The Legal Aid Society is condemning a proposal by the Adams Administration to increase rent for low-income families using City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS), a local housing voucher program, from 30 percent to 40 percent of their income.

The proposed increase would destabilize more than 29,000 low-income households and significantly raise the risk of eviction, homelessness, and long-term harm, especially for single mothers, seniors, people with disabilities, and working families living paycheck to paycheck.

“CityFHEPS was designed to break the cycle of homelessness,” reads a statement from Legal Aid. “Forcing tenants already on the edge to pay more will only reverse progress and cost the City more in emergency shelter and health services.”

“As the Trump Administration and Congress consider devastating cuts to social safety nets, local programs like CityFHEPS are more essential than ever,” the statement continues.