Mayor Adams brings end to homeless shelter '90-day' rule effective immediately
Adams signed an emergency order ending the 90-day rule, the regulation that forces homeless people to stay in a shelter for 90 days before being eligible for a housing voucher.
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Mayor Eric Adams announced a new order Friday that could help alleviate pressure on New York City's migrant and housing crises.
Adams signed an emergency order that ends the 90-day rule - a regulation that forces homeless people to stay in a shelter for 90 days before being eligible for a housing voucher
"This will end the long-standing length of stay requirement for our city's rental assistance program, effective immediately," Adams said.
Unhoused New Yorkers were previously required to stay in a homeless shelter for 90 days before being eligible for a housing voucher.
"With the elimination of the length of stay requirement, we'll be able to move more New Yorkers from shelter to permanent housing more quickly which frees up much-needed shelter space in the DHS system," said New York City Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park.
Adams did not specify how much space this new order will free up, but the city says the move will help house some of the thousands of asylum seekers that have arrived from the border, and reduce the cost to the city.
"We have to find a cheaper way to do this because it's just not sustainable and we're looking at many ways to deal with the influx," Adams said.
Getting rid of the 90-day rule is something housing and homelessness is something that advocates have been asking for a long time.
Many of them say it is not enough, and are urging Adams to sign a package of bills that the city council passed last month that would expand access to housing vouchers. The bills also include ending the 90-day rule.
"While it is helpful, this one piece, it is not going to be the silver bullet to really address all of the issues of the city's voucher package and make sure that 10s of thousands of families can be housed," said Celina Trowell, of Vocal NY.
Adams says the city continues to look for space and funding as it deals with both the homelessness and migrant crisis.
