Homeless family sent from NYC had jobs, housing

A New York City program sent a homeless family to Hawaii that had one-year’s worth of prepaid rent, prearranged housing and prearranged employment, and Lt. Gov. Josh Green is “satisfied” with the arrangements following an hourlong telephone conversation Friday with three New York City officials.

The New York City program out of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office — called the “Special One-Time Assistance Program” — was featured in an October New York Post story under the online headline, “NYC secretly exports homeless to Hawaii and other states without telling receiving pols.”

Green spoke on the phone Friday morning with de Blasio’s senior adviser on homelessness, one of his deputy chiefs of staff and the city’s social services coordinator. Green said he came away with a pledge for New York to host a meeting of 10 to 12 representatives from around the country, including Hawaii, to talk “best practices” to reducing homelessness sometime around March 22 and 23.

“They were very accommodating,” Green told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “They were getting calls from all across the country because of the Post article. … I was very sensitive about any municipality sending homeless people to Hawaii without any communication and without any plan. They were gracious.”

The New York City mayor’s office did not respond to emailed questions from the Star-Advertiser after the New York Post ran its story.

In his Friday phone call with de Blasio’s staff, Green said he was “very direct” about his concerns, but did not seek further details about the family, such as the number of people and whether they had Hawaii connections.

“I was satisfied with their explanation for now,” Green said. “… Obviously they have a large (homeless) problem.”

Green, who lived in upstate New York, said he used his “New York attitude” to encourage a conversation with the officials from New York City about coming together to find national solutions to reduce homelessness.

“I see it now as an opportunity to collaborate with a large state with a large homeless challenge,” Green said.