Mayor de Blasio says 18,000 workers will be trained to identify and help the city’s homeless get the programs they need. The outreach comes after homeless men were attacked and killed in Chinatown last month. NBC New York’s Gilma Avalos reports.
What to Know
- NYC will direct more than 18,000 municipal employees to give social service workers real-time information about those without shelter
- Workers from the departments of parks, sanitation, buildings, fire and health will be trained to use an app to a new joint command center
- An estimated 3,600 people live on the city's streets, while almost 60,000 live in shelters
New York City will direct more than 18,000 municipal employees to give social service workers real-time information about homeless people living on the streets.
Workers from the departments of parks, sanitation, buildings, fire and health will be trained to use an app to send details to a new homeless services joint command center.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says this multi-agency effort has the goal to combat homelessness by moving more unsheltered New Yorkers off the streets and into transitional and permanent housing.
Additionally, about 180 outreach workers will also be hired.
According to The New York Times, outreach workers will then begin the often time-consuming process of persuading the homeless people to accept services and shelter.
An estimated 3,600 people live on the city's streets, while almost 60,000 live in shelters.
Local
De Blasio has committed $19 million to hire about 200 new outreach workers, bringing the total to around 600.
Giselle Routhier of the Coalition for the Homeless says the 24/7 initiative seems like "mass surveillance of homeless people."
