NYC Comptroller’s Investigation Finds Adams Administration Implemented the 60-Day Shelter Limit in Haphazard, Ineffective Manner

New York, NY—Today, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released his office’s investigation into the Adams Administration’s implementation of its 60-day shelter limit for asylum-seeking families. As a result of the rule, the City has issued 60-day notices to 10,229 families with children—affecting 19,497 adults and 18,149 children—as of April 28.

The investigation found that the policy was haphazardly implemented, and that notices to families, training for staff, and written guidelines were all inadequate. For example, despite an announcement from City Hall that pregnant women in their last trimester and families with newborns would be exempted, no written policy to that effect was ever given to staff or contractors. Despite promises of “intensive case management” to assist families, investigators found that the City provides very limited case management services that do little to help asylum-seeking families achieve self-sufficiency. And the City specifically discriminated against families with elementary-school aged children in shelter placements, making it more likely their children’s schooling would be disrupted.

“Back in January, the Adams Administration enacted a cruel policy of evicting families from shelter every 60 days with the empty promise of intensive case management—as a result, City Hall has subjected over 37,000 people to repetitive screenings for shelter alternatives, disrupted families’ efforts to obtain work authorization and legal status, and uprooted children from the schools where they made connections,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “Beyond the cruelty of the policy, our investigation found significant management flaws in how City Hall is administering these evictions and how poorly they are tracking outcomes. Our City can do so much better.”

Comptroller Lander announced the investigation on the first day that families were evicted and were told to re-apply for shelter in Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs). The Comptroller’s office investigation found:

• The City implemented the 60-day rule in a haphazard manner without adequate policies—such as exemptions for third trimester pregnancies and newborns or mail transfers—or training in place for agency staff;
• 60-day notices failed to provide families with critical information about opportunities to seek exemption or reasonable accommodation;
• Despite promises of “intensive case management” for every family, the City provides limited case management services that do little to help families achieve self-sufficiency;
• The 60-day rule undermined new arrivals’ ability to obtain work authorization and stable employment;
• Administrators specifically denied families with elementary school-aged children placement in Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters upon re-intake, subjecting them to more frequent moves that are detrimental to children’s learning;
• The City is not tracking any outcomes regarding families’ housing placements; efforts to obtain work authorization, legal status, or employment; or pathway to self-sufficiency.

In a January 9^th letter sent to City Hall that initiated the investigation, Comptroller Lander requested information about “the protocols City agencies will use to implement” the 60-day shelter limit and reassignment and inquired about “the potentially harmful impacts of the policy on families seeking asylum, especially on children who may be displaced from their public school as a result of being transferred to a shelter far from their school.”

In a letter response dated February 5, the Mayor stated that “Shelter time limits, paired with intensive case management, are designed to help more households achieve self-sufficiency, find stable housing arrangements, and exit from the shelter system.”

Despite that promise, the Comptroller’s investigation into the 60-day rule found that the promise of intensive case management was hollow. The documents implementing the policy disclose a single-minded focus on avoiding the City’s legal obligations to provide shelter. While the rule has contributed to a reduction in the shelter population, it also served to destabilize families with children and increase barriers to work authorization and legal status.

The investigation report recommends:

• The City should end the 60-day rule. Instead, the City should implement a policy that genuinely coordinates temporary shelter, legal assistance toward immigration status and work authorization, workforce development that enables people to obtain work, and case management that enables people to achieve self-sufficiency. The program that the City entered into last week with Jewish Families Services of Western New York, to replace the failed DocGo contract for services to asylum-seekers relocated upstate, is one model for such a program.
• While the City continues to implement the 60-day rule, administrators must immediately correct critical shortcomings in the implementation of the policy, including writing clear policies and procedures, amending the 60-day notice to add critical missing information, providing the “intensive case management” as promised, and allowing families with elementary school-aged children to be placed in DHS shelters upon re-intake.
• To achieve cost savings, the City must move away from emergency procurement to competitive bidding among qualified service providers, as the Comptroller’s Office has repeatedly recommended. Read the Comptroller’s report: Rethinking Emergency Procurement.
• The City should track and evaluate program effectiveness, including overall cost savings, and outcomes for families toward immigration status, work authorization, housing stability, and self-sufficiency.

Lander announced these finding and recommendations alongside a coalition of immigrant advocates, elected officials, shelter providers, and homeless rights organizations in front of the Row Hotel, where the first eviction notices took place in January.

Read the investigation here.

“From the start, the Council has been clear that the Administration’s 60-day shelter limit policy would be counterproductive and destabilizing for our new arrivals, and to our goal of helping them achieve self-sufficiency,” said Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. “As the policy has impacted increasing numbers of children and families, more and more students have had disrupted schooling as families are needlessly moved from location to location. This and the inhumane conditions at the Hall Street Complex in Brooklyn are among the many examples of why our city must improve its collaboration and planning with stakeholders to meet the needs of asylum seekers, longtime New Yorkers, and communities. We must support those seeking shelter and provide an opportunity for new arrivals to contribute to our economy. I thank Comptroller Lander’s office for this investigation, the findings of which can help guide the Administration towards more effective policy solutions that prioritize the well-being of everyone in our city.”

“The findings within Comptroller Lander’s report should not be a surprise to anyone because the Adams administration designed 30-and-60-day shelter limits to be a bureaucratic nightmare,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés, Chair of the Committee on Immigration. “This report concretizes the human suffering and chaos the Adams administration has chosen to deliver onto our newest neighbors. You cannot uproot, dislocate, and incarcerate your way to a coherent immigration agenda. I thank the Comptroller for his work on this report. The 30-and-60-day rule must end now.”

“As the prime-sponsor of Intro 210, the Stop Shelter Evictions Act, I commend Comptroller Lander’s continued commitment to highlighting the disastrous impacts of the 30- and 60-Day shelter evictions,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. These arbitrary caps undermine our efforts to provide immediate stability and set adults and families with children up for success as new New Yorkers. We’ve seen an uptick in street homelessness while many school-age children have altogether left the public school system. It is imperative that we advance this bill to allow our newest neighbors an opportunity to be self-sufficient. They should be armed with access to legal services and work authorizations, not shortsighted policies.”

“People are not able to move forward with their lives because important mail containing life changing documents – such as their work authorizations, health insurance cards, asylum application receipts – is being withheld or discarded by shelter staff once they are evicted,” said Power Malu, Executive Director of Artists, Athletes, Activists. “All the appointments to our resource center to assist with filling out applications are wasted efforts and resources because this rule takes away their consistent mailing address. This fabricated chaos has been created by an administration that is squandering an opportunity to represent New York City as the stand up city we truly are. Instead, they have decided to move in the dark and blame their incompetency on human beings that are ready and eager to contribute socially, culturally, and economically to the fabric of our great city.”

“It’s wrong for Mayor Adams to deprive anyone without a home of safe and stable shelter,” said Dave Giffen, Executive Director of the Coalition for the Homeless. “The new arrivals who have come to our city want nothing more than the chance to build better lives for themselves and their families, and needless obstacles like the 60-day rule succeed only in making it more difficult to do so.  These families and individuals have gone through unimaginable hardship to get here, and we should be putting out the welcome mat, not pulling out the rug from under them.”

“It is cruel and counterproductive to push vulnerable, traumatized families out of stability at the same time the City is asking them to take every possible step to get on their feet and move on to shelter,” said Joshua Goldfein, Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society. “The City could save money by offering comprehensive case management services to help people achieve independence sooner and not casting them out to start again on an arbitrary schedule.”

“Every New York family deserves a stable home and access to a quality education for their children,” said Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition. “This is especially important for recent arrivals, who fled violence and persecution in their home countries to be ultimately greeted by the instability of our shelter rules. By making families jump through bureaucratic hoops, Mayor Eric Adams is inflicting unnecessary harm on families seeking asylum with his arbitrary 60-day evictions, which requires families to relocate from shelters and schools every two months. It is far past time for the Mayor to invest in the success of recent arrivals – including their children’s success in school – and recognize the evidence that shows that this effort will more quickly result in immigrants becoming self-sufficient New Yorkers contributing to our economy and culture. We must end the 60-day evictions, for the future of our newest neighbors and all of New York City.”

“The 60-day rule is a cruel and illogical barrier for migrants who are only seeking safety, security, and stability,” said Christine C. Quinn, President and CEO of Win. “Bringing an end to the 60-day rule is not just a sound policy decision that will save the City money – it’s a humane decision that will set countless families on the path toward permanent housing and financial independence. We commend the Comptroller for shining a light on the regressive impacts of the 60-day rule and look forward to continuing to work with leaders across the city and state to bring an end to this unjust policy.”

Official photos will be available on Flickr

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