Just a few months after New Jersey quietly eliminated funding for a homeless housing program, lawmakers are scrambling to reverse the decision.
The cuts to the program were buried in the record-breaking state budget signed by Governor Phil Murphy earlier this year. Nearly six months later, legislators are pushing a last-minute bill to restore $1.5 million in funding to two programs run by the Camden Coalition, a nonprofit that serves some of the New Jersey’s most vulnerable residents.
According to NJ Spotlight News, the proposal would send $500,000 back to a housing-first program that lost all state funding and $1 million to a hospital-based mental health initiative aimed at reducing repeat emergency room visits. Supporters say both programs reduce homelessness, keeping more residents housed, healthy and out of crisis care.
The program has received consistent state support for nearly a decade. However, last year, its funding was cut in half. This year, it was eliminated altogether during the passage of the new state budget. The program currently houses about 50 people in Camden and Burlington counties.
The restoration fight comes as New Jersey records its highest homelessness number in more than a ten years and as federal policy shifts away from permanent housing toward transitional models tied to work or treatment requirements. New Jersey has joined other states in legal action challenging those changes.
Supporters of the Camden Coalition point to direct results: more than 80% of participants have remained housed or exited the program without returning to homelessness.
However, the outcome is uncertain. The bill is moving late in the legislative session. It’s set to expire in January if lawmakers fail to act now.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.