The de Blasio administration has developed a program focusing on homeless people who sleep on subways that aims to divert them away from the criminal justice system and into shelters. 

Normally, homeless people can face criminal action if they take up more than one seat or don't pay their fare. But starting this summer police will suggest they go to a shelter. If they agree, they’ll avoid arrest and be able to have their summonses cleared.

“Subjecting these individuals to criminal justice involvement for low level, non-violent offenses is not the answer and does not help anyone,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

City officials said the idea is to get people into shelters and connect them with what they need — from mental health treatment to jobs. But Giselle Routhier, policy director at the Coalition for the Homeless, said the policy is designed to force the homeless to go into shelters, which many avoid because they’ve had bad experiences. She said the city should instead focus on opening more safe havens — shelters that offer more privacy and fewer rules, and which the homeless favor — and on creating more affordable housing.

“Reducing the tragedy of people taking makeshift refuge in transit facilities and on the trains means giving them somewhere better to go — not using the police to chase them in circles,” Routhier said.