Homelessness policy in New York City encompasses the programs and services designed to provide shelter, rental assistance, and housing stability for residents experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This page covers CBC’s work on CityFHEPS housing vouchers, homeless shelter operations, budget transparency and underbudgeting, housing production, and the fiscal impact of homelessness services.
This page was created with AICBC Insights uses AI to group, analyze and present data and recommendations from CBC's publications. Always reference the cited sources to verify important details..
The City should implement additional actions to reduce costs in CityFHEPS housing vouchers, due process (Carter) cases, and other fast-growing areas, as the projected 15% annual growth in CityFHEPS is unsustainable.
The City should cap the number of CityFHEPS vouchers at the current level to restrain unaffordable spending growth without impacting current recipients.
The City should not pursue an unaffordable expansion that would explode costs even higher.
Priority should be given to those with the greatest need when issuing vouchers to new households from turnover.
The City should offset CityFHEPS funding by restraining other low impact spending to manage budget gaps.
The City should leverage State and federal housing subsidy programs and partner with the private sector to increase housing production to solve the housing crisis.
Key Data
In the June 2026 FY2027 Executive Budget, the City corrected underbudgeting for homeless shelters by $989 million.
New York City's fiscal year 2027 executive budget addresses significant long-term fiscal challenges by correcting years of underbudgeting, including $989 million for homeless shelters and $1.6 billion for City-funded FHEPS housing vouchers. Despite these corrections, the budget relies heavily on one-time resources and lacks sufficient recurring savings, leaving the city vulnerable to future fiscal gaps that are projected to grow to $9.8 billion by fiscal year 2030.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City should implement additional actions to reduce costs in CityFHEPS housing vouchers, due process (Carter) cases, and other fast-growing areas, as the projected 15% annual growth in CityFHEPS is unsustainable.
Key Data
$989 million
— Amount of underbudgeting corrected for homeless shelters in the fiscal year 2027 executive budget.
$1.6 billion
— Amount of underbudgeting corrected for City-funded FHEPS housing vouchers.
$278 million
— New spending allocated to housing and homeless services.
15%
— Projected annual growth rate in CityFHEPS costs, which is considered unsustainable.
Jackie most recently served as the Commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services from 2021 to 2026, where she oversaw emergency management, disaster recovery, counter terrorism policy, cyber security and emergency services for the state of New York. She served in New York City’s…
The CityFHEPS rental voucher program has seen costs triple in three years, reaching a projected $1.7 billion, while the number of households in shelters has increased by 21.5 percent. To ensure fiscal sustainability, the City should cap the number of vouchers at current levels, which would save $330 million in fiscal year 2027 and $3.0 billion over the five-year financial plan.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City should cap the number of CityFHEPS vouchers at the current level to restrain unaffordable spending growth without impacting current recipients.
The City should not pursue an unaffordable expansion that would explode costs even higher.
Priority should be given to those with the greatest need when issuing vouchers to new households from turnover.
The City should offset CityFHEPS funding by restraining other low impact spending to manage budget gaps.
The City should leverage State and federal housing subsidy programs and partner with the private sector to increase housing production to solve the housing crisis.
Key Data
$330 million
— Savings in the fiscal year 2027 budget from capping the number of CityFHEPS vouchers.
$3.0 billion
— Savings over the five-year financial plan from capping the number of CityFHEPS vouchers.
$1.7 billion
— Projected cost of the CityFHEPS program in fiscal year 2026.
21.5 percent
— Increase in the number of households in shelters, excluding migrants and asylum seekers, over the last three fiscal years.
64,439
— Number of households served by CityFHEPS as of October 2025.
$9.5 billion
— Amount added to the preliminary budget for CityFHEPS over five years.
New York City's budget is currently strained by chronic underfunding of essential services, including homeless shelters and rental assistance, which obscures the true fiscal gap. To restore stability, the city must stop underbudgeting these critical areas and implement rigorous performance management to ensure tax dollars are spent effectively.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The preliminary budget should reflect the full cost of expected services and activities, including homeless services and rental assistance.
Key Data
$692 Million
— Estimate of annual underbudgeting for rental assistance in the FY 2027 budget.
$654 Million
— Estimate of annual underbudgeting for non-asylum homeless shelters in the FY 2027 budget.
Candidates for New York City Mayor address the city's homelessness crisis by debating the future of the $1.2 billion CityFHEPS housing voucher program and strategies for improving shelter management. Proposals include expanding voucher access, reforming eligibility formulas, and prioritizing permanent housing placements to reduce the shelter population.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
Michael Blake proposes to replace the Area Median Income (AMI) formula with Local Median Income (LMI) to define affordability based on real New York wages and raise income thresholds for housing eligibility.
Brad Lander commits to directing new New York State HAVP funding to the CityFHEPS housing voucher program to support its expansion.
Jessica Ramos advocates that the city must expand access and increase voucher amounts for the CityFHEPS program to meet current housing realities.
Curtis Sliwa argues that the CityFHEPS program requires oversight, checks against abuse, and a greater focus on opportunity rather than handouts.
Scott Stringer emphasizes that while CityFHEPS provides critical services, the city must ensure real accountability and effectiveness as program costs continue to increase.
Key Data
$1.2 billion
— The cost of the CityFHEPS housing voucher program in fiscal year 2025.
New York City's mayoral platform emphasizes the need to prioritize evidence-based programs to address homelessness and mental health while streamlining housing production. By targeting vouchers and modernizing public housing, the city aims to improve affordability and service delivery for its residents.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The next mayor should focus on what works by prioritizing evidence-based programs in homelessness and mental health.
The next mayor should supercharge housing production and affordability by streamlining approvals, modernizing codes, and targeting vouchers to address housing needs.
The next mayor should modernize NYCHA to cut costs, speed up repairs, and quickly unlock capital to improve housing stability.
New York City's CityFHEPS rental voucher program has grown to cost over $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2025, yet it has failed to reduce the number of individuals in shelters. The program's reliance on city-only funding and its long-term costs, which exceed those of shelter, necessitate a shift toward a more sustainable, multi-pronged affordable housing strategy that targets aid to those who benefit most.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City must make decisions about the level of CityFHEPS spending that is appropriate and sustainable as part of a multi-pronged affordable housing strategy.
The City should maximize the impact of CityFHEPS by targeting vouchers to households who will see the most benefits.
Key Data
$1.1 billion
— Cost to serve the 52,000 existing CityFHEPS voucher holders in fiscal year 2025.
52,000
— Number of households holding CityFHEPS vouchers at the end of 2024.
$20,000
— Average cost to the City per household per year for CityFHEPS vouchers.
27%
— Amount by which CityFHEPS costs exceed shelter costs for a typical single adult by the end of the fifth year.
$519 million
— Fiscal year 2026 CityFHEPS budget, which is 52% less than the current year.
$1.8 billion
— Amount by which CityFHEPS will cost more than shelter over five years for the current 52,000 voucher holders.
New York City's fiscal planning requires more transparent and accurate budgeting for essential services, including housing vouchers and homeless shelters, to avoid severe underbudgeting. Providing a clear picture of these financial commitments is necessary to ensure the city can effectively manage its resources and meet the needs of its residents.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The Administration should break its severe underbudgeting habit and provide credible spending estimates to ensure New Yorkers have a clear picture of the City’s finances, including housing vouchers and homeless shelters.
The fiscal year 2025 budget includes only $10 million for the Shelter to Housing Action Plan, a program funded for a single year. Furthermore, implementing the eligibility expansion for the CityFHEPS housing voucher program is projected to increase budget gaps to $11.5 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $16.0 billion by fiscal year 2028.
Key Data
$10 million
— Funding allocated for the Shelter to Housing Action Plan, which is only funded for fiscal year 2025.
$11.5 billion
— Projected budget gap in fiscal year 2026 if the eligibility expansion for the CityFHEPS housing voucher program is implemented.
$16.0 billion
— Projected budget gap in fiscal year 2028 if the eligibility expansion for the CityFHEPS housing voucher program is implemented.
The city's adopted budget increases spending significantly, driven in part by costs associated with services for asylum seekers and recurring expenses like shelter security. Despite these rising costs, the budget fails to fully fund recurring programs or identify long-term savings, relying on short-term fixes rather than sustainable fiscal planning.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The city must include the full recurring costs of programs like prevailing wages for shelter security in the budget to avoid underestimating future spending.
The city should identify offsetting future savings for expanded programs, ensuring that services for asylum seekers and other initiatives are sustainable over the long term.
Key Data
$5.0 billion
— The amount by which the budget grows, even absent spending on services for asylum seekers.
$14.4 billion
— The growth in City-funded spending from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2025, excluding spending on services for asylum seekers.
New York City's persistent failure to build enough housing to keep pace with demand has created a severe shortage that drives up costs, limits mobility, and contributes to the city's highest-in-the-nation homelessness rate. To address this crisis and bolster the tax base, the city must implement broad-based zoning reforms and state-level legislative changes to significantly increase housing production across all neighborhoods.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
New York must reform the State’s environmental review laws to increase housing production at the scale needed to improve affordability.
The state should pass laws to encourage development in the downstate suburbs to help address the regional housing shortage.
Policymakers should repeal the Scaffold law, which currently drives up insurance costs and hinders new construction.
The city needs to modernize building codes to facilitate the construction of more housing units.
The city must reform its property tax policy to better support new development and housing supply.
Key Data
1.1 percent
— The share of New York City residents who were homeless in January 2023, which was five times the national average.
$300 million
— The conservative estimate of personal income and sales tax revenue lost by the City in 2022 due to net outmigration.
560,000
— The number of additional housing units a 2021 report by AKRF found New York City needs by 2030.
1.4 percent
— The rental vacancy rate in New York City, which is the lowest level since the City started tracking it in the 1960s.
$259 million
— The minimum amount of personal income tax revenue lost by New York City in 2022 due to the net outmigration of 52,600 households.
New Yorkers express significant dissatisfaction with city services, particularly regarding the provision of public housing and services for the homeless, which are among the lowest-rated areas. The administration is encouraged to prioritize high-impact programs and address these service shortcomings to improve quality of life and restore public confidence.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The Administration should incorporate this type of standardized, statistically valid feedback into its management systems and policy development to better address homelessness and related services.
Efforts to fix homelessness and related services should be continued and possibly intensified.
The City should prioritize spending on high-impact programs that deliver positive results and tackle the range of homelessness policy challenges.
The Administration has rightly been focused on services for the homeless, where partnership from the State and federal governments is critical.
Key Data
11%
— The percentage of New Yorkers who rate homeless services as excellent or good.
22%
— The percentage of respondents who named homelessness and related services as an issue requiring more attention from City government.
New York City's budget faces significant fiscal pressure, with critical homelessness prevention programs like City FHEPS currently underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars. To ensure long-term stability, the city must accurately reflect the full costs of these essential services in its financial planning rather than relying on temporary, one-year funding cycles.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City must fully fund the programs it plans to deliver, including essential homelessness prevention services like City FHEPS, to avoid fiscal instability.
The City should ensure that the funding required to support the current level of City FHEPS vouchers is included in the budget before adding or expanding any other programs.
City leaders must make the hard choices needed to prioritize key, high-impact programs and increase government efficiency to ensure the budget accurately reflects the full cost of desired program expansions.
Key Data
$800 million
— Expected annual cost of City FHEPS vouchers for the current year.
$150 million
— Amount budgeted for City FHEPS vouchers for the upcoming year.
$704.3 million
— FY 2025 City-Funds Fiscal Cliff amount specifically for CityFHEPS.
$200.0 million
— FY 2025 City-Funds Fiscal Cliff amount for Shelter Cost Re-estimate.
$69.0 million
— FY 2025 City-Funds Fiscal Cliff amount for HASA housing.
New York City's fiscal plan faces significant budget gaps, with $2.2 billion in City-funded fiscal cliffs including $704 million for the CityFHEPS rental assistance program and $200 million for homeless shelters. To ensure fiscal stability, the City must prioritize funding for essential programs while transparently shrinking or eliminating those that cannot be supported by available resources.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City should implement an additional PEG in the Executive Budget and shrink or eliminate programs, including CityFHEPS and homeless shelter funding, that the available resources cannot fully support.
To be fully transparent, the budget should include funding for all planned programs, such as CityFHEPS and homeless shelters, and acknowledge that under- and un-funded programs will shrink or end.
The City Council should ensure that its proposals for added or modified spending are affordable based on fully funding or reducing the current set of planned programs, including CityFHEPS and homeless services.
The Administration should continue with its original plan to implement a PEG in the Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget to address fiscal cliffs in homeless services.
The City should prioritize and fund effective and impactful programs, shrink or eliminate less critical and effective programs, and increase efficiency, particularly regarding homelessness and housing programs.
Key Data
$704 million
— The amount of City-funds fiscal cliff funding required for the CityFHEPS housing voucher program.
$200 million
— The amount of City-funds fiscal cliff funding required for homeless shelters.
$16 million
— The amount of City-funds fiscal cliff funding required for the Subway Safety Plan at the Department of Homeless Services.
$17.0 billion
— The potential cost increase of the CityFHEPS voucher program expansion over 5 years according to Administration estimates.
The fiscal year 2025 preliminary budget fails to adequately fund recurring programs like the FHEPS housing voucher program, which costs over $800 million annually. Additionally, the city must provide greater transparency regarding the services and projections associated with reduced spending on asylum seekers and migrants.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City should do much more to transparently budget for the projected costs of all programs, including the FHEPS housing voucher program, or explicitly shrink or sunset them.
The City should detail the sources of savings and the underlying projections for reduced spending on asylum seekers and migrants, so that New Yorkers understand what services are being provided, for how long, and to how many households.
Key Data
$800 million
— The current, non-expanded FHEPS housing voucher program costs upward of this amount in the current year.
New York City faces significant fiscal challenges, including rising costs for asylum seeker services and the expansion of the CityFHEPS housing voucher program, which threaten to create substantial budget gaps. Achieving long-term structural stability will require the City to prioritize essential services, improve government efficiency, and make difficult decisions regarding which programs to continue or scale back.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City should prioritize effective programs and shift other funds to support them, while eliminating or scaling back those that are less impactful.
The City must determine how it will preserve, shrink, or eliminate the City-funded fiscal cliff programs and identify the funding sources for them.
The City needs to make hard choices about programs currently supported by temporary federal COVID-related funds that are soon to be unfunded.
The City should update its spending projections to include longer-term costs for asylum seeker and migrant services.
The City must develop a plan to control asylum seeker and migrant service costs over the long-term.
Key Data
$4.7 billion
— FY2024 asylum seeker and migrant spending projection
$6.1 billion
— FY2025 asylum seeker and migrant spending projection
$394 per day
— per diem rate for asylum seeker services as of August 2023
$749 million
— projected cost of CityFHEPS program expansion in fiscal year 2024
$2.1 billion
— projected cost of CityFHEPS program expansion in fiscal year 2025
New York City's rental assistance programs, particularly CityFHEPS, have seen costs balloon from $16 million in 2015 to a projected $636 million in 2023, creating a significant fiscal cliff as federal aid expires. To ensure sustainability, the city must ground expansion plans in realistic cost estimates and secure appropriate funding from federal and state partners rather than relying on non-recurring revenue.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
An effective, holistic strategy should include appropriate voucher funding from the federal and State governments.
Budget amounts and allocation decisions, including any expansion to CityFHEPS, should be grounded in realistic utilization and cost estimates for the current program, most of which is unfunded in the future.
Any proposed expansion to CityFHEPS should include a fiscal impact statement that shows how much it would increase costs and identifies recurring revenues to pay for it.
The City should provide realistic estimates of the program’s cost and reflect those in the City budget.
Consideration of the three pending bills that would expand eligibility for CityFHEPS should be based on their impact on City spending and from where the resources would come, including what other program spending may be reduced.
Key Data
$16 million
— Cost of rental assistance programs in fiscal year 2015.
$636 million
— Anticipated cost of rental assistance programs in fiscal year 2023.
$450 million
— Fiscal cliff amount in fiscal year 2024.
$410 million
— City funding for CityFHEPS in fiscal year 2023.
$18 million
— CityFHEPS funding budgeted for fiscal year 2024.
$6.8 billion
— Total budget shortfall in fiscal year 2025.
New York City's budget fails to fund approximately $1.0 billion in existing programs for fiscal year 2024, including critical support for City Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (FHEPS) vouchers and shelter security. This fiscal oversight leaves significant gaps in essential services, creating long-term instability for programs designed to prevent homelessness and maintain shelter operations.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City should prioritize funding for City Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (FHEPS) vouchers to address the $400 million expected cost.
The City should ensure adequate funding for prevailing wages for shelter security, which is currently unfunded in the fiscal year 2024 budget.
The City should prioritize essential programs like homelessness prevention services over adding new positions while the city faces significant budget gaps.
Key Data
$1.0 billion
— Amount of existing City-funded programs, including FHEPS vouchers and shelter security, that the budget fails to fund in fiscal year 2024.
$400 million
— Expected cost of City Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (FHEPS) vouchers for the year.
$41 million
— Cost of prevailing wages for shelter security that remains unfunded in the fiscal year 2024 budget.
New York City must implement strong management and accountability systems while increasing housing production through broad-based rezonings to address the city's affordability and homelessness crises. To effectively reduce shelter stays and prevent homelessness, the city should also prioritize filling vacant affordable units and ensuring rental housing vouchers are fully utilized.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City should identify the specific operational and policy actions needed to achieve these goals.
The City should instead set goals for total housing production (inclusive of both income-restricted and market-rate units), the net growth in housing units citywide, and the net change by community district.
Doubling production will require broad-based rezonings to increase as-of-right development capacity in every neighborhood.
The City should track and publish outcome metrics, such as the share of rent burdened households or the homeownership rate for various groups, to monitor the effectiveness of both demand- and supply-side policies.
The City should identify responsible parties, set implementation milestones and performance metrics, and create and implement a management accountability process to track and manage progress.
Key Data
560,000
— Number of additional housing units New York City needs by 2030 to meet existing needs and future population growth.
50,000
— Number of housing units that need to be permitted annually to meet housing needs, which is twice as many as issued in recent years.
40%
— Percentage fewer housing permits issued per resident in New York City compared to San Francisco.
20,000
— Number of vacant positions within the City that could be utilized to help implement housing and homelessness plans.
20%
— Percentage of the city’s residential lots that have enough capacity under current zoning to make it worthwhile to develop.
New York City faces a $653 million fiscal cliff that includes $41 million for homeless shelter security worker wages and $34 million for housing voucher rent increases, which were only funded for fiscal year 2022. The administration must either secure recurring revenue for these essential programs or face their potential elimination.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The Adams Administration must identify recurring revenues for homeless shelter security worker wages and housing voucher programs or eliminate them.
The New York City Housing Authority should implement reforms to achieve fiscal stability rather than relying on continual increases in subsidies.
Key Data
$41 million
— Funding allocated for prevailing wages for homeless shelter security workers.
$34 million
— Funding allocated for higher rent levels for housing vouchers.
New York City has received $6 billion in flexible federal aid, which should be strategically allocated to address pandemic-exacerbated issues like homelessness, mental health, and public safety rather than expanding long-term city payroll commitments. The current $98 billion executive budget approach is criticized as scattershot, with calls for greater transparency and industry consultation to ensure funds effectively support recovery.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
Federal aid from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) should be concentrated on strategic interventions designed in partnership with industry and nonprofit groups with a focus on addressing the health, mental health, homelessness, and public safety challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
New York City utilized federal COVID-related aid to fund various housing and homelessness initiatives, including rental assistance vouchers, street outreach, and legal counsel in housing court. These programs face potential fiscal cliffs as the temporary federal funding expires, creating future budget gaps for maintaining these essential services.
Key Data
$328.7 Million
— Total federal COVID-related aid allocated for Rental Housing Assistance Vouchers from fiscal years 2021 to 2025.
$76.9 Million
— Total federal COVID-related aid allocated for the Journey Home initiative from fiscal years 2021 to 2025.
$62.4 Million
— Total federal COVID-related aid allocated for Access to Counsel in Housing Court from fiscal years 2021 to 2025.
$48.0 Million
— Total federal COVID-related aid allocated for Homeless Street Outreach from fiscal years 2021 to 2025.
$168.0 Million
— Fiscal year 2022 federal COVID-related aid allocated for Rental Housing Assistance Vouchers.
The next New York City Comptroller will play a critical role not only in holding the next Administration and agencies accountable, investing and managing five pension funds with $248 billion in assets, and partnering in $13 billion City debt issuance, but also in spotlighting and promoting New York City’s fiscal…
Managing the City’s fiscal crisis well will be a critically important duty of the next Mayor and a primary determinant of how the city survives the current crisis, and ultimately thrives in the future. Managing NYC’s Fiscal Crisis: A CBC Mayoral Candidate Forum featured a 10-minute conversation with each candidate,…
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a 9 percent decrease in homeless shelter entrants in fiscal year 2020, likely due to the suspension of evictions. However, 311 calls regarding homelessness rose significantly, increasing 76 percent in the last quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 39 percent in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021.
Key Data
9 percent
— Entrants to homeless shelters decreased by this amount in fiscal year 2020.
76 percent
— Increase in 311 calls about homelessness in the last quarter of fiscal year 2020.
39 percent
— Increase in 311 calls about homelessness in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021.
77,342
— Number of requests for emergency assistance at the Rental Assistance Unit in fiscal year 2019.
65,234
— Number of requests for emergency assistance at the Rental Assistance Unit in fiscal year 2020.
New York City's spending on Department of Homeless Services shelters grew by $1 billion between fiscal years 2014 and 2019, driven largely by rising daily costs for shelter operations rather than just population increases. This expenditure growth reflects policy decisions, such as the increased use of commercial hotels and higher contract costs for shelter providers, which have shifted a greater financial burden onto the City.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The City should prioritize spending restraint in the upcoming budget season to set aside additional resources to weather an economic downturn.
Managing the factors that have led to rapid spending growth, such as the rising cost of contracts, overtime, or headcount growth, could help reduce the City’s need to take drastic actions when the inevitable downturn occurs.
The City should address the rising costs for operating traditional shelters driven by increased investments in shelter security, shelter maintenance, and provision of social services.
Key Data
$1 billion
— Total increase in spending for Department of Homeless Services shelter operations, intake, and administration between fiscal years 2014 and 2019.
16.5%
— Average annual increase in spending for Department of Homeless Services shelter operations, intake, and administration between fiscal years 2014 and 2019.
$2,091.9 million
— Total spending on homeless service contracts in fiscal year 2019.
$124
— Average daily cost of shelter for a single adult in fiscal year 2019.
$196
— Average daily cost of shelter for an entire family in fiscal year 2019.
2,852
— Number of hotel rooms booked by the City for homeless shelter use on February 28, 2017.
Between fiscal year 2014 and 2019, New York City's spending on homeless services increased by $1.1 billion, driven largely by rising costs for both family and adult shelters. This expenditure represents a significant portion of the city's overall agency budget growth during that five-year period.
Key Data
$1.1 billion
— Total spending growth for Homeless Services between fiscal year 2014 and 2019.
$627 million
— Spending growth allocated to family shelters.
$401 million
— Spending growth allocated to adult shelters.
$71 million
— Spending growth allocated to other homeless services.
$3.2 billion is the amount NYC spends on homeless services, double what was spent in 2014, earning the agencies providing these services a spot on NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer's Agency Watch List. Learn more about this list and the Comptroller's assessment of the City budget, rent regulation reform, and more.
Spending on services for New York City’s homeless population has surged to $3.0 billion in fiscal year 2018, more than double the amount spent in 2014, despite efforts to reduce the number of people in shelters. The city must develop a clear and specific plan to control these rapidly rising costs, as current strategies have failed to produce the intended reductions in homelessness.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The Administration must provide a clear and specific explanation of how it will control costs of homeless services.
The City should develop a comprehensive plan to control the rising expenditures for homeless services, as current strategies have not produced the expected results.
Key Data
$3.0 billion
— Total spending on services for New York City’s homeless population in fiscal year 2018.
$1.3 billion
— Total spending on services for New York City’s homeless population in fiscal year 2014.
$364 million
— Annual amount the City spends on commercial hotels for homeless housing.
$100 million
— Estimated annual savings if the City eliminated the use of commercial hotels and shifted to Tier II shelters.
$300.1 million
— Additional capital commitment allocated to open 90 new Tier II shelters.
Residents across Bronx community districts report low satisfaction with services for homeless people, with ratings ranging from 6.5% to 19.6% across different areas. These figures highlight a significant gap in public perception regarding the effectiveness of city-provided support for the homeless population compared to other municipal services.
Key Data
13.7%
— Percentage of residents citywide who rated services for homeless people as excellent or good.
14.4%
— Percentage of residents across the Bronx who rated services for homeless people as excellent or good.
6.5%
— Lowest satisfaction rating for services for homeless people among Bronx community districts.
19.6%
— Highest satisfaction rating for services for homeless people among Bronx community districts.
Only 14% of New Yorkers rate services for homeless people as 'excellent' or 'good,' highlighting a significant gap in public satisfaction with city support systems. This feedback underscores the urgent need for city leaders to address resident concerns regarding the quality and effectiveness of essential municipal services.
Key Data
14%
— Percentage of New Yorkers who rate services for homeless people as 'excellent' or 'good'.
The 2017 NYC Resident Feedback Survey reveals that 19.4% of respondents identified homelessness and services as one of the most important issues requiring more attention from city government. Furthermore, only 13.7% of residents rated the city's services for homeless people as excellent or good.
Key Data
19.4%
— The proportion of survey respondents who identified <b>homelessness and services</b> as one of the most important issues requiring more attention from city government.
13.7%
— The overall proportion of residents who rated <b>services for homeless people</b> as excellent or good.
62.3%
— The proportion of survey respondents who rated <b>services for homeless people</b> as poor.
New York City's spending on homeless services has surged by 77 percent since fiscal year 2014, reaching $2.3 billion in fiscal year 2017, with the majority of funds directed toward shelters. Despite optimistic budget projections for future years, the consistent growth in caseloads suggests that current spending levels are likely to continue rising without a strategy that includes clear milestones for sustainability.
Recommendations related to Homelessness Policy
The Administration's new strategy on homelessness should address how much more growth in the homeless population served is actually anticipated.
The Administration's new strategy on homelessness should provide milestones against which to measure progress towards more sustainable spending.
Any new strategy for service redesign or expansion in this area should be accompanied by milestones for reducing spending to sustainable levels.
Key Data
$2.3 billion
— Total spending on homeless services by all New York City agencies in fiscal year 2017.
77 percent
— Growth in spending on homeless services since fiscal year 2014.
$1.6 billion
— Projected spending on shelters in fiscal year 2017.
62,674
— The shelter census at the beginning of fiscal year 2017.
$286 million
— Projected cost of preventive services in fiscal year 2017.
$216 million
— Total cost of housing voucher programs in fiscal year 2017.
The FY2018 Preliminary Budget reflects a significant expansion of municipal government, with spending reaching $87.1 billion and employment exceeding 327,000. While the budget addresses policy agendas like pre-kindergarten and housing, it struggles to manage rising costs associated with homelessness and agency overtime.
With the homeless shelter census exceeding 60,000, the city faces questions regarding whether it will increase funding beyond the $1.5 billion budgeted for fiscal year 2017 and the $1.1 billion assumed for subsequent years. Furthermore, the city must determine if it will increase support for the New York City Housing Authority, which currently faces $17 billion in unmet capital needs.
Key Data
60,000
— The number of people in the homeless shelter census.
$1.5 billion
— The amount budgeted for homeless shelters in fiscal year 2017.
$1.1 billion
— The amount assumed for homeless shelter funding in years subsequent to fiscal year 2017.
$17 billion
— The amount of unmet capital needs for the New York City Housing Authority.
In fiscal year 2016, New York City's homeless shelter populations continued to grow across all categories, with the number of single adults in shelters increasing by 12.3%. Additionally, the average daily population of families with children in shelters rose by 2.3%, while the adult family population grew by nearly 5%.
Key Data
2.3%
— The average number of families with children in shelters per day increased by this amount in fiscal year 2016.
5%
— The adult family population in shelters grew by almost this amount in fiscal year 2016.
12.3%
— The number of single adults in shelters per day increased by this amount in fiscal year 2016.
New York City has faced a persistent rise in the homeless population, prompting the administration to increase the Department of Homeless Services budget by 13% to $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2016. Despite these investments in rental assistance, restructuring, and outreach teams, preliminary data indicates that shelter populations continued to grow in the first four months of the fiscal year.
Key Data
$1.3 billion
— Total Department of Homeless Services budget in fiscal year 2016.
13%
— Increase in the Department of Homeless Services budget in fiscal year 2016 over fiscal year 2015.
475
— Number of new employees hired by the Department of Homeless Services in fiscal year 2016.
The fiscal year 2017 executive budget includes a $339 million increase in funding for the Department of Homeless Services and the Human Resources Administration. This spending is part of a broader $1.2 billion increase in new agency spending intended to be sustained through an enhanced citywide savings plan.
Key Data
$339 million
— The increase in funding for the Department of Homeless Services and the Human Resources Administration in the fiscal year 2017 budget.
The Department of Homeless Services faced a 12.5 percent budget reduction, resulting in the elimination of over 300 positions, including 100 layoffs. These cuts were part of broader municipal efforts to balance the budget following the 2008 recession.
Key Data
12.5 percent
— The Department of Homeless Services budget was cut by 12.5 percent, which included the elimination of over 300 positions and 100 layoffs.
This report evaluates New York City's performance management practices, using the Department of Homeless Services as a case study to illustrate how agencies can shift from output-based to outcome-based measurement. It highlights the need for better alignment between budget allocations and program performance to improve accountability and service delivery.
Key Data
$21,794,631
— Fiscal Year 2007 adopted budget amount for Single Shelter Operations.
12,342
— Number of homeless shelter intakes for single adults.
9,225
— Number of homeless shelter intakes for families with children.
3,477
— Number of requests for assistance for a homeless person.
3,126
— Number of visits to homeless drop-in centers.
2,947
— Number of homeless shelter intakes for first-time applicant families.
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