New Yorkers without children who seek shelter from domestic violence are routinely being denied beds — even though there’s space for them.

Domestic violence survivors and their advocates say the problem has existed for years but is getting worse. Last year, more than half the callers to the city’s domestic violence help hotline were single people, but they made up only one-tenth of the people who were connected to beds in domestic violence shelters, numbers shared with Gothamist by the victim services organization Safe Horizon show.

Domestic violence shelters were built for families with children, not single people. The state pays providers on the assumption that most survivors are coming with kids. That means providers lose money when they put a single person in a room meant for two people — making it cost-prohibitive to accept too many single people.

Now state lawmakers, shelter providers and domestic violence survivors are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation that would make the state pay 100% of a room’s cost, even if it’s only occupied by one person. They say the changes will open up beds for more single people who are fleeing domestic violence and increasingly making up a greater share of the need.

“We’re just saying that we don’t want money to be the reason that a single person doesn’t get a bed. That should never be the reason,” Catherine Trapani,  assistant vice president for public policy for Volunteers of America, which operates six domestic violence shelters in the city.

Domestic violence is a driving cause of homelessness. But providers say the way the state funds special shelters designed to help survivors is flawed and prevents single New Yorkers from getting the help they need. Those fleeing domestic violence alone and without dependent children are often older adults, pregnant, human trafficking victims or identify as LGBTQ. And leaving single New Yorkers without access to beds, will only exacerbate the city’s homeless crisis or force more people to stay in abusive relationships, lawmakers and providers say.

Domestic violence shelters say they’re often forced to turn away survivors who are single because they can’t afford to place one person in rooms designed for two. Doing so would mean getting half the funds they need to operate. The state reimburses providers for every occupied bed. It’s a model providers say is outdated and penalizes them when they accept survivors without kids.

“Shelters simply can’t afford to shelter every single adult survivor seeking shelter because the system wasn’t designed that way, even though we would like to,” said Jimmy Meagher, senior policy director at Safe Horizon.

New York’s domestic violence shelters offer tailored services like mental health counseling, small groups, and legal clinics that aren’t usually available in the city’s main homeless shelters. The shelters also have private rooms, rather than shared dorms. But since most rooms were created for a parent and child, when a single survivor enters the system they are usually placed in a room with two beds.

Providers say they can’t put two single survivors in a room because it’s not recommended for people who have endured trauma. So taking more single people means losing money.

Safe Horizon operates the city’s 24-hour domestic violence hotline, which is the first stop for New Yorkers who want beds in domestic violence shelters. Data shared by the organization shows the share of calls coming from individuals without dependents has steadily grown since 2020 while the percentage of those callers who were connected to a shelter provider declined.

Last year, 55% of calls were from single survivors, though just 17% of those calls were linked to shelters. New Yorkers with one child made up 23% of the hotline calls last year and 68% of those callers were linked to shelters.

In 2025, just 11% of all survivors connected to shelters for intake were single people, the numbers show.

One 55-year-old domestic violence survivor said he called the hotline every day for more than a month before he finally secured a bed. He asked Gothamist not to use his name because he feared his domestic violence history could affect his ability to get work.

“I was pretty much in a dark space,” he said. The man said he fled his partner’s home and quit his job, then ended up homeless. He was scared to go to the men’s shelter system because he feared being in a congregate setting while he was healing from his injuries and trauma.

“I don’t think I would have survived there because I was already thinking suicidal thoughts,” he said.

Meagher said providers lost $12 million last year for using rooms with two beds to house single people.

“You have to pay the social workers, the case managers, the front desk monitors, all of the security. All of those costs are fixed. Whether there’s one or two people sitting in that room, I still need to pay all of those people to run my program,” Trapani said. She said Volunteers of America lost $1 million last year for housing single survivors.

The SAFE Shelter Act, cosponsored by state Sen. Andrew Gournades and Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, would pay providers the full cost of double rooms housing single people. The bill passed the Assembly on Thursday and the Senate earlier this week

“Too many survivors aren’t connected to shelter at all,” Gournades said in a statement. “That’s shameful, but it doesn’t have to be this way.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed an earlier version of the bill in 2024, saying it didn’t “maximize state resources” and risked decreasing services. An amended version phases in full reimbursement rates over a three-year period. Advocates estimate it’ll cost $12 million at full implementation.

Hochul’s office said the governor would review the legislation.

A case manager at Volunteers for America and a survivor of domestic violence herself, said she entered the system as a single adult and was able to find a bed. She wanted to remain anonymous because she fears for her personal safety. She said her time at the shelter helped her find stability.

“It was my time now to take care of myself as an individual, as a person,” said the survivor, who has older children but did not seek shelter with them at the time.

“Someone listened to me, someone cared, and that made all the difference,” she said.

The story has been updated with additional information.