As part of its effort to reduce all-time record homelessness in the five boroughs, the de Blasio administration has paid 2,300 New Yorkers to move out of the city over the past year and a half.

The Special One-Time Assistance program gives qualified homeless families a year of rent paid upfront in order to help get them out of the shelter system and back on their feet. Figures from the Department of Homeless Services show that 3,539 families have enrolled in the program since it was introduced in late 2017. They can use the money, paid directly to the landlord of the building where they move, to move inside or outside the city, but 65 percent of them have moved out of the city — many to New Jersey, where apartments are more affordable.

“SOTA is something being used right now, aggressively,” Christine Quinn, who runs Win, the largest family shelter provider.

Seventy households who used the program have returned to city shelters, according to the latest available city data. But Quinn and other shelter providers said they’re worried that number will grow once families have to pay rent on their own.

In December, WNYC/Gothamist reported that some families in the program ended up in substandard housing in Newark and East Orange, despite rules meant to ensure the apartments met basic standards. Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to rectify those situations.

Steven Banks, the homeless services commissioner, has defended the program, saying, "Families experiencing homelessness here in our city have the right to seek housing where they can afford it and employment where they can find it."