NY State Senate Bill 2009-S849

Senate Bill S849

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Requires the department of homeless services to maintain a facility for processing requests for shelter

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Cities Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2010	referred to cities
Mar 02, 2009	print number 849a
Mar 02, 2009	amend and recommit to cities
Jan 21, 2009	referred to cities

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

2009-S849 - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Cities
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S3711
2013-2014: S2991

2009-S849 - Summary

Requires the department of homeless services to maintain a facility for processing applications for shelter.

2009-S849 - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S849

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to requiring the department of homeless services to maintain
an intake center in Manhattan


 PURPOSE :
Requires the Department of Homeless Services to maintain a facility
24/7 for processing applications for shelter.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
§21-316 is added to amend Section 1, of the administrative code of the
city of New York to read as follows:  Intake for single men. The
department shall maintain a facility in Manhattan, which shall be open
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to accept and process
applications for shelter from single homeless men. Any individual who
is in the process of applying for shelter as of ten o'clock in the
evening on the day such individual sought shelter shall be provided
temporary shelter placement for that night, at that facility. The
facility shall have a greater capacity to shelter single homeless men
than any other intake facility in the city.

 EXISTING LAW :
New

 JUSTIFICATION :
The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) is charged with the
responsibility of housing the homeless people throughout New York
City. The 2008 Homeless Outreach population Estimate (HOPE) results
showed that there are an estimated total of 3,306 street homeless
individuals citywide. There are 1,263 unsheltered individuals in
Manhattan, 279 in the Bronx., 336 in Brooklyn, 135 in Queens, 152 in
Staten Island, and 1,141 in the subway. 58% of the City's street
homeless were on the streets of Manhattan while only 16% were living
in Brooklyn. Although the Department of Homeless Services argues that
23% of the homeless people report that they are from Brooklyn, the
fact still remains that 77% of the other homeless individuals are
coming from boroughs other than Brooklyn, points to the need for a
Manhattan location because of its' centralization.

DHS claims that on average only 40 people enter the Bellevue shelter
every day. This number however, only takes into account those homeless
individuals who are new to the systems or have not been in the system
for more than a year and does not include people who return to seek
shelter again within a year. In contrast, when the number of new
entrants to the shelter system is combined with the number of
individuals already in the system, it appears that on average 50-150
individuals enter Bellevue's intake center each day.  When the weather
takes a turn for the worse, whether a frigid day in the winter or a
rainstorm in the summer, large increases in the number of homeless
that enter the Manhattan shelter are observed. On January 3, 2008, the
coldest night of the year in 2008, the temperature was 12 degrees
Fahrenheit and the intake center had 241 men come in off the street.

Outreach teams serve the chronically homeless population and are
charged with transporting people to intake or to "safe haven" beds, of
which there are only 298 according to DHS's latest numbers. The "safe
haven" sites are smaller decentralized shelters that try to encourage
entry by reducing the bureaucratic barriers to entry that often deter
homeless from approaching the shelter system. Opponents to the closure
of the intake center point out that 500 proposed "safe Haven" beds are
grossly inadequate for the more than 22,000 homeless men that Bellevue
served in Fiscal Year 2007. Additionally, opponents maintain that the
"safe havens" cannot serve the broad range of homeless men that
Bellevue serves because the "safe havens" are targeted to serve a
smaller niche of the chronically homeless.

These points factored in weigh heavily in favor of an intake center
remaining in a Manhattan location rather than the proposed transfer of
its functions to the Brooklyn Bedford-Atlantic Armory site.  Although
the intake will not be able to remain in Bellevue because of plans to
sell the building to a developer, another Manhattan location must be
identified.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None to the state.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
Unknown

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

2009-S849 - Bill Text download pdf

2009-S849A (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Cities
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S3711
2013-2014: S2991

2009-S849A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the department of homeless services to maintain a facility for processing applications for shelter.

2009-S849A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S849A

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to requiring the department of homeless services to maintain
an intake center in Manhattan


 PURPOSE :
Requires the Department of Homeless Services to maintain a facility
24/7 for processing applications for shelter.

§ 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become law.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

§21-316 is added to amend Section 1, of the administrative code of the
city of New York to read as follows: Intake for single men. The
department shall maintain a facility in Manhattan, south of
ninety-sixth street and as proximate as possible to major
transportation centers, which shall be open twenty-four hours a day,
seven days a week, to accept and process request for shelter from
single homeless men. The facility shall have shelter beds on site and
shall be operated in accordance with all legal requirements, including
but not limited to occupancy limitations for new facilities.

 EXISTING LAW :
New.

 JUSTIFICATION :
The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) is charged with the
responsibility of housing the homeless people throughout New York
City. The 2008 Homeless Outreach population Estimate (HOPE) results
showed that there are an estimated total of 3,306 street homeless
individuals citywide.  There are 1,263 unsheltered individuals in
Manhattan, 279 in the Bronx., 336 in Brooklyn, 135 in Queens, 152 in
Staten Island, and 1,141 in the subway. 58% of the City's street
homeless were on the streets of Manhattan while only 16% were living
in Brooklyn. Although the Department of Homeless Services argues that
23% of the homeless people report that they are from Brooklyn, the
fact still remains that 77% of the other homeless individuals are
coming from boroughs other than Brooklyn, points to the need for a
Manhattan location because of its centralization.

DHS claims that on average only 40 people enter the Bellevue shelter
everyday. This number however, only takes into account those homeless
individuals who are new to the systems or have not been in the system
for more than a year and does not include people who return to seek
shelter again within a year. In contrast, when the number of new
entrants to the shelter system is combined with the number of
individuals already in the system, it appears that on average 50-150
individuals enter Bellevue's intake center each day. When the weather
takes a turn for the worse, whether a frigid day in the winter or a
rainstorm in the summer, large increases in the number of homeless
that enter the Manhattan shelter are observed. On January 3, 2008, the
coldest night of the year in 2008, the temperature was 12 degrees
Fahrenheit and the intake center had 241 men come in off the street.

Outreach teams serve the chronically homeless population and are
charged with transporting people to intake or to "safe haven" beds, of
which there are only 298 according to DHS's latest numbers. The "safe
haven" sites are smaller decentralized shelters that try to encourage
entry by reducing the bureaucratic barriers to entry that often deter
homeless from approaching the shelter system. opponents to the closure
of the intake center point out that 500 proposed "safe Haven" beds are
grossly inadequate for the more than 22,000 homeless men that Bellevue
served in Fiscal Year 2007. Additionally, opponents maintain that the
"safe havens" cannot serve the broad range of homeless men that
Bellevue serves because the "safe havens" are targeted to serve a
smaller niche of the chronically homeless.

These points factored in weigh heavily in favor of an intake center
remaining in a Manhattan location rather than the proposed transfer of
its functions to the Brooklyn Bedford-Atlantic Armory site.  Although
the intake will not be able to remain in Bellevue because of plans to
sell the building to a developer, another Manhattan location must be
identified.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None to the state.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
Unknown.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

2009-S849A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 849--A

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 21, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  ADAMS  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed  to  the  Committee  on  Cities  --  committee
  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
  to said committee

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  administrative code of the city of New York, in
  relation to requiring the department of homeless services to  maintain
  an intake center in Manhattan

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. The administrative code of the city of New York is  amended
by adding a new section 21-316 to read as follows:
  S  21-316.  INTAKE  FOR  SINGLE  MEN.  THE DEPARTMENT SHALL MAINTAIN A
FACILITY IN MANHATTAN, SOUTH OF NINETY-SIXTH STREET AND AS PROXIMATE  AS
POSSIBLE   TO   MAJOR   TRANSPORTATION  CENTERS,  WHICH  SHALL  BE  OPEN
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY, SEVEN  DAYS  A  WEEK,  TO  ACCEPT  AND  PROCESS
REQUESTS  FOR SHELTER FROM SINGLE HOMELESS MEN.  THE FACILITY SHALL HAVE
SHELTER BEDS ON-SITE AND SHALL BE OPERATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ALL  LEGAL
REQUIREMENTS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO OCCUPANCY LIMITATIONS FOR NEW
FACILITIES.
  S  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law.




 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06650-02-9

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