Section 21-301
§ 21-301 Definitions. Whenever used in this chapter, the following
terms shall be defined as follows:
a. "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of homeless services.
b. "Department" shall mean the department of homeless services.
c. "Eligible homeless person" shall mean a person eligible for
transitional housing or services from the department pursuant to
federal, state and local laws and such rules and regulations as may be
promulgated pursuant thereto.
d. "Temporary shelter placement" shall mean a shelter placement for a
family with children which complies with all applicable requirements of
the administrative code of the city of New York.
Section 21-302
§ 21-302 Housing-readiness training and aftercare programs. a. The
commissioner shall establish, maintain and operate housing-readiness
training for all eligible homeless persons determined to be in need of
such training. This training shall include such subjects as the
commissioner shall determine are necessary to enable such eligible
homeless persons to acquire the skills necessary for adjustment to and
remaining in permanent housing. On or before December 31, 1995, the
commissioner shall promulgate a housing-readiness training plan to be
used in such training as shall be established, maintained and operated
pursuant to this section. Beginning on December 31, 1995, such
housing-readiness training shall be available no less frequently than on
a quarterly basis.
b. The commissioner shall establish, maintain and operate aftercare
programs to assist eligible homeless persons who have been placed in
permanent housing to adjust to and remain in such housing. The
commissioner shall determine the period for which such eligible homeless
persons may remain in aftercare programs. For the purposes of this
section, aftercare shall be defined to include, but not be limited to,
follow-up case management services and assisting formerly eligible
homeless persons who have been placed in permanent housing to access
needed services in their communities.
Section 21-303
§ 21-303 Training and supervision of housing specialists. Housing
specialists shall be available to serve in each transitional housing
facility used, owned, operated, managed or contracted for, by or on
behalf of the department. Where housing specialists are placed in
transitional housing facilities and are employed by not-for-profit or
for-profit operators of such facilities, the commissioner shall
establish a training program for such housing specialists which shall
include, but not be limited to, establishing expertise in the various
housing programs to which eligible homeless persons may be referred and
proper case management techniques. The commissioner shall develop
definite program goals and timetables by which he or she shall assess
the performance of housing specialists in matching as expeditiously as
possible eligible homeless persons with available housing resources and,
on or before December 31, 1995, shall report to the speaker of the city
council in writing on such goals and timetables by which he or she shall
assess the performance of housing specialists.
Section 21-304
§ 21-304 Computerization. In order to ensure that the delivery of
services provided by the department to eligible homeless persons is
efficiently coordinated with the services provided by the department of
social services to such persons, the commissioner shall, to the maximum
extent possible and in conformance with federal and state confidentially
laws, develop computer systems which can easily access and share data
with department of social services computer systems regarding such
persons. The commissioner may appoint an interagency computer liaison to
facilitate such interagency communication and information sharing.
Section 21-305
§ 21-305 Permanent housing resource clearinghouse. The commissioner
shall establish, in conjunction with the department of housing
preservation and development and the New York city housing authority, a
permanent housing resource clearinghouse to coordinate and track such
permanent housing resources as may be approved as available to eligible
homeless persons.
Section 21-306
§ 21-306 Homeless services advisory board. There shall be an advisory
board to advise the commissioner on the provision of transitional
housing and services for eligible homeless persons. This advisory board
shall consist of eleven members to be appointed for two-year terms as
follows: five members appointed by the speaker of the city council and
six, including the chairperson of the advisory board, by the mayor. The
members of the advisory board shall include one or more members who are
or were, within the immediate past twenty-four months, homeless. The
members of the advisory board shall serve without compensation.
Section 21-307
§ 21-307 Interagency coordinating council. a. There shall be an
interagency coordinating council established by the mayor which shall
consist of representatives of each city agency providing transitional
housing or services to eligible homeless persons and other homeless
individuals and families. Such interagency coordinating council shall
include, but shall not be limited to, representatives of the department
of homeless services, the department of social services, the department
of housing preservation and development and such other agencies as the
mayor shall designate. The mayor shall designate a deputy mayor to serve
as chairperson of the interagency coordinating council. The commissioner
of the department of homeless services shall provide appropriate
personnel to assist the interagency coordinating council in the
performance of its functions.
b. The interagency coordinating council shall:
1. Not later than October 1, 1995 and each year thereafter, prepare,
in consultation with the office of management and budget, an annual
breakdown of each member agency's expenditures for housing and services
to the homeless in the adopted budget;
2. review the organization and operations of member agencies with
respect to contracted service providers to the homeless, including
service delivery, management and evaluation of performance;
3. recommend means by which the duplication and fragmentation of the
provision of housing for, and delivery of services to, the homeless may
be reduced and the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of service
delivery may be enhanced;
4. consider proposals for the improvement of transitional and
permanent housing programs and service delivery to the homeless; and
5. recommend to the mayor and the city council joint agency projects
or programs which could facilitate more efficient use of existing
resources.
c. The interagency coordinating council shall meet at least quarterly
and shall hold at least one public hearing annually, at which public
testimony shall be taken. A report on each such public hearing shall be
submitted in writing to the speaker of the city council within ten days
of the date on which such public hearing shall have been held. Where the
interagency coordinating council fails to hold such meetings or public
hearings as required pursuant to this subdivision, a report shall be
submitted in writing to the speaker of the city council including an
explanation of the failure to hold such meetings or public hearings.
Section 21-308
§ 21-308 Five-year plan to relieve homelessness. 1. The commissioner
shall submit to the speaker of the city council a Five-Year Plan to
Relieve Homelessness, including but not limited to the following:
a. Projected numbers of homeless individuals and families.
b. Projected expense and capital budgets for the department,
including, but not limited to expenditures for homeless individual and
homeless family programs, facilities and services.
c. Projected number of facilities to be constructed or rehabilitated
to accommodate homeless individuals and families.
d. Projected number of permanent housing units to be constructed or
rehabilitated to accommodate homeless individuals and families.
2. a. The Five-Year Plan shall be reviewed and updated by the
commissioner each year, and the updated version thereof shall be
submitted to the speaker of the city council not later than October
first of each year.
b. In the fifth year covered by each such Five-Year Plan, the
commissioner shall submit a Five-Year Plan to Relieve Homelessness for
the next succeeding five-year period not later than six months prior to
the last day of such fifth year to the speaker of the city council.
Section 21-309
§ 21-309 Referrals to non-compliant hotel units prohibited. a. Not
later than September 30, 1996, the commissioner shall eliminate for the
purpose of providing transitional housing for homeless families with
children the department's use of:
1. any privately owned hotel with a total of more than 100 units which
is operated by the owner or another person for profit; and
2. any unit in a privately owned hotel with a total of 100 units or
less which is operated by the owner or another person for profit in
which a bathroom, cooking facilities including but not limited to
secured burners and other equipment as may be necessary to prepare meals
for a family, a kitchen-style sink, a refrigerator, and an adequate
sleeping area are not provided in each unit and where stable living
accommodations, on-site social services, and accommodations which
otherwise comply with federal, state and local laws are not provided to
the homeless families with children housed in such unit. For purposes of
this section, "on-site social services" shall mean, at a minimum: (A)
services for information and referral to appropriate health care
providers; (B) within two days of arrival, the family is offered a
preliminary needs determination, including referrals for benefits or
services which if immediately provided to the family would facilitate
their return to permanent housing, and an evaluation of the educational
and other needs of the family members; (C) the family is offered an
assessment of its needs and an analysis of how these needs will be met
through existing public assistance and care programs, including child
welfare programs, and the steps to be taken to obtain the service needs
of the family; (D) the family has access to its services plan and case
files; (E) the family is offered assistance in preparing for permanent
housing, which shall include, at a minimum, where necessary and
appropriate: counseling services, assistance in obtaining permanent
housing, assistance in securing supportive social and mental health
services including but not limited to psychiatric, drug and alcohol
services and assistance in securing employment assessment, job training
and job placement services; and (F) the family is offered information
about and referrals to: local community agencies and programs the
services of which the family may reasonably require in order to
facilitate their return to permanent housing and for which the family is
eligible; recreational services; and child care services.
b. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
commissioner, or the commissioner of any successor agency, shall be
authorized to take such action as may be necessary to comply with court
orders.
Section 21-310
§ 21-310 Compilation of data on homeless veterans. 1. In addition to
any other data which it may deem relevant, the department shall compile
data on each person using the homeless shelters of New York city which
shall include information regarding:
a. whether the person is a veteran;
b. whether that person's veteran status has been verified;
c. the period of time the person served in the armed forces;
d. the type of discharge;
e. whether the discharge was a service connected disability; and
f. whether the veteran is receiving a veterans' pension.
2. The term "veteran" means a person who has served in the active
military of the United States and who has been released from such
service otherwise than by dishonorable discharge.
Section 21-311
§ 21-311 Quarterly reporting requirements. In addition to such other
reports as the commissioner is required to submit to the speaker of the
city council pursuant to this chapter, beginning on October 1, 1995 and
on the first day of each succeeding calendar quarter thereafter, the
commissioner shall submit to the speaker of the city council a report in
writing aggregating the following statistics both on a quarterly and
fiscal year annualized basis:
a. placements in permanent housing by program, including but not
limited to placements provided by and through the department of housing
preservation and development and the New York city housing authority;
b. the length of time individuals and families receive transitional
housing from or through the department without having been placed in
permanent housing and the type of such transitional housing utilized;
c. the number of individuals and families who are rehoused in
transitional housing within two years of having been placed in permanent
housing and the length of time between such permanent housing placement
and such rehousing in transitional housing; and
d. with reference to any telephone hotline operated by or for the
department for the purpose of facilitating contract between families in
need of transitional housing and the department, how the public is
informed of the availability of the telephone hotline, the number of
calls received disaggregated by borough of origin, the average number of
department staff receiving calls on a daily basis, the number of persons
for whom assistance was provided and the actions taken on each call.
Section 21-312
§ 21-312 Shelters for adults. a. Definitions.
1. "Census" shall mean the actual number of persons receiving shelter
at a shelter for adults.
2. "Certified capacity" shall mean the maximum number of persons who
may receive shelter at a shelter for adults at any one time as
authorized by the New York state office of temporary and disability
assistance.
b. No shelter for adults shall be operated with a census of more than
two hundred persons. Notwithstanding such prohibition, any shelter with
a census of greater than two hundred persons on June first, nineteen
hundred ninety-eight may continue to shelter the number of persons
specified on the shelter's operating certificate as of that date as long
as such shelter is operating in compliance with applicable statutes,
laws, rules and regulations.
* b. No shelter for adults shall be operated with a census of more
than two hundred persons. Notwithstanding such prohibition, any shelter
with a census of greater than two hundred persons on June first,
nineteen hundred ninety-eight may continue to operate in excess of the
abovementioned two hundred person limitation, and such shelter may
continue to shelter the highest number of persons permitted, authorized,
approved or otherwise allowed between June first, nineteen hundred
ninety-eight and December seventeenth, nineteen hundred ninety-eight, by
the state of New York office of temporary and disability assistance.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any shelter with a
census of greater than two hundred persons on the effective date of this
local law to reduce its census below two hundred persons.
* The validity of this local law is currently a subject of a
disagreement between the Mayor and the City Council.
c. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision b of this section,
homeless single adult shelters may provide short-term emergency shelter
to persons in excess of the certified capacity only when the conditions
set forth in subdivision h of section 491.4 of title 18 of the official
compilation of the codes, rules and regulations of the state of New York
are met, and in no event for more than thirty days in any calendar year.
Whenever a shelter for adults operates above its certified capacity, the
speaker of the council shall be notified in writing within three
business days.
d. A minimum of seven supervisory staff members shall be required to
be present whenever a shelter for adults operates with a census of two
hundred and one persons or more, and one additional supervisory staff
member shall be required for every forty persons in excess of two
hundred and one.
e. The commissioner shall submit to the speaker of the council
quarterly reports summarizing the health, sanitation, safety and fire
protection-related deficiencies identified in any inspection of a
shelter for adults conducted by any state agency, including but not
limited to the office of temporary and disability assistance, the office
of children and family services, and the New York state department of
health; and any city agency including, but not limited to, the New York
city fire department, the New York city department of health and mental
hygiene, and the New York city department of buildings; any other
government agency; and any organization appointed by any court. The
first such report shall be due thirty business days following the
calendar quarter ending September thirtieth, nineteen hundred and
ninety-eight and all subsequent reports shall be due thirty business
days following the last day of each succeeding calendar quarter. Such
quarterly reports shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
1. a list of all deficiencies identified by any state, city or other
inspecting government agencies or organizations appointed by any court
during the quarter which have not yet been brought into compliance with
applicable statutes, laws, rules and regulations and the date on which
deficiencies previously reported to the speaker of the council were
brought into compliance;
2. a list of all deficiencies identified by the fire department in
three or more consecutive inspections which have not yet been brought
into compliance with applicable statutes, laws, rules and regulations;
3. a copy of all court orders regarding health, sanitation, safety and
fire protection-related deficiencies issued during the quarter; and
4. a copy of all corrective action plans, and amendments thereto,
regarding health, sanitation, safety and fire protection-related
deficiencies filed with any court during the quarter.
Section 21-313
§ 21-313 The emergency assistance unit. The department shall maintain
a facility open for intake twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to
accept and process applications for shelter from families with children.
Any family with children seeking shelter who is still in the process of
applying as of ten o'clock in the evening on the day such family sought
shelter shall be provided temporary shelter placement for that night.
The following morning the family shall return to the intake facility to
complete the application process. The department shall arrange
transportation for the families to and from the temporary shelter
placement.
Section 21-314
§ 21-314 Case management services. The commissioner shall provide case
management services to all persons assigned to stay at the department's
facilities or the facilities of organizations contracting with the
department who are either waiting for the department to determine their
eligibility for shelter or are receiving such shelter. Such case
management services shall include, but not be limited to, assistance
obtaining (a) medical treatment, (b) federal, state and local government
documents including, but not limited to, birth certificates, marriage
licenses, and housing records, and (c) food, medicine and other
necessary supplies; and shall address issues such as domestic violence,
child abuse and mental illness, when needed.
Section 21-314.1
§ 21-314.1 Signage and other materials. a. The commissioner shall, in
consultation with not-for-profit organizations dedicated to the advocacy
of child welfare, establish, maintain, and update signage and any other
materials that are deemed necessary related to the reporting of child
abuse and maltreatment which shall be conspicuously placed in all Tier
II shelters and any other facilities that shelter homeless families and
which shall include but not be limited to:
1. A textual representation of the type of abusive or neglectful
behavior that should be reported, which encourages witnesses of such
behavior to report any suspected incidents of child abuse or
maltreatment;
2. The name and contact information of the appropriate person or
agency to whom suspected incidents of child abuse or maltreatment are to
be reported; and
3. An explicit indication of which persons are mandated to report
suspected incidents of child abuse or maltreatment pursuant to section
413 of the social services law.
b. The commissioner shall, in consultation with not-for-profit
organizations dedicated to the study or dissemination of information
about proper infant sleep position and arrangement, establish, maintain,
and update signage and any other materials that are deemed necessary
related to proper infant sleep position and arrangement which shall
include, but not be limited to, a textual and pictorial representation
of proper infant sleep position and arrangement. Such signage shall be
displayed conspicuously, at a minimum, in every common area of a Tier II
shelter and any other facility that shelters homeless families.
c. The commissioner shall provide for the translation of the signage
required in subdivisions a and b of this section and any other materials
deemed necessary pursuant to this section into every covered language as
defined pursuant to section 8-1004 of this code.
d. In addition to the signage and materials provided for in
subdivisions a and b of this section, the commissioner shall establish,
maintain, and provide training for appropriate shelter employees in the
instruction of parents with regard to proper infant sleeping position
and arrangement.
Section 21-315
§ 21-315 Adult shelters operating in excess of two hundred persons. a.
For the purposes of this section, a shelter for adults that operates
with a permitted census in excess of two hundred persons pursuant to
subdivision b of section 21-312 of this code shall be termed "a
grandfathered shelter." In the event that any grandfathered shelter is
closed, it may be replaced pursuant to the following provisions:
1. The Kingsboro Shelter Building 6 operating with a census of two
hundred twenty-one persons permitted pursuant to subdivision b of
section 21-312 of this code may be replaced with a shelter with a
maximum census of two hundred twenty-one persons.
2. The Brooklyn Women's Shelter operating with a census of two hundred
twenty-nine persons permitted pursuant to subdivision b of section
21-312 of this code may be replaced with a shelter with a maximum census
of two hundred twenty-nine persons.
3. The Atlantic Shelter operating with a census of three hundred fifty
persons permitted pursuant to subdivision b of section 21-312 of this
code may be replaced with a shelter with a maximum census of three
hundred fifty persons.
4. The Borden Shelter operating with a census of four hundred ten
persons permitted pursuant to subdivision b of section 21-312 of this
code may be replaced with a shelter with a maximum census of three
hundred fifty persons.
5. The Bellevue Shelter operating with a census of eight hundred fifty
persons permitted pursuant to subdivision b of section 21-312 of this
code may be replaced with two shelters each with a maximum census of
four hundred persons.
6. The Camp LaGuardia Shelter operating with a census of one thousand
seventeen persons permitted pursuant to subdivision b of section 21-312
of this code may be replaced with two shelters each with a maximum
census of four hundred persons.
7. The Charles H. Gay Shelter operating with a census of one thousand
thirty-seven persons permitted pursuant to subdivision b of section
21-312 of this code may be replaced with two shelters each with a
maximum census of four hundred persons.
b. Each new shelter which replaces a shelter listed in subdivision a
of this section shall comply with applicable statutes, laws, rules and
regulations, including, but not limited to, section 197-c of the New
York city charter.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
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