New York state could soon guarantee homeless families housed in hotels the same services as families in shelters, including finding housing, meals and child care.
The proposal from the Office of Temporary Disability Services follows a ProPublica and New York Focus investigation that found hotels are the state’s main response to homelessness outside of New York City. The investigation found that the county is housing tens of thousands of adults and children, often in dilapidated hotels, and many are cut off from services promised by the shelter system.
The proposed regulations released Wednesday will go through a 60-day public comment period before the OTDA, which oversees the county Department of Social Services, can decide whether to adopt, modify or repeal them. Each county will be required to submit a plan for providing support services once the rules are adopted. Counties must also enforce overcrowding restrictions and ensure children do not have to share beds with adults.
“People in emergency housing should have a fair chance to find stability, regardless of where they live. So I believe the state needs to consider and decide what’s next.” [the rule change] It’s a priority,” said Democratic Congressman Michael Solages.
The OTDA first put new rules on hotel placement on the agenda about five years ago, but it stalled there. In response to questions from New York Focus and ProPublica last year, OTDA Director Barbara Guinn said she could not “provide insight” into why OTDA did not formally propose the rule.
New York Focus and ProPublica interviewed families staying in hotels across the state who said they were not receiving the services they needed to escape homelessness. Even among families with children with special needs, no families reported receiving child care. Many struggled to feed themselves and were kept in dilapidated spaces where children and parents slept in groups of four or more in beds.
Services needed at shelters and hotels
Note: Requirements are for hotels outside of New York City. New York state regulations state that hotels are considered shelters and must provide services. But there is currently no need to do so, said Anthony Farmer, a spokesman for the Office of Temporary and Disability Services. Source: New York State Statutes, Rules, and Regulations.
Despite the lack of services, hotels and motels often charged rates well above market rent. Statewide spending on hotel stays outside of New York City will exceed $110 million in 2024, more than tripling in six years as the number of hotel referrals increases, according to the study. In many cases, the county will foot the majority of a family’s bill.
An OTDA spokesperson said many counties are already serving hotel guests.
Robert Henke, chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, said the northern part of the county is one of them. An even bigger burden is hotel room costs, which contributed to the county’s fiscal crisis and funding cuts, he said. The overwhelming surge in homelessness caused hotel spending to jump from $579,000 to more than $1.9 million from 2023 to 2024, according to data obtained through a public records request.
Although the new rules do not directly address these costs or how they will be shared between agencies, OTDA’s proposal notes that additional assistance could reduce spending by preventing families from having to stay in hotels for longer.
The agency also said that for counties that have not yet implemented the new rules, the cost to implement them should be less than $120,000 each. Brian Kavanaugh, a Democratic state senator who represents Lower Manhattan and serves on the Human Services Committee, said if the regulations are adopted, he will work to mobilize all the resources needed to implement them.
Soges said she hopes the new rules will help families get the help they need. “I hope we can facilitate this,” she said. “Not only is temporary housing through hotels very expensive, but hotels are not the right place for families.”
