The New York City shelter census is growing at an alarming rate, and too many New Yorkers remain stuck in shelter due to solvable administrative issues and illogical rules related to New York City’s rental assistance voucher, CityFHEPS. In particular, the archaic and cruel “90-day rule,” which requires families to remain in shelter for
an arbitrary 90 days before they can even apply for rental assistance forces families to stay in shelter months longer than they need to, unnecessarily costing the city thousands of dollars per family per month, while prolonging an already traumatic experience.