{"id":4812,"date":"2018-03-20T14:10:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T18:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multi.nycnewsnetwork.com\/eastnewyork\/rising-number-of-students-in-temporary-housing-lead-advocates-to-call-on-city-for-support\/"},"modified":"2018-03-20T14:10:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T18:10:29","slug":"rising-number-of-students-in-temporary-housing-lead-advocates-to-call-on-city-for-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/eastnewyork\/rising-number-of-students-in-temporary-housing-lead-advocates-to-call-on-city-for-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising Number of Students in Temporary Housing Lead Advocates To Call on City for Support"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) and Citizens\u2019 Committee for Children of New York (CCC) called on Mayor de Blasio to provide critical support to students who are homeless, releasing a publication entitled\u00a0Recommendations for Improving School Access and Success for Rising Numbers of Students in Temporary Housing<\/a>\u00a0[PDF<\/a>].\u00a0 In addition, sixteen leading child advocacy, education, and housing organizations sent a\u00a0letter to Mayor de Blasio<\/a>\u00a0[PDF<\/a>] urging him to include a significant infusion of resources in the budget to support these students.<\/p>\n

In 2016-2017, a record 104,088 New York City students were identified as homeless\u2014a 50 percent increase from just five years ago.\u00a0 For the past two years, the Administration included $10.3 million in the budget to support students who are homeless, including funding for 43 Department of Education \u201cBridging the Gap\u201d social workers to work with students living in shelters at schools with high populations of these students.\u00a0 These social workers have provided counseling to students, connected them to academic support and mental health services, and worked to improve attendance.<\/p>\n

However, the Mayor\u2019s recent budget proposal did not include any funding to continue these initiatives.\u00a0 When asked about this omission, the Mayor stated that he was still determining what type of support to include for these students in the 2019 budget.<\/p>\n

Given the number of students in temporary housing and the barriers they face to school success, the organizations are urging the Mayor to:<\/p>\n

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  1. Establish a Deputy Chancellor\u2019s Office for Highly Mobile Students (including students in temporary housing and students in foster care)<\/li>\n
  2. Hire Field Support Center Directors for Highly Mobile Students<\/li>\n
  3. Increase the number of DOE Bridging the Gap school-based social workers for students in shelters from 43 social workers to 100<\/li>\n
  4. Hire 50 DOE social workers to provide intensive supports at shelters to address education-related issues<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cWith more than 100,000 students homeless, we have a crisis situation that demands high-level leadership from the Department of Education,\u201d said Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children.\u00a0 \u201cThe Mayor\u2019s goals of equity and excellence require bold action to help ensure that students who are homeless can get to school every day and receive the counseling and academic support they need to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe family homelessness crisis demands that City leaders take additional steps to better support homeless children both get to school and succeed in school,\u201d said Jennifer March, Executive Director of Citizens\u2019 Committee for Children.\u00a0 \u201cThis starts with restoring the funding currently supporting social workers, but must also include prioritizing the needs of homeless students and investing in additional supports to reduce absenteeism and help homeless students thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

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