NEW YORK, NY March 08, 2007 —While the number of homeless single adults in shelters is down, the number of homeless families is on the rise. Advocates say the city needs to change course before the problem gets any worse. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

On average, about 9300 families stayed in a shelter last month - that's a record number according to the Coalition for the Homeless. The group analyzes city statistics on the homeless each year. Currently, a city and state funded housing voucher is used to move homeless families into permanent apartments.

Advocates say it’s not working because it decreases each year and a family must be on welfare to keep it which means they can't work full time. The city says it's in the process of fixing the current voucher but state approval is still needed. Advocates are pushing for federally funded section 8 vouchers to be used instead.

The Department of Homeless services says it's also expanding a program aimed at preventing homelessness to try to bring down the numbers. For WNYC, I'm Cindy Rodriguez.