Request
The number of homeless individuals located in City Council District 30, Community Board 5 and the borough of Queens, broken down by zip code.
Geographical data on homeless individuals housed at the Cooper Rapid Rehousing Center. Provide data on which zip codes and community board districts residents lived in prior to moving into a shelter.
We are attempting to address the homelessness crisis in New York City.
Response
Thank you for your dataset requests.
With regards to the request for the number of homeless individuals by City Council District, Community Board, and ZIP Code:
The Agency currently publishes on Open Data for the number of homeless individuals by Borough and Community District and that is here: https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/Individual-Census-by-Borough-Community-District-an/veav-vj3r. For the other breakdowns requested, while this data is theoretically present in Agency data systems in the form of individual disaggregated records, the Agency does not maintain an existing report split by City Council District or ZIP code. Please note, because the data requested is not maintained in the format requested, production of the data for this specific, single request would require significant new programming involving significant Agency resources and therefore cannot be provided with reasonable effort. See Public Officers Law, Article 6, Sec. 89(3)(a). Additionally, pursuant to Public Officer Law (POL) § 87(2)(a), release of such information is prohibited by NY Social Services Law § 136 since production could reveal personally identifiable information, including but not limited to the location of the various shelter sites. Even if data were able to be reasonably produced and provided in a seemingly aggregated form without undue burden, which it is not, that data could still be utilized to identify confidential shelter locations, since the specificity of the information, such as ZIP code, for example, which reflects a very small geographical area/tract, could be cross-examined and triangulated with existing public information to reveal the locations of confidential shelter facilities and the locations where public benefits recipients are residing, in violation of NY SSL § 136, as indicated. Additionally, such a release could also constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy and violation of client confidentiality pursuant to POL § 87(2)(b).
With regards to the request for specific data about specific clients who are currently experiencing homelessness and residing at a specific confidential/protected shelter location, in this case for their prior home addresses before they lost their housing and entered shelter:
While this data is present in Agency data systems in individual disaggregated records, the Agency does not maintain an existing aggregated report with the addresses of individuals prior to entering DHS for specific shelters nor can such a report be provided with reasonable effort. See Public Officers Law, Article 6, Sec. 89(3)(a). Moreover, pursuant to Public Officer Law (POL) § 87(2)(a), release of such information is a violation of client confidentiality protections, prohibited by NY Social Services Law § 136, since production would reveal confidential case information such as prior residences/addresses for public benefits recipients and/or personally identifiable information by revealing client identities. Additionally, such a release could also constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy and violation of client confidentiality pursuant to POL § 87(2)(b).
Please email me at drinkwatere@dss.nyc.gov for any further questions on this topic.
Sincerely,
Erin Drinkwater
Deputy Commissioner, Intergovernmental & Legislative Affairs
NYC Department of Social Services