NEW YORK—Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that the City will double the number of City-funded Drop-In Centers designed to help bring homeless people off the streets and provide them with services that can help keep them off the streets permanently.
Drop-In Centers are an essential part of a continuum of care for street homelessness that starts with HOME-STAT outreach workers identifying them and gaining their trust; bringing them to a Drop-In Center for food, showers, case management services and medical care; taking them to a Safe Haven to spend the night; and moving them into supportive housing where they can receive help to rebuild their lives.
“Every street homeless person is an individual tragedy, a life gone off course. But sadly they often reject traditional shelters. We are now assembling all the specialized services needed to find each of these people and offer them the assistance that will work for each of them. Drop-In Centers are an essential part of the path off the streets, where homeless people can rest, eat, see a case manager, receive medical care and be offered placement into housing,” said Mayor de Blasio.
Mayor de Blasio has taken steps to move homeless people off the street, including creating HOME-STAT, a homeless outreach effort, committing to add 500 new Safe Haven beds, and committing to finance 15,000 new supportive housing units.
Today’s announcement is another in a series of reforms resulting from the 90-day review of City homeless services ordered by Mayor de Blasio on December 15, including:
- Launching the Shelter Repair Squad 2.0, substantially increasing the City’s ability to monitor and correct unacceptable shelter conditions.
- Ending the use of cluster apartments for shelter over the next three years.
- Reiterating the existing requirement to keep shelters open for residents during the day.
- Adding 300 beds for homeless youth.
Drop-In Centers provide an alternative to traditional shelter for street homeless individuals. They offer temporary respite where individuals can shower, eat a meal, see a doctor and rest. Case management and housing placement services are also available for clients who wish to receive them. The Centers also offer a limited number of off-site overnight respite beds, but ultimately seek to place people in permanent housing.
The City is announcing a new $8.5 million annual commitment to double the number of Drop-In Centers it currently operates. The City will open three new Drop-In Centers and take over funding of the current HUD-funded Drop-In Center in the Bronx run by BronxWorks, as HUD looks to reinvest those dollars in permanent housing.
These four locations will be added to the four existing City-funded Drop-Ins: two in Manhattan, one in Staten Island and one in Brooklyn. In the past two fiscal years (FY14 and FY15), these Drop-In Centers served an average of 454 clients during the day, saw a daily average of 128 clients overnight and made 1,238 housing placements.
The City previously had nine City-funded Drop-In Centers, but five were closed between 2008 and 2010.
“To ensure maximum coordination and to make it as easy as possible for homeless New Yorkers to go to the Drop-In Centers, the City’s existing Outreach Team providers will run these Centers,” said Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks.
New Centers will open in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. These Drop-In Centers will be expected to each serve approximately 75 clients at any given time.
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