Posted on November 21, 2024 In an article published last week in Gothamist, journalist, Jessica Gould brings to light a sobering report by Advocates for Children of New York, revealing an unprecedented homelessness crisis in New York City’s public schools. The numbers are staggering: 146,000 students experienced homelessness during the 2023-24 academic year, marking a 22% increase from the previous year. “It is unconscionable that year after year tens of thousands of students in this city don’t have a permanent home,” said Jennifer Pringle, a project director at Advocates for Children. “While the city works to help families find permanent housing it must also focus more attention on helping students succeed in school. School can be the key to breaking the cycle of homelessness.” We’re not just facing a temporary surge in numbers, but a persistent, systemic failure to protect our city’s most vulnerable children. The new tally means that 1 in 8 students across the system were homeless (including children who lived in shelters or were doubled up in apartments with other families). To put a face to all of this, these statistics represent children trying to learn and grow while facing the profound instability of homelessness. And the problem is exacerbated by the 60-day limits on shelter placements Mayor Adams imposed on New Arrival families. Christine Quinn, president of Win, a network of shelters and supportive housing, called the numbers “staggering.” “It’s a condemnation of our city,” she said. Quinn added that the city should immediately “cease and desist” on the 60-day limit for migrant families, which she called “cruel and ineffective,” and called for officials to increase the number of housing vouchers available for homeless families. Migrant families are experiencing extreme instability as a result of shelter limits. As tens of thousands of migrants poured into the city last year, Mayor Eric Adams also imposed a new 60-day limit on shelter stays for migrant families, increasing instability. City councilmembers last spring pointed to city data that showed 1 in 5 students evicted from shelters under the policy were no longer enrolled in the schools they attended before their eviction. This disruption to education mirrors the same cycle we see in other cities’ failed approaches to homelessness – policies that prioritize temporary fixes over sustainable solutions. The geographic concentration of this crisis tells its own story. As Gould notes, The number of children in transitional housing increased in every school district across the city, but the problem was especially concentrated in Upper Manhattan, the southwest Bronx, and parts of northeast and central Brooklyn. These aren’t random patterns but rather the result of decades of systemic inequality and underinvestment in communities that have historically served as havens for those seeking affordable housing. The path forward requires more than just acknowledging the crisis. It demands action to: Reform shelter policies to prioritize stability for families with school-age children Expand housing assistance programs Create more deeply affordable housing units Strengthen support systems for families facing housing instability Develop comprehensive educational support for students experiencing homelessness Without these fundamental changes, we risk condemning another generation of New York City’s children to the devastating impacts of housing instability. The question isn’t whether we can afford to make these changes – it’s whether we can afford not to. Read the whole article here.
