Category: Blog

By Valerie Kaufmann, Policy Advisor For families experiencing homelessness, access to child care and early childhood education (ECE) is essential to achieving stability. Reliable, high-quality care enables parents to work, attend appointments, and pursue housing opportunities, while giving young children the developmental foundation they need to thrive. Yet despite these benefits, families living in shelters…

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By James Dysart, Associate Policy Director The most recent Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress (AHAR) raises important questions about data in the current landscape. Although the AHAR estimates that the number of families experiencing homelessness in the United States fell by 11% from the prior year, there were still an estimated 230,366 people in…

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By: James Dysart, Associate Policy Director As we enter 2026 under a new mayoral administration, we look back at family homelessness in New York City during 2025 as an indicator of what challenges may lie ahead. In 2025, there was an average of 18,057 families with children living in NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS)…

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By: Lucia Stein, Policy Assistant Families exiting shelter have historically been most successful in securing permanent housing when assisted with government housing vouchers. These vouchers can be funded through federal, state, local, or a combination of government dollars. But maintaining funding and political support for those vouchers has been a challenge, and so, in turn,…

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By: James Dysart, Associate Policy Director and Lucia Stein, Policy Assistant Due to uncertainty regarding federal funding, homelessness prevention services in New York City could need additional support to continue their proven history of success. To prevent a crisis for families with children, the City and State may need to dip deep into their pockets or…

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