TIMES SQUARE, NY — New York State Senator Erik Bottcher and Assemblymember Tony Simone, joined by service providers, advocates, and other elected officials, today unveiled new legislation (S.10682/A.11700) to improve coordination among the agencies and organizations serving New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

The legislation would allow New York City and other municipalities in New York to establish geographically based Neighborhood Street Teams, bringing together homeless outreach providers, health and behavioral health professionals, housing providers and relevant government agencies to coordinate around individual New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. The legislation would also authorize counties outside New York City to establish multidisciplinary teams tailored to their communities.

Members of these teams would be able to securely share information needed to identify and assess an individual’s needs and connect them with housing and supportive services, subject to privacy and security protections. Information could be exchanged electronically, by telephone, in person or through a secure data-sharing platform accessible to members of the team.

By giving the professionals working with an individual a shared understanding of their needs, history, prior interventions and services already offered, teams could better coordinate outreach, avoid duplicative efforts, troubleshoot unsuccessful interventions and maintain continuity as someone moves between the street, hospitals, shelters and other settings.

The idea for the legislation was developed through discussions with the Manhattan Community Improvement Coalition, which includes local community members, outreach providers, city agencies and business improvement districts. The coalition includes local community members, outreach providers, city agencies and business improvement districts. The coalition has identified information-sharing and coordination among providers as a persistent challenge through its homeless outreach work in and around Times Square.

Frontline providers have raised concerns that multiple organizations can be working with the same person while operating in separate systems, leaving each without a complete picture of what other providers are doing, what services have already been offered and what barriers have prevented previous interventions from succeeding.

S.10682/A.11700 would create an explicit legal framework for these providers to work together and securely exchange information, rather than relying on a patchwork of separate systems and practices.

Bottcher and Simone announced the proposal in Times Square alongside Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance, following recent deadly incidents that have renewed attention on homelessness, mental health and public safety. The announcement comes following the August 31 fatal stabbing of a woman by an attacker with a documented mental health history and, earlier this year, the fatal stabbing of an unhoused man in the Times Square area.

“When someone is stranded on the street, the answer cannot be five agencies holding five different pieces of the puzzle and no one able to put it together,” said State Senator Erik Bottcher. “Frontline providers have told us how frustrating it is when several organizations are trying to help the same person but each is working with only part of the picture. This legislation gives them a clear framework to securely share information, coordinate their efforts and develop a comprehensive plan to connect someone with housing, treatment and services. We have extraordinary people doing this work. We need to give them the tools to work together.”

“Too many New Yorkers are falling through the cracks because the people trying to help them are working in separate systems,” said Assemblymember Tony Simone. “We need to stop making outreach workers reinvent the wheel every time they encounter someone in crisis. This bill is about putting the right people around the same table, giving them the information they need, and getting people off the streets and into services.”

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said: "Manhattan is facing an unprecedented homelessness crisis, and now is the time to act. I’m proud to support Senator Erik Bottcher and Assemblymember Tony Simone's legislative proposal, A11700/S10682, which would establish neighborhood street teams to better coordinate care for our unhoused neighbors. By breaking down the silos between responding agencies, we can ensure unhoused New Yorkers get faster access to personal documents, benefits, and housing placements. I'm grateful to Senator Bottcher and Assemblymember Simone for their leadership on this issue, and I'll keep fighting alongside them until every one of our neighbors has a place to call home."

"We have seen, time and time again, the great work of our outreach partners failing to help the unhoused and mentally ill on our streets due to a dysfunctional system.  It's time for us to step up with this new legislation to give them the tools they need for success," said Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance.  "We commend Senator Bottcher and Assembly Member Simone for introducing this legislation that will certainly help those suffering on our streets with homelessness and mental illness by fostering collaboration, communication, and accountability across agencies and organizations working to help this population in need."  

“As the former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Social Services, and now leading Urban Pathways, I’ve seen this challenge from both sides. Nonprofits are often responsible for coordinating across multiple systems involved in a person’s care. When communication breaks down across agencies and providers, the New Yorkers who need our help the most, can be assessed repeatedly, referred to the same services more than once, or lose continuity as they move from one system to another. The multidisciplinary approach in this bill would give providers a better way to share relevant information, coordinate next steps and keep the focus on moving people toward housing and stability.” - Gary P. Jenkins, CEO, Urban Pathways

“The restrictions around information sharing are not just red tape, but it prevents homeless New Yorkers from being able to access the services and care they need. Senate Bill 10682 would create multidisciplinary teams, made up of representatives from the relevant agencies and organizations, that can share information and collectively provide a care plan for each of their clients. Thank you, Senator Bottcher, for introducing this legislation,” said State Senator Julia Salazar

The Bottcher-Simone legislation is modeled in part on a framework already used in California, where state law authorizes multidisciplinary homeless outreach teams to securely share otherwise-confidential information in order to better coordinate housing and supportive services. 

HOW THE LEGISLATION WOULD WORK

Under S.10682/A.11700, New York City and counties outside New York City would be authorized to establish multidisciplinary teams bringing together professionals and organizations involved in serving homeless individuals and families.

In New York City, the legislation specifically provides for geographically based Neighborhood Street Teams operating as part of a citywide multidisciplinary structure, allowing providers working in a particular neighborhood to coordinate around the individuals they encounter there.

Team members could include health care providers, social service workers, case managers, housing and homeless services providers, veterans service providers, domestic violence service organizations, school personnel, legal counsel, law enforcement or probation representatives and data professionals.

Members of an approved team would be expressly authorized to exchange confidential information when necessary to identify or assess a homeless individual or family or connect them with housing and supportive services. The legislation permits information to be exchanged electronically, by telephone, in person or through a secure shared data platform.

This could allow the professionals working with the same person to know, for example, which providers are already involved, what outreach has occurred, what services or placements have previously been offered, what needs have been identified and what obstacles have prevented earlier interventions from succeeding.

The legislation would require each team to establish written privacy and security protocols governing what information may be shared, who may access it, how it is securely exchanged, how long it may be retained and how it is disposed of. Team members would be subject to confidentiality requirements and ongoing privacy and security training.

Information exchanged through the teams would remain confidential, and team discussions and records would be barred from use as evidence in judicial, administrative or other legal proceedings.

The legislation would add a new Title 7-A to Article 3 of the New York Social Services Law and would take effect immediately.

Read the full text of Bottcher-Simone bill (S.10682/A.11700).

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