The Legal Aid Society called on the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) to release information – including zip code and income level data – on tenants who have applied for Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funding to discern whether outreach efforts have worked and to ensure that vulnerable New Yorkers who are eligible to apply have done so.

Legal Aid further urged OTDA to release its outreach plan, targets, and whether OTDA has achieved those targets, as the success of ERAP depends on a model that effectively reaches communities in need throughout the State, as reported by Univision.

“We are demanding from the State of New York that they publish the zip codes and incomes of ERAP applicants. We want to understand who is applying for ERAP and make sure people like our clients, New Yorkers with the highest need, are applying,” said Maria Melchor, Paralegal Casehandler with the Civil Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society.