NYC Department of Homeless Services
The NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) is the city agency responsible for managing New York City's shelter system — the largest municipal shelter system in the United States. DHS directly contracts with over 60 nonprofit and for-profit operators to run approximately 700 shelter sites housing over 60,000 people nightly. DHS's annual budget has grown from $1.5B in 2015 to approximately $3.8B in FY2026, driven largely by the 2022–2024 migrant crisis and chronic family homelessness.
DHS annual expenditure grew from $1.5B (FY2015) to $3.8B (FY2026) — a 153% increase — while the shelter population has remained above 60,000 and exits to permanent housing have declined as a share of exits.
DHS manages contracts with 60+ separate operators across 700 sites. The Office of Shelter Oversight (OSO) is chronically understaffed relative to the scale of the system.
During the 2022–2024 migrant crisis, DHS and DSS awarded over $2B in emergency no-bid contracts to shelter operators including DocGo ($432M) and Bono Group ($96M), bypassing standard procurement rules.
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