Empire Justice Center Highlights Problems with Low Shelter Allowance

Empire Justice Center has issued a report demonstrating the profound inadequacy of the shelter allowance of the public assistance monthly grant for eligible low-income New Yorkers. The report documents how the shelter allowance, which has not been updated for households with children since 2003 and has not been updated for households without children since 1988, does not reflect the reality of the private housing market. The current shelter allowance for a family of three with children ranges from a low of $259 in Franklin County to a high of $447 in Suffolk County. far below the cost of any habitable rental unit in NY. Jessica Radbord and Haley Kulakowki of the Center discuss the report with Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.