NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5660
SPONSOR: Rozic (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the performance of a
study regarding homeless persons who are veterans in the state of New
York
PURPOSE:
To address the alarming trend of homeless persons are veterans and
parents.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section I amends section 353 of the executive law by adding new subdivi-
sion 6-a concerning the performance of a study conducted by the New York
State Division of Veterans' Affairs, the Office of Temporary and Disa-
bility Service, Department of Labor and the Office of Children and Fami-
ly Services to determine the number of homeless persons in New York
State who are veterans. It will also determine the number of offspring
of the veterans and current placement, and whether such veterans
suffered military sexual trauma. Once the study is completed a written
report will be delivered to the governor and the legislature.
Section II sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
A report released in 2013 by The United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development estimates that 57,849 veterans are homeless on any
given night. This number is likely to increase given the amount of
veterans who are struggling with excessive economic burdens. Veterans,
especially those with disabilities including post-traumatic stress
disorder and traumatic brain injuries, are more likely to become home-
less. Often a higher percentage of veterans returning from the current
conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrate these characteristics.
In 2009, homeless veterans were mostly male while 4 percent were female.
Today, the United States Government Accountability Office reports that
women veterans identified as homeless by the VA increased more than 140
percent, from 1,350 in fiscal year 2006 to 3,328 in fiscal year 2010.
Women veterans are also 4 times more likely than their male counterparts
to end up homeless. Homeless female veterans who are single mothers have
a tough time finding adequate shelter, daycare services, and finding
gainful employment. About 3,000 of these veterans could not access
shelter and one-third had some sort of disability. These statistics are
alarming and become even more distressing when you take into account
that many of these women have children. The study and analysis would
gather information on the number of homeless veterans in New York and
how many of them have children. Ultimately, the outcome from this study
would produce recommendations and solutions to combat the growing prob-
lems among the men and women who have served our country.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2018: A01646A (Rozic) - Passed Assembly
2017: A01646 (Rozic) - Veterans Affairs
2016: A00434A (Rozic) - Passed Assembly
2015: A00434 (Rozic) - Passed Assembly
2014: A07259B (Rozic) - Passed Assembly
2013: A7259 (Rozic) - Veterans Affairs
FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after the bill shall
become law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5660
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC, ABBATE, BARRETT, BICHOTTE, BLAKE, CAHILL,
COLTON, COOK, CUSICK, DILAN, DiPIETRO, FAHY, FITZPATRICK, GALEF,
GUNTHER, HEVESI, HUNTER, HYNDMAN, JAFFEE, JEAN-PIERRE, JOYNER, McDO-
NOUGH, M. G. MILLER, MONTESANO, MOSLEY, OTIS, PERRY, PICHARDO, RA,
RAIA, RYAN, SANTABARBARA, SIMON, STECK, STIRPE, WALKER, ZEBROWSKI,
PEOPLES-STOKES, D'URSO, PHEFFER AMATO, WALLACE, STERN -- Multi-Spon-
sored by -- M. of A. ARROYO, BRAUNSTEIN, CROUCH, ENGLEBRIGHT, GLICK,
GOTTFRIED, LUPARDO, PALMESANO, SOLAGES -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the performance of a
study regarding homeless persons who are veterans in the state of New
York
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 353 of the executive law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 6-a to read as follows:
3 6-a. To conduct a study, in consultation with the office of temporary
4 and disability assistance, department of labor, and office of children
5 and family services to determine the number of homeless persons in New
6 York state that are veterans. Such study shall include, but not be
7 limited to: (a) an analysis of veterans in New York state who are
8 currently homeless, or have been homeless within five years of being
9 released from active duty including an analysis of gender as it relates
10 to homelessness of veterans; (b) data on the number of children of home-
11 less veterans, including the current placement of such children; (c)
12 cases of military sexual trauma experienced by homeless veterans while
13 on active duty or during military training, including a breakdown of the
14 collected data based upon the gender of the victim; and (d) the unem-
15 ployment rate for New York state veterans. The term "children of home-
16 less veterans" shall mean a person who is unmarried and who is under the
17 age of eighteen years, and is the biological or legally adopted child of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01008-01-9
A. 5660 2
1 a veteran. A written report of such study shall be delivered to the
2 governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the
3 senate by June thirtieth, two thousand twenty and such information
4 required pursuant to this subdivision shall be updated every two years.
5 Such report shall be publicly available and posted on the division of
6 veterans affairs website.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
8 have become a law.
