Accounting for Asylum Seekers

Executive Summary

New York City has thrived for centuries by welcoming immigrants. Today, NYC is continuing that tradition by welcoming new arrivals from Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Senegal, Ukraine, Venezuela, and many other countries experiencing war and violence.

Since last spring, New York City has seen the arrival of nearly 50,000 people seeking asylum (some who were cynically transported here by Texas Governor Abbott and other elected officials, some who came of their own intention). For the first time at such a large scale, many of them have sought shelter, pursuant to New York State’s unique legal “right to shelter.”

As a result, New York City has been presented with the significant challenge of scaling up its shelter provision by more than 75%. As of early March, the City is providing shelter to over 30,900 migrants. Ninety-two emergency hotel shelters, managed by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), have been opened since April, housing for 21,745 asylum seekers as of March 6. As of the same date, there are also seven Humanitarian Emergency Referral and Response Centers (HERCCs), managed by New York City Health + Hospitals (H+H) that are providing temporary housing and services to 9,203 individuals.

The cost of this effort to scale up shelter and services is and will continue to be significant. The City is on pace to spend over $4 billion during Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024. This brief, produced as a companion to the Comptroller’s Office analysis of the City’s Preliminary Budget proposal, provides the most detailed look so far at the contracts that the City is entering into to provide these shelter and services.

New York State and (to a lesser extent) the federal government have begun to offer some assistance, though less than their appropriate share. But even with federal and state support, the current approach is beyond what the City of New York can reasonably sustain without meaningful changes.

Since migrant families began arriving in large numbers last spring, the City has understandably focused the overwhelming share of its effort on scaling up shelter capacity. Of the contracts for which the Comptroller’s office has received final amounts, we estimate nearly 99%, are for the provision of shelter and related services, including food.

The City must shift its focus to helping those in shelter – not only asylum-seekers, but also the tens of thousands of New Yorkers who have long been in the shelter system – to get out of shelter. The average stay in the City’s shelter system stretched to over 500 days even before the current crisis.[i] The City should adopt a two-pronged approach:

First, by rapidly scaling up immigration and employment services, through a mix of pro-bono legal representation and pro se assistance from volunteers, the City can help migrants apply for asylum within the one-year deadline from arrival, and then apply to receive work authorization six months later.

Second, by expanding eligibility for CityFHEPS, supporting the passage of, and then aggressively implementing the proposed New York State Housing Access Voucher Program (S2804B/A3701B), enforcing source-of-income discrimination laws, utilizing warehoused rent-stabilized units, and supporting shelter operators in providing increased support services to long-term shelter residents, the City can help tens of thousands of people move into permanent housing.

Through these two core strategies, the City can both help families get on a pathway to economic stability and significantly reduce its own long-term costs for the provision of shelter.    

Overview of the Rising Shelter Census

In the first six months of 2022, the number of individuals seeking shelter within the DHS system was fairly stable, hovering around 45,000 people on any given day. Chart 1 shows that the shelter census, combining the DHS shelter system and the HERRCs, reached nearly 80,000 people by March 1, 2023.[1] The DHS system held over 70,800 individuals while HERRCs provided shelter to 8,840 individuals. The combined total has since exceeded 80,000.

While the rate of new arrivals and individuals in shelter has fluctuated over the past six months, due to changes in both federal immigration policy and local operational decisions, it has trended significantly upward – with an average daily growth of approximately 130 individuals, or 65 households, since the end of August 2022.

In both the HERRCs and at the DHS intake shelter facilities, City staff work with migrants to explore options other than shelter, such as relocating to other cities or states or settling with family. H+H staff have estimated that approximately 70% of families and 50% of single adults settle into the HERRC or shelter system.

Chart 1. Total Individuals in DHS Shelter and HERRC Facilities since April 2022

SOURCE: NYC Open Data, NYC Mayor’s Office, Office of the NYC Comptroller.
https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/DHS-Daily-Report/k46n-sa2m

These numbers reflect distinct individuals – adult women and men and school-age children. Of the 70,848 individuals receiving shelter at DHS run sites as of March 1, 47,874 of them were adults and 22,974 were children. Due to a lack of detail, the Comptroller’s office cannot easily differentiate further between families with children, adult families, and single adult arrivals. However, data provided by City Hall indicate, that of the 88 DHS shelters that had opened as of February 28, 60 are for families with children, 18 are for single adults, and 10 are for adult families. Four additional emergency hotels were opened since that breakdown was provided. Four of the HERRCs are for families with children, two are for single women and adult families (which can be childless couples or a parent and adult child), and one HERRC, the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook, is a congregate temporary shelter for single men. In addition to the 7 active sites, there were also HERRCs constructed on Randall’s Island and Orchard Beach that have since closed.

Shelter Locations

As shown in Chart 2, the emergency DHS shelters and HERRCs are dispersed throughout the city, with significant clusters in Long Island City, Astoria, Jamaica/Southeast Queens, East New York, the mid-Bronx, and Midtown West in Manhattan.

Chart 2. Concentration of Emergency Shelters and HERRC Sites by Zip Code

SOURCE: Mayor’s Office, Office of the Comptroller.

An analysis by the Comptroller’s office in October found that over 5,500 students had enrolled in the New York City public school system, in many of these same neighborhoods, with concentrations in Districts 9 and 10 in the Bronx, Districts 24 and 30 in Queens, and District 2 in Manhattan.

Budget Implications

The Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget has stated that they anticipate the full cost for the asylum seekers to be approximately $1.4 billion in FY 2023 and $2.8 billion in FY 2024. These cost estimates were made public at the beginning of February and while not fully reflected in the Preliminary Budget released in January, they remain current estimates. The Preliminary Budget only includes $1 billion in expense in FY 2023 and zero in FY 2024 and beyond. Furthermore, the $1 billion cost is assumed to be fully covered by Federal aid, for a zero net impact on the City’s budget.

These assumptions were first included in the November 2022 Financial Plan, when the City added $577 million to the DHS budget for emergency shelters, $22.7 million to the Department of Social Services, $310 million to H+H to operationalize the HERRCs, $50 million to NYCEM, $30 million to the Office of Technology and Innovation, $10 million to DCAS, and smaller amounts to a few other agencies for the HERRCs.

These cost estimates were based on an increase of approximately 34 households per day, roughly half of the trend between the end of August and late February. The more recent estimates assume that the full trend (approximately 65 households per day) will continue through the end of the year, and then stabilize.

As of the end of February, $328 million of the $1 billion authorized in the November Plan has been committed. $61.7 million has been paid out to vendors, in addition to a $140 million payment to H+H.  These amounts are likely to increase considerably during the remaining months of the fiscal year.

It is not unusual for the City to use established budget codes in the earlier stages of an emergency, and journal the expenses to new emergency codes before the close of the fiscal year. Through February, the City has paid out $1.295 billion in the existing adult and family shelter budget codes, over $225 million more than the City paid out last year by the end of February, and only $115 million less than was paid out during the entire prior fiscal year. This suggests that some of these expenses will shift to the emergency budget codes later in the year. This practice makes it unfeasible to track spending in the established emergency budget codes in the City’s Financial Management System over the course of the fiscal year.

H+H, which has its own financial system, receives the funds up-front, per an agreement with OMB to avoid disrupting their cash flow. The Comptroller’s office does not have visibility into H+H’s vendor payments, though H+H reported to their Board that $92.4 million had been committed as of early January to support the first 4 HERRCs.

Federal and State Reimbursement

The Federal government allocated $800 million in the Omnibus Reconciliation Act for FEMA to reimburse localities for the costs of caring for asylum seekers. However, these funds are intended for all localities and the appropriations are for one year only. The City of New York has submitted an application under the FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program. In FY 2023, the Comptroller’s office anticipates federal reimbursement of $200 million through Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants, out of the $800 million available nationwide. It is possible that funding from this source may slip to FY 2024.

The Governor’s Executive Budget lays out a commitment to cover 29% of the shelter costs for asylum seekers, however the total dollar amount is capped at $1 billion over two years, which would be 23.8% of the costs OMB projects. New York State is also providing direct assistance, including National Guard staff who have been assigned to staff the welcome center at Port Authority and to some shelters. Asylum seekers are eligible for Medicaid, and that incremental cost is borne by the State.

Contract and Cost Analysis

Mayor Eric Adams issued a citywide emergency declaration on July 29, which created a path for emergency procurement. City agencies have also utilized existing contracts to meet the needs of the emergency. The Comptroller’s office has gathered information from publicly available sources, in addition to information provided by City Hall, and created a chart to identify the contracts and costs that are known thus far.[2] Table 1 provides a high-level breakdown of known contracts by agency. A list of all known contracts is in Appendix 2 and more detailed data are available for download.

Table 1. Summary of Known Contracts by Contracting Agency

Department of Homeless Services

Information provided by City Hall, indicates that the City has leveraged existing HRA and DHS contracts to provide transportation, security services, clothing, diapers, linens, household goods, and cleaning supplies to emergency shelter sites. It is difficult to ascertain exactly which contracts have been utilized or to determine what levels of funds have been spent, however, as noted above, as of the end of February the City has paid out $225 million more than it had at the same time last year.

All of the 55 DHS contracts for which the Comptroller’s office has information, have been procured through the emergency declaration and are for the provision of shelter.

DHS typically contracts with one nonprofit provider for each hotel, who then manages the staff and various subcontractors for food, security, and any other necessary items. Of the 92 emergency DHS-run shelters opened so far, 20 have been registered by the Comptroller’s office, 4 are pending review, and the remainder have yet to be submitted for registration. These contracts are typically for a single calendar year, crossing Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024. In total, the Comptroller’s office has final contract amounts for 28 DHS contracts, which total $447.5 million. The Comptroller’s office has more detailed information, reported in Table 2 for the 20 contracts that have been registered, which total $399.6 million.

Table 2. DHS Contract Information by Fiscal Year

Within the registered contracts, the average registered contract award is approximately $8.5 million. However, the number of rooms, the population served, and the scope of the services vary widely. One key difference is that some contracts include the rental payments for the hotels while others do not because DHS has separately contracted with the Hotel Association of NYC (HANYC) to act as a third-party administrator to help the agency book, manage and track invoices for hotel services. When separated further, the average award for contracts that include rental payments is $13.1 million and the average award for contracts in which rent is paid separately is $5.9 million.

As shown in Table 3, the per diem cost of the newly contracted emergency hotels, including rent, is $339 for family shelters, considerably higher than the average cost of $186 per shelter day reported in the January Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report. This is not surprising since non-emergency shelters may be in City-owned buildings or have long-term contracts that amortize the costs over many years.

Table 3. Per Diem Rates for DHS Contracts including Rental Payments[3]

Even with the additional information that is provided to the Comptroller’s office for review and registration, it is difficult to ascertain an accurate per diem cost for shelters for which HANYC is coordinating the payments. The information regarding the contracts with rent paid through HANYC is provided in Table 4. Additional documentation should be provided to appropriately track expenses at these sites.

Table 4. Per Diem Rates for DHS Contracts not including Rental Payments

Health and Hospitals

The per diem cost of the HERRCs is anticipated to be higher than the DHS run sites, given the myriad contracts involved, and the need to create new shelter-like services in non-traditional settings. In contrast to DHS, which enters into contracts with nonprofit providers to operate its shelter, who then subcontract for space, food, security, and other needs, H+H is operating the HERRCs itself. H+H manages a variety of vendors who provide services at one or more HERRCs, either through its own contracts, or via inter-agency agreements with other agencies. H+H’s staff and project management consultants manage the various vendors directly at each site. H+H has utilized its existing contracts, many of which were established during the COVID-19 emergency.   In addition, H+H has put into place several emergency contracts for food, hotel rooms, medical screenings, and vaccination.

Other City Agencies

In order to develop and run the HERRCs, particularly those in non-traditional settings such as the tents at Randall’s Island, and the temporary site at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, H+H works with and relies on other agencies, including the Department of Design and Construction (DDC), the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM).

NYCEM is managing several large staffing contracts, in addition to smaller contracts for baby food and formula, interpretation services, and MetroCards. DCAS has leveraged a contract with Garner Environmental Services, Inc., which was established as an emergency response contract in 2014, to help set up the HERRCS by bringing in trailers, tents, and other temporary facilities DCAS has also helped coordinate site location and planning.

The Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) has entered into two emergency contracts with providers to develop case management applications for H+H operations and project management and quality assurance oversight.

The Department of Social Services has entered into an $8.2 million agreement for translation services and has also been working with Catholic Charities Community Services of New York, through a $6.75 million contract to operate the Navigation Center and satellite sites.

Service Provision

In addition to providing shelter, the City has been collaborating with nonprofit organizations to provide services and support. In September 2022, the Adams administration opened the Asylum Seeker Resource Navigation Center in partnership with Catholic Charities Community Services of New York. The Navigation Center is in midtown Manhattan and co-located with several City agencies.

The Navigation Center offers essential services to individuals and families who have arrived in New York City on or after January 1, 2022, such as healthcare services and referrals, legal immigration orientations, and enrollment in health insurance, IDNYC and schools. Case workers typically meet with an individual or family for 1-2 hours and work to determine their needs. The case worker describes what support services the city can and cannot provide, provides food and clothing as needed, and gives referrals to satellite sites for the provision of longer-term case management. In November 2022, the Adams administration announced an additional funding million to provide financial resources to eight community-based organizations serving as satellite sites. The total $6.75 million contract was awarded to Catholic Charities and includes $2.1 million that is being subcontracted to the organizations running the satellite sites.[ii]

Many of the services available at the Navigation Center are also available in the 7 HERRCs, and individuals or families staying there can therefore return for some services, including basic medical services and some mental health supports. Both DHS and H+H provide essential items, such baby bottles, diapers, and formula, winter jackets and clothing, school and arts + crafts supplies, toiletries and laundry supplies.

However, asylum seekers in DHS shelters must make an appointment at the Navigation Center, often several weeks in advance in order to receive medical services, including mental health support.

There is currently no uniform database that enables the City to coordinate the support that asylum seekers are receiving. DHS maintains a database on individuals in its system, but it was originally designed (for good reason) to not include immigration status. The Catholic Charities Navigation Center maintains a separate database, but it does not include the community-based subcontractors. H+H is setting up its own database, separate from both of these. As a result, the City does not have a uniform system for identifying whether migrants have filed their application for asylum, whether they have filed for or received work authorization, whether they have legal counsel, and other information relevant to support them. Such a system would help a lot to coordinate services and support asylum seekers through the process of applying for status, but would need to be created thoughtfully to protect the data privacy of immigrant households.

On March 1, 2023, Speaker Adrienne Adams announced a new public-private partnership, combining $1.2 million in repurposed City Council funds, along with $1 million in philanthropic support, to fund 27 nonprofit and community-based organizations to provide legal services, workforce development, literacy programs, youth services, faith-based services, and food assistance.

In total, City spending on support services, however, is miniscule compared with the amount for shelter costs. The funding described here totals approximately $8.85 million, about 0.2% of the total the City plans to spend.

The Next Phase: Helping People Get Out of Shelter

When asylum-seekers arrive at a HERRC or DHS intake, staff work to help them identify other options, including relocation to other cities or states (for which travel costs can often be covered) or living with family. Nonetheless, the majority of families and approximately half of single adults have settled into the HERRC or shelter system, where they join individuals and families in a system where the average length of stay had stretched to 500 days even before the current crisis.

It is critical that the City turns its focus to helping people – both those seeking asylum and those New Yorkers who have long been in shelter – to move out of shelter and into permanent housing. To achieve this goal, the City should take a two-track approach:

Rapidly Scale Up Immigration & Employment Services

People seeking legal status as asylum seekers must file an asylum application within one year of arrival to the United States. Given that the upsurge in immigration to New York began in the late spring of 2022, that deadline is quickly approaching for many. While the City does not maintain records, advocates report that very few migrants have filed their applications.

Once individuals have applied for asylum, they are eligible 150 days later to apply for work authorization, which they are then eligible to receive within 30 days. While there is a long delay for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to process and review the asylum application, work authorizations have generally been forthcoming in a reasonable period of time.

The City should help new arrivals navigate this process so that eligible migrants can begin the process of making their asylum application, receiving work authorization, gaining formal employment, and finding permanent housing.

While it would be best for every migrant to have individual pro-bono legal counsel, the number of new arrivals in such a short period of time make that goal nearly impossible to achieve. Given the scale and timeline, the City should engage in an “all hands” effort. This should include scaling up pro se clinics, leveraging partnerships with local law schools, and expanding the capacity of existing programs such as the Immigration Help Desk, which are some of the best harm reduction approaches available.

Pro se clinics can empower newcomer migrants by providing them information on the U.S. immigration process, eligibility requirements for asylum and work authorization, and advice on how to complete relevant application forms.

The Adams Administration released a $5 million Request for Proposal for asylum seeker legal services in September 2022. This money has not been awarded, as providers felt the timing and funding levels were insufficient to increase their capacity to the levels necessary to adequately represent newcomers. The Comptroller’s office proposes that the City instead allocate $10 million to support community-based legal organizations, including those co-located at the Asylum Seeker Resource Navigation Center, its satellite sites and local schools through ActionNYC, to hold pro se clinics, conduct outreach to shelters, HERRCs, and neighborhoods, where asylum seekers currently reside.

Access to representation should be available for individuals and families who may face deportation proceedings in the future.  Approximately 48% immigrants with legal representation had successful outcomes in immigration court, compared to the 4% of immigrants without legal representation, according to an evaluation of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) — an NYC initiative that provided legal representation for indigent immigrants in deportation proceedings. An investment of $60 million in general immigration legal services, as called for by New York Immigration Coalition and legal service providers, like Catholic Charities and Legal Aid Society, will enable service providers to effectively help asylum seekers and other immigrants obtain legal status and work authorization in New York and put them on the path of safety and economic stability.

By adequately funding both legal advice and full legal representation, the City will enable legal service providers to serve the widely varying needs and capacity of individuals navigating the byzantine immigration system. Additionally, staff can help tackle the numerous needs of these communities that extend beyond immigration application assistance and work to ensure that all are protected from discrimination and abuses in the labor and housing market and receive access to medical or other benefits. These investments should be fully integrated into the Office of Civil Justice pending five-year plan and building on existing Administration and Council programs and initiatives targeting different immigrant populations including unaccompanied minors, domestic violence survivors and victims of workplace abuses. Passage of the Access to Representation Act (S. 81B/A. 01961A) will ensure immigrants statewide have a right to counsel.

Accelerate Supports to Help Households in Shelter Get Permanent Housing

To create pathways to permanent housing for migrants and all of those currently in the City’s care, the City and State must expand rental assistance, enforce critical tenant protections, and incentivize landlords to rent currently vacant units.

At the State level, the sponsors of the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) legislation have requested an allocation of $250 million for the first year of the program. The legislation requires that at least 50% of these new funds be provided to individuals currently experiencing homelessness and importantly, makes explicit that the voucher be available regardless of immigration status. Passing HAVP this session, followed by rapid implementation in New York City, will help thousands exit our shelter system.

The State should also raise the shelter allowance, which was last increased for families in 2003 and adult households in 1988, from the paltry $215 per month. Given that the rate has not been updated in 20 years, absent a substantial increase, the shelter allowance alone neither prevents evictions nor provides a pathway out of shelter. An increase in funding could further expand rental assistance for homeless New Yorkers and struggling tenants.

The Adams administration has taken welcome steps to expand CityFHEPS eligibility for individuals and families whose income is slightly higher than 200% of the poverty level, reduce the work requirement from 30 to 14 hours per week, and include children with disabilities, as well as adults and SSI recipients.

Now, HRA must take measures to expedite and streamline the process for approving and processing CityFHEPS packages and eliminate the 90-day rule shelter so that New Yorkers who are otherwise eligible can immediately start their search for permanent housing. In addition to these measures, CityFHEPS eligibility must be expanded to undocumented immigrants.  Vouchers should be prioritized for families and individuals currently residing in shelter who have been unable to exit due to this restriction.

The City should also work with shelter operators to provide additional support to help individuals or families who have been long-term residents exit shelter. This includes scaling up wrap-around services to individuals who may need additional help in locating permanent housing and helping large families or those with disabilities find accommodations that are less readily available in New York City’s tight housing market.

Although discriminating against prospective renters based on source of income violates New York City Human Rights Law, it is a consistent barrier to housing voucher recipients. In addition to expanding the number and accessibility of vouchers, scaling up enforcement of source of income discrimination is needed to ensure that once a family receives a voucher, they are able to find an apartment. Building on the Administration’s March 2 announcement of a $3.1 million commitment over the next four years to combat source of income discrimination would be a good start.

Finally, one innovative idea would be to pair vouchers with one-time payments from the City to landlords with rent-stabilized units being held offline. Many owners have claimed that regulated rents are not sufficient to make needed repairs to units before putting them on the market. The City can incentivize that landlords rent their units to tenants with a CityFHEPs voucher exiting shelter by providing one-time funds to make those repairs. This policy could help address the tens of thousands of warehoused units and help families move out of the shelter system at the same time.

Conclusion

The City of New York has worked hard to rapidly scale up shelter for tens of thousands of new arrivals this year, at significant costs that are projected to continue into the coming years. As time goes on, the City must focus on helping asylum seekers apply for legal status, work authorization, and permanent housing, so that they can get on a path to economic stability. With policy changes and a dedicated effort, the City can dramatically reduce the shelter length of stay, redeploy existing shelter space for people newly in need or newly arrived, and save on the costs of opening new emergency shelters. As immigrants have for generations in the Big Apple, these new arrivals have the potential to contribute greatly to NYC’s economic and cultural vitality.

Acknowledgements

This report was co-authored by Celeste Hornbach, Director of Housing Policy, and Krista Olson, Deputy Comptroller for Budget, with assistance from Naomi Dann, Communications Director, Jade Vasquez, Policy Analyst, and Louis Cholden-Brown, Senior Policy Advisor and Special Counsel for Policy & Innovation. Support with data analysis was provided by Daniel Roboff, Director of Procurement Research Analysis & Reporting, Michael D’Ambrosio, Assistant Comptroller for Contract Administration, Charlette Hamamgian, Deputy Comptroller for Contract Administration. Archer Hutchinson, Graphic Designer led the design, with mapping by Jacob Bogitsh, Senior Economic Development Policy Analyst Economic Development.

Appendix 1: Emergency Procurement

In normal times, the procurement rules and processes are designed to enable fair competition, lower costs, and provide transparency. Emergencies, however, can present unanticipated needs that require much faster responses than this process typically allows. In these situations, City agencies often consider an assortment of contracting options such as leveraging the City’s existing contract portfolio or entering into new contracts. Options include procuring commodities and services from New York State preferred sources, leveraging existing DCAS citywide requirements contracts, tapping into established agency or multi-agency contracts, or, as a last resort, requesting permission to use the emergency procurement method.

An emergency procurement must be limited to those items necessary to avoid or mitigate serious danger to life, safety, property, or a necessary service. City agencies will choose a contracting path after considering available vendors, timeframe to deliver goods/services, price, and other factors.

The NYC Charter and Procurement Policy Board (PPB) rules define an emergency condition as “an unforeseen danger to life, safety, property, or a necessary service” which creates an immediate and serious need for goods, services, or construction that cannot be met quickly enough through normal procurement methods.

Agencies seeking to utilize this procurement method must solicit and receive prior approval from the Comptroller’s Office and Corporation Counsel. They must also seek to obtain as much competition in vendor selection as is possible and practical given the conditions of the emergency. Agencies submit a formal emergency declaration to the Comptroller’s Office and Corporation Counsel for approval, and to the City Council for notice. The emergency declaration must include information about the emergency itself, the goods or services or construction needed, the projected cost, the vendor selected in the emergency procurement, and basis of the awarded vendor’s selection. An emergency procurement requires a prior approval (of Law and Comptroller) to use the method followed by the formal approval (also by Law and Comptroller) of a written determination where the agency includes the contractor’s name, contract price, and basis for vendor selection.

In this situation, the Mayor issued a citywide emergency declaration on 7/29. The Comptroller’s office gave prior approval on the same day and then on 11/9 sent a reminder to agencies that they are still required to submit a written determination for formal approval as required under the PPB Rules.

While work can begin under the framework of the emergency declaration prior to a contract’s registration, agencies must still submit contract packages to the Comptroller’s Office for registration before funds are made available to pay vendors. As such, vendors with emergency contracts are authorized to start work prior to registration, however, the agency is still required to process and submit the emergency contract for registration. Payment can’t flow to the vendor until the emergency contract is registered.

Appendix 2: Contract Information

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Endnotes

[1] The total does not include individuals in the City’s domestic violence shelter system (operated by HRA), runaway homeless youth shelters (by DYCD), or emergency relocations for those displaced by fires or floods (by HPD). For these other categories, which are much smaller, see City Limits’ NYC Shelter Count: https://citylimits.org/nyc-shelter-count-2022/

[2] Registered contract information is accessible to the public via PASSPort Public (nyc.gov) and payments can be tracked through CheckBook NYC. An overview of the emergency procurement process is included in Appendix 1.

[3] The Comptroller’s office calculated the per diem rate as the rate the City agreed to pay using the final contract amount and the maximum number of units or beds contracted with the provider. Shelters for families with children include a unit number while adult shelters include a number of beds. Actual rates paid will vary.

[i] https://www.nyc.gov/assets/operations/downloads/pdf/pmmr2023/dhs.pdf

[ii] https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/874-22/mayor-adams-opening-satellite-asylum-seeker-resource-navigation-sites-support-newly

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