Wednesday marked a huge victory for VOCAL-NY User’s Union -- the Assembly passed S1795/A533, legislation to mandate medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in prison and jails. This victory has been years in the making, after the same bill died in the Assembly in the final hours of the 2019 legislative session. MAT is the gold standard of treatment for opioid use disorder, and will prevent inhumane withdrawals that lead to an increased risk of overdose in prisons. As Hiawatha Collins, a leader with VOCAL-NY’s User’s Union, said in a statement : “This legislation ensures that they will have access to medication assisted treatment for their substance use disorders during their incarceration, their autonomy honored by offering all three forms of medication, and that there is a warm hand off with their care after their incarceration. Ultimately, however, we hope that this is a step towards ending the punitive approach towards drug use and moving towards a world without a drug war, where people who use drugs are treated with respect and given the care and support they deserve.”
In another victory this week, the New York City Council passed Into 146, long-awaited legislation to fix the city’s broken voucher system by raising it to a fair market rate. With the new CityFHEPS rental rate, over 70,000 more apartments will be accessible to people with the voucher -- an incredible accomplishment and testament to the power of homeless New Yorkers who fought for this bill. Unfortunately, Intro 146 was amended in the final days of negotiations -- without any input from directly impacted New Yorkers -- that removed key provisions that protected people from losing their voucher. Read our full statement here, and a quote below from Joseph Loonam, VOCAL-NY’s Housing Campaign Coordinator : “Homeless New Yorkers know how seemingly minor policy shifts can have major impacts on people’s lives, and these changes will undoubtedly force many people back to shelters or the streets. It’s clear that the fight is not over, and additional reforms will be necessary to ensure a CityFHEPS voucher never represents false hope again. We’ll continue to stand and fight with homeless New Yorkers for as long as it takes to create a housing voucher program that meets our demands.”
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