Record number of homeless kids in New York
Coalition for the Homeless blames Mayor Michael Bloomberg's policies for 20,000 children sleeping in shelters
By Natasha LennardTopics: Michael Bloomberg, New York, Homelessness, Poverty, Homeless, Coalition for the Homeless, News
A record number of children are homeless in New York this year, according to new figures from the Coalition for the Homeless. Almost 20,000 children are sleeping in homeless shelters – a number that has risen by 20 percent over the last five years.
Giselle Routhier, a policy analyst with the Coalition, wrote:
Behind these astonishing numbers lie the policy failures of Mayor Bloomberg and his administration. For the past year and a half, the City has had no programs in place to help move families from shelter to permanent housing – a historic break from the policies of previous New York City mayors.
Alongside the number of children spending the night in shelters, the report notes that thousands more school-age children live in unstable locations “such as doubled-up in apartments or hotels.” Data from school districts estimates that 67,000 students in New York are either homeless or in unstable living situations.
The Coalition put forward a number of proposals, aiming to move families and children into permanent affordable housing:
The Coalition for the Homeless calls on Mayor Bloomberg to follow the lead of the New York City Council and Speaker Quinn by reversing course from the current disastrous policies and enacting the following:
1. Return to using federal housing resources, such as public housing and Section 8, to help homeless New Yorkers move from shelter to permanent housing;
2. Create a new local rental assistance program modeled on the successful Section 8 voucher program;
3. In coming years, set aside a significant percentage of City-assisted apartments – apartments created or preserved by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) – for homeless families and individuals.
Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com. More Natasha Lennard.
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
Must-see morning clip: Barackalypse Now
-
Okla. tornado survivor reunited with dog trapped in rubble live on camera
-
Is Pope Francis an exorcist?
-
Oklahoma tornado death count revised to 24
-
Frantic parents search for children in tornado's wake
-
Crews dig through rubble after deadly tornado
-
51 killed in massive Oklahoma tornado
-
Don't cry climate-change wolf
-
Record tornado devastates Oklahoma
-
Limbaugh: No one willing to impeach the first black president
-
Tornado reduces Oklahoma City suburb to rubble
-
AP: Toll at least 37 dead in Okla. tornado
-
Entire Midwest on tornado warning
-
Oregon senator proposes appeal to Monsanto Protection Act
-
Supreme Court to rule on prayer at government meetings
-
Beltway scandal machine breaks, knows nothing about America
-
Gitmo hunger striker launches Twitter campaign
-
"Hero" cop, honored by Obama, accused of double rape
-
Father of gay high school student arrested for dating classmate speaks out
-
Pentagon adviser pushed Anthrax drug, which his firm produced
-
Conservatives A-OK with closeted Boy Scouts
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
Related Videos
Most Read
-
Horrifying new trend: Posting rapes to Facebook
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
Andrew Leonard
-
"Jodorowsky's Dune": The sci-fi classic that never was
Andrew O'Hehir
-
We're living in an Ayn Rand economy
Paul Buchheit, AlterNet
-
My open relationship went awry
David Farley
-
Obstruction will ruin GOP
Jonathan Bernstein
-
Will you marry me -- once you're done peeing?
Tracy Clark-Flory
-
Jaron Lanier: The Internet destroyed the middle class
Scott Timberg
-
GOP attorney general candidate tried to force women to report miscarriages to police
Katie Mcdonough
-
Penn Jillette's secrets of "Celebrity Apprentice": Donald Trump is a whackjob!
Penn Jillette
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com

914 points915 points916 points | 193 comments

44 points45 points46 points | 8 comments

14 points15 points16 points | 7 comments
From Around the Web
Presented by Scribol
- Chatter: Mile-wide tornado rips through Oklahoma
- Iraq: At least 12 dead in bombings as sectarian violence continues
- Israeli forces exchange gunfire over Israeli-Syrian border in Golan Heights
- Spanish opera protests austerity
- Catholic Church takes on reproductive rights in Philippines, risks further alienation



Comments
3 Comments