Investing in Subsidized Housing Pays for NYC Homeless Families

By James Dysart, Associate Policy Director

Released last month, the Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report (PMMR) provides early insight into fluctuations in the numbers of families living in city shelters. Between July and October 2025, the average number of families with children living in Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters declined. There was a daily average of 17,909 families in shelter during that reporting period.¹ The City attributes this decrease to an increase in shelter exits, driven in part by a rise in placements into subsidized permanent housing.² Additional metrics from the PMMR support that subsidized housing has consistently proven more effective at avoiding shelter reentry than unsubsidized options.³

This trend appears to have continued beyond the PMMR reporting window. As of this week the number of families in DHS shelters has fallen to 16,814.⁴ Far too many families still lack access to housing at a price point that they can actually afford given their wages and other resources. Even so, it is a promising signal that increased access to permanent housing can impact the number of families living in shelter. At the same time, these figures underscore how precarious this progress remains and how dependent it is on sustained investments in affordable subsidized housing.

Family homelessness trends dating back to 2021 are available through our interactive tool, which places these recent changes in broader context and highlights the work still ahead.

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References

1. Mayor’s Office of Operations. “Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report.” Nyc.gov, March 2026. pp. 228. https://www.nyc.gov/assets/operations/downloads/pdf/pmmr2026/2026_pmmr.pdf
2. Mayor’s Office of Operations. “Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report.” 2026. pp. 227.
3. Mayor’s Office of Operations. “Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report.” 2026. pp. 230.
4. Department of Homeless Services. “DHS Daily Report.” NYC Open Data. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/DHS-Daily-Report/k46n-sa2m. Accessed April 6, 2026. Note: Data for this blog uses DHS daily report data from April 5, 2026.