Committee on General Welfare

Good afternoon. Welcome to the Committee on General Welfare. At this time, we ask that you please silence all electronics. If you wish to testify, please see one of the sergeant-at-arms in the back, and at no point please do not approach the dais. Chair, you may begin. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Crystal Hudson, Chair of the New York City Council's General Welfare Committee, and my pronouns are she/her.

Thank you all for joining us for today's hearing on shelter safety. We are additionally joined by Council Members Marano, Ung, and Wilson. Sorry, I thought there was somebody else over there.

Every New Yorker deserves a safe place to live, including New Yorkers who turn to the city for shelter during a period of crisis. Shelter must be more than a roof over someone's head. It must be a place where people can rest without fear of violence, access the support they need, and be treated with respect. However, we have heard too many concerns about conditions that can make shelters unsafe.

Including deteriorating facilities, overcrowding, violence, theft, and insufficient staffing. When people feel that entering a shelter puts their safety, security, or dignity at risk, they may choose not to enter shelter at all. Some of the major safety issues we will look at today include not just security incidents such as arrests, thefts, or violence, but also how the shelter systems system's design can impact physical and mental health and wellbeing, exacerbate trauma, and deter New Yorkers from engaging with our shelter system and making use of the robust social safety net DSS can provide.

The New York City shelter system is sprawling. In the 1980s, a series of lawsuits resulted in the establishment of a right to shelter in New York City. This was an incredibly important step towards serving unhoused New Yorkers and resulted in the city needing to increase shelter capacity. Over the last 40 years, the number of shelters and the shelter population has grown.

Just this past Sunday, over 83,000 individuals slept in our shelters. Today, there are over 500 shelters throughout the city that serve single adults, adult families, and families with children. The majority of shelters are operated by contracted nonprofit organizations, and while most of these organizations are dedicated to serving New Yorkers, Third-party contracting can result in oversight and compliance challenges, including sometimes funding unscrupulous actors, subsidizing exorbitant executive salaries, or inadvertently developing contracts that force providers to focus more on volume than long-term sustainable outcomes and client well-being.

Further, the additional layer of administration can make it difficult for providers to make essential repairs or changes to premises that improve safety and security. Last week at our joint hearing with the Committee on Veterans, for example, we heard about the difficult and lengthy process for making essential repairs to the Borden Avenue Veterans Residence, resulting in a multi-year process to repair a leaking roof.

Today's hearing is an opportunity to hear from DSS about how they address shelter safety concerns, conduct oversight of challenges to shelter safety, and to hear from the public about what the city can do better. Thank you.

In addition to today's oversight on shelter safety, we will also consider 2 bills intended to strengthen transparency and accountability in the shelter system. Introduction 99, sponsored by Councilmember Gail Brewer, would require the Department of Homeless Services to report annually on the number of families with children placed in shelters in the same or an adjoining zip code as their last address.

Councilmember Brewer, I now pass to you to make a statement about the legislation you're sponsoring today.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much. Intro 99, as you heard earlier, would require the Department of Homeless Services to do this annual report on the number and percentage of families with children in the system who are placed in the same zip code as their last address prior to their placement into a shelter, and the number and percentage who were placed in an adjoining zip code.

Families entering the shelter system, as you know, Should be able to remain close to their schools, their childcare, their doctors, their jobs, and their community support networks whenever possible. Placing families far from their former homes creates additional hardships, particularly for families with young children who rely on nearby childcare and family support. We in the council and the public need to know how often families are placed in shelters In their former zip code or an adjoining zip code.

Currently, this information is not regularly reported. Intro 99 requires DHS to report annually on shelter placements with data broken down by borough and by families with children under age 3 and those with older children. I believe that this reporting will help the council identify where families are being displaced from their communities and push for shelter placement policies that minimize disruption to children's lives.

I must admit, during the issue when we had so many wonderful migrants here, I really appreciated the work that the Adams administration did despite all the challenges in housing people. With DSS at the time, we worked really hard to keep— if people move shelters, to keep them in their school zone. And to me, based on all of this criteria to remain close, schools are the most important.

And I want this bill particularly to try to keep the families near their schools. Absenteeism at DOE, or whatever the hell it's called now, New York City Public Schools, is huge. And I have a horrible feeling that part of it is because people just can't get to school. I also always want to thank WIN for their support.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you, Councilmember Brewer.

Intro Number 387, sponsored by the Public Advocate, would require annual reporting on critical incidents in shelters. It would also require information about efforts to improve shelter security and agreements with the NYPD or other entities to enhance safety. I now pass to the Public Advocate to make a statement about the legislation he's sponsoring today.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. As mentioned, my name is Jumaane Williams, Public Advocate of the City of New York. More importantly, the Knicks won a game last night. Very excited about that. I want to thank Chair Hudson and the members of the Committee on General Welfare for holding this hearing. As of October 26th, a total of 83,000 individuals reside within our city's shelter system, including 51,000 families with children.

Countless others brave the harsh elements outside, deterred by unsafe conditions in these shelters. My bill, Intro 387, will require the Department of Homeless Services, DHS, to produce an annual report detailing critical incidents occurring in the shelters, including assault, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, weapons possession, arson, and theft. It's my hope that with more accurate reporting, efforts to upgrade security in shelters and enhance people's safety and well-being will be more well-informed and overall more effective, as the bill will require the details be shared about agreements made between DHS, the New York City Police Department, NYPD, and other entities responsible for safety and security.

Under current reporting, DHS officials have classified Priority 1 incidents as the most serious incidents involving assaults, arrests, medical crisis, overdoses, and deaths. In one women's shelter, Priority 1 incidents have increased drastically, rising from 123 in 2019 to 208 in 2024. In fiscal year 2025, the rate of priority ones at this facility were over double the citywide average for single adult shelters.

While the rate and severity of incidents may vary across shelters, trends of violence hold true across the system, especially at larger shelter sites. Bellevue, the city's largest shelter for single adult men, which closed earlier this year for redevelopment, was also characterized, unfortunately, by violence. I also want to uplift the other piece of legislation being heard today for which I'm proud to co-sponsor.

Councilmember Brewer's Intro 99, which she just spoke about, would require DHS to report on the placement of families with children in shelters, specifically the rate of families and children who are placed within the same or in adjoining zip codes as their last address prior to shelter placement. Displacement from one's home is already a source of significant stress and emotional upheaval for families, but placement in neighborhoods nearby avoid disruption— disrupting children's school lives and routines, adding an additional layer of uncertainty and unrest.

This data will better help us understand what happens when families enter the system and how we can better mitigate disruption in the lives of our youngest New Yorkers. As the administration seeks to revamp the shelter system following this cold snap of last year, we must ensure that New Yorkers experiencing homelessness not only have access to shelter but to spaces that are safe and truly livable.

These bills are one step towards ensuring safety and security within shelters, And I look forward to continuing the work with the agencies in this administration. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much, Public Advocate. I look forward to hearing from the administration and the public about these proposals. And I'd like to conclude by thanking the committee staff for their work on this hearing: Hannah Cohn, Pnina Rosenberg, Justin Campos, Fariha Rahman, Elizabeth Childers-Garcia, Julia Jaramas, Colby Porter, and Maggie Giordano. I'd also like to thank my staff, Andrew Wright, Elica Ruantan, and Demi Brown.

Before we hear testimony from the administration, we will hear directly from a panel of individuals who have experience with New York City shelters and who have joined us here to provide testimony. So first, we will hear from Denton Hutchinson. After, we will hear from Janet Jackson. And last, we will hear from Francisco Insfrain. Okay. And we've been joined by Councilmember Nurse.

And I did fail to recognize that Councilmember Brewer was in the room early. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Denton Hutchinson.

Good afternoon, my name is Denton Hutchinson. I'm with the Community Leadership Collective of the Coalition for the Homeless. I want to thank you for holding this long-awaited hearing today on safety in shelters. I was in shelter for 7— over 7 years. and only recently was able to get housing and leave shelter. During my 7 years in shelter, I was transferred around to many sites, but I saw the same issues at different shelters.

One of the hardest parts of living in a shelter is how people are treated by staff, including the security staff who are supposed to create a safe environment. Whether it was DHS police or private security guards, they treated us with absolute disrespect and complete disregard for our lives. Security guards don't de-escalate conflict, they only escalate them, or they just ignore it.

In one shelter I was in, I noticed someone sleeping on the floor In the back of the recreation room in the morning. I pointed him out to the DHS shelter security staff stationed about 6 steps away from the recreation room. They said that he had missed his bed check, so he had to sleep on the floor. Hours later in the afternoon, I came back and I was— and he was still lying there unmoving.

I spoke with security staff again, DHS that is, telling them that he hadn't moved since I saw him that morning. DHS security finally walked over to see him and discovered he was dead. It was horrifying, to say the least. He was someone that I knew. interacted with him. Uh, they let him lay there steps away all night and day without even bothering to check on him or do anything that could have saved his life.

This shows the security staff do not care about the lives of people in shelter. In another instance, I was sick with the worst case of shingles. Because of the shingles, I could only wear the lightest of clothing because it hurt so excruciatingly bad. It was the middle of winter. There was an altercation. The DHS police required all residents to leave the building.

I asked DHS staff if I could stay inside or go to my bed or another room because I was sick and didn't have winter clothes on and it was very cold out. They said I had to leave and I stood outside in the cold wearing next to nothing, worried about hypothermia and my health. Again, this only goes to show that shelters and security staff do not care about the lives and well-being of shelter residents.

Those of us who have no place to go but shelter deserves basic respect and dignity, but that is not what we get in shelter. I want to thank you for this opportunity to testify.

Thank you so much for sharing. You're welcome. Appreciate it. Janet Jackson.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Janet Jackson. I'm with the Community Leadership Coalition— Leadership Collective at the Coalition for the Homeless. I am formerly homeless. But I continue to fight the issues I faced while I was in the shelter for about 5 years, continue today. One of the hardest parts about being in the shelter was the constant feeling of insecurity.

I stayed in a few different shelters, and some of them were in isolated parts of the city. When I first entered the shelter, I was placed in a congregated shelter after intake. There were mice nesting in the mattresses along with other insects. Oh my God. The dorm rooms I lived in would flood during heavy rains. Others could not put their belongings in the closet at the bottom because it would be ruined by the flooding.

During COVID I was placed in a hotel because of my health issues. Being in my own space made a huge difference, but even though I had my own room, staff was disruptive. I would try to get some sleep after working a long shift at the hospital. But staff would come around, open the doors to every room without knocking.

It didn't matter if you were undressed. Some of these staff were male. They just opened the door. It was very invasive and unnecessary. When COVID emergency ended and they wanted to transfer me out of the hotel, I requested a shelter that was closer to my job and told them I needed a shelter that didn't require steps because I required a cane to walk and steps were hard for me.

They told me the only shelter they could put me in was in East New York, Brooklyn. And this was a senior women's shelter, which was 1.5 to 2 hours away from my job in the Bronx at Jacobi Medical Center, where I worked the evening and the night shift. I would often get back to the shelter from my shift at 1 to 2 AM in the morning.

After traveling on the train for an hour and a half. And then when I get off the train, the L train, I felt unsafe because it was desolated. And this is 1, 2 o'clock in the morning, and walking to the shelter, I felt unsafe. We made complaints to the shelter. It's hard to get the staff to do anything about it.

I was having trouble breathing, and the day shift supervisor was making his rounds, and when he came to my room, I told him that I was having difficulty because There must have been a mouse or something on the trap under the dresser. He told me it had to wait till the next morning. When the next shift supervisor came at 4, she— I told her what happened.

She seen I was having trouble breathing and with my air conditioner on. She checked up underneath the dresser and there was 2 mice trapped in the trap. The mice exacerbated my asthma. A shelter should be a place where people can find stability, but instead it's hard to get anything done or your basic needs met. Safety means being treated with dignity.

It means being able to sleep peacefully, having a clean and well-maintained place to stay, knowing that staff take shelter residents' concerns seriously, and trusting that you will not be punished for speaking up. I'd like to thank the council for inviting me here today and for this hearing to shine a light on all the problems in the shelter that still exist that make people feel unsafe.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your testimony. And now we'll hear from Francisco Insfrain. Francisco, vas a leer de aquí hasta aquí y luego yo interpreto todo.

Good afternoon. Mi nombre es Francisco Insfrán y soy miembro del colectivo de liderazgo comunitario de Coalition for Homeless. Gracias por la oportunidad que nos dan en esta audiencia. Esperaba encontrar estabilidad mientras trabajaba para conseguir una vivienda permanente. Es difícil lograr esa estabilidad cuando no me siento seguro en el albergue. 30 seconds. Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Francisco Insfrán.

I'm a member of the Community Collective Coalition for Homeless. Thanks to all of you here in the hearing, because, you know, I'm addressing to you because I don't feel safe in these homeless shelters. I was hoping to find stability while I was working to find a permanent home for me, but it's very difficult to find stability when I don't find myself safe in one of these Homeless places.

Uno de los aspectos más difíciles de vivir en un albergue es la forma en que tratan a los empleados de DHS. Se supone que ellos deben crear un entorno seguro para nosotros. Sin embargo, cada vez que hay un conflicto. entre ellos se crea un ambiente peligroso. OK, leí hasta aquí. En uno de los albergues en los que estuve se produjo una pelea con— entre el personal, el staff, y un residente porque el residente había pedido como un jugo extra.

El personal sin capacidad respondió con hostilidad y desembocó en una gran pelea que hubo un gran destrozo en el shelter. Okay. One of the most difficult things of living in one of the homeless shelters is the way that the employees are treating the people who are living there in the shelter. We are supposed to have a very safe environment for all of us.

However, we have a big conflict, and this is creating a very dangerous environment in the places where we live. In one of the homeless shelters I was living before, It was a very big fight, and the only reason of this big fight was that one of the homeless residents that lived there only asked for an additional juice.

This was the only thing that he asked. And only because asking for an additional juice, the person responded with hostility, right? And the person refused to give him the extra juice, and instead, to give him the juice was a very big fight between both of them. Continuamos desde aquí ninguno hasta hasta personal, ¿ok? Ninguna de las otras personas hizo nada para ayudar en ese momento.

Solo miraban o hacían que no entendían absolutamente nada. El destrozo fue grande. La pelea terminó y parte del equipamiento de la cocina quedó absolutamente destrozada. Any other people who were working at the shelter did anything to try to help in the situation or to stop the fight, right? The only thing they were doing, they were looking at them at the same time they were fighting without doing anything, right?

And the fight was so bad that even destroyed some of the kitchen utensils and some of the kitchen equipment that was there. And why we should have this cruel reaction From these people from the homeless shelters. Ahora las, vas a leer las, la tercera página, ¿lo puedes ver? Las, ¿puedes verla? Sí. Ok, tranquilo. Las personas, los personal no están entrenados.

O sea, las, el personal, disculpa, the staff no está entrenada realmente para crear un ambiente tranquilo y que pueda ser seguro para los residentes. Especialmente cuando vives en un albergue para personas solas con una alta población. También me preocupa qué sucede si sufro maltrato o soy testigo de una situación insegura. Prefiero no decir nada para no empeorar mi situación.

I believe this homeless staff, right, is not well trained. They are not trained enough to create a, like I say, environment in these homeless shelters. Especially when you live in a homeless shelter, And you are there by yourself. You are alone, right? With a very high population, right? Something I'm very concerned that I should maybe suffer mistreatment from these people in the homeless shelter, or it could be also a weakness or a very insecure situation or unsafe situation that will happen there.

There are moments where I prefer not to say anything because I think if I say something, Will it make my situation worse than before? Okay, ahora vamos aquí. Yo personalmente resido en una unidad especializada para personas con discapacidad. Sin embargo, el personal no me proporciona una llave para mi unidad. Sí. Y cuando sigo pidiendo uno, el personal en vez de ayudarme me ignora.

Okay. Yes. Okay. I'm living and I'm residing in a specialized unit for people who suffer from incapacities or discapacities, right? However, the people who are there never provide me with a house key or a room key, right, in the place where I'm living. And every time when I'm requesting a key from these homeless staff, these homeless employees, what they are doing to me, they're just ignoring me.

No, okay. Pues desde aquí, okay. Desde aquí ni siquiera hasta abra. Ni siquiera puedo cerrar mi puerta cuando voy a ver a mis hijos. El personal se enfada conmigo cuando cierro la puerta porque entonces tienen que buscar a un guardia especial para que me abra la puerta. Okay. You know the situation is so bad that I can't I cannot even close my door.

The you know the the room door, because sometimes I go outside to see my children. My children don't live in the homeless shelter; they live outside. The personal staff becomes very angry with me because I'm closing the door, and what they are doing to me—they are sending a security guard to open the door, right? Instead, you know, to keep the door closed.

Okay, okay. They said no pido un plato especial. En este caso yo no estoy pidiendo un trato especial. Pido el respeto básico y la seguridad que toda persona merece. Entiendo que vivir en un albergue puede ser difícil, pero eso no significa que debamos aceptar condiciones que hacen nuestras vidas mucho más estresantes y nos hacen sentir inseguros. I'm not asking for a special treatment.

No, that's not my intention. I'm only asking for a basic respect and also I'm asking to have safety in that place. I believe every person that lives in a homeless shelter deserves any type of safety, right? I completely understand that living in a homeless shelter could be very difficult for everyone, but this doesn't mean that we should accept these conditions of those people that are going to be— that are going to make our life more stressful And are going to make our life more insecure while we're living in those homeless shelters.

Un refugio debería ser un lugar donde pueda encontrar estabilidad, no otro sitio donde deba preocuparme por mi seguridad. Todos merecemos un lugar seguro donde alojarnos y una oportunidad real para salir adelante. Okay, let me set it down. I believe a homeless shelter should be a place where we could find stability. It should not be a place where I have to be worried about my safety myself.

All of us, even we are poor, we're homeless, we deserve a safe place to live, right? Like a secure place, and also a safe place where we can stay without worrying about anything, and we should have a real opportunity To move forward in the future. Okay, that's everything.

Thank you so much. Thank you all for your testimony. I think it's really a reflection of the work that we still have to do in making sure that our shelters are safe and secure and also can provide the folks living there with dignity. And so thank you for sharing. Your time and perspectives with us. Oh, and hold on one second.

I think the Public Advocate has a question. Thank you so much for sharing your testimonies. I really appreciate it.

I wanted to know, was there a clear line of where you could report any of the complaints to? And if the complaints weren't addressed at the shelter, Were you aware of any place you can go after that? Yes. With my incident with the mice and the asthma, I— the second supervisor called the director and he told me to write up a grievance and he wanted it on his desk when he came in the next morning.

I did such. She put it on his desk. That supervisor that came before that told me I had to wait till the next morning. Okay, vamos a ver. When I left, like, 6 months later, he was still working. So even though the omnibus— the grievance goes to the omnibus man office, and they have 30 to 60 days to respond, the amount of grievances that they receive, they cannot respond to.

So things go left, go unattended. And a lot of directors in the shelter, when you do them grievances, it goes right under the table. Yeah, I just had something on the grievance issue. I'm glad you brought it up because as far as I'm concerned, the way grievances are handled is an absolute joke. Because the fact of the matter is you're supposed to go to the operations and ask them for a grievance form, and when you fill it out, you hand it back to them. when sometimes the grievance isn't the very same people who, um, who, you know— Have to give it a form.

Who have to give it a form and/or their cohorts who are RAs. And so, um, without tooting my own horn, I actually came up with an idea that, uh, that, um, a grievance box be placed, so like an Al Gore lockbox, and forms will be placed under them, and you can go and pick it up and put grievances and drop it in the box, and only direct or appropriate persons will open it and take out those grievances and address them.

Thank you. You should toot your own horn. It's okay. But so you were not unaware— you were unaware of anywhere to make grievances that didn't involve the people you may be having a grievance about? No such Policy or rules exist in the DHS shelter system in New York. Thank you. Also the private shelters. Okay. Thank you. Mr.

Williams— oh, I'm sorry, you finished? Okay. Mr. Williams, he say he file a complaint, right, about his condition, about what happened in the shelter. Can you just speak into the microphone? Oh, my apologies. He say that he file a complaint about his condition, about what was happening to him in the homeless shelter. But he was ignored completely.

They never responded and they never did any follow-up about his complaint. Right? Thank you. Okay. Thank you. And Councilmember Nurse? Oh, Councilmember Ung? So since we— I do have a question for the last gentleman. What was the language capabilities of the shelter? Because, you know, what— like he's Talking to you now through a translator. Was there someone like that in the shelter for him?

How did he address his concerns? Like who was in the shelter that can speak the language? Do you say like a language line? La señorita Sama, que es concejal, ella te pregunta si hay algún intérprete o traductor o servicios de interpretación o traducción ahí en el albergue de gente pobre, o si había algún tipo de traducción telefónica o en línea.

No, exactly. I can talk in English. So, so my complaint is I can write it. Sorry, just pull the microphone a little bit closer. That I said that I can talk in English and can express my angry or my disagreement by talking. So I don't have problem to communicate my concern in the shelter. Sandra, and he speak English.

Sorry, but back to my apologies. He speak English and he can talk in English with the people in the shelter, but I think he, he feel like he was ignored by those people. Sure. Yes. And I mean, just did you— was for people who could speak English less capable than you, was there any— did you see that— was there any, you know, language help there?

Anyone In the shelter, that was helpful. No, exactly. What happened is every opportunity that one resident have problem to communication because he's Spanish speaking, they usually can you help me please? What he saying blah blah blah blah. So I can help them to translate whatever. They need to say at the moment. So they're basically counting on you to help them.

Exactly. Okay. Exactly. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you all. Thank you, council members. Thank you, public advocate. And now we'll— the administration will present their testimony, and I'll turn it over to the committee counsel to administer the oath. Once the administration has taken their suits. Now, in accordance with the rules of the council, I will administer the affirmation to the witnesses from the mayoral administration.

Please raise your right hand. Do you affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in your testimony before this committee and to respond honestly to council members' questions? I do. Thank you. Before delivering testimony, please state your name for the record. Thanks. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Erin Dalton, Commissioner for the Department of Social Services. Before I begin with my testimony, I want to thank you for convening the panel of folks who came to testify about their experiences in our system. I do think it's really important to start with the voices of people. And while you'll hear us testify— I'm about to testify to a lot of procedures, protocols, data that we think and we set up to keep people safe and to have their voices heard— none of it can address people's perceptions of those conditions if we don't hear from them directly.

And so while I do During my time here, we'll do my best work to make sure all those procedures, protocols are in place, and that we use that data to help improve the system every single day. The most important measure to me will be people's perceptions of their safety, their sense of dignity, respect, and how we treat them in the system.

And those are measures we don't have in place at this time, but measures I can put in place and will put in place so that we can keep a pulse on what's really happening for the people who are serving in the system. So appreciate everyone's testimony and informing us on the issues they continue to see inside our system.

All right. So moving on to more formal testimony. Good afternoon, Chair Hudson and members of the Committee on General Welfare. I am Erin Dalton, Commissioner for the Department of Social Services. Joining me are Department of Homeless Services First Deputy Commissioner Christine Fellini, and Deputy Commissioner for Shelter Service Security, Avonji Priester. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss shelter safety and the legislation on today's agenda.

DHS oversees 502 shelter sites across New York City, 7 of them operated directly by DHS. We are committed to protecting our clients, the staff who serve them, and the surrounding communities. That means secure facilities, well-maintained buildings, and respond to concerns promptly and transparently. On the issues of security and safety, our approach to safety includes on-site security, access controls, surveillance, staff training, incident reporting, and ongoing oversight.

Every shelter has security around the clock. Officers at each entrance control access and monitor cameras placed throughout the interior and exterior of the building. Each facility's security needs depend on its location, size, layout, access points, and history. DHS conducts security risk assessments to set staffing levels and equipment, which can include access control systems, cameras, metal detectors, and X-ray machines.

Our goal is risk-based security that protects residents and staff while respecting their dignity. DHS's 352 peace officers are deployed at intake and assessment sites and at facilities on Ward's Island, where they control access, maintain order, and respond to incidents. The DHS Provider Assistance Unit trains security staff at provider-operated shelters. Training covers the foundations of the work, including understanding homelessness, cultural sensitivity, serving people with disabilities, and trauma-informed care, as well as practical skills such as de-escalation, crisis intervention, conflict resolution, and suicide prevention.

PAU and other uniformed staff can also assist providers during emergencies and support inspections to remove weapons, drugs, and other contraband. When serious incidents occur, DHS responds and contacts emergency services when needed. Our Serious Incident Unit operates around the clock, tracks more than 70 types of incidents, and reviews reports for accuracy, allowing us to spot trends and risks.

Moving on to our Good Neighbor Policy. Our neighbors are valuable partners through our nonprofit partnerships, volunteer— volunteering, donations, and workforce programs. Every shelter has a Good Neighbor Policy that sets clear expectations for conduct inside the shelter and in the surrounding community. Residents receive written rules when they arrive. Providers reinforce those rules through case management, and security monitors activity in and around the building.

Community advisory boards bring together providers, DHS, elected officials, community boards, local businesses, and neighbors, usually every quarter, giving the community a regular place to raise concerns. The NYPD's Quality of Life Division reports on incidents at these meetings, and many providers attend monthly precinct council meetings. When problems arise, responses range from conversations with staff to additional support, and when safety is at stake, a transfer.

About client safety transfers. Residents may face threats, harassment, or violence that make their placement unsafe. When a concern is raised, we may take immediate protective steps, contact law enforcement or other emergency responders, or arrange a transfer depending on the urgency of the concern, the resident's needs, and the available placements. There were 2,654 safety transfers in fiscal year '26, slightly up from the 2,625 in FY '25.

When it comes to shelter conditions, maintaining safety also depends on the conditions of our more than 500 buildings, which vary in age, size, ownership, and original purpose. 58% of our buildings were built before 1980, and many were converted to shelter use to meet that demand. Keeping them in good condition requires regular inspections, timely repairs, preventive maintenance, and long-term capital planning.

We are closing older and substandard facilities and prioritizing purpose-built shelters designed around trauma-informed care. DHS regularly reviews provider performance on safety and building maintenance. Routine site review inspections conducted with the provider staff and the Department of Buildings, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Fire Department, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Identify code violations, hazards, and hazards before they become more serious.

Providers are expected to address severe deficiencies within 24 hours of receiving the results. DHS publishes a quarterly shelter repair scorecard so New Yorkers can see the conditions in our shelter buildings. Conditions in our standard shelters have improved dramatically since 2016, when the City Shelter Repair Squad cut open violations in traditional shelters by 83% in 9 months. Today, our 365 standard shelters average fewer than 4 open violations each, and only 1 in 10 is high priority.

Those numbers have held steady even as the system has grown, and city agencies have completed more than 4,300 inspections so far this year. The challenge is in our flexible capacity system, which is about 169 sites, mostly commercial hotels, open to meet a surge in demand. These buildings average about 42 open violations each, This is something to better understand and correct.

It's also one reason we are reducing our reliance on hotels, particularly for families with children. Residents and staff can also report problems through our shelter repair hotline. Last, last year, the hotline received 2,934 complaints. Each complaint is followed up by the resident and the provider, and for serious problems, Department of Buildings or HPD may inspect and issue violations.

Each repair has to be assessed as routine maintenance, an urgent fix, or a larger capital project. DHS's asset management— asset information management system documents capital needs in city-owned buildings such as boilers, plumbing, electrical systems, fire alarms, roofs, elevators, and bathrooms. There are 55 city and state-owned buildings in our portfolio, and major repairs must go through the city's capital program.

For FY27, we have $106 million for 102 projects across 38 shelters. 8 are complete and 31 are in active construction and expected to finish by June 2027. The rest are in planning, design, or procurement. For privately owned buildings, responsibility for repair depends on the provider's arrangement with the owner. Providers responsible for routine maintenance have a budget for it, which varies with the site's age and layout.

When a larger repair is the provider's responsibility, our facilities and logistics team helps to identify solutions. If the provider's budget can't cover the cost, we submit a request to OMB. We are reviewing these processes to remove administrative bottlenecks, give providers more visibility, and speed up repairs whenever possible.

Looking at what the data that we have shows as it pertains to shelter safety, I want to separate 2 different kinds of information. The first is crime information. Those are NYPD complaints and arrests at our shelter addresses, serious violent incidents tracked in the Mayor's Management Report, and complaints residents make to DHS— DSS about assault, harassment, and how they are treated.

The second is day-to-day health and safety needs of the people we serve, which show up in 911 calls and incidents our providers report. A medical emergency is not a crime, so these need to be counted and considered separately. Thank you. I'll share rates per 1,000 so that the great growth in the shelter population doesn't distort the trends.

Looking at Part 1, Crime and Safety Complaints. Arrests at shelter addresses have fallen per resident since FY23, and serious violence is declining. The mayor's management report shows that in single adult shelters, where the rates are the highest, serious violent incidents fell 13% last year to 2.8 per 100— per 1,000 residents. Thank you. Down from 4.8 in FY22.

In family shelters, the rate fell or held steady at well below 1 per 1,000. Residents' own complaints add something police data can't compare— can't capture, rather. Complaints to DSS about discrimination, assault, and harassment rose 19% this year, and complaints about interactions between staff and clients rose 46%. More people are raising complaints, not just the same people calling more often.

These complaints tell us residents don't always feel safe or respected, and that's something we can take direct action to improve. Looking at the health and safety needs, 911 calls include calls made by staff, and close to 40% of those are medical, so many reflect people getting the help when they need it. Calls per resident rose last year, most sharply in Safe Havens and Stabilization Sites, which serve people with some of the most significant needs.

We are watching calls about disputes and disorders most closely because they are also rising. Calls about assault and violence are a small share, and they have fallen since fiscal year '23. Incidents reported by providers have been roughly level. A third are accidents, health concerns, and hospitalizations. Serious incidents among single adults have declined each year since fiscal year '23, including a 13% drop over the last 2 years.

Thank you. The most serious measure of safety is found in the mortality data. The death rate in shelter has fallen by 2/3 in 3 years, from about 11 per 1,000 residents in FY22 to 3.5 in FY25, the lowest since fiscal year 2018. Part of that reflects a younger population with more children, but the number of deaths also fell from 512 to 305, while the shelter population nearly doubled.

Drug-related deaths across the homeless population fell 28% last year, but still account for 40% of all deaths, and 42 of the 73 people who died in a shelter in FY25 died of an overdose. The people we serve are also getting older. The share of deaths amongst people 65 and older rose from 13% to 17% in one year.

Naloxone in every building, treatment, and medical care for an aging population are safety measures as well. The overall picture is real progress with clear work ahead. Arrests and serious violence are down, and fewer people are dying in our care. At the same time, conflicts, conditions in our commercial hotels, and residents' concerns about how they are treated show us that there's where our focus needs to be.

Our goal is shelters that are safe and dignified for everyone who lives and works in them.

Introduction 0387. I'm going to move on to that now and comment on the 2 introductions for today. That introduction would require DHS to produce an annual report on critical incidents in our shelters, along with information on security measures, security upgrades, and agreements with NYPD and other law enforcement. We do share the goal of transparency. DHS already reports critical incidents to state oversight bodies, including OTDA, OCFS, and through the Mayor's Management Report.

We would seek to align any new requirements with these existing systems to avoid duplicate reporting. We also must protect confidential shelter information. DHS cannot publish some security information disaggregated by individual shelter as the introduction requires. Public reporting would need to aggregate data and protect confidential addresses. We look forward to working with the sponsor and council on legislation that advances transparency while meeting these privacy obligations.

Introduction 0099 would require DHS to report annually on the number and share of families with children placed in shelter in the same or an adjoining zip code as their last We welcome further conversation with the sponsor on the goals of this bill. DHS makes every effort to place families near the youngest child's school, and the mayor's management report already tracks the share of families placed in the borough of that school.

Zip code data may not capture the factors behind placement. For example, families affected by domestic violence may need to be placed away from their prior address. We welcome discussion of reporting that accounts for these circumstances. Thank you. In conclusion, I appreciate the council's attention to ensuring that shelters are safe, secure, and well-maintained. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

We welcome your questions.

Thank you so much, Commissioner, for your testimony. I will kick it off with a few questions, and then I'm going to turn to my colleagues in just a moment's time. Your testimony noted that there are 502 shelters. This is a significant increase from even 2 years ago. What has led to the increase? Thank you for the question.

I'll start, and I am going to be relying heavily on my colleagues for this, for this hearing. I mean, I think obviously we are a right-to-shelter city and proud to be one, and the increase in need from the asylee population certainly overwhelmed the system that DHS was operating during that time. And so I'm personally grateful for all of the work that the city and the Department of Homeless Services did to open so many shelters in such a short period in order to accommodate that need.

Good afternoon. Christine Fellini, First Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Homeless Services. To add to the Commissioner's comments, And as part of what will come up around repairs and the maintenance of buildings, we're also looking to replace old stock, right? So as shelters become not as— as we've decided to move towards more purpose-built and more quality shelters, we can phase out those older buildings that are in need of significant repairs.

Thank you. And then you went through, obviously, deaths and incidents in the shelter system. And I'm wondering, you called out specifically the older adult population as well as those with substance use disorder. And I'm wondering if you know how the share of those populations have changed over the years? So are those populations in particular increasing in terms of the number of people you're seeing in the shelter system that are either older adults or experiencing substance use abuse?

I don't have those numbers in front of me. I think we are seeing an increase in the share of older adults using our shelter system, and I'm not certain that we track precisely the number of people who have a diagnosis or are experiencing substance use disorder, but we could certainly see what we have and get back to the council.

Yes, it would be interesting to know whether it's at intake or obviously people who are being sent to specific— or sent to shelters who provide specific services, what those numbers look like and how they've changed over time. Okay, one second. Okay, and then one point of clarification. You mentioned that The death rate in shelter has fallen by 2/3 in 3 years from about 11 per 1,000 residents in fiscal year 2022 to 3.5 in fiscal year 2025.

And that part of that reflects a younger population with more children while also a greater population of older adults. So if you can just provide a little bit more. clarity on those numbers. Sure. I was also just trying to put into context the very significant decline in mortality data is also a function of who we're serving in the system.

So wanted to add that caveat. I'll go back and look at the numbers, but I think it can be consistent that there is a growing share of children in the system and older adults, and that the share in between is what is declining. But we can obviously provide the changing demographics of the shelter system. That would be great.

Thank you. Okay.

I don't have any more questions specifically pertaining to your testimony. I would like to turn it over to my colleagues, and then I will get into my long list of questions. So starting with Councilmember Murano, followed by Wilson, and then Brewer. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Commissioner. Before I ask you a little bit about your testimony today, you were kind enough to testify before the last committee hearing that Chair Hudson and I co-chaired, and you indicated that you'd get us some information about the legal analysis that the city relied upon to decline the VA grant for homeless veterans.

Do you have any idea when you might be able to get that to us? I don't as I sit here, but we can respond in writing with a timeline. I appreciate it. Thank you.

In your testimony, you discussed the Good Neighbor Policy and community advisory boards, and you say these boards bring together elected officials, community boards, businesses, and neighbors to discuss concerns. But isn't it true that these advisory boards generally function after the city has already decided where to put a shelter? So the neighborhood gets a chance to discuss problems after the decision's already been made, but not necessarily a meaningful opportunity to raise concerns before the decision's finalized.

Is that a fair characterization? I think it's fair that the community advisory boards are set up to be a good neighbor with the shelter that is there. So I think it's it's right to characterize it as an ongoing process with the community. But, but certainly we, we work with community boards and electeds and community members aligned with the process that we use to site shelters.

So there is engagement with community prior. Wouldn't it make more sense to conduct a community impact assessment and solicit neighborhood input before committing taxpayer dollars to a location rather than asking residents to live with the consequences and complain afterward? I appreciate that as a sentiment, and we can certainly take back as we look at any potential changes to the way we do shelter siting in the city.

Thank you. One other question before I run out of time. You report that DHS conducted 2,654 safety transfers last fiscal year. That's more than 7 people being transferred every single day because of safety concerns. When a resident is threatened or assaulted by another resident, who gets moved, the victim or the person responsible for the threat? I'm gonna let my colleagues answer here, and then I'm also gonna like think through the math of that.

I'm not sure that's quite right, but because there's some people move in and out of the shelters, okay, I don't think the denominator is right there. Wouldn't be the first time I made a math error. But, but, but, but, but the question, the substance of the question is important, so I'm gonna And thank you for the question.

It depends on the circumstances. If the person who is the, the victim of the assault chooses— prefers to stay at the shelter, it is possible that we will transfer the alleged perpetrator. Is there any disciplinary consequence for an individual who repeatedly threatens or assaults other shelter residents? The safety transfer is the way we do that. So we're looking to maintain the safety of people in the shelter as well as the staff.

We're also looking at to get at what the issue is that is causing the individual to act out in this way. So that's also making sure that they're in the shelter that either provides the right services or could connect them to community services. Thank you. I may have more questions for you later. Thank you, Councilmember Murano.

Moving on to Councilmember Wilson. Thank you, Chair. Hello, Commissioner. From the testimony we heard in our— the first panel, There were many instances about conflicts that they're having with staff in the shelters. So does DSS have rules around de-escalation and sensitivity training for providers, staff, and how is that— how do you conduct oversight to ensure that those are happening?

Yes, and I mean, my— while my colleagues look up the actual numbers perhaps, I mean, yes, we do have training and support for those very kinds of efforts. And I think I testified, too, that we saw increases in those kinds of complaints. So we're seeing it not just in— and hearing it not just from the people who testified today, but seeing it across the board.

And it may be an area where we need to do more, but I will let my colleagues speak to the specifics there. Thank you, Commissioner, and thank you for the question. And I think you're hitting on a good point. We can train we have to make sure that the training is implemented on the ground. So related to trauma-informed training, as per Local Law 49 of 2023, we've trained in the last 2 years over 15,000 staff around customer service with a focus on what we call HEARTS.

So that stands for healing, equity, accountability, respect, transparency, and services. And this is really to make sure that we have a holistic trauma-informed approach to the work that we do. This is every level of staff, This is every day of the week. And we really want to make sure that everyone is implementing the training. And while they may be contracted provider staff at the shelter, it's DHS's responsibility to make sure that that ethos is permeated throughout the shelter.

Are the trainings— is it up to the provider to do the trainings or implement the trainings, or does DSS do those? HART offers the training and requires staff to take it. We then follow up, and I think it's part of the review of complaints and incidents to the point the Commissioner made about what we're seeing the increase in.

That says something to us. So we say, listen, we implemented HARTS. What's going on at your facility? Is it staff-related? Is it facility-related? Is it related to a particular client or clients? So it allows us to dig into what's going on at a particular site.

Chair, can I ask one, one more thing? Thank you. And also, in terms of grievance reports and reporting, same sort of question. Are there standards that DSS sets for how providers should be collecting and managing grievance reports? And what happens when there's, like, multiple grievance reports for a particular one staff member, their same staff member? Like, how do you, how do you manage that?

Thank you for the question. If you wouldn't mind giving me one moment. And to the Commissioner's point earlier, we have procedures and we have protocols, and the grievance process is one of them. It's a longstanding procedure, and as I believe Mr. Denton— I hope I got his name right, thank you— testified, Right? I give the form to the person I might be having an issue with.

So that is the policy. Clients do have the opportunity to essentially appeal the shelter's response to that, and we do track those and may get involved. Community members, clients, anyone can also report complaints or inquiries to us at DSS through 311. They can come into one of our centers and make a complaint. They can call us and make a complaint.

And all of that is gathered and analyzed. So we're looking not just at individual complaints, we're looking at trends. Is there a particular shelter? Is someone named repeatedly? Because then we're going to dig in. We expect the shelter already has, but as program staff, we're also going to get the shelter director on the phone to say what's going on with this person and how can we help?

Because that's the other thing. Well, then how is it— how is the follow-up with the person making the report? How do they know that their complaint has been taken seriously and that DSS is going to take all these steps to analyze Thank you for the question. And then I'll be done. Part of the process that is implemented by the Ombudsman's Office at DSS is, one, to let the complainant know that we've received the inquiry and directed it to the shelter.

So that's step one. They have a pretty good success rate of 90%, you know, contacting about 90% of the people who have complained. There are some instances where somebody's voicemail isn't set up or we can't get in touch with them. It's then passed on to the shelter. They have 3 to 5 days to respond. DSS is also made aware— sorry, DHS is made aware of the complaint.

We're CC'd on everything that goes out to the shelters that we're responsible for, and then we monitor. If this is related to one particular staff, we want to know what the next steps are. Is this training? Is this not the right shelter? Could this person be transferred to a different shelter in the provider's portfolio, or do we need additional action.

But we're actively involved in making sure that the complaints get addressed and that if it's a one-time thing, if we're seeing this over time, that it's not just addressing the complaints, it's, it's us taking a deep dive into what's happening at that shelter. If I may add, I mean, I think some of this is actually the way the process by which we must collect complaints are state reg, and so there are just some rules around the way we're, we're required to do that.

But it is also why I think building out the direct communication with residents of the shelter system so we can hear on an ongoing basis as an additional tool to understand and support their well-being, I feel like is a critical piece to be built. Thank you.

Councilmember Brewer? Thank you very much, and thank you for being responsive. I'm going to ask about Intro 99, but as Chris knows, like, one shelter is 500 times a month the police department is there. That's a lot. So help on that front. In terms of 99, I know you mentioned the mayor's management report, but I don't see it in a quick perusal.

You collect— does DHS collect the exact data At the MMR or on your own, asked for in this bill, basically the zip code nearby, schools, et cetera. Is that something that you collect now? It is. And can you explain a little bit more, like how often is it produced or what do you use it for, et cetera?

Is it in the MMR and I'm just missing it? No, no. The specific data in the in the intro is not reported in the mayor's management report. There's a different measure. I can read the actual measure to you. I didn't see it there, so I appreciate that. Yeah. Thank you. So it's families living in the borough of their youngest child's school, and it's a percentage.

And so I think we think, but we want to understand more, and it was helpful to hear your testimony your reflections on the introduction. We think that this is responsive to what you're concerned about. I hear you being concerned about children being able to stay in the continuity of their community, stay in their school. Otherwise, it can affect things like attendance and other school outcomes, as well as other well-being outcomes.

And I would just— I would be interested— we're not against doing that additional reporting. It just would be useful to understand if you think it would add value in understanding that, or if this specific measure, which speaks to the youngest child and keeping them in their district— If you can. You can't always do it. I guess one of the questions would be how often are you able to do that?

My experience during the migrant crisis was efforts, but they weren't always able to do that. And even before your tenure, When previous administration, I asked about the same thing even before the bill, and I was told it's too hard to find a shelter or too hard to find housing or too hard, et cetera. And so the main issue we have is getting out of the hotel into a shelter.

And so we're not dealing with the 3-year-old, the 4-year-old, or the family or the school. So maybe that's changed. Well, that's what I was told by Molly. Yeah. I mean, there are two. I can give you the latest measures from the MMR on the specific measure that's included there. So we do better over time, but in terms of the initial placement, 63— it's 62.9% of families were initially placed in the borough of the youngest school-aged child.

So we're not hitting that every time. And I will say, as you know, like, there are other considerations to be made. I gave the— No, I know DV is a big— that's a whole different world. I'm not even— thinking about that. It's everybody else, not DB. Right. And as we look at families and placements that are in their borough of the youngest child's school over time, you know, over the duration of their stay, it's over 80%.

And so we are very much managing to this idea of school continuity. Okay. The reason I also ask is not only if you're 10 and you have an IEP, that's as important, in my opinion, as under 3 or 3 or younger. So those are the kinds of data I would like to see. I know people now who are commuting from Rockaway to Manhattan because that's the only school that takes a child with an IEP.

They're always late. Always. Yeah. And the buses, I'm already dealing with buses as we're sitting here that are always late. So I have to say, I think it's correct that kids in foster care and shelter are driving up the absentee rate for the Department of Education, and they're perhaps The ones who need the education the most. And so I just— it has to be addressed one way or the other.

Yes, I know there wasn't exactly a question there, but if I may, we are working hard with the New York City Public Schools on attendance. We're doing door knocking for kids who have missed the first bits of school. We're doing on-grounds operational approach to make sure that transportation is in place. So we are— this is— High priority.

Do you keep track of those who might be asking for a transfer during the year because of school issues or other kinds of issues? Do you keep track of that? We do. I could go on, but go ahead. Go to somebody else. I know you could, and I'm happy to add you to round 2, but I am going to move along to Councilmember Ung, followed by Councilmember Nurse, and then Councilmember Aviles.

And we've been joined by Councilmember Aviles. Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Commissioner, for your testimony today. So I do have a question about the language capabilities of shelters. If you have a client where English is not their first language, how do they go through the grievance procedure, either written or oral? And then how does the message get communicated back to the client?

Thank you for the question. All shelters are required to comply with the language access policy, and all have access to DHS's LanguageLine contract to be able to communicate with every single client 24 hours a day. If it were the grievance process, just like with any form, staff would use the language line to make sure the client understood the form, talk through that, help record the response.

The form would live in English back to the shelter staff or to DHS, and the language line could assist with making sure that the client understood what the process is. Okay, is there any— and I appreciate the language line, always do appreciate the language line— but is there any effort, you know, depending on where the shelter is, the community that is in the shelter system, the language they speak?

Is there any effort to, you know, hire people in the shelter that speaks that language? Of course. And we want our providers to make sure that there's a diverse shelter staff. So yes. Okay. Is there— okay. I mean, is there any statistics on this? Any just examples of this that can be helpful and like for me to understand a little bit more of what is going on?

Yeah, we don't track the language capability of provider staff, but it's something we could certainly look into. Great. And there is an effort to communicate to providers that, you know, that it should be the language, hopefully the language that, you know, that actually is spoken in that shelter. Yes. And we have communicards which make it easy for clients to indicate to staff what language they speak so that saves some time and not back and forth.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Councilmember Nurse. Thank you, Chair. I don't know if I have questions. I have comments. But I will say that there's a lot of our cases in our office are requests to transfer out of the shelters in the immediate area. And for the most part, we've been very successful to get people out. But it doesn't necessarily translate into improvements in those existing facilities.

You know, and our immediate goal is just to focus on the person who comes into the office. You all have been helpful with that. I will say that when it comes to the cabs, In the past, we had Magnolia House, like we had some issues, but like we were able to get the cab up and running. And for the most part, we've had very little communication to our office.

But it was a pretty quick process. Recently, in another cab that we've gotten set up, and you all, we've been in communication about this, but I would be remiss if I didn't put it on the record for my community that's watching. I feel like there was really a failure to stand up the CAB in a really efficient and thoughtful way.

I mean, we had a stabbing in July, and the first community meeting didn't happen until, like, sometime in September, and it was kind of a botched rollout. And I think we're now getting back on track. And so I think it's really important to land that thing. Thank you. especially that first gathering with community residents after an incident of violence, and there was like a child involved.

Like, this is important to roll these things out really well and in a thoughtful way. And so I really— I know you all have— your senior staff has really stepped in and been very helpful, but I think that it might be worth looking at that process for rolling out the CAB, because I just— we didn't have a good experience with that, unfortunately.

So I don't have a question. Thanks, Chair. No, it's an important anecdote to note. So thank you.

Councilmember Aviles. Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much. So we've heard from a number of our constituents living in shelters that case management services, particularly getting support with securing housing via city FEP vouchers is really inadequate. So one of our constituents came into our office crying because she has lost out on 2 apartments when she wasn't able to get support from her housing specialist.

What's the current ratio of the housing specialists to shelter residents? And, and given that our goal with the shelter system is to get hopefully people out of shelters and into permanent dignified housing, What's the ideal ratio that we should have of housing specialists to residents? Thank you for the question. Our shelters are budgeted along an OMB-approved model budget.

So those model budgets set the ratios of staff that are budgeted for, with some exceptions if, you know, the provider wants to rearrange some of the lines or the titles. Currently, for sites that do have housing specialists, the ratio is about 1 to 40. There are some sites that do not have housing specialists. I would say, title aside, it's imperative that any case management staff be able to advocate on behalf of the client.

So they need to know the voucher process. They need to know all the options for a household. They need to make sure the household is aware of what they might qualify for. what they do qualify for, and then take steps to help them get that voucher or housing strategy, and then assist with finding housing. As it relates to the CityFHEPS process, I know our colleagues at HRA have done a lot to improve the processing time, and I know we continue to look at that.

And we get a lot of inquiries from shelter staff about why is it taking so long. So again, we're looking at the system on our side, processing when somebody does find housing, but we look to support our shelter providers to make sure that the staff on the ground supporting clients are doing so effectively. If I could ask a quick follow-up, thank you for that.

Is a— in terms of, you mentioned OMB is setting the ratios, do you have any sense of what is determining— what criteria is OMB using to determine whether or not Our housing crisis is critical enough to actually make sure we have housing specialists that can make sure we get people out of the shelter system. Yeah, and let me clarify, OMB doesn't set the ratio.

It's a model that we have negotiated with OMB. So there are, you know, depending on the capacity of the site, a certain number of staff to meet the critical core functions of what should happen in a shelter. So do you know how many housing specialists do you have Citywide? And do you track performance around those housing specialists?

Yeah, I don't have the number of housing specialists. That's certainly something we could follow up on. And our measure of success, again, not related to that role specifically, but is CityFEP's placements and all placements to be— Sure, sure. We know assistance comes in many forms, and permanent housing could come through a voucher or through many other means.

We'd love to hear more about how DHS is securing staffing capacity to help make sure that residents are transitioning out of the shelter system and how do we ensure that that is a robust and supportive environment. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

When DV survivors seek shelter, how does DHS ensure that they're sent to a safe housing situation? Thank you for the question. First and foremost, when somebody comes into DHS, we are doing a domestic violence screening. So somebody doesn't have to necessarily state that, but through our assessment process, we may be referring the person who comes in or the family to HRA's NOVA, No Violence Again program, and they're really assessing criteria and eligibility for placement into a domestic violence shelter.

And what they're doing is making sure that if there is a parent DV and they cannot take this household in due to capacity constraints or the size of the family doesn't meet the available units in a DV shelter, that they're making DHS placements aware. And what happens there is if there's a parent DV, we are going to separate the alleged abuser from the alleged victim if the household is coming together.

We will refer the alleged abuser to the single adult side while we place the remaining household. If this is an instance of DV and there is apparent DV, but it's not within household members, we're making sure that we follow NOVA's recommendations for areas of exclusion, and those tend to be specific addresses or zip codes Okay, thank you.

And when DHS diverts families with children away from shelter at the PATH intake center, what do diversion and mediation services entail? Okay, thank you for the question. We have diversion and mediation policies, and that really helps to standardize the approach. But again, each engagement with each individual household is going to be different depending on their, their circumstances.

But in terms of diversion and mediation, the goal is to avoid shelter, right? Somebody came to us and said, I have a housing crisis, I think I need shelter. Our goal is to see how, if at all, we can reconnect you to community resources. So at our resource room, we have social workers that can complete mediation with a primary tenant or a different housing option, and that might be as simple as calling up the primary tenant to say, hey, I understand Christine was living with you and things weren't okay.

Can we make this work? What could help resolve this situation? So that's the mediation process that happens at PATH at Resource Room. And again, we're also making sure that that option is safe. We ask very pointed questions about DV in the house, in the housing option that we're on the phone with or communicating with. We don't want to send families into an unsafe situation.

We're also looking to make sure that there's sufficient space in that housing option. So those are the ways we, we make sure that we're diverting to safe options. Thank you.

Large congregate shelters create an environment where there's likely to be more interpersonal conflict. What steps is DHS taking to reduce density in shelter sites? Yes, thank you for that question. First, we are on track to comply with Mayor Ron Donney's Executive Order 2, which requires that single adults capacity remain at 200 beds or less by the end of 2027.

So we're pleased about that. And our purpose-built shelters, which I think are certainly the way we're trying to move the system, there's 32 of those. 25 have been opened in the last 4 years. They all have smaller dorms, so, and they're smaller capacity in general. So the average over those sites is about 160. And importantly, it's not just the overall size of the building and the number of people there.

It is also the density of the dorm space so that people are more comfortable where they're staying. And we often hear about the poor condition of shelter facilities. The Bellevue Men's Shelter was closed in April 2026 due to severe disrepair and unsafe building conditions. How does DSS decide which shelters to repair, or in the case of Bellevue, which to close entirely?

Thank you for the question. In reference to Bellevue, I'll answer this question. As the Commissioner pointed out, there are really 2 approaches to this. One is for publicly owned, city or state-owned facilities, and the other are privately owned. So when it comes to publicly owned shelters, obviously, the last resort is to close a facility, and we would only do that on the advice of our enforcement agencies like Department buildings or FDNY.

And this requires architect and engineering reports. It's a very big decision to make. But what we do day to day is maintain our buildings, right? So we have a long-term interest in keeping our buildings, and the way we're assessing is how much money are we spending on repairs over time? What are the results of a building inspection?

What notifications, complaints, incidents are happening at particular shelters. And again, the goal is not to close, but it's to remediate. And again, that's really how for the capital side, the publicly owned buildings, we try to maintain and repair rather than close. Thank you.

And then I know, Commissioner, you referenced capital, the capital program And specific projects as well as funding. I'm wondering if there are shelters that need significant repairs and how many and how long will the repairs take? Thank you for the question. As the Commissioner mentioned, we do have quite a few capital projects for our 55 publicly owned buildings.

When it comes to privately owned buildings, that is not something that we readily track. So we can't answer for the remainder of the over 500 buildings in the DHS portfolio how many need significant repairs. So there's no process that exists where you all are aware of significant capital needs in privately owned shelters? There are processes, and one thing we can point to— it's not a perfect answer to the question, but one proxy, is our new needs process.

So as the Commissioner mentioned, when a privately owned building needs significant repairs that cannot be funded through their budget, we understand what the scope is and we make a request to OMB. That's the new needs process. We currently have 268 new needs pending in various statuses for 95 shelters. That will include things that are likely not serious, But it does give us some sense of the scope.

So that's just broad new needs, not— Facility-related new needs. Right. But that could be doors to shower stalls or something like that, as opposed to roof repairs. There's no way to parse out— And we'd have to do that. Our data system system. We're working on some enhancements to better allow us to analyze the data rather than having to read every single request.

But routine repairs like replacing a shower door normally come out of the provider's budget. Every provider, if they have maintenance— So it wouldn't be considered a new need in this particular case? Right. Yeah. But for— just again, as a proxy for serious. Right. New need is a proxy for serious, you're saying? Most of the time, yes. But serious as determined by the the owner of the building, the private operator?

No, the provider and DHS. Oh, and DHS. So the provider— this is coming from our contracted providers that say, listen, I'm maxed out in my maintenance line or my maintenance budget does not allow for this major repair. We agree, we look at the scope, we look at the bids, and we request the funding from OMB. Okay. Thank you.

And what is DHS's process for choosing capital projects to fund? Thank you for the question. And again, all of the 55 publicly owned buildings are eligible for capital. So, we're not choosing, we are kind of ranking where the need is and where the project is in terms of the multi-year process that unfortunately a capital project needs to go through.

Mm-hmm. There are many steps involving different agencies. So again, we identify through our— the Commissioner mentioned our AIM system, our Asset Management System. We're looking at violations, we're looking at various formal and informal inspections, complaints, incidents to identify the priority repairs that are needed, and those go to the top of the list of capital request projects. And how does DHS work with providers on shelter repairs for city-owned facilities?

And that's the capital process. So in addition, DHS operates only a handful of sites, even though we have 55 publicly owned. The providers are contracted to operate most of those, and what I just described is the same process whether a provider is operating it or the city is. Okay.

And what design and architectural principles does DHS use when designing shelters? Does this differ for different shelter populations? So thank you for the question, and it is an interesting one. DHS does not have design principles. I think what we rely on is the provider and their vision for what services they want to provide, the population they want to provide.

So when they bring a site to us or the plan for a site, they're already thinking, what population do I want to serve and how do I want to serve them? So we rely on them and their discussions with architects and developers to kind of propose to us their ideal shelter. So what about the purpose built shelters, you wouldn't— That's exactly it.

Okay. The most recent shelter repair scorecard showed an average of 3.82 building violations per standard shelter and 37.56 violations per flexible capacity shelter. And you mentioned, I think, earlier that the flexible shelter conditions are challenging. Why is the number of violations in flexible shelters so high, and is DSS taking action to correct the issue? Yes, thank you.

And as I read my testimony aloud, I was reflecting on what I've learned since preparing the testimony, and so it is a good opportunity to correct the record a little bit on that. And I'm going to let the Deputy Commissioner go into more detail, but it isn't Clearly, there's a differentiation between the mostly commercial hotels and the level of violation and our purpose-built and other shelters that have very low.

But it is also a function of the way hotels were built and applying a residential code onto those non-residential buildings. And so I don't want to give anyone here the impression that we that it is actually that much worse. There's a technicality to that, nor that we can't fix it. So I think the data in this case requires some nuance, and I'd love to pass it to the Deputy Commissioner to provide that.

Thank you, Commissioner. And I think distinguishing between flexible capacity or our standard capacity, regardless of the type of capacity, it's DHS's responsibility to work with the provider to make sure that those locations are safe for all the clients we serve. To the Commissioner's point about the hotels having different types of code versus the HPD inspection that is done for our shelters that follow a residential code, the same does not apply at hotels.

So we're applying a residential code to a hotel that doesn't follow the same code. However, we are still responsible for making sure that those issues are resolved and that the locations are safe. Also on violations, as we dig in, not every violation is an active safety hazard. The hazard could have been remediated, but there may still be an administrative function that the building owner has not submitted the required paperwork to HPD to close that out off the website.

That is something else that we track as well. Thank you all for the answers.

I'm going to take a page out of your book. You always thank us for the questions. I'm going to thank you for the answers. As temperatures continue to rise, the ability to stay cool becomes more of a health issue. Local Law 154 of 2025 requires DSS to report on the availability of air conditioners in shelters. Can you speak about what you found in terms of the feasibility of providing air conditioners in Thank you, Chair.

We are preparing the report that is due in a few days, so we are not ready to discuss yet. Okay, thank you for that answer.

According to NYPD's precinct-level homeless shelter arrest data, In Q4 of 2025, fiscal year 2025, there were a total of 512 arrests. There were 405 arrests in Q3. To what do you attribute the increase in arrests in Q4 of FY25? Yes, I'm not— how about we don't— we stop thanking for the questions? But just now it's a habit.

So the issue of trying to align and integrate the important data that comes from other reporting sources like the NYPD is something that is very important to me. So I've spent the last couple of weeks really trying to integrate the arrest data, the complaint data, the 911 data, along with our incident reporting data, our complaint data, into one set of information that we can then use on a very regular basis to manage the system.

I will say we're close to having that data integrated and usable, but not quite there. And so, just like you, I'm relying on the data that's publicly available. And this is from quarterly reporting that NYPD was producing and actually stopped after 2025. I believe it's actually not— 2024. no longer required. And so I just want to assure you it is of utmost interest to me to be able to observe and take action on areas where we're seeing improvements, and we can model those improvements in other places, as well as places where we're seeing concerns.

So I do actually have some questions about the quality of the data that NYPD was reporting here. But for the quarters that you actually asked about, Q3 of 2025 and Q4 of 2025, we do see something similar in our data. So we do see an increase in reported incidents during that period. And so we may— these 2 things might be correct in observing.

And again, I reported on some of those observations in the data that we have. And so While I don't have an explanation, it is something we should work with NYPD to look at. I will say arrest is probably not the best measure of incident. It is more of a measure of police activity, and I think in combination with those other set of measures can help us to understand a picture, but alone I think don't also tell us all that much about what's happening in our system.

Okay, that's fair. Thank you for the answer.

I want to ask a few questions about the Tillery Street Women's Shelter, which is in my district. Recent reporting from Gothamist brought public attention to that shelter where there were at least 260 fights and disputes in 2024, which was a 72% increase from 2019. The report found that the number of priority 1 serious incidents is more than twice the citywide average for single adult shelters.

Do you believe that shelter safety conditions have changed since Bowery Residence Committee, or BRC, took over from the Institute for Community Living, or ICL, as the shelter operator earlier this year? Thank you for the question. We do. Just numerically, the rate of incidents has decreased 48% since— against calendar year '25 in P1s alone. 45% overall, and I think what was— Sorry, 41% overall?

45% overall, sorry. 45%, okay. And actually, if I can add in there, this one we worked hard to make sure with the NYPD we're correct, so I do have 911 PD incident complaints to report as well as arrests there to add to what the Deputy Commissioner provided if you'd like those. Yes, please. Yep. And as you know, 911 is not just crime.

It's medical and so on. So 911 calls are down 13% from FY25. The numbers in '26 were 1,248. And in FY25, they were 1,429. So this is the lowest 911 set of calls since FY22. Still staying with 911, assault and violence calls are down 41% from their peak in FY24. About a third of the calls are ambulance calls.

And then if you'd like to hear the PD complaint reports, these are, you know, incidents. We love data, so please. Crime incident data. Okay, great. Continue. 207 in FY26. That's again the lowest since FY22. The peak was 263 in FY24. Felony reports fell from 36 in FY22 to 21 in FY26. Sorry, the 207 in FY26 and 263 in FY24 were which types of calls?

Those were PD complaint calls. I think about them as incident reports. I think they call them PD complaints. Okay. And felonies also dropped. Dropped, yeah. Arrests dropped as well. So 54 in FY26, that's the lowest in 5 years. Felony arrests fell from 33 to 12. And to what do you attribute the drop in all of these numbers?

I think a new agency brings the opportunity for a new perspective. All the clients there were reassessed. which would be— it's normal course of business when there's a change in provider. I think, you know, in doing that assessment, some clients whose needs were better met elsewhere were transferred. There are also some repairs that the provider is doing to the building to try to improve the facilities.

So I think we've seen some— improvements with the provider change that have likely contributed to the reduction. And would you say that those are site configuration and daily operations? Changes to site configuration and daily operations? Daily operations for sure. That the site configuration is harder. The building is a limited site. Yeah. So I'm I'd have to look into what, if any, building changes were made.

Okay, fair, and thank you for that. And have you all visited that site and met with residents and the staff at BRC? I have not, no. Commissioner? No? I have not either. Okay. I welcome you to visit. I have been there since BRC has been there. I was also there A few times when ICL was there. So happy to schedule some time to do that.

I have a few more questions about this specifically, and then I'm going to go into round 2 for my colleagues. What site-level metrics does the agency track to understand shelter safety? Thank you for the question. At site level, we track incidents, we track complaints, we track grievances. Thank you. If I may add, I mean, I do think as we get this data in order, you could see with the— with Tillery that we could provide a whole set of measures that are all going in the same direction, and that gives at least me confidence that there's important improvements happening there.

Hopefully, we can add additional measures to that, including, again, client experience and regular feedback from clients on their experience in the system. And do you know how many staff are on-site at Tillery now compared to last year? Thank you for the question. I don't. Okay. Thank you for the answer. Opportunity. You kind of— I think you may have got to this, but I'm just going to state the question for the record, and then if you have anything to add, feel free.

And if not, we can move on. But in the committee's June 2026 hearing, Commissioner Dalton, you said the Tillery Shelter presented an opportunity to shape longer-term plans for the shelter system. What has DSS done since to act on that opportunity and to refresh the site under the new operator? Nothing to add. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

I would like to share an email that I received, and I'm going to do my best to redact lots of the information. There were some specifics that were provided in an attempt to protect this person's identity, but they have— they are a New York City employee. who has elevated several security concerns with a single shelter provider, including one matter that they believed warranted referral to DOI after they identified discrepancies between what was reported to DHS and what they were able to observe through records, and DHS security personnel had provided— had recommended that the provider not renew with the same security contractor due to ongoing concerns.

And though that recommendation was known to staff, the contractor was still retained. And so I'm wondering, broadly speaking, what type of oversight structure and safeguards exist to prevent conflicts of interest, preferential treatment, or inappropriate relationships with contracted providers and city leadership. And, you know, we've been through a lot of this in the last mayoral administration. And so just want to make sure we have some real transparency around processes that you all have in place to identify inappropriate, you know, instances like this.

Thank you. Thank you. These are serious allegations. So if I heard you correctly, there were discrepancies in the records and things reported to DHS, as well as concerns about the security contractor— Correct. —that were raised to DHS. Mm-hmm. Yeah. When we are made aware, either directly through an incident, through a complaint, through an anonymous source of any impropriety, we investigate.

So we will do some due diligence. within DHS before making sure that we get that right over to DSS Legal, to the Office of Regulatory Compliance, to our ACO, to do the legal and contractual steps that they do. Okay. Which may also result in a referral to DOI. Right. Okay. It's possible— I don't know with certainty, but it's possible that this may have already been referred to DOI, but I suppose you and I will Yeah, and we certainly welcome working with DOI.

It's a resource to us to take investigations to a further— to a further place. I don't— I don't want to belabor the point, but is it worth an explanation of the ways in which our providers contract with subcontractors and our role in that? Yeah, I think that's— now would be an appropriate time. Specific to security or food vendors or maintenance contracts, our nonprofits have the ability to decide to contract that work out.

They do their market research, they get bids from interested vendors, and go with the lowest bidder who's able to be responsive to the ask. The provider is responsible for managing that contract. We— DSS ECHO approves the subcontract, But the provider is ultimately responsible for implementing and making sure that the contractor is meeting the requirements of the subcontract.

Okay. And does— do you all have the authority to terminate a contract at any point in time? Yes. Let's just clarify. Sorry, now I'm asking questions myself, but We have authority to terminate contracts with our primary contractor. Yes. But not necessarily with the subcontractor. That's correct. I'm reading Christine's notes. Yes. Okay. So what's— The relationship is between the provider and the subcontractor.

We can recommend. You could recommend, and then if they are— if they choose not to terminate based on your recommendation, when is the next— when would be the first opportunity for you all to then engage, or is there no opportunity for you to engage at all with the subcontractor? I would assume that once that subcontract reaches the end of its term, then perhaps you all could insert yourselves and say we don't want to.

We're checking. We'll have to get back to you on that. Okay. Great. Thanks. All right.

With that, I'll take a quick pause, brief pause. I'm going to stick to the 2 minutes for my second round of questions here from colleagues, but starting with Councilmember Barraondo, followed by Brewer, and then Aviles. For the record, I strongly prefer the 5-minute clock to 2 minutes. And that's why it's my hearing and I've got 2 minutes.

I know your preference, Councilmember. Duly noted. Commissioner, you testified earlier, you acknowledged that flexible capacity shelters, which are mostly commercial hotels, average approximately 42 open violations per facility. 42. If a private landlord had 42 outstanding building violations. Would the city consider that an acceptable place to house vulnerable New Yorkers? Yes, thank you. It's a good opportunity to provide clarification.

I'm not 100% sure if you were in the room just a few minutes ago when we, we went through this a little bit. As I indicated, as I read my testimony aloud, I learned some things in this process of preparing the testimony about how hotels are different and applying a kind of residential standard to that hotel necessarily increases the number of violations.

So it's not an indication necessarily of— it's a data point that actually does require a bit more nuance. Regardless, it is our responsibility, and we have the tools to make improvements in those systems. Also, that data does not— it indicates an issue. It doesn't indicate which of those have been resolved. So on its face, I would say that, you know, like looking at it the way you did, I would say, yes, this is a huge problem.

We must do something about it. And I think we're going to go back with this understanding and kind of understand a little bit more about what's going on there and certainly take additional action. And when the city decides to continue paying for a facility with dozens of outstanding violations, who signs off on that decision? I mean, ultimately, I'm responsible for the system and happy to be responsible for that system.

There's probably a more technical answer to exactly when that we actually do that, but we do that. But as I said, with more visibility, which I am glad to have had the opportunity to take a look at that information, I'm going to go in and make sure that they are meeting our standards. One final question, if I may, Chair.

And no doubt that you prefer the 2-minute timer to the 5-minute timer as well. But you report that serious violence inside shelters has been declining, which is great, very encouraging. I want to give DHS credit when the numbers show improvement. There's another question that's important to the people I represent. When you evaluate shelter safety, do you measure only what happens inside the building, or do you also measure what happens in the surrounding community, in the surrounding blocks?

Yeah, thank you. I'm, again, I'm not 100% sure who was in the room at various points, but I mentioned earlier that That I spent a good deal of time in preparing for this testimony to integrate all of the NYPD 911 data along with our incident reporting system complaint data, not just to look at what was happening inside the shelter system, but to look at the surrounding area, particularly as we open new shelters.

And so as soon— and I'm very anxious to do this— Thank you. no matter what it says, it's important to know. As soon as we can get that data fully aligned so that we're certain it's accurate, we'll do that analysis. I had done it, but we just have some concerns about the way it's been integrated, and I can't be confident in the results.

All right, but you'll get it to us when you can? Yes, it's a really important analysis, and it has to be done with care. Other people should check our work so that you can see it being independent as well. Thanks very much. Thank you.

Councilmember Brewer. Thank you. 2 quick questions. One is on the mental health. I know there are bills in the past that say you have to cover mental and physical health in the shelter. My question on the mental health was, if that is something that you are finding is increasing and how what metrics you're using and how you're treating it.

That's a big issue, I think, elsewhere. And then secondly, just back to my school situation. When you have a family that has school age, like we heard earlier about how many ex-caseworkers on housing, so how many people are helping with school transfer from the shelters? And I'm a big WIN fan that they have, but not everybody has a school person.

So how long does it take to get that family into school? Are you dealing with the bus situation, et cetera? Because that's where there's so many problems along the way for these families. So the mental health and then just how do you get them into school, the timing? Thank you for the questions. So when it comes to mental health, we are assessing folks that come in at a particular point in time.

And we know with those living with mental illness, it may present differently depending on the circumstances, especially if these are high-stress situations. So we can get back to you on whether or not the number of people we serve are experiencing mental health issues. But again, that would be a point in time, likely at assessment for single adults when they come in.

Mm-hmm. We continue to revisit our program models to make sure that we are staffing shelters to meet the needs of those residents that are there. And where we don't have a program model that does, that shelters have a network of community-based organizations to refer folks out to, to get the services that they need. Okay, I mean, I'm familiar— the families seem to have more support, but individuals are pretty wild.

So I just don't see enough mental illness support in the shelters. But you're paying more attention to that? Yes, it's a— Oh God, they're nuts. It is a particular area of interest for me, for sure. And we're looking at different models to ensure that people in our shelter system, and certainly there are a lot of single adults in the system who don't have significant behavioral health needs.

Absolutely. But there is a group, This is something we're looking at addressing in the homelessness plan. But it's just hard on the ones who are doing really well to be in the same space of the ones who aren't. Yeah, we're looking at improvements as we work on the homelessness plan. We think there are certainly models of care that can get behavioral healthcare for anyone who needs it into the system, and not just behavioral healthcare, but also, you know, for looking at kids with with asthma, making sure that they're getting regular conditions, medical needs met.

So I think there is a lot more we can do in integrating these 2 systems of care so that people are in fact getting the care, the medication management, and the support that they need. And if I may, I was just actually looking for the number. I told you it is also something that we are working actively with the with our partners in the school system on cleaning up data to make sure we actually know the transport routes.

I was looking for the number of people who are currently assigned to be kind of case managers on that— On school issues? On school issues, and we're looking at that with the school system. There's not one for every shelter, but some of those folks cover multiple shelters. But just looking at the ways we can use those resources better.

Again, our own staff doing door knocking where kids are missing school. And ensuring that the transportation data is both correct so we know where kids and families are supposed to be going, as well as we're addressing those needs faster. So operationally, we are very much on this and agree it's a critically important issue. I mean, just with the buses, let it go.

You got to call Kevin Moran because everybody else, forget it. I've been on with him all day. He's in charge of buses. So your caseworker better have his cell number. Thank you. Call Kevin Moran. Thank you. It's holding right now, right? Thank you, Councilmember Brewer.

Councilmember Aviles. Thank you. Um, just along the lines of, um, uh, employee conditions and, and whistleblowing, um, can you tell us how whistleblower, um, policies are communicated to staff and also subcontractors? And then if you have any data on how many complaints you've had. No, I think it's a really important issue, and I think we may have gotten guidance on the last set of questions that surrounds this, so I might let the Deputy Commissioner add with that.

I don't have that information with me, and if we aren't communicating it well, I'll make sure that we are. I do very much want the people who are on the front lines of our systems to both feel like they can and need to best support the people that they're trying to serve in New York and have protections in order to make that happen.

So I'm certain that those exist, but let me get back to you on what exists, how we're communicating it, and the numbers of people reporting. And also, I'd love to know if How shelter residents are— obviously we know there's an ombudsman, but how they receive that and how they are protected against retaliation potentially from staff. I will say I'm concerned that while I understand it theoretically that the subcontractors obviously should report back up to their main provider, but if there is no way, I'd be curious, number one, how many complaints you've received from subcontractors.

None. Do we have a naughty list? Are we seeing providers use the same contractors over and over again? I'd love to hear more about how we are closing that loop because there is a potential for real problems there. Yeah. Thank you for the question. We don't have data on complaints to— from subcontractors or about subcontractors specifically carved out in the data, but we can certainly look into that because I think you're raising an important point.

When it comes to retaliation, obviously this is of utmost concern as we're trying to create a safe and welcoming environment where staff and clients both feel that they can be safe. So if we are to hear about an instance of retaliation, obviously we're going to investigate We want to understand what the provider knows, what they've done about this, and who the bad actor is.

And if the findings warrant it, may lead to termination. So we're looking into every aspect of the provider's handling of the particular issue, as well as is there something underlying this, right? Was the bad actor permitted by lax protocols? to be able to do this. So we're looking to make sure that supervision is right, that security is right.

It's a whole assessment of what's going on in the shelter and could also roll up at the provider level as they might have multiple shelters and we might want to take a look. Often the case, yes. Yeah, and see if it's spread. Yeah, and I guess I'd be interested certainly to see what the kind of assessment is certainly across and the communication of the policy to staff. and to subcontractors as well.

And I guess I just would love to underscore the importance of— I think you mentioned earlier that you don't track the, I guess, language accessibility of providers, although they would— I would imagine that they understand the population that they are requesting to service. However, I have seen a good number of providers who have no language competency at all.

And so would love to see a more digging deep of a requirement rather than a suggestion or an expectation that they may follow it with no way of being able to hold account. Understood. And we are able to track their use of the language line, but I understand the concern is more about having real people on site that can speak in the language of the client that's in front of them.

Great. Thank you. to go back to, how does DHS investigate whistleblower complaints, if you could, for the record? Thank you for the question. We'll have to get back to you on that. Okay. And in terms of whistleblower protection policies only apply to vendors, employees, and contractors, and I guess as I mentioned earlier, shelter residents should be protected against retaliation for filing complaints about the shelter.

How are these rights and protections communicated to shelter residents? Thanks for the question. There's a whole series of documents somebody receives when they come into shelter, and their rights and responsibilities, the grievance process, the ability to be treated fairly and with respect are all codified in, in those materials. It's also part of what What happens during routine case management, during the grievance investigation, incidents.

So there are multiple ways that it's communicated. Yeah, it would be really helpful if the agency could provide to the counsel offices— let's say we have multiple facilities— a packet that includes what that process and procedure is, a packet that includes what the good neighbor policy is. chasing that down for years on end. And if I may add, just because it is such an important issue of people feeling safe from retaliation when they're making complaints, and we heard from the panel who opened up this session that they felt— at least one person had felt that they had been retaliated upon or they were concerned about reporting for fear of retaliation.

And I haven't just heard that today. I do hear that with some frequency. It is why, in addition to the ways that we're required to have a complaint process and handle it, that direct communication, regular communication through technology, text messaging, and so on, can help me and this team understand directly from people what's impacting them so that we may take those that into account along with other measures.

That is something that is important to me to build out. I think certainly our council offices will, of course, reach out to you directly, but I think as a proactive measure, it would be really great to be able to offer your council representatives a packet of information that they should readily know, both for staff, for residents, for contractors, because the truth is we will get all of the above coming to our offices and to help them better navigate this situation, that would be quite helpful.

Thank you. All right. You're going to get me in trouble with Councilmember Murano taking up so much time. He's not here, Chair, so you get to do what you want. Thank you for your questions.

Okay. How does DHS handle conflict between shelter residents, and is there a mediation process? Thank you. There's no formal mediation process that DHS issues, but we look to our providers to handle conflict on-site, and that can happen in a few ways. So I mentioned Local Law 49 and our customer service training, which is not just about how to provide good service, it's about how to interact with clients, with staff. to make sure that everybody feels that they are being treated with respect, that they feel safe.

In instances where conflict seems to not be able to be resolved through the efforts of the provider, it's possible that we might— the provider might decide to move the client or the household to another side of the building. If we're meeting in the hallway and there issues there. If things escalate, in consultation with the DHS program staff, we might choose to transfer that household to a, to a different shelter, but there's different levels of engagement that DHS has.

We really look to our providers to implement mediation, trauma-informed approach to the work that they do every day, and de-escalation, security training. Thank you for that.

Last year, there were reports that ICE had entered DHS shelters without judicial warrants in violation of the city's sanctuary city laws. What training does DHS give staff in relation to DHS policies in general and sanctuary city policies specifically, and how frequently does that training take place? I know it's one thing to have the policies written down in the books somewhere that people read maybe some years ago, but how frequently are you reminding people what the policies are?

Thank you. We have quite a number of trainings that are required across the system, and we do have refreshers both internally, and we require the provider to be refreshing with their own staff. I think in addition to the book of policies and saying everybody was trained, in the moment at 2 o'clock in the morning, it might all go out the window.

So this is all also about how we're implementing this in real time. And sorry, do you track compliance or Do you track efficiency in terms of the providers giving the training or refreshing their training? We track refreshers, yes. Okay. Do you have the numbers? Not with me, no. Okay. And I would add, and I believe this to be true, but we can confirm, I mean, whenever there's been an incident with ICE at any of our DHS shelters, we take that very seriously.

Our counsel gets involved. We review what happened in that case. We deal with it as it's happening on the ground. There's a direct number to call to us to get advice as needed. And then I think we have been pretty good at sharing lessons from each of those individual incidents and communicating them to providers because things are changing in the ways that this has happened over over the period.

And so I think we've been in really good communication with our, with our provider network about what to do, how to do it, in addition to the kind of more formal trainings. Okay, thank you for that.

DHS's total security budget for fiscal 2026 as of the fiscal 2027 adopted plan is $313 million. How much was actually spent in fiscal 2026? We think we have that. We're looking for it. Give us just one second. Can you do the data section? And while you're looking for what was spent in fiscal 2026, I would love to also know the total security budget for fiscal 2027.

We're looking now. We may have to get back to you on both of those numbers, but if we find them, During the hearing, we'll certainly report back. My computer is dying, and I would really like to at some point testify today. I'm a shelter resident, and I submitted written testimony. Okay. We will be getting to the public testimony in just a little bit.

I think that's okay. Yeah. I think we have something that's responsive to your question, Chair Hudson. Although I'm not 100% sure I remember the question, but I can give you the answer. I'm happy to repeat it. Yeah, go ahead. Okay. The total security budget for fiscal 2026 as of Fiscal 2027 adopted plan was reported as $313 million.

So I'm wondering, for fiscal 2026, how much of that $313 million was actually spent? Our numbers are quite different, so why don't we— Well, why don't you give me the numbers that you have? The number we have is for DHS peace officers is $18 million and contracted security is $40.8 million. So that's very different than— so it must be counting perhaps across DSS, and we're answering for DHS here.

Yes. Okay. Peace officers. But we're happy to clarify as needed. Yes. That could be an error on my part. Okay. Well, I would love to know, do you have the total security budget for fiscal 2027? Is that— were those the numbers for '26? Those are for '27, FY '27. Okay. So I would love to also know the numbers for FY26, if and when you have those.

Okay. We don't have those here, but we can give you a bit of a trend. Okay. And then this number for FY27, how was that amount determined, and what are the funding sources? You want to answer? Velvunch Priester, Deputy Commissioner for DHS Shelter Security Management. So these amounts are determined— I can't truly identify all of the funding sources.

Most of it is city tax. But this is PS lines and our contracted security along with just the amount of funding that we receive around equipment and our contracts. Okay, great. Thank you. And what expenditures are included within the security budget? If you have a funding breakdown. So you mentioned equipment, contract and security, peace officers. Peace officers, absolutely.

We have Body-Worn Cameras, so our evidence.com contract, and any of our other equipment contracts, and we can provide that breakdown. Okay. It would be great if you all can follow up with that. Absolutely. Thank you.

Okay, we've heard concerns about theft of personal belongings in shelters seemingly due to a lack of space to lock belongings away. What is your policy for bringing in and securing personal belongings into shelters? Thank you. As per state regs, in single adult shelters, we are required to provide lockable storage, and the client is given the key or the The code, it's for them to use to keep their belongings secured.

If they choose, we can also store valuables for a client as long as— On site? On site. Small articles of jewelry perhaps, or documents, money orders. And what is the area that they're given a key to lock away their own belongings? What type of space are we talking about? Depends on the site. The facility, yeah. Assuming it's a single adult congregate site, it's usually the storage cabinet that separates beds.

Okay. And what does DHS do to prevent and address theft in shelters? Again, ensuring that locks are kept secure, that if we see damage, if clients are reporting damage, that we're responsive to that. Deputy Commissioner Priester can also speak to security in the facilities and their role in making sure that clients' belongings are kept secured and to prevent theft.

And I don't want to give anybody any ideas, but I'm just trying to envision or imagine the size of those lockers, let's call them. Can one lift that up and remove it? That's a very good question. No. The ones that are directly run and most of the provider facilities, no. So when my team does security risk assessments, That's one of the biggest things that we look at to make sure that they're not moving.

Okay, okay, great. Thank you. But was there anything you wanted to add? Just in regards to the theft, one of the things that we do when the providers document the complaints, we do take steps to try to locate the belongings, including speaking with staff, reviewing surveillance footage, and if it's appropriate, contact the NYPD. Okay. Thank you. And how does DHS support people who require medical devices, including mobility aids and items that require electricity or batteries, like CPAP machines, personal ECG or EKG monitors, oxygen tanks, and diabetes monitors?

How do you assist people in keeping these items safe and functional? Yeah, I think in the same way that Deputy Commissioner Priester shared, making sure that these— first of all, that these devices, that we're aware of them, especially for things that need to be plugged in, that they're in an appropriate outlet, and that if they are not on the person, that we're making sure we're keeping eyes and ensuring also, I think, through access control, making sure that people are coming in and out only with their belongings.

And what about medications that require refrigerators? Or refrigeration, excuse me. We provide refrigeration. Clients can, especially in family and adult family shelters, have access to mini fridges. Same can— we will store for single adults medication that requires refrigeration. Okay, thank you.

I'd like to ask a few questions related to Rikers closure and planning for that. As the city moves toward closing Rikers Island, what projections has the administration developed regarding the number of individuals who will require transitional housing or shelter placements upon release, and what specific housing capacity is being developed to meet that demand? Yeah, I don't know if I can answer that question specifically, but the administration is convening all government partners to think about how to how we are executing on the Close Rikers plan, including looking at efforts to ensure that people who are coming out of Rikers who don't have any other place to stay have more direct access to our shelter system so that they need not go through intake and assessment after they've been in essentially an intake and assessment facility for some time, that we can do that directly.

And looking at the kinds of programming that people need to be successful, whether that be access, as much as we can do to get people's access to benefits restarted before, as they exit, anything from that to making sure they have proper behavioral healthcare. And again, to obviously the key component with us is making sure that they can get into the housing system that will work for them.

Speaking my language, that sounds as close to auto-enrollment as one could perhaps get. Yeah, yeah. So I support that. What formal planning process exists between DHS and MOCJ to ensure that people living— leaving, excuse me, Rikers do not enter the traditional shelter system unnecessarily, and which agency is responsible for leading that work? So I know you just touched on that, but is there a formal— it sounds like it's The full administration is bringing everybody to the table, but are you all working directly with MOCJ and who ultimately is responsible?

Yeah, I may look to my colleagues for specifics here and/or need to get back to you on the specifics of how that's working on the ground because I know that's what's important to people. It doesn't matter if I meet with the commissioner or that we meet at this level to ensure what matters is what happens on the ground.

So I I would— will probably have to get back to you with those specifics. But as I said, there's, I think, good work happening, which is reform work. I don't think today— I don't think in the past, the recent past, it was the case that people wouldn't just be released and have to go through our traditional shelter system.

I think it is innovation reform work that's happening to ensure that that handoff is happening and that assessment is done prior to exit from incarceration so that people may get into stable housing quickly and effectively. Thank you for that. Are you able to provide data on how many individuals exiting custody enter DHS shelters and how many are connected to transitional housing programs and what performance metrics are being used to evaluate whether the city's housing strategy is supporting the successful closure of Rikers?

I certainly do not have that right now, but I have— we are, as an administration, we are looking at that data, and there is a significant overlap between people who are in Rikers today or are leaving Rikers who have previous homelessness experience. And so it is a critical connection, and we can probably work with other partners to provide that information.

Sorry about that. Thank you so much for those answers.

Okay, moving into staff and training. Local Law 124 of 2021 requires security guards in DHS shelters to receive an additional 40 hours of training within 120 days of hiring. And an annual 8-hour refresher training, of which at least 2 hours must be techniques for interactions with individuals experiencing homelessness and individuals in a mental health emergency or crisis.

How many security guard positions are there in shelters? As of our September 1st, 2026 reporting period, there was 3,542. 3,542? Yes. Okay, thank you. And what is the current vacancy rate for shelter security guards? So that is not something that we track as an aggregate. Okay. Unfortunately. Sorry. However, we— so as we've kind of discussed, there's the DHS peace officers and we can provide information there, and then there's the provider system that contracts with security.

So that's a moving target. I don't think it would be easy for us to ever give you a good number on that figure. Understood. But Deputy Commissioner can report on DHS peace officers. On the peace officers? Okay. Do you have a vacancy rate for the peace officers specifically? 20%. 20%. And how long has it been at 20%?

This has been a challenge. It's constantly fluctuating. We do really good at times and do really bad. Sorry, pull the microphone closer. No, absolutely. So it's been a challenge for a couple of years. We were at 25%. A couple of years, like literally 2 or longer? Probably a little bit longer, but we are currently trending downward. So we was recently at 25%, and now we're at 20%, and we are doing everything that we can to work with agency partners, workforce, different workforce vendors, Just to try to get individuals to come out and be a part of our— just our academy and our team.

Okay. And has every security guard working in a DHS shelter received the 40 hours of training and the 8-hour annual refresher as required by the law? 82% of our security guards received the 40-hour training. 82% received the 40-hour training? As of September 1st, 2026. Okay. I just want to add to that, right? DHS do have a police— our police officer academy do work to make sure that we are conducting training sessions to try to help with compliance.

We did do 2 trainings in October, from October 12th to 16th and October 19th through 23rd. And we do have an upcoming training session from November 9th through 13th to help further assist with that compliance. Regarding the 8-hour required refresher, DHS currently tracks completion. So we're in the process of enhancing our report to make sure that we are also tracking completion versus non-completion as well.

So you do or do not have the current numbers for completion? We do have the current numbers for completion. Okay. Can you share that? And the current numbers for completion is 542. So for the 8-hour Annual refresher, it's 542? Yes. Peace officers have completed that? Not peace officers, security personnel. Security personnel prioritize. Okay. Hold on. 542 out of the 3,000.

542. That's— Sorry. Oh, there's different numbers. Different numbers. Give me all the numbers. 542 have completed the 8-hour refresher out of how many total people? That's what we don't have. Okay. So our current report does not track non-completion, and we know we constantly have a high turnover rate of security personnel. Moving forward, we will enhance this report to make sure that we are tracking both.

Okay. Understood. And thank you for that. Can I get a rough estimate? I don't even want to— I don't— I really wouldn't want to give that information because I wouldn't want the compliance to look really bad, and that's not be true, right? Honestly. Okay. All right. So 542 security personnel have completed the 8-hour refresher. And 2,916, 82%, have completed the 40-hour. 2,916, which is the equivalent of 82%, have completed the 40 hours.

Yes. And it's the same population of security professionals that we're talking about? Yes. So, if— difference is a lot of these individuals are new. Okay. But what I'm— So, the hour is refresher after they've had their 1 year. Okay. So an issue. Yeah, I got you. I'm following along. What I'm trying to like work backwards with the math.

And you're telling me not to do that? I'm telling you not to do that. We will make sure that you have it moving forward. Okay. Can I just say what I was thinking? Yes. Because if the 2,916 number is equivalent to 82% of the total Workforce that would be required to do that training, then I would have to do the math to figure out what 100% would be to get a rough estimate of the total number of people.

Do you see what I'm saying? See where I'm going? I see where you're going. Okay. But you're saying that's not an accurate number? For the 8-hour, the 8-hour is only required after the first year. The 8 hours after the first year. That I get. Yeah. Okay. But to get a total number, I can still do my deduction.

Yeah. So the total number is 3,542. Oh, okay. Security guards, yes. Okay, I thought that was a different number. No, no, no, no. Okay, all right, thank you. I'm glad I asked. All right, thank you for the clarity. Okay, so do the staff who perform security functions and conflict resolution but who are not licensed security guards receive this training?

Yes. Okay, and organizations have brought to our attention that positions such as residential aides and community technicians have such roles. Is that accurate? Yes. Okay. All right. I think we're— we got somewhere with that. Thank you.

In 2024, New York State Focus released a report about misconduct among peace officers in shelters and cited disciplinary incidents involving 31 officers. Some of these incidents included the use of excessive physical force against shelter residents. How many shelters have peace officers? You mentioned earlier that DHS has 352 peace officers, right? Well, I think the Commissioner did in her testimony, not you specifically, but 352 peace officers.

So how many shelters have peace officers? 18 shelters. 18. Thank you. And how many peace officers are assigned to a shelter, and how is that determination made? Staffing ranges from 10 to 26 peace officers in the shelters that have DHS police. We determine those assignments based on the level of police presence needed to support each site's daily operational needs and security risks.

Okay, thank you. This may be a little redundant, so forgive me if it is, but what training do peace officers who work in DHS shelters receive, and is this different than the training given to security guards? So DHS peace officers receive comprehensive training through our DCJS-approved Police Training Academy, with training programs that have also been evaluated and recognized by the National College Credit Recommendation Service, with initial peace officer training recommended for 10 college credits, reflecting the depth and rigor of the curriculum, which is different than the training given to security guards.

Training begins with initial peace officer instruction and continues throughout an officer's career through in-service training and annual certification requirements. The curriculum covers law enforcement procedures, appropriate use of force, defensive tactics, crisis intervention, de-escalation, conflict resolution, and emergency response. Beyond the technical aspects of law enforcement, we place significant emphasis on communication, sound judgment, and understanding the unique needs of the, of the individuals we serve.

We also continuously review and expand our training curriculum to reflect the evolving needs of our shelter populations reinforce professional standards, and strengthen how officers respond to challenging situations. Our expectation is that every officer understands not only the authority they have, but the responsibility that comes with exercising that authority appropriately, professionally, and with respect for the people we serve.

Okay, thank you for that answer. What is DHS's process for reviewing and dealing with complaints against people? So all complaints received for DHS peace officers are routed to our DSS Legal and our DSS Special Investigation Division for appropriate review and action. Thank you for that.

We understand that there are often many staff vacancies at shelters and turnover rates are high. What is the current staff-to-resident ratio in shelter? Sure. Based on the model budgets that I mentioned before, where each shelter type has their own model budget, we adjusted to a certain capacity level, 200, so I can read off by program type what we would expect for a shelter with a capacity of 200.

That would be great. For single adults, 43 staff. For single adults with behavioral health services, 46 staff. For single adult employment, 43 staff. At our single adult assessment sites, 51 staff. For our adult family shelters, 60 staff. And for our family with children shelters, 37 staff. Okay, thank you so much for that. And if I could clarify, that's just PS lines.

There are some contracted staff that would not be accounted for in these lines. Okay, but I would presume then that that would make an even better ratio. It would. Okay. What is the ideal staff-to-resident ratio? Is it what you listed? I think it depends on the program and it depends on the needs of the clients and it's something we're continually assessing.

So as I mentioned— So these numbers change? The numbers change. And again, the model budget is the model. There are times where when the provider demonstrates a need for increased staff, we can go to OMB and request an increase. And the numbers you gave me are based on the model budget? Yes. Okay. Thank you. And Chair, if I could clarify the earlier question about subcontracts and if DSS has the ability to cancel, I am corrected, we do.

And we have exercised that right in the past. Okay. Great. Good to know. Thank you for that. Thank you. Okay.

I know you just mentioned this, Deputy Commissioner, but what is DHS doing to fill vacancies and help staff stay in their roles? You don't have to go into the fill vacancies because I know you're working on filling the vacancies, but what are you doing to help keep people in their roles? So, yes, we have a whole retention process. that we're working on with our officers.

One of those processes is really looking at succession planning and trying to see how officers would like to make their— and complete their career with DHS and what career advancement looks like. Some of this is a little bit maybe arbitrary, but one of the things that we do do is make sure that we're celebrating our officers, that we're making sure that we recognize and everybody's birthday.

One of the other things that we are doing is we do— we have instituted a men's conference, a women's conference where we're working with the officers to kind of understand and hear ideas around how we can work to make things better for them. That sounds good. I think I'm echoing the commissioner's sentiments to say that I don't think any of those things are arbitrary.

I think those are very intentional ways to maintain or increase retention. I would just suggest other sort of affinity groups. Yes, beyond such gendered roles. But go ahead. So, yes, absolutely. And we're saying men's conference, women's conference as a whole, but we're always looking to just kind of make sure that we're looking to kind of recognize our officers and the hard work that they do. do on a daily basis.

One of the other things that we are doing is we do make sure that when people do leave interview and try to understand what that is and being meaningful and planningful around trying to change the narrative. One of the other things that has happened in the past is officers tend to be able to not— I'm sorry, let me correct that.

One of the things that has happened in the past is Officers wasn't allowed to transfer immediately after coming into our academy. And we have been really meaningful around making sure that we place officers in their borough of residence, which has increased— Meaning they couldn't transfer sites? They couldn't transfer sites that they're just in. They're new. They're going to get whatever schedule that comes to them.

Got it. It's like a seniority thing? Absolutely. Okay. seniority, we absolutely have to. But what we kind of do, what we do do is as officers coming out of the academy, we recognize that anybody that scored as the highest, that we place them at the site that they want to be in. And then in rank order, we start placing them in their borough of preference.

Okay, that's great. And then what are, how do the salaries compare to To security officers at other agencies? It's the salaries for our DHS peace officers is extremely low. Some competing agencies actually exceed what the DHS peace officers actually receive, and that is the predominant reason on why we are losing officers. Right. Yeah, it is a, it is a challenge that we're working through with our It's, in many ways, these are viewed as a similar job when working in DHS facilities or in our colleagues at ACS, have a similar title and have a similar recruitment and retention problem when you could go and do something which is much— has the same pay, has the same, you know, uniform, but is a much easier position.

So— Wait, sorry, where are those positions? I mean, there are other city jobs where security— I mean, I don't know this exactly, but I'll give an example of walking into City Hall and who's doing the various roles in a much more administrative or different type of facility than, say, an ACS detention center or a homeless shelter. Yeah.

And so we're working with our colleagues. And I was— you invited me to come to Tillery. get the time, one of the best things that we get to do is attend the graduation of peace officers. It isn't just the DHS peace officers. It's ACS. It's HRA and others. It's tremendous to watch this group of people who have come together over an academy and how proud they are to be in those positions.

It's great to watch. So if you want a good afternoon or morning, whenever we have it, It is a good day. I'm happy to come and would be delighted. I bring this up and I, you know, did the same thing when I chaired the Committee on Aging. It's that I find for populations that we generally do not value, like people in the shelter system, like people who are, you know, older adults, people who are aging, the positions that we have, there's a lack of equity.

And so people who are doing the roles, whether it's a social worker in the Department for the Aging or a peace officer here at DHS or ACS, you can have the same role, a similar title, usually it's more pay and less grueling work at a different city agency, and I just don't think that's right. And I think if you're doing the same work, no matter which, especially if you're employed by the city.

We should be paying everybody doing the same work the same thing. And so I just wanted to make sure that I could get that on the record. I just don't think it's a good practice, and I think it's something that we absolutely need to overhaul. And so with that, which of your colleagues are you working with to address that point specifically?

Yeah, I mean, there's just structural issues in the way the positions are set up. So DCAS, but it's also some of it is state civil service. And so position reclassifications have to be brought up through the state system as well. But it's absolutely— The mayor and the governor have a great relationship, so perhaps this is something that— It's important.

It is. And I say that only partially in jest, but seriously, that's how these things get resolved. Yeah. Thank you. Okay, thank you, and I will mention it to both of them.

Okay, large congregate shelters create an increased risk for the spread of infectious disease, especially during cold and flu season. What measures does DHS take to help prevent the spread of illness? Thank you. So prevention is, is key. So we work with our providers to make sure that through routine engagement with the clients that they're serving, that reminders about getting vaccinations, going to the doctor, staying healthy, dressing appropriately— if we see somebody leaving the facility without a winter coat, in the winter to make sure that people do not contract a contagious illness.

If they were to, we do have single occupancy isolation rooms to keep that from spreading. Thank you so much for that. And then Local Law 35 of 2023 requires DHS to have a mental health professional available in shelters for families with children. Can you speak about the implementation of this law? Thank you. Currently, we have 113 of 143 sites, or 79% of the targeted sites, have one or more mental health professionals on site.

And their job is to assess families' needs using a biopsychosocial assessment and other behavioral health screening tools, making sure that we are aware of the needs of the family and making These staff are also engaged in crisis prevention, in de-escalation, and collaborate with case managers to make sure that families are getting their needs met, that they're healthy, that they're safe.

They might also accompany staff to do unit inspections, work with ACS case managers if the family has ACS involvement. Thank you for that. And hold on one second. We understand that DHS uses telehealth in many shelters to comply with Local Law 35. Are shelter residents utilizing telehealth options? I have to get back to you on the numbers though.

I believe they're in the MMR. Give me one moment. Okay. We'll have to get back to you on that. Okay. And the language of Local Law 35 subjects a requirement of having mental health professionals available in shelters for families with children to appropriations. However, we've been told by some providers that DSS has told shelters they must provide mental health services without increasing their budget.

Has DSS adjusted shelter budgets to account for mental health care, or have shelters been expected to absorb the cost? Thank you. It depends on the provider's budget and the budget for the shelter, and this gets to the ability we have to request from OMB Okay. Thank you for that. What training does DHS provide to staff to identify clients with serious mental illness and make single point of access referrals for mental health services?

We collaborate with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to provide quarterly training for all shelter staff on the signs and symptoms of mental illness. SPOA process. This is mandatory for all of our social service directors across the system, and we've implemented a post-test with a score to make sure that we know that staff who take the training know what the next steps are once the training is done.

Thank you. And how do Shelter Partner Assertive Community Treatment, or SPACT, teams work with DHS staff? And can you describe the partnership? Sure. On the DHS side, our leadership meets regularly with OMH and DOHMH to participate in care coordination and meetings around ACT teams and SPEC teams and IMT to make sure that we're effectively coordinating service delivery.

At the shelter level, we expect staff to proactively coordinate With SPOA providers, the shelter staff are the ones submitting the SPOA application, so we want to make sure that they're doing those applications timely, that they're helping clients to follow up and to engage in the services. They should also be allowing the SPOA providers to come on-site to meet with clients, to advertise the services, to really be able to advocate for the benefit clients could receive from participating.

So I think both from the DHS and the provider level, we're trying to coordinate more closely to make sure clients are getting the services they're entitled to. Thank you.

We talked about the death rates decreasing for most populations. Overdose deaths in shelters have declined since the launch of the DHS Overdose Response and Harm Reduction Program. How is DHS working to continue to prevent overdose deaths? Thank you. I think first and foremost, What are some of the things that you do? Well, I think the first is making sure that all clients are referred for and receiving the treatment they need for their substance use issues.

I think in addition, in terms of just operationally, we make sure that shelter staff are trained in harm reduction and overdose response, that staff have naloxone kits on site to be responsive to any overdoses or apparent overdoses. parent overdoses. We pay close attention where we see increases or different trends in terms of overdose incidents or complaints about overdoses.

We also have— we require at each shelter an overdose prevention champion who is responsible for training staff and clients and just keeping the message out there and in all day-to-day interactions about overdose prevention. Okay. Thank you.

Going into complaints and grievances, how many— and sorry, because you said that you track complaints, grievances, and incidents. So how many complaints How many complaints, grievances, and incidents did DHS receive in the previous fiscal year? I don't have grievances. That's something we track. Those go through the provider. Okay. So we'd have to aggregate and share that. Okay.

For complaints that have come in, in— I have FY26, 31,600. $31,620 for FY26. Um, were you going to provide another fiscal year, or is that, is that it? Give me a moment. I have it somewhere in the front. I have complaints for prior years as well. Yeah, just '25, '25 and '26. Yeah, $36,740 for calendar year '25.

Calendar or fiscal? Calendar. Calendar year '25? We have the calendar year. And $31,620 for fiscal year '26, correct? Yes, but we can give you calendar year. Okay, please. Calendar year '26 is $31,051. And we did actually find a longer trend in our notes if you'd like it. Well, it looks like it's going down. Yes, that is— I mean, but that's just 2 years, obviously.

We'll take that. We'll close here. Okay. What was that you said? You'll take that? Yeah. Okay. I'll give it to you. That's fine. Um, that was complaints. Do you have incidents? Yes. You want it here? That's the rate. I wanted to get the number. Yep. I'll start. You want to go ahead? All right. I think the Deputy Commissioner is looking for the actual numbers.

I do think rates are important here, just given how much the shelter system has grown. So I was going to provide rates, if that's all right. Rates of incidents. Actually, what I have here is the rates That's fine. We'll take that. Okay. And we'll see what else we can find. And you're saying that this is as populations have been increasing?

So it's a number of incidents per person. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So I'll read them per 1,000 residents. And I'll start with '22. These are fiscal fiscal years. So this is— and that's actually— You're starting with fiscal year '22? I am. I'm just trying to— I do have it broken down for adults and families. Is that all right?

Yeah, that's great. All right. For adults and then adults with children or adult families, or what's the category? Yeah, I have all 3. Okay, hold on. Adults, adult families, and families with children. Okay. All right. Okay, starting with single adults. And this is fiscal year '22. Fiscal year '22. I'm about— I'm tempted to give you a choice of what you prefer, but I'm just going to read the numbers.

54.7— Sorry, we're going adults, adult families, families with children. Yep. Okay, hit me. 54.7 in FY22, 41.0 FY23, 32.7 FY24. Wait, I'm sorry. Yep. This is all adults? This is the— yes, it's the adult shelter system per 1,000 residents. Okay, sorry, sorry. So— I'm going to start leaving the decimal off and rounding appropriately for ease. Well, okay, 54.7 for FY22, 41 for FY23, 32.7 for FY24.

30.1 for FY25 and 28.3 for FY26. 38.3? 28. 28, okay. So there has been, uh, that That is a reduction. Drastic decline. Yeah. Okay. And would you like me to go through the same for adult families? Yes, please. Okay. 21.8 in '22, 13.6 in '23, 12.5 in '24, 12.6 in '25. And 25, and 9.0. So a dramatic reduction, really.

Okay. And then families with children? Starting with FY22, 16.0, 10.1, 8.9, 8.3, An 8.0. Again, significant half— a halving. Do you want to do anything else? Okay. This was answered. Yes. Can you disaggregate by complaint type? Those— well, I guess we didn't get into the complaints. Those are the incidents, rates of incident, incident rates. Okay. But complaint type?

This is that, but not the rate. No, not the rate numbers. We do not have complaint type by rate in the way the commissioner just went through for serious incidents. Okay. But if it's helpful, we can list some of the most significant types. Yes. I don't think so. And these are not necessarily in order, but they are— The top.

They are the top. Okay. So, and again, these are the serious incidents, not the, you know, the rest, the majority of incidents reported. So leading to life-threatening injury accident, Arrest notification. Heating, water, or electrical failure for more than 4 hours. Client drug overdose. Fight, dispute. Contagious disease that results in quarantine or isolation of client or staff. Unauthorized person.

An environmental hazard. Okay. Thank you. Any other numbers, or is that everything? Yep. Thank you so much.

What role does the Office of Constituent Services, or OCS, play in the complaint and grievance process? And how many people staff that office? The Office of Constituent Services, within that office lives the Ombudsman's Office, and they are responsible for receiving and getting those complaints out to the relevant parties and collecting them. They are also the staff that communicate with the complainant, both first when the complaint comes in and it's assigned, and to try to close the loop once we get the response from, from the shelter provider.

Currently, they have 13 budgeted staff, 12 full-time Lines are full and the 13th is currently onboarding. Great. Thank you for that. That may be one of the best vacancy rates I've heard in a long time. It's like you're basically almost at zero. Soon to be. I suppose. How does the data generated by OCS influence shelter management? There's, there's a strong influence, both in what is communicated to the shelter and what DHS program staff do in looking at the data.

So the Ombudsman Office will identify shelters with concerning patterns. They will reach out to the shelter provider. They will reach out to DHS programs. They will try to understand what's going on. They also will go out and do meetings with clients about recent trends or ways to make sure that they know how to file complaints. They report out to us monthly.

This helps us identify areas for intervention. Is it shelter-specific? Is it staff-specific? Is it related to the provider's overall approach? And we're also planning to integrate complaint into the incident analysis we're doing that will help us get a full picture of issues at the sites and help us to strategize interventions to hopefully reduce both complaints and incidents, as we— there might be an intersection.

Thank you for that.

And I have about 5 questions remaining before we go to public testimony. I know there are lots of folks who've been waiting patiently, and thank you for your patience. Sorry. Oh. I didn't see it. So apologies. Intranet Quorum, or IQ, is the web-based application designed to process, monitor, track, and resolve complaints initiated by DHS clients through the NYC 311 telephone hotline complaints, walk-in complaints, and mayoral or elected official referrals.

How many complaints were entered into the IQ system in FY25, and what category were the Thank you. And just realizing in reviewing this, I have FY26 information, so apologies, not responsive to the question about '25. Okay, no problem. $31,620, and the categories are bed losses, transfers, and reasonable accommodations is one category. Do you want the associated number of We'll just give you the categories.

Yes. Discrimination, assault, and harassment; other; other case specifics; physical; rehousing; and staff-client interactions. Okay. Thank you. What is required for a complaint to be deemed resolved? The shelter director must respond with the appropriate next steps. So either they are reporting out that they have done something to resolve, met with the client, followed up with a landlord on a housing package, or what they're going to do.

I'm going to meet with the client and report back to DHS about the interaction. And what is the average number of days from receiving a complaint to its resolution? 5 days. Thank you. Does DHS review and incorporate data about complaints in provider performance evaluations or RFP proposal scores? No. Okay. And then I think it was the Commissioner who said the data you collect— or maybe it was you, Deputy Commissioner.

I apologize. I don't remember who it was specifically, but the data that you collect on the placement of families— this is in regards to Intro 99— the data you collect on the placement of families with children is by borough, but boroughs are very large. Would it not be more useful to collect zip code level data as contemplated by this bill?

I think the bill does 2 different things. The bill changes the geography at which the data is reported, but it also changes the data. I think we would be interested in the course of working with council and the sponsor on both pieces of that, but I think having coherence in the actual measure is important to us. So I think we would prefer to keep the measure that's in the mayor's management report, but if a lower level of geography is— but I guess that doesn't work because we're reporting on the school district of the last So you understand what the current MMR— Yeah.

At the end of the day, yes, we collect these data, and I think I did respond to that and understand, I think, what the council is trying to do and understand this better. But just some additional dialogue, I think, about making sure that we're not running at different measures and also reporting at a level of geography and specificity that is helpful to the public.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you all very much for your testimony and all of your answers to our questions. Very much appreciate it. Now, in accordance with the rules of the council— oh, sorry. I'm not the council. I'm now opening the hearing for public testimony. I want to remind members of the public that this is a government proceeding and that decorum shall be observed at all times.

As such, members of the public shall remain silent at all times. The witness table is reserved for people who wish to testify. No video recording or photography is allowed from the witness table. Further, members of the public may not present audio or video recordings as testimony, but may submit transcripts of such recordings to the sergeant-at-arms for inclusion in the hearing record.

If you wish to speak at today's hearing, please fill out an appearance card with the sergeant-at-arms and wait to be recognized. When recognized, you'll have 2 minutes to speak on the oversight topic of shelter safety or the legislation we're considering today, Introductions 99 and 387. If you have a written statement or additional written testimony you wish to submit for the record, please provide a copy of that testimony to the sergeant-at-arms.

You may also email written testimony to testimony@council.nyc.gov. Thank you. within 72 hours of this hearing. Audio and video recordings will not be accepted. And again, I just want to thank everybody for their patience. I know sometimes it's, it's a while until we get to public testimony, but it is really important and part of our duties as council members to make sure that we are providing oversight and accountability for the mayoral administration and asking all of the questions of them that we can.

So with that, I will call The first panel, Richard Flores, Allison Wilkie, Kristen Miller, Chris Mann, and Deborah Berkman.

Thank you. Okay. I'll leave it among ourselves. Yeah, we worked out our order. Okay, thank you. Okay. So my name is Alice. Thank you, Chair. I'm the Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Campaigns at the Coalition for the Homeless, and thank you, Chair, for the opportunity to testify. So as the court and city-appointed monitors of the DHS shelter system, we receive and investigate complaints from shelter residents.

Our monitors are in shelters every day, and we provide services to folks in shelter. And the experiences that we hear from residents is that shelters are chaotic, they are stressful, and it's really a direct product of the mistreatment that they experience from staff, the lack of responsiveness from system actors to complaints, the physical conditions that folks endure, and the overall inability people have to get their needs met.

There's significant ways in which DHS is failing on all of these fronts, and I want to give you just like a quick list of some of these things and some color maybe to what we heard from DHS today. I don't think so. So I think mistreatment and abuse by staff is prevalent. We get twice as many complaints to our shelter monitoring hotline about that than we do about safety concerns.

On a daily basis, people have to interact with the lowest-paid and lowest-trained staff. So in the majority of shelters, case managers and supervisors are behind locked doors, and when people need to have their basic needs met, they're interacting with security guards and residential aides, who are not trained and often escalate conflict for people. I think a second point that we see a lot is their responses to complaints and grievances being inadequate.

I think we just heard that in calendar year '25 or '26, there were over 31,000 complaints, but under DHS's policy, if something is not considered an urgent building complaint or not considered a serious complaint, so if it falls into this other category, it only goes to the Ombudsman's Office if the complaint is made from Monday through Friday from 9 to 5.

Everything happening in the evenings and weekends gets referred to 311, and DHS's policy says that 311 specifically does not tell the Ombudsman's Office about those complaints. So I think 31,000, which should be a really concerning number to us, is actually a vast discount of the complaints that people are calling about to various actors. So just to clarify, sorry, that 31,000 number you're saying implies only complaints made to the Ombudsman Monday through Friday, 9 to 5?

Yeah, for other complaints. They're not like urgent serious complaints. Anything that they categorize as other goes to 311 and doesn't go back to the Ombudsman's office under their policy. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So I know my time is up. I have 11 pages of written testimony that you all have.

We will read all 11 pages. Wonderful. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Thank you, Chair Hudson, and the rest of the committee for the opportunity to testify. I also want to say thank you to the Commissioner for staying. I feel like that's unusual, which is nice. I'm Chris Mann. I'm the Vice President of public policy and strategy at WIN, the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for families with children in New York City.

Each night, nearly 7,000 people call WIN home, including 3,800 children. Homelessness is traumatic and causes long-term educational damage for students. Last year, approximately 40% of families were placed in a different borough than their youngest child's school. forcing children to endure long-hour, long commutes just to get to class. The city has to set a higher standard to ensure students experiencing homelessness have the same access to educational continuity as their housed peers.

That's why Intro 99, which Wynn proudly crafted in partnership with Councilmember Gail Brewer, is so vital. For the first time, it will track true community displacement, measuring Placements by zip code, giving us the precise data needed to understand the gap between where families lived before entering shelter and where they live when they're in the shelter system. The human toll is also painfully evident at PATH intake.

Families face a grueling verification process that takes 53 days on average, 5 times longer than it should, leaving parents and children feeling deterred and sometimes forced back into unsafe and abusive living conditions. While not being heard today, we urge the council to prioritize fixing the broken intake system at PATH and pass Intro 816, sponsored by Councilmember Barrios, and Intro 232, sponsored by you, Chair Hudson, in addition to passing Intro 99.

Intro 816 allows self-attestation of housing history to end endless denial loops. And Intro 232 shortens the housing history requirement from 2 years to 1. I urge the council to pass these 3 bills to protect families and end this compounding trauma. Thank you.

Thank you.

Chair Hudson and, and staff, good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Deb Berkman, and I am the director of the Shelter and Economic Stability Project at New York Legal Assistance Group, or NYLAG. At NYLAG, we represent New Yorkers who are trying to access shelter, who are living in shelter, and who are navigating public benefit systems.

Through that work, I hear every day from people experiencing homelessness about what it is actually like to live in our shelter system. Based on our experience, one of the biggest barriers to safety in shelter is the city's failure to adequately oversee the shelter system. Too often, there's no meaningful way to address unsafe conditions, staff misconduct, theft, harassment, or retaliation.

As a result, people are forced to endure unsafe situations with little hope that anyone will intervene or they will be forced into the street. But a particularly significant problem is the difficulty to our clients of obtaining what was called a safety transfer. I know Commissioner Dalton testified a little bit about this. When a placement becomes unsafe, if someone experiences threats, harassment, theft, violence, or other dangerous conditions in shelter, they should be able to move to a safer placement, but too often they can't.

In practice, many safety transfers are only approved after legal intervention, but even we encounter opposition when we're advocating for our clients for a safety transfer. Many of our clients have been forced into street homelessness rather than remain in shelter where they're just not safe. Importantly, there doesn't seem to be an effective process for investigating and adjudicating complaints of safety issues in shelters.

The city must provide stronger oversight and meaningful accountability for shelter providers, and without that accountability, the unsafe conditions and mistreatment will continue. We strongly support Intro 99. Families should be housed as close as possible to the homes and communities from which they were displaced, and children should be able to stay connected to their school support system and medical providers.

We have written testimony as well, which we will submit, but thank you very much for your time and your attention to these matters.

Thank you so much for your testimony. And I just want to ask, when you've advocated on behalf of clients, is that like directly with the security officers or management at the site, or is it with DHS? So I generally will contact DHS Legal because I'm a lawyer and the people on my team work with DHS Legal. And there is still at times opposition when we bring up a safety request.

I mean, so you're an attorney? I am. Okay, don't take offense. Oh. But just because I feel like lawyers talking to lawyers is always going to be a little— You shouldn't need a lawyer. Challenging. You shouldn't need a lawyer. And I I totally support that, but I just wonder if the lawyers are saying something that could be maybe a little bit different from what other folks in DHS could potentially say.

Right. What programs would say. What I will say is that we would never request a safety transfer for a client unless they had already requested it themselves and not gotten anywhere. So 100% of our safety transfer requests I guess the clients have already tried to bring it up at their shelter and it has been denied. It's been denied or it hasn't been processed.

It's not clear to me. Yeah. And I guess also what I'm— the point that I'm trying to make is, and probably not in the best or most articulate way, is the lawyers probably shouldn't be the people making the decision or determination as to whether or not somebody should be moved for safety reasons. Of course. feels unsafe, then there is a safety threat.

Right, exactly. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Flores, I believe, right? Yes, uh, we've spoken before in previous meetings. Chair Hudson, I've reported incident reports to the NYPD, Department of Inspection, Internal Affairs Bureau, and CCRB regarding crime occurring at city shelters facilities, and now a safe haven for over a decade to this committee. The Bowie Residence Committee, Bellevue Hospital Men's Shelter, and Breaking Ground.

So that's 2 not-for-profit organizations and 1 city-run shelter. The crimes that I reported ranged from sexual and physical assaults, grand and petty larceny, namely corruption and fraud, which which, if an official, I believe, federal government investigation were held today, indictments and prosecutions involving numerous public officials, as well as private citizens, I believe would be imprisoned for the crimes that they've committed.

For over, pardon me, for over a decade, I have witnessed recidivist offenders go unpunished by the United States city, state, federal, and judicial system as a result result of past and present legislation that was passed by the United States Congress, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court in this country. With regard to the general welfare and public safety, administration after administration that I've witnessed are failing the city of New York and its citizens in a manner which can only be defined, I believe, as irreparable insofar as the human condition is concerned.

I hope that's not too broad for everyone here, Ms. Dalton. American citizens have been reduced to existing as dependents and liabilities to a government in which, for many hundreds and thousands, I believe feels more like a totalitarian nightmare reality for these individuals, including myself. An amendment to the administrative code requiring reporting on crime statistics at this point in the legislative body, I feel, should be followed up with federal hearings in Washington, D.C. in which I believe indictments and prosecutions would be held in the United States House of Representatives.

And that's how I feel personally as a person who's been living in the shelter system. Thank you so much for your testimony. Thank you all.

Okay, the next panel, we will begin with Viviana DeJesus. online, and I believe you will be unmuted, yeah, if you haven't been already. And then followed by Jorge Jimenez, Lauren Napier, thank you, Gabriella— Vania. Vania, Calvin Michael, and Clifton Williams in person. So you all, you all who are in person can come up to the table, and then we'll start with Viviana de Jesus online.

You may begin.

Good evening, Chair Hudson. I want to thank you for the pointed questions that you asked the DHS Commissioner, Commissioner Dalton. You asked really great questions, and it was very frustrating to sit here for almost 2 hours and listen to her say that she didn't have answers, that she would get back to to you. It really feels like she thought she was coming to a social networking event and not to a city councilmember hearing where she actually had to provide data, real hard facts.

There is no grievance process through shelters. Let me begin by saying that I am— my name is Luz Viviana de Jesus. I am a 51-year-old woman. I have 20-plus years as a workforce development professional and 10 years as a business owner. I have earned the respect of the maternal reproductive care community in Washington, D.C. I ran a business for 8 years in Washington, D.C., providing maternal services, doula services, birth and postpartum services to the Medicaid population, Black and brown and immigrant women.

And I served the community faithfully through COVID. in the hospitals. And here I am today with my daughter, who is a fourth-year college student here in New York City, in a shelter at the Praxis West End Housing Initiative. CEO is Svein Jorgensen. This shelter is— the site director is Lisa Harris. This woman is employing and continues to this moment to employ abusive retaliatory tactics against compliant DHS and HRA compliant families in compliance who simply are seeking to advocate for our legal rights to transparency and due process.

In August, I was informed by the case management staff there who is overwhelmed, overworked, underpaid, paid, uh, berated by her. She, she is railroading their careers because she uses them to reinforce her tactics at the shelter. I have seen 2 case managers quit at Praxis in my 2 and a half months there. We arrived, uh, July— June 29th.

So from June 29th, I have seen 2 and 3 staff members quit. A housing coordinator quit. And two case managers quit, and she just hired another one. And she berated her for asking me how I was doing and how my housing situation was going. Berated her, ganged up on her with her CM supervisor and my previous CM Charlene Lloyd.

I submitted a five-page testimony on this, on the entire thing that's going on there. She uses her security staff. to reinforce her retaliatory and abusive tactics. They don't want to do that. I promise you that security staff doesn't want to do that. They have families too. And she uses them to intimidate us to— Thank you. Your time has expired.

Are you able to submit written testimony, Ms. DeJesus? I submitted written testimony yesterday. Okay. Thank you. We will review the written testimony. We have your contact information. I just want to Confirm? Yeah. We have your contact information, so we'll reach out directly to get more details. Thank you for your testimony.

I just want to call up the names in person because I believe we're missing one person. Jorge Jimenez, Lauren Napier, Gabriella— okay, you can come up to the table. Calvin, Michael, and Clifton Williams. Okay, perfect. Thank you. No problem. There's one. Okay. We can start to my right. Hi.

I'm here to support 307. I consider it extremely important, but I think there's a point that is being restated every time we talk. It's the fact that the majority of the issues that are affecting people are usually related to grievances that cannot be reported. There's actually a lot of conversation about huge words like homicide, rape, grand larceny, or theft, or things like this.

But mainly, one of the problems that we're experiencing is that there's some sort of tactical avoidance and plausible deniability that can be created when a process of grievances is not well established. That's what I feel. And actually, I'm going through a process like that right now. I've been trying to report a grievance for the past 5 months.

And I have actually followed the specific hierarchy of things that I had to do with this specific shelter provider, in this case, a drop-in center provider. And pretty much what I do, it leads to nothing. I keep entering a loophole that is full of tactical avoidance and plausible deniability. And then there's some specific little tricks that happen.

One of them being, you have to send us an email. But how can I send you an email to start the process if your staff never provides emails, email addresses to contact them? I cannot start the process if you don't provide me with that.

Is there not a general, like, email address or line to submit grievances? No. Pretty much what you must do is, like, try to guess the person. Letter of the worker, the last name, and then you put@ whatever organization you're with, and maybe that becomes the way you deal with that trick. That's one of the tricks. There's another one.

The other trick is the, let's have a conversation about this. Well, the conversations cannot be tracked down because it disappears. It becomes a conversation. There are other tricks that happen, and these are usually correlated to one specific thing. I'm not sure. These are contracts, and these contracts have to be reviewed every year for performance. A huge amount of grievances can actually lead to a decrease in the qualification that they receive every year, from excellent to good to average.

Some of these contracts are for millions of dollars over 5 years. Too many complaints Let's not use the word complain. Too many grievances reports can lead to that. We're forgetting 2 aspects, the business aspect of this part. And another aspect that we're forgetting is the human factor. One central position, one central type of professional that we're missing, the figure of the social worker.

We don't need more case managers. That's an euphemism. that is being used financially in order to avoid hiring social workers that have been trained to deal with this multiplicity of issues. But social workers are expensive. Can I just ask you a question? In the— for the complaints or grievances that you've submitted, are you saying that you've not received any sort of formal response?

It was impossible for me to start the process because I did not have— Okay, because you have the email address. Okay. Through a process— But there's no, like, box or anything on site where you can just submit? And then what happened is I actually found the email. I sent an email to the case manager, but that case manager never answered.

So that's the other trick. If they don't answer, there's not a continuity of service, right, in order to establish a bridge that will actually lead to a proper grievances report. Okay. And it's— Thank you. Premeditated. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you so much for your testimony. We'll follow up with you directly as well. Thank you. Ready? Yes. Thank you.

Um, okay, my name is Lauren Napier, and I want to say, uh, Ms. DeJesus, I am on par with her as an individual who is a professional who has found herself in the shelter environment. I spent 224 days in a DHS shelter 4 nights at the Franklin Women's Shelter in the Bronx, and then I resided for the remaining 200 days at the Empower Women's Shelter, which is in Gayle Brewer's district.

And I am disappointed that she's gone because I would like to have addressed her personally. I have gone to her office and communicated with her office on a multitude of occasions and was not helped. I have also previously testified at the COGE hearing on June 9th. But as I said, I was able to exit the shelter within 22— after residing there for 224 days, after and despite 100 days of staff incompetence, staff ignorance, and staff retaliation, egregious levels of staff retaliation.

But first, I want to talk about Franklin because I entered that shelter There was a ceiling collapse in that shelter where a water tower came down. Upon evacuation, it was completely chaotic. I actually fell down a flight of stairs, tore my meniscus, and herniated a disc in my back. There was absolutely no level of urgency, security, or concern for people's well-being.

And that night, upon having to return to Franklin, we were required to sleep in wet rooms. The room was wet, saturated, so much water that the tiles from the ground were raised, and we were required to sleep in that room.

And sorry, this incident occurred when? Do you remember the date? November 15th, 2025. Thank you.

I then was moved to the Empower Women Shelter on the Upper West Side. It is considered a MICA shelter, that is a mentally ill, chemically addicted shelter. That shelter is inhabit— well, the residents are a mixed population. So you have a mixed population, people like me and people who have severe mental illness and severe disability, along with people who have dementia.

In that shelter, there was not a medical— any level of medical personnel, not one. However, there was a box of Narcan that was there for people in the event of an overdose, which I— was witness to. So as our commissioner sat here and discussed the things that happen in the shelter, it is inconsistent with what actually happens inside.

And it's, it's really disappointing that it's, it's very clear that there's a cleavage between the information that you have and the real experience of that people are experiencing inside. I also experienced and personally was assaulted. I endured months of sleep deprivation, again, hostility from staff, retaliation even after reporting concerns. I, like you, sir, completed grievances in writing and in email and were often not responded to.

And I then escalated my issues to Jumaane Williams' office, the Office of the Ombudsman, again back to Gail Brewer, and I, like you, followed the email formats of numerous, numerous city agencies. I follow people on Instagram and DM'd them, sent them messages all to your offices to no avail. None. So I just want to make it clear that you guys are responsible for hundreds of thousands of people's lives, and we are not getting the help that we need.

It is an exhaustive effort of individuals who are residing in the shelter. It is, it is Exhausting the taxpayer? We are not— I'm a person who's been on both sides. I'm a taxpayer and I am a person who required and needed the services, and I was not able to effectively get the services. I was doing the job of my case manager, my housing specialist.

I too lost an apartment during the process. I used my resources to help myself out of the shelter and also to help the people inside of the shelter with me because the staff is unprofessional, unprepared, and ignorant to the process. Even so much so that I had to provide them a PDF, a link, and language of some of the policies that had been instated that indicate that there is no shelter stay requirement.

They don't even know the basics. And so to speak about the professionalism and the education of the staff and who's there, it's a farce because that is not what is happening. That's— it's not what's happening. And I also want to say that the Empower Women's Shelter had no potable drinking water. We had no hot water. There was another issue— Laundry detergent.

Yes. During the code blue, no laundry detergent, no hot water. There's the— the staff would hand out bottles of water at their discretion to whom they felt needed water. They lost people's medication. There was a girl who had her mother's ashes. They lost the girl's mother's ashes. When you talk about security and holding people's property, they don't do that.

Okay? They're not prepared for individuals' needs, nor do they care about people's needs.

Thank you. Do you have— I can go on. There's a lot. There's a lot. Do you have written testimony I do have written testimony, and I will provide it in detail. And I would also like the contact information so that we can have a sit-down discussion, because I have sat in one of these hearings, and it's very disappointing also to see our elected officials leave.

We sit here, and I understand that they have other constituents, but this is important. And this is an exhaust— I mean, there's ways that the city can save money. You're hemorrhaging money. You guys don't even know— I'm sorry. what the shelters are spending money on, and they're hemorrhaging money, and they're warehousing people. Thank you. We'll follow up.

Sir?

Good afternoon. Can you press— yeah, press the button. Good afternoon, Councilmembers. My name is Clifton C. Williams IV. I'm a recent transplant from the mid-states of America, southern Kentucky, southern Indiana area, back to my hometown of New York. And being within this time here, the last 10 and a half months, I have entered into the DHS system just to basically try to see if there is within the compounds of differences within area, region, and even policy and treatment.

And I will commend New York City on basically a lot of few options because they do offer a myriad of services that many other states have no idea even exists. They are observing the rights of people on an individual basis, even those with special and/or mental handicap and/or capability. However, there is no cookie-cutter program that's specifically designed to help a person transition from homelessness.

Mm-hmm. And that's something that I do agree that within the flexibility of these meetings can be addressed. I did experience a lot of different processes. One of the biggest ones is a lack of communication and an inability to leave grievances and/or reports directly to either the group in hand or with DHS. I literally have 3 grievances within my possession back at my shelter that I attempted to turn in on March 3rd, and I was directed in so many different directions.

That, to be honest with you, I figured I entered it back into my appealed court case. That is the reason why I actually filed, and it's not because of the fact that I wanted to see any more difficulty implied upon the city, because in all honesty, that is the reason why I came back here, because I'm figuring if anyone would be able to show or set up a federal standard within the basic housing needs for a nationwide referendum, it would be New York City.

So hopefully we'll see resolve within this in the end. Thank you so much.

Next.

Hello, my name is Calvin Michael. I was homeless in 2018. I was homeless for 7 years. I spent 3 years in a shelter, Clock Thomas men's shelter on Randall's Island. Just pull the mic closer. Yeah, was that better? Okay, okay. The thing is also I'm a member of the Safety Net Activists, that's why I'm here today through the Urban Justice Center.

We're here to speak about the issue of shelter safety. Shelters are pressure cookers that make residents frustrated, angry, and more likely to Take it out on others. There are a number of recommendations that our organization has, has that would make shelters safer for everyone there. One is ending congregate shelters and ensuring that everyone has access to single rooms.

Single rooms with doors, locks, and keys will go a strong way towards reducing conflicts and incidents Placing many dozens of people together in crowded conditions often creates conflicts. When DHS moved congregate shelter residents into single and double rooms during COVID residents experienced significantly better conditions, and providers told us that incidents and conflicts decreased. People need to access their own space as opposed to sharing a living space with dozens of strangers who they have never met and who may be dealing with their own struggles.

The city should move away from congregate shelter and towards single rooms that provide people with basic privacy and dignity. More respect from staff would also go a long way, as we would have real accountability for issues. And complaints. Often situations with shelter staff and other residents escalate after residents have made repeated complaints with no real accountability from shelter providers or from the ombudsman office.

People often reach out to the ombudsman's office without response to meaningful resolution or accountability. Another important recommendation is housing First, we need to move from ever-expanding shelter system to a Housing First model where we are quickly placing people in permanent housing instead of having them linger in shelters for years while their frustration and time in the system builds.

The $4 billion spent on shelters should be used to allow people to move move into permanent housing as quickly as possible. We also recommend internal training on de-escalation. Shelter staff should be trained in de-escalation techniques and should be able to de-escalate conflicts between residents. Basic improvements such as air conditioning are also critical. Many crowded congregate shelters Still do not have air conditioning.

Shelter providers have noted how numbers of incidents dramatically decreased after air conditioning was installed. There should be more women-only safe havens and stabilization beds to allow women the opportunity to choose this setting and protect them from sexual violence. Most safe havens and stabilization bed shelters are are co-ed or closed are not good options for— Co-ed. Co-ed, yeah, co-ed, sorry, are not best options for women's safety and safe haven stabilization.

Ensuring that people are placed in shelters that have the right supports are also critical. Many residents are placed in facilities that don't have the right staffing or support for the mental health or other conditions that they are dealing with. For myself, lastly, when I— last time I was here, I did a testimonial on air conditioning in shelters, and at the time, 50% of all shelters in New York City had no air conditioning.

And that was like, what, 2 years ago? That is totally ridiculous. Unacceptable. You know what I'm saying? It's unsafe and also you know, it promotes fights and things like that. Every 20 minutes there was a fight in my show at the Clark Thomas where, you know, at the end of the day our show was known as Gladiator School.

That is how many fights we have in every single hour. Okay, so like I said— And that's on Randall's Island? Yeah, Randall's Island. Yeah, Gladiator School, Randall's Island, Randall's Wards Island. Thank you. Also too, I would like to say that safety in shelters is extremely important for the families that are in there, okay, and the young kids that are in there as well.

Thousands of kids are in the shelter system. I don't need to go into exactly how many, but it's also extremely important, okay? And I thank the council for allowing me to testify. Thank you, Chairman Essa, as usual. And thank you for the opportunity to speak on these issues. Thank you. Thank you so much. You're welcome.

Gabriella? I'm sorry about that, uh, the back. I have a bad back. I'm not sure. That's okay. Okay, thank you.

Um, there's more respect from staff would also go a long way, as would real accountability for issues and complaints. Often situations Problems with shelter staff or other residents escalate after residents have made repeated complaints, with no real accountability from shelter providers or the Ombudsman's Office. People often reach out to the Ombudsman's Office without a response or meaningful resolution or accountability.

Another important recommendation is housing first. We need to move from an ever-expanding shelter system to a housing-first model where we are quickly placing people in permanent housing instead of having them linger in shelter for years while their frustration and time in the system builds. The $4 billion spent on shelters could be used— should be used to allow people to move into permanent housing as quickly as possible.

You see, I— my mood in my most recent shelter— I've been with Safety Net for a few months, probably June, July thing. Uh, I've been homeless for a few months on top of that. They— I have autism, you see, and they moved in the shelter like people like schizophrenia. Like, my thing is not as bad as theirs, you know what I mean?

As well, um, yeah, there's no accountability. They just, they just do what the shelter guards did. You just do whatever you want and you, you just have to deal with it. Like, I have a roommate like recently who a few weeks ago moved in, a couple weeks you like kept stealing my stuff and saying— gaslighting me. And it's like your guards also gaslighted to think that it wasn't stolen or it wasn't yours or wasn't there.

Same thing as my roommate. Like, their stuff got— a phone had stolen, and then they proceeded to steal my stuff. Like, you had stuff to deal with it or get a new one. You couldn't get your old one back. Yeah.

You're sorry, just to clarify. When your, when your personal items were stolen, you were instructed to get new— or it was your phone specifically? No, no, hold on. No, it wasn't. I don't have a phone. What I mean is, when my roommate was living in their previous apartment, like, their previous roommate stole. Okay. And because of that, but despite knowing Me telling them— they telling me that, that story, they proceed to steal my stuff even though they don't understand.

Like, they're doing to me what was done to them, right? They don't get that. But, but what I'm asking is, you were told by shelter staff to get a new item instead of— Like, they looked into— yes, they looked into it and I said, eh, this stuff is— your stuff isn't there, or it's not real, or Or it's actually theirs, like, like gaslighting.

Okay, I understand. Or get a new one if it's not— it's probably not there.

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for your testimonies. We'll definitely be sure to follow up directly. Thank you, thank you. Okay, the next panel is Wendy Bruno, Grace Grace Busser, Timothy Peña, Hannah Mercurius, and Helen Schrom. Wendy, Grace, Timothy, Hannah, Helen. We can start to my right and then just go down.

Thank you for allowing me to speak. And also, thank you for DHS and DSS Commissioner for being here. My name is Wendy Bruno, and I am the structural coordinator for the WAI Alliance, Women Experiencing Homelessness. I'm a human rights defender under the UN General Assembly Resolution 53144, the Universal Declaration for Human Rights Defenders. And I'm a victim of severe stalking victimization that stemmed from domestic violence.

I represent 180 women, 40 of which who live in New York City. and are in the shelter system. And I am at stage 8 of the homicide timeline, which is a timeline that was developed by Dr. Jane Mokhtem Smith, who is a homicide expert and criminologist. Stage 8 is when the victim generally means that a homicide has occurred.

But in my case, in a contextual way, stage 8 means that the stalker is continuously moving towards homicide. And I've had to move 10 times across New York State. I had a wonderful DV liaison in Buffalo. But I couldn't— stalking victims are sort of separated from the system in that the Violence Against Women Act is a law that has 4 criminal pillars: domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking.

However, most of the accommodations are for domestic violence victims, which means that— I'm sorry. You can continue. Which means that persons who are victims of stalking do not receive help, are not admitted into domestic violence shelters, and were forced to go into New York City shelters. And the problem with that is that we are in even greater danger because when a stalker cannot get to you, then what they do is they pay staff members and they pay individuals that are in close proximity to you to inflict violence or threaten violence.

And when I was at Wynn Shelter, I received 4— Sorry, which shelter? Wynn Shelter at 51st Street. I received 4 death threats. And prior to that, I had a fair hearing regarding inadequate shelter placement, fair hearing, 911 15415-02Y, and DHS did not— was not compliant from April 13th until September 16th when I had to become homeless on the street.

I had to become street homeless in order to trigger a stay within a safe haven. And what was the date of that? within a great area within New York City. 3 members of your council actually know about my circumstance: Carl Lewis, Councilwoman Brewer, and Sandy Nurse. It was Sandy Nurse who helped me tremendously and submitting a lot of the documentation into DHS computer.

And then after they did that, I triggered, forced DHS to do something about it, and I became street homeless. And then BRC, I saw them in— I can't remember the area. I have a brain injury, so— That's okay. And I just want to ask, do you have written testimony that you'll be submitting as well? Or just your testimony here?

And it's fine if you don't. I don't have it here, but I could get it off to you by email. Yeah. I wrote down the email. Yes, if you wrote it down, that's great. And you can submit your written testimony within 72 hours or 3 days from now. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you so much for your testimony. Thank you. Thank you.

My name is Hannah Mercurius, and I'm a senior attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services in the civil justice practice. BDS is a public defense office. We represent about 40,000 people each year in Brooklyn and Queens. Thank you to Councilmember Hudson and the committee. Um, our civil justice practice works with people who are entering the shelter system as well as shelter residents attempting to secure stable housing.

And as many people have said at this hearing today, shelter residents are subjected to heightened surveillance and are at an increased risk of contact with the criminal and family legal systems. Shelters have rigid rules about enter and exit, what residents can eat and wear, who can provide childcare for children, and how shelter units must be maintained. The people we represent share that these stringent requirements often create frequent conflict in shelters and that shelter staff lack training in de-escalation, and they often resort to calling law enforcement and ACS the Administration for Children's Services, which perpetrates trauma and disruption that shelter residents are already experiencing.

And then families who— families are really unlikely to seek support from shelter staff who are the same people who surveil and criticize them. Many of the families who live in shelters have been placed very far away from their existing networks of support. We support Intro 99 in part because we know that families have no control over where they're placed when they enter shelter.

And one of the things that this hearing made me wonder is if families are asked where they want to be placed when they're experiencing intake, then it disrupts the network of supportive people and providers that they've created in their home neighborhoods, risking school absences, as we've heard, missed doctor's appointments, and exposing families to ACS investigations during these really precarious transition periods.

Even though under the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act, students in shelter are entitled to transportation to their home, to their schools of origin, we find that there are extensive delays in that busing being put in place, and it's unrealistic for parents to travel more than an hour with multiple children to get them to school. And as a result, families are often forced to risk that those repeated school absences will incur more surveillance by ACS or initiate a case against them if schools call in a report or make a really impossible decision to change their child's school.

So we support this legislation, and it's more about increasing busing services for families. It's about ensuring that families experiencing homelessness can access critical systems of support. religious communities, neighbors, schools, stores that they're familiar with, which are essential for families during the incredibly destabilizing experience of entering shelter. And we'll submit written testimony as well. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Hi, my name is Helen Strom. I'm testifying from the Safe Snack Project at the Urban Justice Center, and we work with shelter residents around the city and also organize with current and former shelter residents through the Safety Net Activists. I think I would agree with a lot of what has been said here today. One thing I want to emphasize is the importance of— we need to be doing everything we can to get people out of shelter as quickly as possible.

And there is a lot more that we can do as a city beyond what we're currently doing. We know we have thousands of vacant NYCHA units. We have thousands of vacant HPD units. PD apartments. We have 6,000 vacant supportive housing units specifically for people who are homeless. So it needs to be like an all hands on deck effort.

Like, that needs to be a top priority to get people into vacant units, to have housing specialists at all these shelters, to be doing trainings on CityFEPs, on all the housing programs at these shelters. There's— the right to shelter is incredibly important. However, we have not done nearly enough to get people out of shelters and into permanent housing.

So many people in our group who come to us have been in shelters for years and years and years and years. And you should not have to be in a shelter for 5 years or 6 years or 7 years. It's also not a good use of city resources. Mm-hmm. We're spending, you know, sometimes $10,000 a month for someone to be in a shelter, like when a voucher could be $2,000 a month.

And to continue to allow people to languish in shelters for this amount of time when we do have concrete housing resources in this city is— It's a choice. Yeah, it's a choice. And it's a choice that we're making, and we need to be putting all of our resources towards getting people out as quickly as possible. And if you do that, and then you have a smaller number of shelters and people are moving out quickly, then I think you can have a different conversation about Well, you could actually start closing shelters.

You could be closing these bad congregate shelters and moving towards just having single rooms. You could be doing very different things. But I think that's a really important piece that we hope we can work with the council and get the city to take more action on. Absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Hudson. My name is Grace Busser. I'm a civil legal advocate in the civil action practice at the Bronx Defenders, a community-oriented public defender that uses an interdisciplinary model comprised of teams of attorneys, social workers, advocates, and others who all collaborate to provide holistic services to our clients. The Bronx accounts for almost 40% of all individuals and families entering the New York City shelter system.

It also has the highest concentration of shelters compared to any other borough in the city. In my role, I work very closely with the shelter system advocating for clients to access resources in the hopes that they will transition to stable, healthy, and safe permanent housing. I accompany clients to intake, visit them in shelter, work with shelter workers and case managers to help clients meet their goals and get the services that they need while living there.

So I know that people in shelter are at one of the most vulnerable points in their lives. They're often entering shelter from traumatizing circumstances, whether living on the streets recently evicted, released from incarceration, fleeing an unsafe situation. Police presence in shelter can compound this trauma. Residents may avoid reporting victimization if they fear it will bring police further into their lives.

We know that a criminal case can cost a client their shelter placement. It can jeopardize housing applications. It can affect immigration status and carry collateral consequences for families with children. More police without stronger services and better living conditions is not the solution. Those calling shelter their home deserve dignity, support, and safety in a meaningful way. We are concerned that this bill, 387, as written, risks reinforcing a policing-centered approach to shelter safety by emphasizing incident counts and security measures without requiring equivalent transparency around staff misconduct, residents' experiences, or the consequences of enforcement decisions.

We have 3 main concerns. We need to, one, make the data clear and reliable. Each category of critical incident should be clearly defined. Transparency is crucial. Additionally, the bill does not require DHS to distinguish between allegations and substantiated findings or provide the circumstances surrounding an incident. Without these distinctions, the data may present an incomplete or misleading picture of shelter safety. 2, we need to measure the impact on residents.

I've represented clients whose shelter placements were disrupted following incidents classified by DHS as domestic violence. They've been separated from each other. They've lost their shelter placement. And while providing survivors— while protecting survivors is essential, so is ensuring that DHS appropriately assesses these incidents, understands residents in their own words, and considers the consequences of their response. 3, we need to make staff and security accountable.

Reports should separate incidents between residents from those involving staff or security. As well as incidents that led to a police response from those that did not.

Sorry, can you provide a little bit more clarity around that? Sure. You're saying separate incidents that involved staff? From incidents that involved, say, resident to resident. Okay, thank you. And then additionally provide reports that separate incidents that resulted in a police response from those that did not. And then third, separating allegations from substantiated circumstances. Right. Okay. We know that without sufficient context, this insufficient reporting can lead to— it can distort comparisons across shelter and across the city, which can reinforce the perception that increased law enforcement involvement is necessary.

It's not. And with some of those changes, would you be supportive of the legislation? We would be happy to work with the committee in implementing these changes, and if implemented in a satisfactory way, we might be in support.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you all for your testimony. I appreciate it.

Is Timothy Peña still here? I think I saw him. He's over there. There's nobody on Zoom? Bless you. Okay. If there's anyone present in the room or on Zoom that has not had the opportunity to testify, please raise your hand. In the room or on Zoom? Nobody on Zoom? Okay. Thank you to everyone who has testified. Seeing no one else, I would like to note again that written testimony, which will be reviewed in full by committee staff, may be submitted to the record up to 72 hours after the close of this hearing by emailing testimony@ council.nyc.gov.

And I think what we have seen here today is not only that, of course, we already know we have so much more work to do in creating safe, secure, and dignified places for people to live who are experiencing homelessness, but we have to prioritize the experiences, the lived experiences of those who are in the shelter system and not just rely on, you know, policies, procedures, and laws that exist on the books.

And so with that, I just want to thank everybody again for your testimony.

And with that, I will adjourn today's hearing. Thank you.