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New York|Record 146,000 N.Y.C. Public School Students Were Homeless Last Year
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/nyregion/new-york-city-homeless-children.html
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The figure topped 100,000 for a ninth straight year, state data shows, as the city dealt with a continuing housing crisis and an influx of migrants.
Nov. 18, 2024, 6:00 a.m. ET
When a fire broke out in Jessica Beltran’s Brooklyn apartment last year, she and her two children moved into a homeless shelter while they figured out their next steps.
Ms. Beltran, 37, had worked as a receptionist in medical and dental offices, but she had lost her job after she could not find child care for her 5-year-old son, Logan, who is autistic. A year after the fire drove them out of their home, she is still trying to get together the paperwork to apply for government-subsidized housing.
This can happen to anyone, Ms. Beltran said. Flooding, fire, the loss of a job — all it takes is one unexpected problem to cause a person to end up homeless. And in New York City, more children than ever are.
At least 146,000 public school students in New York City did not have permanent housing at some point during the past school year, a record number and a 23 percent increase from the year before, according to Advocates for Children of New York. The group released the data, gathered by the New York State Education Department, on Monday.
Almost all of those students were living either in shelters across the city or “doubled up” temporarily with friends or family, according to the group, which focuses on supporting children from low-income families.
“These numbers are staggering,” said Christine Quinn, the chief executive of Win, the city’s largest operator of homeless shelters. “They are, quite frankly, an indictment of all parts of our city that this many children are living in shelter.”
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