Maragos: Nassau County Homeless Shelters Need Oversight

An audit of the $8 million annual Nassau County Homeless Shelter Program revealed that serious improvements are needed, Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos announced Wednesday.

Out of the 27 private shelters and seven motels, one shelter and none of the motels were inspected during the three-year audit period from 2012-14, the audit found.

“This program provides crucial services to the homeless and should not be neglected,” Maragos said in a press release.

The Nassau County program, run by the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD), provided emergency housing to 896 individuals and 427 children in 2015. The audit was conducted after complaints were made and a news report from last winter revealed that temperatures in a Nassau County shelter were as low as 50 degrees.

“The homeless turn to their government when they have nowhere else to turn and OHCD has an obligation to provide our needy with safe and clean temporary housing as entrusted by the taxpayers,” Maragos said. “The Department needs to immediately follow through and inspect all homeless shelters.”

The audit also revealed:

• One shelter was approved without an initial inspection. (Federal Housing Quality Standards require annual inspections of homeless shelters and inspection of new shelters prior to approval.)
• The DSS/OHCD failed to confirm that the non-profit shelters had filed their required IRS 990 report.
• The DSS/OHCD could not produce required motel permits to operate a temporary residence.
• Logs of resident complaints were not kept.

The DSS gave $39.7 million worth of payments to homeless shelters and motels from 2011-14. The aggregate payments to the designated motels for this period amounted to $8.4 million, which is 21.2 percent of the total payments for emergency housing.

Nassau County pays shelter providers a daily fee to house families and people within New York State and County regulations. Shelter residents must sign in and out on a daily basis and if the shelters are at a maximum capacity, which often occurs during the winter months, the DSS can place the residents in designated hotels.

The County currently employs one Housing Inspector and one Housing Supervisor responsible for emergency shelters.

A second audit is scheduled to visit and inspect these facilities after the corrective actions promised by the Department have been implemented. No overbilling issues were uncovered.

For a copy of the report, connect with Nassau County Comptroller Maragos Online here.

Photo: Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos via Linkedin