Posted on February 5, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone The number of children in shelter has increased by 92 percent over the past ten years, with nearly 24,000 boys and girls going to sleep in shelters tonight. Homelessness is traumatizing for anyone, but research shows that the deleterious effects are amplified for children, who are more likely to fall behind in school and experience health, developmental and behavioral issues than their stably housed peers. The magnitude of the city’s child homelessness crisis demands further investment in housing-based solutions, but the City must simultaneously dedicate resources to support these families while they are in shelter and minimize the strain on school kids as much as possible. On Thursday, the Coalition and The Legal Aid Society presented testimony before the New York City Council Committees on Education and General Welfare about the current Department of Education support for students who are homeless or in temporary housing. The full testimony can be read here. We are glad the City recently started providing increased busing from shelter to schools for homeless students, but more needs to be done. Specifically, the Department of Homeless Services and the Department of Education must: Revise the shelter intake process so that homeless children are excused from participation in the intake process so that they do not have to miss school in order to be present when the family applies for shelter; Place families into shelter near their child’s school at the outset of the shelter application process, to minimize commutes and school transfers and to avoid shelter transfers that may further disrupt schooling; Transfer any families that have long school commutes to a closer shelter facility; Place additional DOE staff at PATH. These additional staff members should provide families with information on school selection, school transportation options, and the rights of students with special needs. These staff members should also have the ability to process busing requests, assist students and families to fill out DOE Residency Questionnaires, write letters of excused absence, disseminate Metrocards, and assist children in receiving free meals at school. DHS staff should also assist with these duties when DOE staff cannot be made available; Eliminate or minimize the placement of families with school-aged children in commercial hotels; Continue enhanced funding for busing for homeless students; Expand after-school programming for students in shelter. The best solution to helping homeless students in temporary housing maintain engagement in school is to transition families to permanent housing as quickly as possible. We commend the administration for taking significant steps to increase the availability of permanent affordable housing to homeless families, including reinstating federal housing priority for homeless families, creating new permanent housing subsidies, and committing to the City’s share of 30,000 units of supportive housing. We look forward to hearing the details of the State’s commitment to provide permanent housing options as well. These efforts to increase access to permanent affordable housing should be continued and expanded. However, in the meantime, conditions surrounding shelter placement and supports for homeless students can and should be improved. These initial steps outlined above will help to support homeless students so that no homeless child will be forced to miss school or fall behind in school because of unnecessary bureaucratic barriers.
