By Robyn Schwartz, Policy Advisor, Homes for the Homeless (HFH) Last month, New York City voters approved an amendment to the City Charter that would require the City government to create a True Cost of Living measurement. This measure would track how much it costs to meet essential needs in New York City—including housing, childcare,…
By Caroline Iosso, Senior Policy Associate, Homes for the Homeless (HFH) This month, the Fair Student Funding (FSF) working group, convened by the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE), will present a list of recommendations for reforming New York City public school system’s Fair Student Funding metric. This metric determines 60% of each…
By Caroline Iosso, Senior Policy Associate, Homes for the Homeless (HFH) Recently, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration released the updated Mayor’s Management Report, or MMR, for fiscal year 2022 (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022). While the new Dynamic MMR is updated throughout the year with new data for certain indicators, the September publishing of…
By Caroline Iosso, Senior Policy Associate, Homes for the Homeless (HFH) In a major blow to New York City’s public schools, the City’s FY2023 budget passed in June with a more than $200 million budget cut to the school system. The City Council, which approved the Adams Administration’s plan, has now felt the pressure from…
By Caroline Iosso, Senior Policy Associate, Homes for the Homeless (HFH) The much-anticipated plan to address New York City’s dual housing and homelessness crises was released by Mayor Adams last week. The plan, Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness, is full of impressive ideas and goals, though more could be done to…
Overview The New York City mayoral election will be a decision on the proper localized response to the continued pandemic, similar in its gravity to the 2001 mayoral election that followed the dual wounds of 9/11 and the related economic downturn. Given the current financial crisis and increased unemployment, many New Yorkers will be approaching…
Ralph da Costa Nunez, Ph.D. On April 6, as the daily tally of new recorded cases of COVID-19—6,353—peaked in New York City, over 11,000 families with over 20,000 children were sheltering in place in the Department of Homeless Services’s family shelter system. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic is negatively affecting all New Yorkers, but disproportionately harming…
The integral role that schools play in the lives of students experiencing homelessness and the many challenges they face have never been clearer as the threat of coronavirus continues to grow and schools across the country close. Below are ten things to keep in mind about homeless students amid the COVID-19 crisis. Students and families…
Student homelessness is at an all-time high, with over 1.5 million children nationwide experiencing homelessness over the course of the 2017-18 school year. That is the sobering verdict of a new report released by the National Center on Homeless Education (NCHE). This record-breaking total is an 11% increase over the previous school year and a…