PHOTO: Mayor de Blasio and Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steve Banks have announced that the city is expanding its shelters for survivors of domestic violence. Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Unit
The city is expanding its shelters for survivors of domestic violence, adding space to serve a total of about 13,300 children and adults a year, a 50 percent increase over the current 8,800 individuals served yearly, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steve Banks announced on Monday.
The administration indicated that the expansion will provide 400 new units of Tier II transitional family shelter, and 300 new emergency shelter beds for single survivors of domestic violence, including single pregnant women and women with very young children.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer has approved HRA using an emergency procurement for six months of services at a cost of $14,770,000, which will allow the agency to find and open shelters more quickly, according to the administration. The emergency contracts will then be replaced by long-term contracts.
HRA oversees the largest network of domestic violence services in the country, including shelters and other programs. The HRA domestic violence shelter system currently consists of 45 confidential facilities throughout all five boroughs with a total capacity of 2,228 emergency beds and 243 transitional shelter units, known as Tier II units. The system served 8,838 individuals, including children, in fiscal year 2015. To protect survivors, the locations of domestic violence shelters are kept strictly confidential. The new units will bring the domestic violence shelter system to a total of 2,528 emergency beds for single adults or families with very young children and 643 units of transitional shelter for families including children.
In both types of shelter survivors receive support services including counseling, preparation for permanent housing, assistance in locating adequate housing, child care services, help applying for benefits such as public assistance, and access to job readiness and placement programs. Both individuals and families will be helped to see if they qualify for one of the city’s rent-assistance programs designed for survivors of domestic violence so they can move out of shelter.
“The grip that victims of domestic violence find themselves in is that the very idea of escape seems intangible. There is an illusory feeling that the obstacles they face are insurmountable, the logistics too difficult, and so they continue living in a home where they do not feel safe,” noted state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), chairman of the Senate Children and Families Committee. “Domestic violence shelters, like the ones provided by the Human Resource Administration, not only provide victims a haven, but also hope. Hope that, with one step at a time, there is a way out from the abuse they’ve suffered. I commend the Human Resource Administration for expanding its shelter. With every room added is another family saved.”
By Forum Staff
