New York State, which is $22,350 for a family of four. Twice as many live at
incomes which are 200% of poverty or less, $44,700 for a family of four.
Cost Comparison
Typical program costs versus shelter costs for some of our counties:
Annual Program
Number of
Monthly
Cost per HH
HH’s annually
Savings
(shelter cost)
Nassau/Suffolk
$1264
221
$2500/month
Westchester
$1999
100
$3500/month
Cost Savings
Based on the cost of providing publicly funded emergency shelter as well as program
closed case data, we estimate that in 2009, our members in suburban, urban and rural
New York outside of New York City saved, at a minimum, $36,460,507 for local
governments by preventing or delaying evictions. Our work also benefitted at least
6,284 households.
o In Westchester County, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley prevented or
delayed eviction for 649 households, saving $15.7 million in shelter costs.
o In Ulster County, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley prevented or delayed
eviction for 155 households, saving $2.4 million in shelter costs.
o In Orange County, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley prevented or delayed
eviction for 146 households, saving $2.3 million in shelter costs.
o In Dutchess County, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley prevented or delayed
eviction for 54 households, saving almost $1 million in shelter costs.
o In Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Nassau-Suffolk Law Services prevented
homelessness for 1,755 households, saving $6,528,600 in shelter costs.
o In Albany County, the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York prevented
homelessness by preventing evictions and foreclosures for 97 households, saving
the County an estimated $702,816 in publicly funded shelter costs.
o In Rockland County, the Legal Aid Society of Rockland County prevented
homelessness for 182 households, saving an estimated $2,847,936 in emergency
shelter costs.