Statement on Housing our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness

The Fortune Society champions Mayor Adams’ commitment to ensuring that all New Yorkers have a safe, stable place to call home, including people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system. Housing our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness (“the Blueprint”) correctly highlights housing as foundational to well-being for all, and in particular for people in the process of reentry. As the Blueprint notes, “Limited housing opportunities for people with criminal records is a major driver of homelessness and impedes a successful return to the community.” For over 54 years, Fortune has worked with people to promote their successful reentry. Far too many of the people we serve confront these limitations every day.

Therefore, we applaud the Administration’s commitment to partner with New York State on ending the prison-to-shelter pipeline by working on strategies to support and house people leaving incarceration. We also celebrate the Administration’s call to end housing discrimination against people with conviction histories through meaningful local legislation, which Fortune has long championed. Such legislation would be in keeping with very recent guidance issued by the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: “Private housing providers should consider not using criminal history to screen tenants for housing. Criminal history is not a good predictor of housing success.” At Fortune, we know from our many years of safely housing people with conviction histories that they can be good neighbors; removing discriminatory barriers is critical to their ability to move forward with their lives.

We are also encouraged by the Administration’s recognition that some existing supportive housing initiatives exclude New Yorkers with conviction histories. We stand ready to partner with the Administration on ensuring that new models and initiatives are inclusive and designed to successfully serve this population. As noted in the Blueprint, the state’s recent passage of legislation making possible the conversion of underutilized hotels into affordable and supportive housing could be a key part of such an effort.

Ensuring access to safe, stable, and affordable housing for all New Yorkers, including those with conviction histories, is a matter of racial and economic justice, of public safety and wellness, and a matter of simply recognizing the humanity of all of our neighbors. The Fortune Society looks forward to working with Mayor Adams and his Administration to accomplish this goal.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Implementation of the Office of General Counsel’s Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions,” June 10, 2022.