Albuquerque’s housing and emergency motel voucher programs generally operate a little under the public radar, but the initiatives this year have attracted considerable attention. The City Council is driving an effort to reform the programs, which are key to assist those who are precariously housed or experiencing homelessness. About $12.4 million was appropriated for vouchers in the fiscal year 2025 budget.
Last February, the City Council unanimously passed a measure spearheaded by City Councilors Renée Grout and Nichole Rogers that created an 11-member working group tasked with reforming the emergency motel voucher program — in part to address the blighted motels where they are often used.
Grout and Rogers said it was critical, because the city’s blighted motels pose a health and safety risk to the public at large and to vulnerable individuals and families using the vouchers for a free night or extended stay to help stabilize their situation.
“It’s been made clear that we don’t really have a [motel voucher] program; we have funding we give to local nonprofits and then leave it up to them to go out and establish relationships with hoteliers,” Rogers told City Desk ABQ in the spring.
Vouchers, but few options
Over the summer, the city announced it was launching a landlord engagement program for recipients of permanent supportive housing (PSH) vouchers who often wait up to 200 days to locate an apartment where they can use it. One of the reasons for the long wait, city officials said, is a glut of landlords who are reluctant to accept tenants with vouchers.
PSH vouchers are typically used by those experiencing homelessness who have chronic mental illness or substance abuse issues. The vouchers help them secure a place to live without spending more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. Case management and other support services are included, too.
The Health, Housing & Homelessness (HHH) Department administered about $13.4 million in PSH contracts through 11 agencies in fiscal year 2024. HHH also oversees rapid re-housing/transitional housing vouchers that provide rental assistance up to 24 months.
Voucher fund misuse
More recently, on Dec. 3, HHH said it ended more than $2 million in contracts with the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico (SHCNM) — a longtime housing voucher service provider — because officials said SHCNM misused $234,000 in funds for administrative and operational costs instead of making voucher payments to landlords.
The city said it had begun a “corrective action plan” to recoup the backpayments that were owed to landlords which were ultimately paid by the city to avoid tenant evictions.
At a Dec. 2 City Council meeting, Grout questioned the administration about the situation and expressed concern that hundreds of thousands of dollars funneled though SHCNM was unaccounted for.
“We don’t know where it is,” she said. “How many people could this be housing right now if this money hadn’t been spent improperly? It bothers me greatly; I know it bothers you, too.”
Focus to continue next year
Most recently on Friday, Grout announced her intention to introduce a resolution to be heard at City Council in January that would seek to improve the “efficiency and transparency” of the housing voucher programs.
In a news release, she said the measure directs the Mayor Tim Keller administration to establish a centralized referral system and to track housing voucher outcomes. Grout said the effort is a response to “concerns about the current state of the city’s housing voucher system.”
“Our most vulnerable citizens deserve a housing voucher system that is efficient, transparent and effective,” Grout said in the release.
The release said the resolution would likely be on the City Council’s agenda at its Jan. 6 meeting. If approved, HHH would be directed to develop policies and procedures for the administration of housing vouchers — including a goal to execute contracts within 30 days of receiving funds — and to submit an implementation plan to the City Council within 90 days. A goal would be set for all the reforms to be completed within a year.
In an email to City Desk ABQ on Monday, HHH spokesperson Connor Woods said the city was “actively working to make changes to the contract process and disbursement of housing voucher funding.”
“It’s important to note there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to permanent supportive housing vouchers. What works for one provider might not work for another,” Woods said. “Because of this, we’re evaluating ways to improve this system, which we hope to implement soon.”
Woods added that HHH looked forward to working collaboratively with Grout and the City Council to improve the housing voucher system.
Grout’s resolution can be read in full here.
Nonprofit journalism like this depends on readers like you. This story is supported by City Desk ABQ, a nonprofit newsroom project of Citizen Media Group supporting news and politics coverage that inspires readers to participate in local democracy. Become a supporter to keep City Desk free and support nonprofit, independent journalists covering politics and policy f0r New Mexico newsrooms.