The New York City Council voted overwhelmingly to pass Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams ‘Homeless Bill of Rights,' which would codify the rights of homeless individuals both outside of and within the city’s shelter system, as well as standards required to be met within shelters. Introduced as the administration was making rapid, repeated sweeps to dismantle homeless encampments, often displacing homeless individuals, the legislation passes today amid an even further exacerbated homelessness crisis, with asylum seekers joining the tens of thousands of New Yorkers struggling in the city’s shelters and on its streets. The bill, Intro 190-A, now goes to Mayor Eric Adams for his signature or veto.
"We're in a moment when the housing and homelessness crisis is deepening, both for the people seeking asylum here and the 50,000 people who were in our shelters before they arrived,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “Homeless individuals are being targeted, demonized, and dehumanized. Inside and outside of shelters, unhoused people feel like they’re left without support, without options, without rights or recourse, amid a system that has failed for so long, and has left people feeling abandoned and powerless. As we work to get people into permanent housing, we need to codify the rights of homeless individuals into law – to clearly state and make them known -– to ensure that they are upheld, and that people are empowered to demand what they deserve.”
Intro 190-A requires the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) to produce a statement of rights for those living in shelter, which would inform clients experiencing homelessness about the rights and services available to them. In addition, DHS is required to make this document available on its website and to provide it to shelters and social services offices for distribution to people experiencing homelessness.
Specifically, the statement includes:
- The right to shelter;
- The right to request an interpreter and translation when interacting with agencies;
- Educational options for children experiencing homelessness;
- The right to vote;
- The right to file a complaint and to be protected from retaliation for filing complaints;
- The ability to communicate with a housing specialist and apply for rental assistance voucher;
- The right to sleep outside;
- The option to be placed in a shelter consistent with a person’s gender identity or expression;
- The right to receive diapers and feminine hygiene products;
It also codifies a right to access legal support and several environmental standards inside of shelters themselves, including access to bathrooms, and laundry, space to bathe and change babies and small children, and have meals and accommodations for dietary needs.
“The rights this bill codifies are a floor, not a ceiling. They're a base standard, a moral and legal obligation that the city must meet for vulnerable unhoused New Yorkers,” continued the Public Advocate. “By passing this bill, we are empowering individuals, elected leaders, and organizations to hold the city accountable to those rights being protected as we continue to push for the true solution to the homelessness crisis – housing."
While these standards are present in agency rules and other city guidances, the legislation synthesizes them into a single declaration. Aggregating, codifying, distributing and publicizing these rights will help to ensure they are upheld, and empower homeless individuals to self-advocate if these rights are violated.
In winter 2020, there were nearly 80,000 people unhoused in New York City, the highest number in the city’s history. As of January 8, 2023, there were 67,880 homeless children and adults living in shelters managed by the city’s Department of Homeless Services and thousands more living in shelters managed by other city agencies. Currently, the city is experiencing a record number of people in shelters in part due to the influx of thousands of people seeking asylum.
The Council also passed a second piece of legislation from the Public Advocate today, Intro 805-A, which requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to expedite studies of traffic crashes involving pedestrian fatalities or serious injuries every four years, and to make reports available on any location with four or more such incidents. These studies would analyze the factors behind crashes and develop strategies to improve pedestrian safety. The legislation will increase transparency, aid collaboration, and help prevent traffic violence.
"By expediting the timeline to review and make changes in response to tragic traffic violence deaths and injuries, my bill will increase transparency, aid collaboration, and help to prevent the traffic violence that takes hundreds of lives a year on our city streets," said the Public Advocate of the bill "Traffic deaths are preventable. It is my hope that the street safety package being voted on today will be a key part of that prevention - a foundation, but not a finish line.”
