As more families move into homeless shelters, the city keeps trying to get them to leave shelters sooner. In the past two years, the number of homeless families in shelters has surged by more than 50 percent to 8,600, while the length of their average shelter stay has fallen from 10.5 months to eight. Shelters impose strict deadlines, and the city actually gives less money to nonprofits that run shelters where residents take too long to leave, the Times reports. Some say the city is forcing families back onto the streets too soon. "[E]verybody is pushing families out really fast, with no education and no preparation," said Ralph da Costa Nuñez, of Homes for the Homeless. "We send families out, and we know we're going to see them again."