Senate Bill S3937

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S3937

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to prohibiting
restrictions on the length of shelter stay

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To prohibit state agencies from placing shelter stay limits on shelter
or emergency congregate housing.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one includes definitions for emergency congregate housing, home-
less youth, and shelter. Further it states no state agency shall impose
limits on the length of time an individual or family may reside in a
shelter or emergency congregate housing.

Section two is the effective date.

              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York City is unique in that it offers a legal right to shelter for
all in need. Since its inception, the right to shelter has saved home-
less New Yorkers from sleeping on the street and has prevented the
large-scale unsheltered homelessness seen in other U.S. cities.  As New
York City has grappled with an influx of migrants, policies have been
advanced that seek to erode and eliminate that right.

In particular, the 30- and 60-day rules - which place limits on how long
migrant individuals and families can stay in a shelter placement before
having to re-apply for a new placement - significantly erode the rights
of migrants in need of shelter. For single adult migrants, the impact of
the 30-day rule has meant that many individuals no longer have that
right at all, as the average wait time for a bed is almost nine days.
 
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For migrant families with children, the 60-day rule is forcing them to
uproot their lives and move their families along with everything they
own every two months.

In addition to being cruel, the 30- and 60-day rules are counterproduc-
tive and harmful. For instance, the main path to self- sufficiency for
newly arrived migrants is being able to get legal status. To receive the
essential documents for asylum and Temporary Protected Status applica-
tions, migrants need to be able to have access to mail, which will inev-
itably get lost as the city forces individuals and families to constant-
ly move. These inevitable delays will only hamper efforts to provide
legal pathways to self-sufficiency for migrants.

For families with children, many of whom faced unimaginable trauma prior
to arriving in New York, their shelter placement represents an opportu-
nity to rest, heal, and recover. Yet the 60-day rule unnecessarily
retraumatizes the entire family. This is especially acute for children,
who in addition to being forced to move their home every 60 days, will
also have to move schools. Being forced to move schools is incredibly
disruptive to a child's education and will almost certainly result in
increased school absences and other negative educational outcomes.
Further, the constant churning of migrant students will create chaos
within schools themselves as teachers are forced to manage changing
class compositions.

This bill seeks to bar the imposition of arbitrary time limits on shel-
ter placements. Rather than attempt to eliminate and erode the rights of
individuals and families to seek shelter, the state and local government
should work together to enact policies that help them gain self-suffici-
ency and find permanent housing.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-2024: 58493 (Hoylman-Sigal), Died in Committee

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Act takes effect immediately.