Department of Homeless Services, Fire Department, Department of Buildings, Housing Preservation and Development, and Department of Health, Department of Investigation to join forces to expedite violation corrections at over 500 city shelters following a report by the Department of Investigation
NEW YORK—Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced that the City will be deploying over a hundred workers from multiple City agencies to over 500 buildings that operate as homeless shelters to begin immediately addressing building, fire and other code violations that may impact the health and safety of residents.
After decades of neglect and underfunding from Federal, State, and City government, the City’s shelters have seen deteriorating conditions, and Mayor de Blasio is ordering a top to bottom inspection and repair process from the newly launched Shelter Repair Squad – an interagency team spearheaded by Deputy Mayors Anthony Shorris and Lilliam Barrios-Paoli and comprised of the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), Fire Department (FDNY), Department of Buildings (DOB), Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). Each agency has assigned teams to the Shelter Repair Squad for both inspection and repair.
This effort will be funded by $12.5 million through Fiscal Year 2016. The Administration will also commit further funding for ongoing costs as needed.
Agency Roles and Responsibilities:
DHS: Remediate issues found by other agencies
DOB: Inspect and dismiss violations
HPD: Inspect and help remediate violations (example: repairing plumbing, fixing walls, replacing wiring)
FDNY: Inspect and ensure safety fire panels, smoke detectors fire plans, and fire exits
DOHMH: Inspect inside and outside shelters for rodents and cockroaches, and provide guidance on pest control
The announcement comes two months after the City’s Department of Investigation released a report, commissioned by the Mayor, about conditions at 25 City-run homeless shelters. The DOI Report called for the creation of an inter-agency task force. The Department of Homeless Services worked closely with DOI in identifying and addressing issues, and started a series of reforms to improve shelter inspections and hasten the timeline for making corrections, and DOI will continue to monitor and oversee where City government can be more effective. DOI found a total of 621 violations in their report, and 273 of those violations were outstanding when the report was published. All but a handful of the outstanding violations are now repaired or in process of being repaired. The Shelter Repair Squad will now extend this work to include all City shelters, including family and adult shelters and clusters run by external providers.
“Being homeless is tough enough – no one in shelters, particularly children, should have to endure poor or unsafe living conditions,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Our shelter system is old, and has endured decades of neglect and bad policies from every level of government, but we are working aggressively to correct dangerous conditions, and to make sure that people have a decent place to stay while they need it.”
“DHS has stepped up inspections and streamlined repairs – this concerted approach brings the urgency of our work to other city agencies with a role in correcting physical problems at shelters,” said DHS Commissioner Gilbert Taylor. “I feel confident that this effort will help us dramatically reduce the number of outstanding safety and health violations at our shelters and allow us to address those we do find within days.”
“This task force is an important step forward in the effort to improve housing for the homeless. Continued and consistent vigilance by all the agencies involved in providing and inspecting homeless shelters is the only path to lasting change,” said DOI Commissioner Mark G. Peters.
“DOI’s investigation played a key role in establishing this task force and we will continue to work with our partners to expose deficiencies and inefficiencies in City government.”
DHS will begin tracking each and every violation, and the agencies are working together to assign tasks and actions teams to remediate issues as they are discovered by teams of inspectors. All outstanding violations will be addressed by special teams of City workers and contractors within 7 days of identification. All major capital repairs will begin within 30 days and completed by the end of the year. Shelters that need additional assistance complying with health and safety requirements will be placed in a streamlined corrective action process, and will have their progress closely monitored. Once the backlog of work is cleared, the City will continue to ensure the safety of all facilities through regular inspection and prompt repair. DHS will publicly post a scorecard for all facility operators within two weeks to insure on-going accountability for conditions in the shelters.
“Every New Yorker has the fundamental right to a safe and clean roof over their head. But we know that thousands of families and children, who rely on homeless shelters as safety nets each night, are forced to live in dangerous conditions,” said Public Advocate Letitia James. “This interagency effort will help address critical shortcomings in our City shelter system and protect vulnerable families who are in need of a permanent home.”
Editors Note:
This Press release came from not the Mayors office, but from Councilman Andy Kings office. I have deleted the lip service from the Mayors supporters, and all the elected officials including the few from Councilmen Andy King and Andrew Cohen, as if they are being quoted by the mayor's office in praise of something they have called to be closed You and I know the words have been edited to fit the Mayors needs.
