Credit: (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Towns across New Jersey could soon be allowed to create trust funds and housing plans to help address and prevent homelessness in their communities under legislation backed by the top Democrat in the Legislature.

The legislation, if enacted, would give municipal leaders similar powers to those that have already been granted to county government officials under state law, including the ability to set up special trust funds to target homelessness.

Across New Jersey, county-level homelessness housing plans have been put in place in at least 15 of the state’s 21 counties, according to the Senate’s Democratic Majority Office.

The effort to address homelessness at the municipal level is being led by Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union).

It comes amid soaring housing costs that have curtailed access to affordable housing for many of the state’s most vulnerable residents, and as many housing advocates say an “affordability crisis” has contributed to New Jersey seeing the highest number of people experiencing homelessness in the state in over a decade, according to the state’s latest annual point-in-time count report.

Over 13,700 people were homeless across the state on a single night in late January of this year. That’s an 8% increase in homelessness compared to last year, according to Monarch Housing Associates, the Cranford-based nonprofit that conducts the state’s annual point-in-time homeless count.

The proposed legislation is “really critical,” given the increase in the number of people who are unhoused in the state and the changing approach to homelessness that is happening under President Donald Trump’s administration, said Taiisa Kelly, the CEO of Monarch Housing Associates.

“At a local level, at a county level or at a state level, we do not have enough resources to support everybody who’s experiencing housing insecurity or who may experience homelessness, so adding to what we have available is really, really important,” Kelly said.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration upended its homelessness policy with deep cuts to funding for long-term housing. The administration is shifting money towards transitional housing that has work requirements and addiction-treatment mandates. The move is among the latest from the Trump administration aimed at reducing spending on programs that have helped people remain in housing and provided access to federal disability benefits.

“With all of the different changes happening at the federal level, we expect to see continued increases in the amount of need in our communities,” Kelly said.

What the legislation says

Under the bill now up for consideration in the Legislature, municipalities would be allowed to levy additional fees on fines and penalties such as parking tickets or court assessments that could then be deposited into a municipal homelessness trust fund.

Up to 5% of these deposits could also be used annually for administrative costs to maintain the trust fund. But the rest of the money could be used exclusively for operating a homelessness housing grant program to acquire, construct or rehabilitate housing projects that supply permanent affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness, according to the bill.

The grant program would also aim to provide rental assistance vouchers for affordable housing projects, prevention services for people at risk of homelessness and supportive services that could pay for a temporary hotel stay while people are waiting to find permanent affordable housing.

New Jersey currently faces a shortage of well over 200,000 rental houses that are affordable and available for extremely low-income renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

For the last 40 years, most municipalities have been required to zone for some number of homes that would be affordable to those of modest means as a result of the state Fair Housing Act that resulted from the Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel rulings. The results have been mixed, resulting in large developments in a few places due to builders’ lawsuits, while not leading to widespread construction of low-income housing.

Scutari’s bill was one of several housing-related pieces of legislation reviewed by members of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee that drew widespread support from housing advocates during a recent hearing in Trenton.

Alicia Alvarez, the founder of the New Jersey Homelessness Action Collaborative, said during the Senate hearing that preventing homelessness starts at the local level and the trust fund bill would make this prevention possible.

“It gives us a road map and accountability, coordination and compassion,” Alvarez, who was once homeless, said of the bill during the Senate hearing. “Passing S4832 will mean fewer people will fall through the cracks and more will find stability before losing everything.”

Shifting response to homelessness

The Legislature’s push to enact numerous housing-policy measures during the current lame duck session comes as some local governments across the state have taken more punitive approaches in recent months towards people sleeping or camping in public places. These proposals have included ordinances with punishments that include jail time or hefty fines.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 6-3 in the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson case to clear the way for local governments to enforce such bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places. Some New Jersey towns already had similar laws in place, but since the high court’s decision, hundreds of cities across the country have passed anti-camping or anti-sleeping ordinances.

“Homelessness continues to increase across New Jersey, and local leaders need to be supported with the resources and ability to respond effectively,” Scutari said.

“By giving municipalities the ability to invest directly in affordable housing, support services, and prevention programs, we can help families and individuals before they fall into crisis, and strengthen communities in the process,” Scutari said.

If Scutari’s bill is signed into law, more work would need to be done to ensure the trust funds are established throughout the state.

“Since this is legislation that permits communities to implement this, it does not necessarily mean that automatically we will have every town in the state implementing a homeless trust fund,” said Kelly.

“There is going to be additional work, community by community, for them to evaluate and decide whether this is the right move for them, and there is some advocacy that goes along with that.”