Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected on Tuesday to unveil a plan to open roughly 90 new homeless shelters throughout New York’s five boroughs, a stark increase devised to address his most vexing citywide problem.
The move, which was confirmed by several people familiar with the plan, would increase the number of shelters in New York by nearly a third and is sure to meet community opposition at nearly every turn.
In a settlement that could help thousands of families avoid eviction, New York State will substantially increase the monthly rent subsidies it provides to low-income families with children in New York City, a move that could help reduce the number of people in homeless shelters.
The public assistance program, known as the Family Eviction Prevention Supplement, has remained flat since it was established in 2004, even as rents have skyrocketed. Under the settlement, a family of three eligible for $850 per month, for example, would now be eligible for $1,515, a 78 percent increase.
New York City is in the midst of the largest homeless student crisis in its history, with about 100,000 students either living in shelters, foster care, or doubled up with family or friends — ten percent of the city’s entire student population.
A POLITICO New York analysis shows the breadth and depth of the challenges homeless students in the city face, including high chronic absenteeism, high rates of homeless students receiving special education services and low student achievement rates compared to non-homeless students.