NEW YORK - A new program will train over 15,000 New York City employees to help homeless New Yorkers get off the street, the city announced Thursday.
The Outreach NYC initiative is set to train thousands of people from at least five different agencies on how to use 311 to request resources for homeless individuals. That includes sanitation workers, building inspectors, and other city employees.
Those 311 requests will be routed to the new Joint Command Center that the Department of Homeless Services manages. The center will provide responses and analyze trends it sees.
So far, the city says more than 3,000 employees from across the five boroughs have already been trained, and that number will eventually grow to 18,000.
"These are some of the folks who best know communities and are going to be able to give us the information to act quickly. So bringing every department that connects with communities into this mission," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the announcement. "18,000 more eyes and ears in this city, able to give us in real-time information about what's happening and where we need to go to get homeless folks help and get them off the streets."
The announcement came a month after four men were brutally murdered while sleeping on the streets in Chinatown.
Dr. Raul Perea-Henze, the new deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, will oversee the initiative.
The Coalition for the Homeless criticizes the plan, saying it is just a temporary fix.
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