Landmark Settlement of Homeless Families Litigation

Cravath has been working with the Legal Aid Society in long-running litigation on behalf of homeless families with children seeking to compel New York City and New York State to meet constitutional requirements relating to the provision of shelter. In the twenty-five years since the litigation was first filed, the Court entered more than ninety orders directing the City and State to provide safe, appropriate and habitable shelter, forcing the City to become accountable for its shelter system. In the most recent phase of the litigation, the City Defendants sought to vacate all existing court orders on the grounds that the shelter system is now adequate and therefore court supervision is no longer required.

On September 17, 2008, the City of New York and New York State settled with the plaintiffs in a landmark agreement. Pursuant to the stipulation and final judgment, the City acknowledges for the first time that homeless families have a legal right to shelter. The City is permanently enjoined to provide shelter that is “safe, sanitary and decent,” and such shelter must be provided in a “timely and appropriate manner.” The permanent injunction is enforceable before any Justice of the New York Supreme Court, who can apply all available remedies to achieve compliance.

As part of the settlement, the City also agreed to specific, enforceable administrative procedures relating to the process for determining shelter eligibility for families with children and other matters. The final judgment requires the City to follow those procedures at least until December 31, 2010; that date can be extended by any Justice of the New York Supreme Court upon a finding of systemic non-compliance.

In addition, the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance has also settled, in a stipulation and final judgment requiring OTDA to provide priority administrative hearings for families with children to challenge City shelter ineligibility determinations. The State is required to apply the requirements of the new City eligibility procedure in those hearings.

The individual Cravath lawyers who worked on the litigation, led by partners Richard W. Clary and Elizabeth L. Grayer, are receiving Outstanding Pro Bono Service Awards from Legal Aid, and Legal Aid will present Cravath with its Pro Bono Firm of the Year Award in October. Other lawyers involved include Melissa Mathis, Yonatan Even, Jonathan M. Watkins and Lauren P. Rubin.