EMERGENCY HOUSING PLAN

Monroe County

• The name, address, and contact information for the hotel/motel that is the subject of the
Emergency Housing Plan
• Holiday Inn Rochester Downtown. 70 State St. Rochester, NY 14614. Nayan Patel
(owner): James Brown (GM)

• Number of rooms and proposed room occupancy (e.g., is there a maximum family size per
room?)
o Occupancy: Holiday Inn 72 double bed rooms that will allow up to families of 4 in half
the rooms (36 rooms) and up to two guests in the other 36 rooms.
o Cribs available as necessary

• As much information as possible regarding the individuals arriving at the hotel/motel (e.g.,
nation of origin, language spoken, and the breakdown of families and, if there are children, their
ages)
• We do not have this information until the day of departure. We will provide this
information to the County Executive, our non-profit partner, Western NY Coalition, and
any additional assigns from the County Exec immediately upon bus departure and
arrival to the hotel. Most guests are primarily Spanish speaking, although multiple
languages are seen amongst our censuses, such as Arabic, Creole, English, French,
Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Wolof.

• Information regarding security at the hotel/motel (e.g., does the hotel/motel already have a
contract for security services? If not, will a vendor be contracted with prior to arrival? Is there a
contact person at the hotel/motel that DHS can contact 24/7?)
• We will have a security vendor in place, we are collecting the last of the bids from local
vendors and will proceed with finalizing the contract prior to arrival of guests.
• The 24/7 contact for the hotel is our Operations Manager Ben Lebit –
–

• Information regarding how supplies will be furnished (e.g., clothing, shoes, toiletries beyond the
shampoo and soap noted in program details, etc.).
• DocGo provides basic hygiene kits upon arrival and as needed to the guests. The hotels
provide restock of soap, shampoo, and conditioners in the rooms. DocGo also provides
any feminine hygiene products, necessary baby supplies and formula. We work with
community organizations to receive any acceptable donations, or vouchers to receive
any other necessary and approved personal items that could be of use to the guests.

• Information on the provision for legal services (e.g., will funds be made available for Legal Aid
Society, JustCause, and/or Empire Justice Center?)
• We typically work with local pro bono legal services within the community. There are no
additional funds for legal service providers, though organizations in other parts of the
state have secured support from the State.

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NYC Upstate Asylum Seeker Program
Request for Program Details
Monroe County

Arrival in NYC
All Asylum seekers begin the program at the Arrivals Center at the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC.

It is important to note that the number of Asylum Seekers arriving at the Arrivals Center each day is
often unknown ahead of time. Our team endeavors to provide shelter and services to as many as
possible, 70%+ of whom are families with children.

Asylum seeker singles, adult families and families with children are identified for participation in the
upstate program at the Arrivals Center. Asylum seekers enter the program in one of two ways: as
volunteers or, if there are no NYC beds available, as housing placements. All asylum seekers are
informed of their options by Arrivals Center staff.

When possible, NYC works in collaboration with local elected officials and non-profit service providers
before starting a program in a new location. Recognizing the urgent need for safe places for asylum
seekers and the unpredictability of the number of arrivals and the availability of downstate beds, NYC
strives to work together with local municipalities to share information, fine tune the program to respond
to local conditions, and to subcontract with local service providers whenever possible. Erie County is a
good example of a place where we are working in close coordination with local elected officials and
service providers.

Upstate program participants go through an intake and registration process, and preliminary medical
screening before being transported upstate.

Travel Upstate
All busing and coordination is planned and paid for by NYC. When buses depart for upstate locations,
notifications are sent to key stakeholders. When possible, we try to coordinate the timing of the buses
and the number of asylum seekers with local municipalities in advance. This is not always possible.
Notifications include the following information, to the extent available:

• How many buses are departing NYC

• Timing of bus departures and approximate arrival time
• How many guests are on each bus, including aggregate information on:
o Languages Spoken
o Number of Singles & Gender breakdown
o Number of Families (if families with children are traveling)
o Number and ages of children
• Any changes to the planning (in real time)
• All buses are accompanied by members of NYC’s vendor team

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 • All buses provide snacks and water for guests

Arrival Upstate
Upon arrival upstate, all Asylum Seekers are offered a meal and complete the Upstate Intake Process
which includes confirming information collected at the Arrivals Center, and the printing of a NYC
program badge, which is utilized by Asylum Seeker guests to scan into and out of the hotel during their
stay.

If cribs are provided, Asylum Seeker parents are required to watch a “safe sleeping” video and sign a
“safe sleeping” form.

All Asylum Seekers also sign a code of conduct form upon arrival Upstate. This form includes all the
program rules, and acknowledgment of those rules.

Upstate Program Services & Resources

The Upstate program mirrors the services and resources that Asylum Seekers receive in NYC. All services
and resources are paid for by NYC. Services are coordinated in conjunction with local elected officials,
non-profits, small businesses, and other local stakeholders, to the extent possible.

• Rooms
o All rooms are double occupancy for singles, with closets and storage for personal
belongings, and a private bathroom
o Families are kept together in one room, with private bathroom
o Shampoo and soap are provided
• Meals
o All guests receive 2 hot and 1 cold meal per day in keeping with New York nutrition
guidelines
o Snacks are provided at sites with families with children
o Baby formula and diapers are provided for infants
o NYC endeavors to procure all meals via local food vendors/ restaurants (prioritizing
minority, woman, and veteran owned businesses).
• Security
o 24/7 security is provided at all sites
o NYC endeavors to procure security services via local vendors (prioritizing minority,
woman, and veteran owned businesses).
• Laundry
o Laundry services are provided for all sites
o NYC endeavors to procure all laundry services via local vendors (prioritizing minority,
woman, and veteran owned businesses).
• Case Management and Social Work (Behavioral Health) -- in collaboration with local
CBO’s such as "Western New York Coalition" in in Monroe County
o 1:30 Case Worker Ratio with a minimum of one overnight Case Worker per site

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 o 24/7 Coverage, including crises response escalation hotline with our licensed social
worker and on call medical team
o Behavioral health, human trafficking, domestic violence, and emergency medical needs
screenings – and connection to services for those eligible for services
o Know Your Rights workshops
o Community integration orientation
o Social service enrollment when eligible
o Community referrals
o Connect with NYS State of Health Marketplace Navigators to enroll in health insurance
when eligible/available
o Linkage to primary care, behavioral health services, and mental health counseling
o Enrollment in school for children of that age
o Housing search when connected to long-term case management programming
o Linkage to legal support as eligible/available
o Socialization and enrichment activities
o Track work authorization status (where applicable)
• Medical Services
o On Demand telehealth via DocGo's Physicians Practice
o Primary care via collaboration with local FQHCs and community-based organizations
o DocGo Mobile Medical & Vaccinations teams deployed as needed