Int. No. 79
By Council Members Koppell, Vann, Vacca, Brewer, Dickens, Ferreras, Fidler, James, Koslowitz, Mark-Viverito, Nelson, Rodriguez, Dilan and Halloran
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the Department of Homeless Services to notify the affected community prior to locating transitional housing for the homeless.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. The Department of Homeless Services ("DHS") is responsible for providing transitional housing to homeless individuals and families until they move into permanent housing. In order to fulfill this responsibility, DHS currently utilizes several different types of transitional housing of varying sizes, including Tier II shelters for families, residences for adults, and hotels. DHS also houses families in cluster sites, which are temporary transitional housing units located in apartment buildings where lease holding tenants may also reside. DHS does not always notify affected community boards and elected officials before homeless individuals and families move into transitional housing. Lack of consistent and formal notification prior to locating transitional housing deprives the public of the ability to provide input related to how the temporary housing may alter their neighborhood before any final decisions are made by DHS. To allow the public to more fully participate in the process of locating temporary housing, the Council finds that it is necessary to require that DHS provide written notice to certain members of the affected community before transitional housing units that are directly operated by DHS or that are operated by providers pursuant to a contract with DHS are occupied.
§2. Chapter 3 of title 21 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 21-316 to read as follows:
§21-316. Community Notification Requirement.
1. When the department intends to use a new location as transitional housing for eligible homeless families and individuals, or expand an existing location where transitional housing is provided, the commissioner shall provide notification in writing as follows:
a. The notification shall be provided to the speaker of the council, to the council member in whose district the transitional housing will be located, and to the community board for the community district in which the transitional housing will be located; and
b. The notification shall include the address of the transitional housing, the number of people who will be housed, the name of the person or entity operating the transitional housing, the name of any organization, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, that will be providing services to the occupants of the transitional housing, the type of transitional housing, and a description of the services that will be provided; and
c. The notification shall be provided before the department enters into a contractual arrangement with a transitional housing provider or otherwise finalizes its decision to use or expand a location as transitional housing.
2. This section shall apply to any transitional housing facility operated or contracted for, by or on behalf of the department, regardless of its size and capacity.
§3. This local law shall take effect immediately.
LS 7309
MRM 2.26.10
11:17 a.m.