The murder of a Bronx baby in taxpayer-funded homeless housing raises serious questions about a new city program – and whether families are being denied vital social services.
The problems involve the Department of Homeless Services’ “scatter site” housing program – which began last year with 800 units and could run a $29 million annual tab.
Under the scheme, the city pays landlords about $100 a day to put homeless families in units that might otherwise rent for $600 a month.
In exchange, the landlord is required to hire a social worker to help the families with such things as finding permanent housing.
But a Post investigation has found that in the scatter-site program:
* Social workers are rarely available and routinely fail to deliver when families ask for help.
* DHS makes no regular follow-up visits to families and no effort to see if they’re getting proper services.
* The social worker assigned to the family of 10-month-old Justin Taylor, the murdered Bronx baby, made only five visits in nearly four months – while the landlord collected about $7,700 from the city.
Justin was beaten to death the night of July 8 in apartment 12B at 1056 Boynton Ave. in The Bronx, a building with about 10 scatter-site units.
The next day, police arrested Justin’s father, Anthony Taylor, 20, and charged him with murder.
An autopsy showed Justin had been severely beaten. At his arraignment Friday, Taylor pleaded not guilty.
While it’s not clear if there were early signs Justin was in danger, it is obvious little attention was paid to the boy’s family after they arrived at Boynton Avenue on March 14.
Forty-five days passed before the social worker hired by the building owner made her first visit on April 29, said Bob Mascali, DHS chief of staff.
“They usually give them some time to settle in,” Mascali said.
But homeless advocates said newly settled families need help right away.
The social worker made subsequent visits on May 4, May 22, June 11 and June 29.
Mascali said no one from DHS ever visited the family at Boynton Avenue. He said DHS staffers do not make regular checks on the scatter sites.
The site is run by Kalman Tabak, who rents 29 apartments to DHS there and at two other sites.
To meet the requirement for a social worker, Tabak hired Chinyere Ozim, 39, who is also employed by the Administration for Children’s Services.
But families in Tabak’s buildings said Ozim made only brief appearances and rebuffed requests for help.
“She’ll stay for two or three minutes, and then she’ll go,” said Margie Julius, 38, who moved into the Boynton Avenue building with her six children on March 2.
“She told me if I need her, to call her,” Julius said. “I just leave a message on the machine. She has never called back.”
Maria Pena moved into apartment 6D on March 1 with her sister and their children. It was at least six weeks, she said, before Ozim showed up. Ozim now makes a brief appearance every two weeks to have Pena sign a paper acknowledging the visit.
Residents at a Tabak building at 1101 Manor Ave. had similar complaints.
“We’ve been abandoned here,” said Cruz Colon, 60, who moved into apartment 3C on April 24. Colon said Ozim appears weekly to have her sign papers.
Colon does not speak English, and Ozim does not speak Spanish.
“I thought I was going to stay in touch with the people [at DHS], but that hasn’t happened,” Colon said. “She just comes and asks me to sign.”
Colon said she wants to apply for food stamps and federally subsidized housing. The lights don’t work in her hall or kitchen, and her sink leaks – but Ozim has not had them fixed.
Contacted by The Post, Ozim refused to answer questions. Tabak said Mascali told him not to speak to The Post.
Mascali refused to say how much Tabak has been paid since joining the scatter-site program Feb. 14.
But a DHS shelter census indicates that if Tabak was charging the average scatter-site rate of $100 a day, he would have collected about $300,000 through July 15.
The problems at Tabak’s buildings also existed at other scatter sites visited by The Post.
Families at 1055 University Ave. in The Bronx – where there are 27 poorly maintained scatter-site units – feel they’re in a bizarre twilight zone, out of touch with city agencies.
Mirla Cruz said when she arrived on Feb. 27, she was met by a building manager named Steve Chopt, who said he was her “caseworker.”
Cruz said Chopt told her he couldn’t help enroll her son in school or apply for federally subsidized housing.
Chopt didn’t return phone calls.
Cruz said no one from DHS has contacted her since she and her family landed at University Avenue.
The scatter-site program was created to comply with a court order that threatens the city with fines if homeless families don’t receive immediate shelter.
“We’re always under pressure to house families as quickly as possible. The scatter sites have been a very valuable asset,” Mascali said.