Housing And Homelessness Leader Named NYC Social Services Commissioner

NEW YORK, NY — Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Erin Dalton as commissioner of the New York City Department of Social Services, placing a veteran human services administrator in charge of the agency that oversees public benefits and the city’s homeless shelter system.

"She has expanded access to housing, strengthened social services and protected our most vulnerable neighbors," Mamdani said.

The Department of Social Services includes the Human Resources Administration, which assists more than three million low-income and vulnerable New Yorkers each year, and the Department of Homeless Services, which operates the nation’s largest municipal shelter system and works to transition families and individuals into permanent housing.

Dalton most recently led the Allegheny County Department of Human Services in Pennsylvania, where she oversaw crisis response, child welfare, homelessness services and behavioral health systems. During her tenure, the county built a coordinated winter shelter network that reduced the number of people living outdoors by nearly 98 percent, officials said. Violent crime declined by nearly 20%, and incarceration rates fell by almost 10 percent as the department expanded diversion programs and behavioral health responses.

“DSS can reduce the painful trade-offs families make between food and medicine, housing and safe childcare," Dalton said. "We can work to help the best public servants in the country deliver assistance more efficiently and with greater dignity. And we can work relentlessly so that all New Yorkers have access to better resources. I can’t wait to get started.”

As commissioner, Dalton will oversee benefits distribution, rental assistance, emergency shelter operations and social service programs that affect millions of residents.

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said Dalton spent most of her career developing “innovative, data-driven, and compassionate solutions in the human services space” and called her departure the county’s loss and New York City’s gain.

Dalton previously directed analytics, planning and information technology functions within the Allegheny County department, earning national recognition for integrating data systems to improve outcomes and reduce racial disparities in child welfare decisions.

She now takes leadership of an agency central to the city’s affordability strategy, with responsibility for stabilizing families, managing shelter capacity and delivering assistance to millions of New Yorkers navigating housing insecurity and economic hardship.