Number of Homeless Kids in NYC Up 50 Percent

by Shannon Moriarty · 2010-02-10 07:59:00 UTC
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The number of homeless families with kids in New York City shelters has not just increased in the past two years -- it has skyrocketed. Today, the city has 51 percent more families with kids seeking shelter than it did in 2008, including 16,000 homeless children.

To say that Mayor Bloomberg's 2004 goal of reducing the city's shelter capacity by two-thirds has failed would be a gross understatement. But failed policy goals aren't always a bad thing. In this case, the city's ability to expand shelter capacity is one of the small bits of silver lining in this story.

Since the demand started increasing, New York City shelters have not had to turn any families away. Officials are diligently adding shelter beds to meet the rising demand. The bad news? There's a trade-off. Living conditions in the newly added accommodations are less-than-ideal, to say the least. And since the city's stock of affordable housing options remains unchanged, families moving out of shelter may not be any better off than they were before becoming homeless.

Still, many families are grateful for the temporary accommodations. Karen Diaz, for one, isn't complaining about the conditions of the NYC homeless shelter that she, her husband and two daughters currently call home. Dirty communal bathrooms, crowded bunk beds and sketchy housemates are better than the alternative.

Smart homelessness policy requires long-term planning focused on eradication, and short-term emergency services to see that nobody ends up on the street. New York is effectively delivering the latter. The former, it seems, is easier said than done.

Photo credit: Giles Clement

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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