News & Media

11.01.2023 | NY1 | “Students who are homeless in New York City could fill Barclays Center six times,” Randi Levine, policy director of Advocates for Children, said. 

It’s a record high, according to an analysis from Advocates for Children: 119,320 students experienced homelessness during the last school year. 

Of them, 40,840 stayed in shelters, 72,500 were doubled up — sharing someone else’s housing, and about 5,900 students lived in hotels, motels, or were unsheltered.

It’s an increase of 14% over the prior year. That growth has been fueled by the surge of migrants coming to the city — but schools were already serving a huge number of homeless students before their arrival.

“The last school year was the eighth consecutive year in which more than 100,000 New York City students experienced homelessness,” Levine said.

Every district served homeless children last year — but some saw more than others. In Bronx District 9, Brooklyn Districts 23 and 32, and Manhattan’s District 4, one in every five students was homeless last year.

“When we look at educational indicators, they are particularly abysmal for students living in shelter,” Levine said. “And that’s why we think it’s so important to make sure that the Department of Education has staff who are particularly looking out for students in shelter.”

The city hired 100 coordinators to work directly with families in shelter — but they’re now being stretched thin, and the funding used to hire them expires in less than a year. Meanwhile, more than 100 new shelters have opened without any public school staff to support them — even though the federal government has provided funding that can only be used for homeless students, and must be spent or returned by next October.

“That funding is available now. There’s a tremendous need right now. And the Department of Education actually has some temporary staff members who they’ve interviewed and are ready to start their work right now. But we’re seeing bureaucratic hurdles get in the way of the Department of Education getting that final green light,” Levine said. Watch video

11.01.2023 | City & State | A new report from Advocates for Children outlines causes of the 14% increase, including the ongoing migrant crisis. 

Roughly 1 in 9 public school students in New York City experienced homelessness last school year, according to new data released Wednesday – a staggering all-time high figure spurred forward in large part due to the ongoing arrival of thousands of asylum-seeking families. To put it in perspective, that’s more than enough children to fill Yankee stadium twice over. 

Of the over 119,000 students who were homeless during the 2022-23 academic year, 34% spent time living in city shelters, 61% were doubled up with other families, and 5% were unsheltered or living in cars or hotels, according to Advocates for Children of New York’s annual report on New York State Education Department records.That’s a 14% increase from the 2021-22 school year, although that year’s data was taken before the influx of new arrivals began enrolling in the system. Read article

11.01.2023 | City Limits | Students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity “face tremendous obstacles in school,” the report notes, including higher high school drop out rates and chronic absenteeism, according to AFC. 

“No child in New York City should be homeless, but until we reach that goal, access to a quality education is our best possible tool for ensuring those living in shelter don’t re-enter the system as adults,” Kim Sweet, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. Read article

10.30.2023 | City Limits | Jennifer Pringle, a representative from Advocates for Children of New York, said she wants NYCPS to increase funds for shelter-based staff. 

“I can’t emphasize how critical those positions are to making sure that families connect with school and connect with the services that they need in school,” Pringle said. Read article