The Albuquerque City Council unanimously approved a plan Monday for a program aimed at helping people in recovery get housing.
The Continuing Sobriety Housing Voucher Program will begin as a pilot with up to 25 people. It will be aimed at folks who are exiting detox or residential treatment programs and it will require continued sobriety, and ongoing enrollment in Narcotics or Alcoholics Anonymous. Participants would also be subject to drug screens to maintain enrollment.
The resolution was sponsored by Councilor Renée Grout, who said during the meeting it will be a way to compare outcomes against Housing First models, which do not require sobriety.
“I want to see options where we are helping people transition from vouchers so that we can get those folks on their own,” she said, “or more so on their own, and then we can bring others into the fold and help them.
Grout said Albuquerque’s Department of Health Housing and Homelessness would be given “wide latitude" in developing a plan for how the program will run. She also said the program would not be splitting off money set aside for other housing voucher programs. She said she thinks Opioid Settlement Funds, which come from legal settlements with opioid manufacturers, could fund the program.
During public comment, Anami Dass said she thinks the program should use federal funds, instead of draining the limited supply of opioid settlement funds, since federal funds already require sobriety. She also pointed out a potential pitfall that was echoed by several other commenters.
“I understand that (this) would only be people requesting sober living situations,” she said, “but I think it's important for them and everyone to remember that recovery is not a straight line. Relapse is a part of it. 85% of people who are in recovery relapse in the first year, and I don't think they should become homeless for it.”
Both Councillor Grout and Ellen Braden with the city’s housing department, said the rules would include some sort of safeguard to make sure people don’t immediately lose their housing after a relapse.
“We want every opportunity for them to be successful,” Grout said. “If they fail, we're not going to kick them out.”
Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn pointed out Bernalillo County’s Tiny Home Village had problems attracting residents because of similar sobriety requirements, but Braden replied they will craft the program to use drug testing "therapeutically, not punitively”
While Councillor Nichole Rogers did support the bill, she did have criticism over using another voucher program, and suggested the pilot program should only be a testing period.
“Let's have HHH [Health Housing and Homelessness]put together a plan. Let's have ACS [Albuquerque Community Safety] put together a plan, bring it back to council, and we decide which plan is better and which one we want to fund. Because continuing to put all our eggs in this basket for vouchers isn't working. It's just not working,” she said. “I just think personally, we need to get a handle on current structures that we already have stewardship over.”
The city has had issues with its voucher programs in the past, with everything from unclear or conflicting information, to inefficient reimbursements, and more. The council actually created a task force earlier this year aimed at cleaning up the various housing voucher programs.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
