Sen. Gounardes’ SAFE Shelter Act Passes State Senate

Bill would make it easier for thousands of survivors of domestic violence, abuse, and trafficking to access domestic shelters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 14, 2026

New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes issued the following statement after the State Senate voted to pass his SAFE Shelter Act:

“Our top priority should be keeping New Yorkers safe. That means ensuring domestic violence survivors have a safe place to stay in their most vulnerable moment.  But our state's funding system is so flawed that if a shelter operator places a single person in a room with two beds, they lose half the revenue they need to cover rent, staffing and security. The result? Too many survivors aren't connected to shelter at all. That’s shameful, but it doesn’t have to be this way—this is a problem my SAFE Shelter Act can fix.”

Background:

The Securing Access to Fair & Equal (SAFE) Shelter Act (S7738A/A3264A) is designed to make it easier for thousands of survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking to access safe and stable temporary housing in a domestic shelter.

Most rooms in the DV emergency shelter system are designed to accommodate families of two, three, or more. Providers that place single survivors without children in rooms designed to house more than two people face significant, and potentially ruinous, financial consequences. As a result, survivors of domestic violence without children often struggle to find shelter, forcing them to stay in the homeless shelter system—which is not designed to meet their needs—or onto the streets. 

The Act would fix this flawed funding system by requiring the State to preserve the full reimbursement to providers who "downsize" a room configured for a family of two to accommodate a single victim, increasing system-wide capacity for single adults.

Safe Horizon operates the New York City Domestic Violence Hotline and receives nearly 90,000 domestic violence hotline calls per year and more than 40,000 domestic violence shelter requests annually on its 24-hour hotline. Each year, the largest population of individuals seeking domestic violence shelter is single adults with no children, and that number has increased year over year. 

In 2025, about 55% of callers seeking shelter placement were single adults with no children. Only 17% were linked to an available shelter space, compared to the 23% of callers who were families of two (typically a mother and one child) and had a 68% rate of being linked to an available shelter space. By allowing shelter providers greater flexibility to downsize a room meant for two people to accommodate a single adult, organizations will have increased capacity to shelter single adults fleeing violence and abuse.

Press Contact:

Billy Richling

Communications Director

State Senator Andrew Gounardes

billy@senatorgounardes.nyc

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