Fewer NYC  Families Left Shelters for Permanent Homes Last Year. New Report

More than 5,200 New York City families moved from homeless shelters to permanent housing during the 2022 fiscal year, down significantly from the year prior. A new report by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Health (ICPH) shows how DSS could accelerate move-outs with a few policy tweaks intended to streamline access to rental assistance.

More than 5,200 New York City families moved from homeless shelters to permanent housing during the 2022 fiscal year, according to the latest mayor’s management report. The vast majority of those families—about 80 percent—secured housing with a rental assistance voucher, like the municipal CityFHEPS program, which pays the bulk of their monthly apartment costs.

The number of move-outs decreased significantly from June 2021 to July 2022 compared to recent fiscal years, down more than 27 percent from the year before alone. At the same time, families stayed an average of four months longer in shelters last year than they did in 2017.

A major reason for the decrease was the size of the overall shelter population and the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Department of Social Services, which oversees the Department of Homeless Services (DHS). The number of families in DHS shelters reached a decade-long low last year during a statewide freeze on evictions and successful interventions to keep families housed. Now, however, the number of families in shelter has risen dramatically as evictions pick up, rents soar and thousands of newly arrived immigrants seek temporary placements.

A new report by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Health (ICPH) shows how DSS could accelerate move-outs with a few policy tweaks intended to streamline access to rental assistance.

The ICPH report, first shared with City Limits, features the results of a survey of families staying at four shelters run by the organization Homes for the Homeless (HFH). The right to shelter in New York City provides a vital lifeline to families and individuals in need, but imposes eligibility rules and requirements that can lock families out or complicate rapid moves into permanent housing, the researchers said.

“Families come into shelter wanting stability, wanting permanent housing,” said HFH Senior Policy Associate Caroline Iosso, one of the report’s authors. “It’s supposed to be a stopover point for them to collect themselves and access resources.”