Family Homeless Services - Who Is Eligible

A New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) guiding principle states that that all homeless individuals and families deserve safe, temporary shelter and that planning for permanent housing should begin immediately. The City provides shelter to families that have no permanent or temporary place to live.

Families with safe and appropriate places to stay will not be determined eligible for shelter services. You may instead be able to qualify for one of the many homelessness prevention programs that assist families in retaining their existing housing. If you are already homeless and preventive assistance cannot help you keep your existing housing, DHS will provide temporary emergency shelter in a safe environment. Before being placed in shelter, however, your family must be found eligible.

In order for you and your family to be found eligible, DHS must verify that your family is in immediate need of temporary emergency shelter. DHS will conduct an investigation to determine whether there is any other safe and appropriate place for you and your family to stay, even temporarily. To aid the investigation, you should provide any documents that will help investigators understand why you are now homeless. Examples include: eviction papers, marshal's 72-hour notices, letters from landlords or managing agents, letters from people you used to live with, and documents from doctors or other professionals showing that a former apartment may no longer be appropriate.

To be found eligible for emergency housing assistance, you and your family must already be receiving, or apply for, public assistance. HRA's Eligibility Processing Unit is located at the intake center, and will help your family apply.



DHS Defines A Family As:

1) legally married couples with or without children;
2) single parents with children;
3) pregnant women; and
4) unmarried couples, with or without children, who have cohabited for a substantial period of time and demonstrate a need to be sheltered together.



Beginning April 18, 2007, DHS implemented a Pilot at PATH allowing all homeless couples comprised of a pregnant woman or with children who present either a marriage or domestic partnership certificate to be considered a "family" for the purpose of applying for shelter.



Beginning February 1, 2007, DHS implemented a Pilot at AFIC allowing all homeless couples who present either a marriage or domestic partnership certificate to be considered an "adult couple" for the purpose of applying for shelter. Specifically, the following are considered an "adult couple" eligible for family housing:

* Applicants who are legally married and present a valid marriage certificate;

* Applicants who are domestic partners and present a valid domestic partnership certificate;

* Adults who provide, as part of their application, proof establishing the medical dependence of one applicant upon another;

* Adults who share one of the following relationships: (i) aunt/uncle to niece/nephew; (ii) grandparent to grandchild; (iii) parent to child; and (iv) siblings; and have resided with one another for one-hundred and eighty days within the year immediately prior to the date of their application;

* Adult street homeless applicants who have been referred directly from the street by an outreach worker who recommends that they be housed together.



In addition, adults who are unable to meet the requirements above due to extraordinary circumstances and who have been co-habitants for at least six months immediately prior to their application may be considered a family under the discretion of an AFIC manager.



Source: www.nyc.gov

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