Adi Talwar
City Limits’ series on family homelessness in New York City is supported by Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York and The Family Homelessness Coalition. City Limits is responsible for all editorial decisions.
Roughly $12 million in funding that pays the salaries of 100 community coordinators working across the city’s network of homeless shelters is set to run dry this summer, leaving the fate of the staffers up in the air even as the city confronts record numbers of homeless kids.
Mayor Eric Adams argued in new court filings that his administration has special authority as an “arm of the state”—part of a lawsuit that the Legal Aid Society filed in February over City Hall’s refusal to implement a suite of laws to expand access to city-funded rental vouchers.
As elected officials attempt to hammer out a housing deal before the state’s budget deadline at the end of the month, advocates want lawmakers to know they’re still fighting for tenant protections that aren’t watered down.
La ley federal protege los derechos a la educación de los niños y jóvenes menores de 21 años sin hogar y establece que los jóvenes adultos deben ser matriculados inmediatamente en la escuela, pero la ciudad no está cumpliendo este requisito, dicen los defensores.
Federal law that protects the educational rights of homeless children and youth under 21 says young adults should be enrolled in school immediately, but the city is not meeting this requirement, advocates say. They report newly arrived immigrant youth being placed on waiting lists, told there are no spaces, or advised to take the General Educational Development (GED) high school equivalency test instead.
“Instead of being treated equally, too many voucher holders are not placed on a level playing field with other renters due to numerous issues created by the requirements of the voucher programs.”
New data suggests that the Department of Social Services is bouncing back from historically low processing rates for public benefits, though cash aid applications are being denied more frequently than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hasta finales de enero, la ciudad había comprado 20.500 billetes de avión o autobús para reubicar a los inmigrantes fuera de la ciudad, por un total de $7.6 millones de dólares, según informaron las autoridades el martes. Esto es tres veces el presupuesto anual de las dos oficinas principales que gestionan los servicios para las comunidades de inmigrantes de la ciudad.
As of the end of January, the city had purchased 20,500 plane or bus tickets to relocate immigrants in its shelter system to destinations outside the five boroughs, totaling $7.6 million, officials said Tuesday—three times the annual budget of the two main offices that handle services for the city’s immigrant communities.
The number of newly arrived immigrants now in the city’s care is around 64,000, down from more than 69,000 in mid-January—what City Hall has attributed in part to shelter deadlines. A bill in the City Council would end the controversial policy, which critics say has forced people into precarious situations: sleeping on the streets, on the floors of churches and in unsafe settings.
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