Alternative Models for Sheltering Homeless Families

This study assessed costs, quality of life, services, length of stay, and clienteles in 9 nonprofit shelters for families in New York City. It compared different types of nonprofit shelters and used published data to compare the nonprofits as a class to welfare hotels and city‐operated congregate shelters. The nonprofit models provided a reasonable quality of life, and both more and better coordinated services than the welfare hotels at a slightly lower cost. Projected costs for expanding these models were slightly higher than costs projected by the city for welfare hotels, but substantially lower than for the congregate shelters. The average length of stay in particular shelters was affected by family size, advocacy efforts, and regulations, but only an increase in the stock of permanent housing was judged likely to change the average length of stay in the full shelter system.