Advocacy group: Move homelessness council out of ASSMCA, into Housing Dept.

By THE STAR STAFF

Solo Por Hoy Inc., one of Puerto Rico’s leading organizations serving people experiencing homelessness, is urging lawmakers to overhaul the island’s institutional framework for addressing homelessness, arguing that the current structure has weakened coordination, distorted public policy and sidelined community expertise.

In a detailed explanatory memorandum submitted to Senate Housing and Social Welfare Committee Chair Jamie Barlucea Rodríguez, the nonprofit called the investigation ordered under Senate Resolution 383 a “critical opportunity” to reassess whether Puerto Rico’s public policy on homelessness is aligned with the agencies best equipped to address it.

At the center of the group’s concerns is the Multisectoral Council in Support of the Homeless Population, created under Law 130 of 2007 to coordinate the government’s response and set integrated public policy. The council was originally housed under the Family Department, but in December 2016 lawmakers transferred it to the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration (ASSMCA by its initials in Spanish) without public hearings or input from the sectors represented on the Council.

Solo Por Hoy argues that the move -- initially justified by federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration funding tied to mental health and substance use services -- narrowed the council’s mission and reduced community participation. The funding did not continue beyond the first year, the group noted, and was never intended to redefine the island’s homelessness policy structure.

“Homelessness is not a problem that can be reduced to mental health or addiction,” the organization wrote, emphasizing that many unhoused individuals do not present those conditions. They argue that the issue is fundamentally tied to structural determinants such as access to housing, employment, income stability and essential services.

The nonprofit also criticized what it described as ASSMCA’s “overreach,” saying the agency has treated the council as a direct service provider rather than a public‑policy body. According to the memo, the council has even drafted funding proposals without proper deliberation, diverting attention from its statutory role and undermining its multisectoral nature.

The group contends that the legal mandates of ASSMCA and the Housing Department make the current arrangement untenable. While ASSMCA is legally tasked with mental health and addiction services, the Housing Department is the agency responsible for designing and implementing public policy related to access to adequate housing.

Solo Por Hoy recommends restoring the council’s autonomy, ensuring that agency delegates have real decision‑making authority, and reinstating full community representation, including the nine seats assigned to Continuums of Care. It also calls for clearer delineation between the council’s policymaking role and the Continuums of Care’s responsibility for federally aligned strategic planning.

Ultimately, the organization urges lawmakers to remove the Council from ASSMCA and place it under the Housing Department, asserting that doing so would better align Puerto Rico’s homelessness policy with the crisis’ structural nature and strengthen interagency coordination.