Suffolk County must provide emergency shelter to eligible homeless families under New York Social Services Law Section 350-j and the Callahan consent-decree principles. The Department of Social Services places households in motels, family shelters, and transitional bridge housing across Long Island.
New York Social Services Law Section 350-j requires social-services districts to provide temporary housing assistance to eligible families with children. Suffolk County Department of Social Services operates intake at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge and contracts with shelters across the county, including Pax Christi Hospitality Center, Mercy Haven, and the Tri Community and Youth Agency. The Long Island Coalition for the Homeless oversees Coordinated Entry under the federal HUD Continuum of Care program. Bridge housing operates under New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance regulations 18 NYCRR Part 352, with length-of-stay limits, sobriety expectations, and case-management requirements that vary by program.
Wrongful denial of emergency shelter to an eligible family can be challenged through fair-hearing rights under 18 NYCRR Part 358 and Article 78 proceedings against Suffolk Department of Social Services.
See how Huntington's bridge housing siting rules stack up against other locations.
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