How do you reduce the number of homeless people roaming around in the streets? Ship them out of town, of course.

That is exactly what New York City is doing in a new program. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been promising to address homelessness in the Big Apple since the beginning of his tenure. Now, he and the NYC Department of Homeless Services are paying for one-way plane tickets, sending individuals or entire families to places like Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, Paris or Australia, where they’ll live with relatives.

The program can even provide up to four months rent, a one-month security deposit, a furniture allowance and a broker’s fee if deemed necessary, the New York Times reported.

Relocating this many people is no easy feat, of course.

“We have paid for visas, we've gone down to the consulate, we've provided letters, we've paid for passports for people to go,” said Resource Room Director Vida Chavez-Downes. “Anyone who comes through our door."

The city has spent $500,000 a year on the program since 2007. But it’s a lot cheaper than keeping them in the shelter system, which costs about $36,000 per year per family, and none of the relocated families have returned to city shelters, officials say.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that everyone who leaves the city is better off wherever they end up or that the relatives who took them are all too thrilled to have extra houseguests.

“I don’t know, when they get to the other places, whether they find jobs,” Bloomberg admitted. “It may be an easier place for them. If we don’t — we either have two choices. We can do this program or pay an enormous amount of money daily to provide housing.”

New York’s homeless can still turn down the offer and remain in shelters there, and relatives have every right (if their conscience will allow them) to refuse access to their sofa beds.

But some, like Hector Corea, are downright delighted.

“The person I spoke to in the shelter informed me that if I have a person I could stay with in Puerto Rico, that I could get help to go,” said Correa, who worked as a mechanic on the northern shore of the island. “I feel very happy because I’m going to be able to get back to do the things that I know how to do.”

Is this an example of an innovative government solution, or another positively "What the Gov?" moment ... let us know your thoughts!