About a quarter of New York City’s shelter beds designated for runaway and homeless youth are occupied by immigrant children, officials said Friday.
The Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) confirmed during Friday’s City Council budget hearing that there are only 813 beds available in the city’s shelters, 60 of which are allocated to youth ages 21 to 24. did.
This is South Bronx City Councilmember Althea Stevens grilling DYCD Commissioner Keith Howard on how the immigration crisis is impacting the availability of beds for homeless youth and young adults in New York City. It happened when
“Even before the asylum seekers came, we didn’t have enough beds, so we’re not going to let that go. So can we all agree? Are there enough beds for young people? The answer. What? No,” Stevens fumed.
“No, you won’t tell me?” she barked at Howard.
DYCD officials say the immigration crisis is a major cause for concern, including through the Young Men’s Initiative (YMI), a program that addresses disparities between black and Latino men between the ages of 16 and 24, and a comprehensive afterschool system. It said it has had a far-reaching impact on existing programs. New York (Compass).
COMPASS, formerly known as Out-of-School Time (OST) programs, is comprised of more than 890 programs serving youth from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“We’ve had an influx of immigrants over the past two years that has put a severe strain on all cities and urban resources,” Howard said.
Stevens said youth services “can’t always take a hit” when the city is strapped for cash, suggesting cuts to those programs could lead to higher costs in the future.
“If we don’t invest in our youth, we’re going to spend more money on them while they’re in the juvenile justice system, and once they’re in the juvenile justice system, we end up spending more money on Rikers.” They’re going to be sent. It’s a continuous cycle,” she said.
It’s the latest budget cut to impact New York City’s youth to offset the soaring costs of the immigration crisis.
This week, the city’s free universal preschool and 3K classes, funded by soon-to-expire stimulus cash, will be cut by a potential $170 million overall this fiscal year, amid a series of citywide budget cuts. facing.
