Int. No. 856
By Council Members Cabán, Ossé, Louis, Hanif, Hudson, Avilés, Gutiérrez, Nurse, Barron, Richardson Jordan, Restler, De La Rosa, Krishnan and Sanchez
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to outreach to unsheltered individuals
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 3 of title 21 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 21-328 to read as follows:
§ 21-328 Outreach to unsheltered individuals. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Outreach. The term “outreach” means engaging in contact with or offering services to unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness.
Tangible support. The term “tangible support” means food, coffee, water, socks, underwear, blankets, hygiene supplies, storage vouchers for personal items and harm reduction health tools.
Trauma-informed care. The term “trauma-informed care” means trauma-informed care as described by the substance abuse and mental health services administration of the United States department of health and human services, or any successor agency, department, or governmental entity.
Unsheltered individual. The term “unsheltered individual” means an individual with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
b. Outreach to unsheltered individuals by any government agency shall not include any involvement by the police department or department of sanitation and shall be limited to department staff or staff contracted by the department who are trained in trauma informed care and working with vulnerable populations, to contact and offer services to unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness.
c. The department shall ensure that outreach teams provide tangible support to unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness. Department personnel shall not expend time while on duty or department resources of any kind disclosing information that belongs to the department and is available to them only in their official capacity, in communicating with the police department or department of sanitation regarding any unsheltered individual experiencing homelessness.
d. Notwithstanding any provision of section 16-122(b) of the administrative code of the city of New York, no notice of violation, appearance ticket or summons may be issued against any unsheltered individual experiencing homelessness for the use of nonpermanent materials or parts to fit together bedding or temporary shelter.
§ 2. This local law takes effect 180 days after it becomes law.
Session 12
ACK
LS #8545
9/29/2022
Session 11
ACK
LS #15047
Int. 2177-2020