DHS provides emergency shelter to homeless single adults, families with children, and adult families pursuant to the litigation establishing New York’s legal Right to Shelter. The DHS system is by far the largest shelter system, and is legally obligated to expand to meet the level of need. The Coalition for the Homeless has consistently been publishing monthly census data on the shelters operated by DHS (and its predecessors) since 1983.
In addition to the NYC agencies, there are also a limited number of smaller Private and Faith-based Shelters throughout NYC, which are not included in the shelter census numbers provided by the City.