FROM LEGAL AID TO FAMILIES APPLYING FOR SHELTER IN NYC

(Article published in HWW Sep 2007)

All families who apply for shelter in NYC and are found ineligible have the right to re-apply IMMEDIATELY.

They may not receive a conditional placement in a shelter while the City is deciding their re-application. (Although recently the city has been offering an overnight only placement to any family who asks for one after 5 pm.)

But the City MUST give you a conditional placement in a shelter when you re-apply if:

1. •you or your child would be in immediate danger if you do not receive shelter (including for medical reasons);
   

2. •the primary tenant of the home where the City is saying you can live (or the tenant’s family member) would be in immediate danger if you returned to that home (including for medical reasons);
   

3. •you (or the primary tenant) were evicted from the last place you stayed;
   

4. •you or a family member is a domestic violence victim, and the abuser lives in the last place you stayed or can find you;
   

5. •a family member is a victim of child abuse, and the abuser lives in the last place you stayed or can find your child;
   

6. •you are re-applying more than 90 days after last having been found ineligible for shelter.
   

The City must also give you a conditional placement in a shelter if you were found ineligible because:

1. •you "failed to cooperate";
   

2. •you "failed to demonstrate that you are a family unit";
   

3. •you had to miss appointments at EAU or PATH;
   

4. •you were logged out before your application was decided.
   

If the City does not give you shelter when you re-apply: call Legal Aid's Homeless Rights Project, 1-800-649-9125,

Mon - Fri, 9 am - 5 pm OR visit the Coalition for the Homeless, 129 Fulton St. (at Nassau St.), Lower Manhattan, Mon, Tues and Thurs 9 am - 2 pm; Wed and Fri 9-11 am.

If you have been found ineligible and have no shelter for the night, you may also call 1(212) 776-2016 from 9 am to 10:30 pm.