New York City’s social services agency now runs one of the nation’s largest housing assistance programs, according to new city data, but advocates and one mayoral candidate say it could be even bigger.
The number of households using rental assistance to exit shelters has risen by 83% over the past four years, according to the latest Mayor’s Management Report on agency performance. Data from the Department of Social Services shows more than 26,000 people moved out of shelters into permanent apartments through a city-funded assistance program at a cost of more than $1 billion last fiscal year.
City officials are touting the latest data as a win for Mayor Eric Adams and the social services agency, but the increase comes despite Adams’ refusal to implement measures passed by the City Council that would expand access further. If the next mayor chooses to drop the current opposition, tens of thousands of additional New Yorkers could be eligible for the city-funded voucher program known as CityFHEPS.
The numbers are not just a reflection of high rents and a limited supply of available apartments. The city’s voucher program is growing in importance, Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park said. The Trump administration has cut back federal voucher programs and the state offers only a modest program for a subset of homeless families.
“What we're seeing is really city funds stepping in and filling that void,” Park said. “It’s a big financial commitment.”
CityFHEPS has played a key role for the bulk of the people who were moving out of shelters into permanent housing. Agency data shows it helped 12,500 of the 23,000 households who successfully moved out of shelters last fiscal year. Park said more than 60,000 households use CityFHEPS to help pay their rent. Recipients pay no more than 30% of their income toward housing, while the voucher covers the rest up to a threshold based on family size.
Vouchers have proven effective at keeping low-income households from becoming homeless again. The vast majority of those who use the aid to pay their rent stay in their apartments for at least a year, while nearly 1 in 5 single adults who exit shelters without assistance return within 12 months, according to the mayor’s report.
Park said her agency is assisting about 96,000 households through a variety of housing voucher programs, including a subsidy for low-income tenants with HIV/AIDS and another allowing people to move outside the five boroughs. By contrast, Chicago administers only about 47,000 federal Section 8 vouchers, while Los Angeles issues roughly 58,000.
Still, the number of New Yorkers staying each night in city shelters, including recently arrived immigrants ineligible for government housing aid, remains near record highs amid a deep housing shortage. As of last Thursday, the total stood at 86,000 people, according to the most recent daily census. Citywide, most tenants are considered “rent-burdened,” meaning they pay at least 30% of their income on housing, and most households that have access to CityFHEPS vouchers struggle to find an apartment where they can use the aid.
The City Council in 2023 attempted to expand access to CityFHEPS to reach tenants facing eviction and low-income New Yorkers who made too much to qualify for the aid. Adams opposed the measures and refused to implement them. After a judge sided with the mayor, an appellate court overruled the decision. The case is now pending another appeal.
Advocates for homeless New Yorkers say they hope the next mayor institutes the laws. Only Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani says he would do so as part of his housing plan.
Mamdani has pledged to drop opposition to Council measures that would expand access to the rental assistance program. But budget watchdogs, like the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission, have warned the program’s growth could further strain city finances and make it unsustainable. Adams and the city’s Independent Budget Office have issued conflicting analyses on the potential price tag of adopting the Council’s legislation, and councilmembers have accused the mayor of inflating the total.
Other policy groups have countered that savings on temporary shelters and services, as well as a moral obligation to house homeless New Yorkers, offset the cost — especially as the federal government cuts its own social spending.
“As we are seeing the erosion of the social safety net at the federal level, it is going to be critically important that the city and state step up to fill those gaps,” said Amy Blumsack, policy director at the social service group Neighbors Together. “If ever there was a time to invest in a strong rental assistance voucher, now is the time.”
Yet CityFHEPS has been plagued by administrative delays, a shortage of available apartments and rampant discrimination against people who use government assistance to pay rent.
Ismael Rosario said he turned to a homeless shelter three years ago when he could not afford an apartment. He said he was finally able to find an apartment where the landlord accepted the voucher earlier this year, after some owners refused and other apartments were quickly scooped up. He moved into the unit in East New York in July.
Rosario said he is working side jobs to earn enough to pay for housing without assistance, but the voucher has given him breathing room.
“It did help me get out of shelter, but it doesn't secure your future,” he said. “It’s up to me to grab the bull by the horns and make the money to get out of here.”
