Overview
As candidates in the 2025 New York City elections lay out their visions, residents are eager to hear the contenders’ plans for the city. Central to the election are issues like childcare, the city’s relationship with the federal government, and above all, New York’s crisis of housing and affordability. High prices affect all New Yorkers, but increasing costs are forcing some households into extreme situations. The city’s lack of housing and rising costs of living fuel the intense yet often overlooked challenge of family homelessness.
Polls often ask voters whether they feel the city is “on the right track.” To fulfill this vision, city leaders must attend to the needs of families experiencing homelessness. A city “on the right track” boasts a thriving workforce and children prospering through healthy home lives and stable educational environments. These aims cannot be accomplished as long as New York’s family homelessness crisis continues.
Elected officials must also understand the nature of family homelessness as a complex, multi-generational issue. Assisting families in shelter involves not just matters of housing but of education, physical and mental health, employment, and safety. Addressing family homelessness will require collaboration between the City and nonprofits as well as the allocation of both time and resources to work towards proven solutions. With understanding of the issue and best practices, however, it can be done.
To that end, those vying to lead New York City should bear in mind:
1. Children and families are the hidden face of homelessness.
The majority (69%) of individuals living in Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters in New York City are members of families with children.1 Slightly more than one out of three people in shelter in NYC is a child. Half of the children in DHS shelters are age five and under,2 and therefore in a critical developmental stage of their lives. The number of children sleeping in shelter each night—over 31,000—would fill nearly every seat at a concert at Forest Hills Stadium, a basketball game at Barclays Center, and a show at the Apollo Theater combined.3
2. Shelters with support programs will help families confront the barriers contributing to their housing instability.
Sufficient funding should be allocated toward shelter-based services such as job training for parents. Without these supports, homeless families will have a slim chance of maintaining their housing and will return to the shelter system when their time-limited housing voucher expires.
3. Reducing family homelessness requires a multipronged approach.
City and State officials will need to invest resources wisely in policies that both provide immediate assistance and offer long-term solutions. This multipronged approach would include:
- Protecting the right to high-quality, service-rich, emergency temporary shelter for families.
- Helping homeless parents grow their income, benefits, and savings so they can maintain housing in the community.
- Increasing the supply of housing that is affordable to families living in shelter. The currently available “affordable” housing is rarely within budget for a family residing in shelter.
- Building on homelessness prevention and aftercare service models with proven track records.
4. Students in shelter experience worse educational outcomes.
During the 2023-2024 school year, over 38,900 public school students stayed in NYC DHS shelters.4 Compared to their housed peers, students in shelter experience lower attendance rates, proficiency levels, and rates of high school graduation.5 City officials need to be ready to support efforts that improve the educational outcomes for homeless students.
5. City officials need to ensure that at-risk and homeless families do not fall through the cracks given the current federal funding environment.
The City currently receives over $8 billion in federal funding for direct use in its annual Operating Budget. Over 80% of these dollars flow to departments that support families experiencing homelessness. Such programs help subsidize the cost of housing, education, and childcare.6,7 New York Governor Hochul has made clear that it would be impossible for the State to make up lost federal revenue. New York City could be in the same sinking boat.8 Should such cuts happen, NYC officials will be challenged to minimize reductions in services and/or resources for homeless families. Candidates must therefore offer strategies for dealing with proposed cuts to federal funding.
Note: Citations and links to sources for data are included in the PDF version of this document available by clicking Downloads underneath the Table of Contents.