Committee on General Welfare meeting
March 9, 2026, 1:00 PM
The committee heard two bills on shelter services (Int 0139-2026 and Int 0232-2026, covering department reporting requirements and shelter referrals) and held pre-considered hearings on three bills (Int 0726, Int 0727, and Int 0778) relating to the homelessness commissioner's duties and integrated service delivery.
What was discussed
- Chair Hudson opens and sponsors introduce the shelter and homelessness bills Council Member Crystal Hudson, Chair of the Committee on General Welfare, opened the hearing on five bills and recognized sponsors, including Council Member Tiffany Cabán on Intro 139 (a DSS benefits-interview confirmation notice), Hudson's own Intro 232 (shelter referrals and the two-year
- DHS and HRA testify on the shelter intake and outreach bills A panel from the Department of Homeless Services—Interim Chief of Intake Aqueelah Winston, Nirah Johnson, and Deputy Commissioner Cassandra White (Street Homelessness Solutions)—with HRA Chief Program Officer Rebecca Chew testified on the bills, describing PATH family intake, street-outreach
- Does Int 139's benefits-interview confirmation already exist? Chair Hudson asked HRA what confirmation applicants get after a benefits interview. Rebecca Chew said clients already receive an '1173' notice electronically and by mail confirming the interview was kept, with a number to call, and estimated the bill would cost nothing to implement using existing
- Why does DHS require two years of housing history for families seeking shelter? Chair Hudson questioned the two-year housing-history requirement at PATH. Aqueelah Winston said PATH uses a 'prevention-first' model treating shelter as a last resort, that families get an immediate conditional placement and 15 days to provide documentation (often just a photo ID), and that families
- Could DHS pre-stock hospitals with supplies before extreme weather? Council Member Shaun Abreu pressed whether DHS could give hospitals supply kits ahead of weather emergencies to bypass the consent hurdle in his bill. Cassandra White and Nirah Johnson said patients need not consent to enter shelter independently, that DHS coordinates nightly with H+H hospitals and
- What happened to the Housing First 'Street to Home' pilot, and how is outreach coordinated? Council Members Gale A. Brewer and Sandy Nurse asked about coordinating multiple outreach efforts and the Housing First 'Street to Home' pilot. Cassandra White said DHS focuses on housing access and partners with the DA's navigators and other agencies, and confirmed the Street to Home pilot no
- Should outreach workers have mobile access to client histories? Council Member Lincoln Restler established that DHS tracks street engagements in 'Street Smart' and shelter clients in 'CARES,' and that the five contracted outreach providers have desktop but not mobile access to that data. Cassandra White agreed real-time mobile access would help outreach workers
- Is reducing the housing-history rule worth the cost? Council Member Frank Morano questioned why the city should reduce the housing-history requirement from two years to one—citing DHS estimates of roughly $169 million a year plus $7 million—rather than invest in helping people exit homelessness, and whether Intro 139 solves a real problem. Aqueelah
- How does the Street Smart data system work, and who runs it? Chair Hudson questioned Cassandra White in detail on outreach data practices: DHS staff log engagements via phones and tablets immediately while the five contracted outreach providers (BRC, BronxWorks, Breaking Ground, Project Hospitality, and the Manhattan Outreach Consortium) have up to 48 hours
- Homeless-services providers say PATH intake traps eligible families Service providers backed the bills, including Alison Wilkey (Coalition for the Homeless), Julia Casey (FPWA), Catherine Trapani (Volunteers of America Greater New York), Chris Mann (WIN), Brandon Lloyd (URI), Graham Horn (NYLAG), and Joshua Goldfein (Legal Aid Society). They described families stuck
- A shelter resident and survivor pleads for housing Alexis Foote, founder of the Real Edgemere Community Land Trust and a domestic-violence survivor living in shelter, testified by Zoom about her custody battle and her family's wish to leave the shelter system for permanent housing, telling the Chair, 'I'm not here because I want to be.'
Agenda
6 items
- Int 0139-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of social services to provide a benefits interview confirmation notice Hearing Held by Committee
- Int 0232-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to shelter referrals and assessments for temporary housing assistance Hearing Held by Committee
- Int 0726-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the commissioner of homeless services coordinating with hospitals to distribute informational materials on certain weather events to patients and make services directly available to discharged patients during such Hearing on P-C Item by Comm
- Int 0727-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the commissioner of homeless services coordinating with hospitals to make certain supplies available to discharged patients during certain weather events Hearing on P-C Item by Comm
- Int 0778-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to creating an integrated and confidential data system to track all engagement with street homeless individuals Hearing on P-C Item by Comm
- T2026-0004 AND SUCH OTHER BUSINESS AS MAY BE NECESSARY