Lawmakers Seek to 'Level Playing Field' for Domestic Violence Victims

Some New York State lawmakers want to make it easier for domestic violence victims to find permanent housing. State senator Jeff Klein and assembly member Luis Sepulveda met with advocates and city officials at City Hall today to introduce a new housing bill that they said would level the playing field for domestic violence victims.

 

Under current policy, people living in domestic violence shelters are given lower priority for permanent affordable housing than those in homeless shelters. According to Klein and Sepulveda, this means that people in those shelters have virtually nonexistent chances of being placed in one of the city's coveted public housing units. To counteract this, they are sponsoring a bill that will give equal priority to residents of domestic violence shelters.

 

Sepulveda said his seven years as an assembly member have given him a lot of experience with domestic violence victims, and noted that finding stable housing can be life-changing for those families and individuals. 

 

"The mothers are suffering from depression, the children are nervous...and so anything that we can do to make sure that we accelerate the process for victims to get housing, we will do," he said.

 

The bill will be introduced in the state legislature in January.