The ongoing housing and homelessness crisis that has pervaded city shelters and streets has an outsized impact on New York’s families. As of March, 69% of people in shelters were members of homeless families, including nearly 50,000 children. At a hearing of the Committee on General Welfare, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams uplifted the challenges and harm created for families by onerous shelter policies, and said of the situation “It’s hard to see how we are viewing this as a success.”
“It is our moral and legal duty to provide shelter to those experiencing homelessness, and we should all prioritize creating permanent, affordable, accessible housing for everyone who needs it,” argued Public Advocate Williams. “The current time limits set by this administration violate the spirit of our city’s long-standing right to shelter… While the administration says that the 30- and 60-day shelter limits for migrants have contributed to a cost reduction, the consequences of that decision do not outweigh the benefits: children displaced from their schools and communities just when they are settling into normalcy, people lined up overnight on the streets in freezing temperatures, anxiety, confusion.”
Public Advocate Williams also spoke out about the barriers presented by city policy requiring an entire family seeking shelter to travel to the Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing (PATH) Center in the Bronx, lamenting that “This means that children will likely not be able to attend school that day, instead spending their day in transit and in waiting rooms. Families often wait hours for their appointments, and they are not allowed to bring in outside food. Many families receive a temporary overnight placement and must return the next day in the hopes of being placed in a longer-term shelter. Some families are deemed ineligible for shelter and must start the process over again.”
Council Member Diana Ayala, Chair of the Committee, sponsors legislation to address this issue by “precluding the department of homeless services from requiring a child's presence at an intake center when a family with children applies for shelter.” The bill was heard at today’s hearing.
The Public Advocate’s full statement to the committee is below.
TESTIMONY OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON GENERAL WELFARE JUNE 11, 2024
Good afternoon,
My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. Thank you to Deputy Speaker Ayala and the members of the Committee on General Welfare for holding this hearing.
In March 2024, 69 percent of those in shelters were members of homeless families, including 48,304 children. There are families experiencing homelessness, for a variety of reasons, in every neighborhood and community in our city—they are our neighbors, friends, classmates, colleagues, students, and loved ones. It is our moral and legal duty to provide shelter to those experiencing homelessness, and we should all prioritize creating permanent, affordable, accessible housing for everyone who needs it.
The current time limits set by this administration violate the spirit of our city’s long-standing right to shelter. Our city cannot bear the cost of housing and providing services to our newest New Yorkers alone, but evicting them—including families with children—from shelters is not the solution, particularly when there is no real casework for many of these families and without timely communication. While the administration says that the 30- and 60-day shelter limits for migrants have contributed to a cost reduction, the consequences of that decision do not outweigh the benefits: children displaced from their schools and communities just when they are settling into normalcy, people lined up overnight on the streets in freezing temperatures, anxiety, confusion. It is particularly unacceptable. I also want to mention that the administration which prides itself on diversity, to have this new policy affect primarily Black migrants is particularly disturbing.
In October of last year, Mayor Adams announced that the 60-day shelter limit would be extended to migrant families with children, who represent about 75 percent of the migrant shelter population. In the time since, thousands of families have been given notice or evicted. This policy has been catastrophic for these families, and especially the children. Nearly one in five migrant children evicted from their shelters had their schooling interrupted, with two-thirds of those students no longer enrolled in a New York City public school at all. In addition, many migrant children who have moved far from their schools are now spending large portions of their days on transportation, if their buses arrive at all. For children who have already experienced massive disruptions in their lives—leaving their countries and coming to a new city, on top of trauma they may have endured—this is particularly devastating. Students become attached to their schools, teachers, and classmates, and interrupting that consistency is stressful and potentially re-traumatizing.
The process for seeking shelter for families, even for non-migrant families, is onerous, with multiple hoops that families must jump through. The entire family, including minor children, must travel to the Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing (PATH) Center in the Bronx. This is the only office at which a family can apply for temporary housing. This means that children will likely not be able to attend school that day, instead spending their day in transit and in waiting rooms. Families often wait hours for their appointments, and they are not allowed to bring in outside food. Many families receive a temporary overnight placement and must return the next day in the hopes of being placed in a longer-term shelter. Some families are deemed ineligible for shelter and must start the process over again. While families can receive a temporary, conditional placement while they reapply, they do not become eligible for DHS-specific rental vouchers until they have a formal placement.
For all, but especially children, experiencing homelessness is stressful and traumatic. Many children enter shelter after fleeing abusive or violent environments—domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness in New York City. In April, Mayor Adams announced a pilot program, called “Project Home,” to connect domestic violence survivors with permanent housing. Beginning with 100 families with children, those staying in HRA domestic violence shelters will be eligible for HPD affordable housing, which was previously limited to those in DHS shelters. I applaud the mayor for this effort and I hope to see more like it in the future. And we also want to make sure that we’re clear with this policy affecting primarily Black migrants. We’re also not keeping track of where they’re going, we’ve seen overcrowding in places like mosques and other spaces. They are trying their best to fill the gap, so it's hard for us to see how we are viewing this as a success.
Thank you.