Dear New Yorkers,

The city that never sleeps should aspire to have no one sleep on the streets. And thanks to the landmark 1981 New York Supreme Court ruling in Callahan v. Carey, New York is the only major city in the country that offers a legal “right to shelter” to anyone within its borders who requests it.

New Yorkers should be proud of this legacy. But as my office’s latest audit shows, New York still has a long way to go toward reducing street homelessness and guaranteeing a compassionate, equitable city for all.

Between March and November 2022, the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) conducted sweeps of homeless encampment sites in the city. Our audit found that DHS outreach staff participated in the forced removal of 2,308 people during these sweeps.

Of those 2,308 people removed during the sweeps, only 90 people stayed in shelter for more than one day. As of January 23, 2023, only 43 people remained in shelter, and only 3 people secured permanent housing

The sweeps also largely failed to achieve their secondary goal of eliminating encampments. On April 12, 2023, the Comptroller’s auditors visited 99 identified locations where the task force swept in 2022. We found that people rebuilt some form of encampment at 31 sites.

The evidence is clear: The homeless sweeps failed. Only an extremely small number of individuals entered the shelter system after their forced removal from public spaces, and even fewer accessed stable housing.

As we highlighted during a press conference today alongside housing advocates, the mass sweeping of homeless encampments is simply NOT an effective or humane method of connecting unhoused individuals with the services and permanent housing they need.

So, how do we build a supported, direct path from the street to safe and stable housing?

Rather than continue a failed policy, my office proposes that New York City establish a large-scale “Housing First” program. This evidence-based practice prioritizes providing permanent housing, without requiring individuals to enter shelter or graduate through a series of programs first. As our policy review details, Housing First programs have proven highly successful in case studies in Denver and Philadelphia.

Importantly, we should also look to New York City’s own experience applying a Housing First model to veteran homelessness. A decade ago, the City of New York piloted Housing First policies to get homeless veterans into stable housing with remarkable success, reducing veteran homelessness to almost none.

New York City also recently began a small “Street-to-Housing” pilot, which draws on Housing First principles and seeks to connect up to 80 homeless single adults living on the street with supportive housing. Analysis from the Comptroller’s office demonstrates that on the annual cost of housing people in supportive housing is significantly less than traditional shelter settings, hospitalization, or incarceration.

With a Housing First approach, combined with upholding the right-to-shelter, New York City can dramatically reduce street homelessness. Read our full DHS Audit on Homeless Encampments here, and our Housing First Policy review here.

Thanks,

Brad