NYC's Human Resource Administration (Public Assistance)  has a program called S.O.T.A (Special One Time Assistance) specifically for employed people whom live in NYC shelter system. (Most of the people fell upon hard times and are working and need to find an apartment. Similar to any applicant you have good people and negative people.) Due to the excessive demand of shelter in NYC the city had to develop strategic programs to assist people with moving out of shelter and with the explosion of rent prices in NYC many people are looking to other cities close to NYC such as Newark, Irvington, Jersey City, etc.. to find apartments they can afford. 

To qualify for S.O.T.A. apartment seekers must earn at least twice as much as the amount of the rent of the apartment they are applying for. For example if the rent is $1,000.00 per month they applicant must provide proof of income of at least $2,000.00 per month. Landlords can conduct credit and background checks and have applicants submit  pay stubs and any other qualifications they may require of any applicant. 

The city will require a few pictures of the apartment to make sure it is live-able and once a lease is signed and submitted to HRA, they will verify the applicants income, and it will take up to 10 business days for NYC HRA to write a check for the total amount of the 1 year lease. 

For example if the monthly rent is  $1,400.00 NYC HRA will write 4 checks of $4,200 each which is a total of $16,800 (the yearly rent). They will not issue a security deposit check they will only give you a voucher letter to submit a claim. I think it will be a very long process to be reimbursed for any security deposit claim. There also isn't a clear guide if you need to evict the tenant during their lease how and if you have to reimburse NYC's HRA. 

NYC is vested into this program because they want to reduce the recidivism of people leaving and coming back into shelter. 

If anyone is interested I have a contact person who can provide more information.