NEW YORK CITY — A longtime employee of the Department of Homeless Services has been appointed to lead the agency as its administrator, officials said.
Joslyn Carter, who most recently served as the agency's associate commissioner of family intake, will lead DHS under Steven Banks, who is the commissioner of the Department of Social Services formed in 2016.
She has worked at DHS for 13 years and previously spent time at Kings County Hospital, the American Red Cross and Talbot Services Children Services.
"Joslyn Carter has dedicated her life’s work to helping homeless New Yorkers, and I am confident that her leadership will further strengthen the agency," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.
Banks — who also oversees the administrator of the Human Resources Administration, Grace Bonilla, — praised Carter's work as his agency has begun reforms to help homelessness.
“Beginning during the 90-day review of homeless services last year and continuing over the past year as we have been implementing the reforms to the city’s approach to homelessness, I have worked directly with Joslyn Carter and seen her make a real difference in people’s lives," Banks said.
"I know first-hand the management skills that she will bring to this important new role to help transform how we provide shelter and services to homeless New Yorkers."
The city's current shelter population is more than 58,000, while a DHS report on street homelessness shows it increased nearly 40 percent this year.
In February, de Blasio announced his "Turning the Tide" initiative, which vows to open 90 new shelters across the city and reduce the shelter population by 2,500 over the next five years.
Carter said she was "honored and excited to have the opportunity to help lead the implementation" of the new borough-based homelessness plan.
“I’m confident that working with my partners on DHS’ strong leadership team and with support from the Department of Social Services, we will improve quality of life for New Yorkers experiencing the challenge of homelessness, including improving how we provide shelter and how we help them transition into permanent housing," she said in a statement.
