Thank you to Chair Ayala and to the esteemed members of the General Welfare Committee for the opportunity to offer testimony. My name is Christine Quinn, and I am the President and CEO of Win. I am here to express our strong support for, and discuss the importance of, Intro No 522, which would require the city to fund onsite mental health clinicians at every shelter for families with children, at a ratio of one clinician for every 50 families.
Win is New York City’s largest provider of shelter and services to families with children experiencing homelessness. We operate 14 shelters and nearly 600 supportive housing units across the five boroughs. More than 6,200 people call Win ‘home’ every night, including 3,490 children — in total, we house over 10 percent of homeless families with children in New York City.