In the most recent (February 27) “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, Affordable Homes” campaign call, we discussed Medicaid “unwinding” and its implications for renters with low-incomes and unhoused people; shared a national sign-on statement against the criminalization of homelessness; highlighted research on evictions in the post-pandemic housing market; received updates from the field and Capitol Hill; and more.
Jennifer Sullivan, director of health coverage access at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), joined the call to discuss the potential impact of Medicaid “unwinding” for low-income renters and people who are unhoused. Since early 2020, Medicaid has instated a “continuous coverage” requirement to prevent states from disenrolling anyone from Medicaid, a policy that maintained healthcare coverage for millions of people during the pandemic. However, this policy ends on March 31, 2023, and states will have 12 months to review Medicaid eligibility for all enrollees and be allowed to begin terminating coverage starting April 1. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimates that millions of enrollees – primarily low-income households, immigrant households, and unhoused people – are at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage, despite remaining eligible, because of administrative barriers to confirming eligibility. Jennifer highlighted resources available to service providers and those at-risk of losing coverage to help explain the renewal process.
National Field Director of the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) Jerry Jones shared NAEH’s Statement of Values against the Criminalization of Homelessness, a national statement that organizations around the country are encouraged to endorse. The statement reaffirms endorsers’ commitment to pursuing equitable, housing-focused approaches to ending homelessness that respect each person’s dignity and autonomy. The statement also rebukes attempts being made all over the country to undermine best practices by enacting laws criminalizing people experiencing homelessness for engaging in activities necessary for survival in public spaces.
Andrew Haughwout, director of household and public policy research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, shared findings from his paper, “Eviction Expectations in the Post-Pandemic Housing Market.” Findings suggest that experiencing an eviction is negatively related to income – that is, households with lower incomes are more likely to experience eviction than higher-income households, and more likely to report knowing someone who experienced eviction than higher-income households. Moreover, households with lower incomes were more likely to anticipate an increase in the cost of rent over the coming year, and more likely to report expecting to be evicted in the next 12 months.
Vice President of Housing and Senior Program Officer at the United Way of Central Maryland Scott Gottbreht provided an update on Maryland’s Emergency Rental Assistance program, including how his organization conducted a need projection to make the case for additional emergency rental assistance funding to lawmakers. Susan Jacob, program director of Housing Counseling Services, Inc., and Peter Tatian, senior fellow and research director at Urban Institute, discussed their work with the DC Eviction Prevention Co-Leaders Group and their recently released resource, “A Collaborative Framework for Eviction Prevention in DC.” The resource aims to establish a cross-sector collaborative approach to preventing the eviction and displacement of D.C. tenants with low-incomes and to ensuring housing stability in the future.
Sarah Saadian, NLIHC’s senior vice president of public policy and field organizing, closed the call with a policy update highlighting the urgent need for advocates to call and weigh in with their members of Congress on the necessity of increased federal funding for HUD’s and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) affordable housing and homelessness programs. House Republicans, under the leadership of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), are calling on their colleagues in Congress to enact steep cuts to the federal budget in fiscal year (FY) 2024, including potentially capping FY24 spending at FY22 levels. Advocates should email their members of Congress today and demand they provide increased funding in FY24 for these vital programs and use NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit for opposing budget cuts to essential federal investments in affordable housing.
National calls will take place every other week. Our next call will be on March 13 at 2:30 pm ET. Register for the call at: https://bit.ly/3ub2sWM