EMERGENCY HOUSING
Kevin knew he had to
swallow his pride and find the closest shelter when he couldn’t feel
his hands anymore. He had no gloves and only a thin, worn jacket that
wasn’t protecting him this winter. After he had seen his best friend
get his face slashed on the train to Brooklyn, he realized that the
subways were too dangerous to ride at night.
Kevin had been living
on the streets for two months after being discharged from his group
home for fighting. He was fed up with the foster care system and
thought that he was old enough to take care of himself, at 19
years-old. This night was different. He needed warmth, a full meal
and some extra clothes. He entered the already crowded shelter and
got what he wanted, but he also got a lot more that he didn’t need.
After trying to sleep on a hard mat on the floor for all of five
minutes, the young man next to him began pushing at Kevin. He
recognized Kevin from a rival gang and started whispering violent
threats. Before there was a chance for any physical harm, Kevin
quickly got up and asked to be discharged. The staff member tried to
refer him to another shelter, likely just as crowded and hostile, but
Kevin refused. He packed up his new used clothing, grabbed an orange
for breakfast, and was back on the street by 1:00 A.M.
The next day he went
back to the shelter to try to take advantage of some of the
appointments the staff had made for him. He went to get a physical in
the health clinic and tried to apply for Medicaid. Because he had
lost all forms of identification, he applied for a new birth
certificate. When told that would take more than a month to come
through, Kevin gave up in frustration. He didn’t know if he’d be
alive in a month, let alone still be at this shelter. Again, he
walked out, but this time, he knew he would never come back.
STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
“In 1849 New York’s
first police chief reported that 3,000 children – or close to 1
percent of the city’s total population – lived on the streets and had
no place to sleep but in alleys and abandoned buildings or under
stairways.” Stephen O’Connor, Orphan
Trains, Houghton Mifflin, 2001
From the very
beginning of our nation’s history there have been children and youth
who have made the streets their home. New York City has had a long
and interesting series of responses including a makeshift shelter for
Newsies (boys who hawked newspapers on the streets of the city) to the
Orphan Trains, the now notorious program that sent street children to
the Midwest and South to live with farming families. Solutions set
forth by caring individuals met with varying degrees of success and,
of course, there was never a shortage of individuals who saw an
opportunity to exploit, harm and even murder the youth who no one
seemed to be caring for.
Our more
recent history has seen the passage of both federal and state law to
regulate services for homeless, runaway and street-involved youth.
Federal legislation mandating services to homeless youth has been
around for 30 years, and in New York State, legislation has been in
existence for twenty five years ago. Even with statutes in place
ostensibly to protect homeless, runaway and street-involved youth, a
lack of legislative will has translated in to too few programs for too
many youth.
According to
New York State, crisis programs are residential programs where youth
can voluntarily stay without parental/guardian consent for a period
not to exceed thirty days. The goal of the program is to stabilize a
young person, provide shelter and safety, and assist the young person
in making decisions about their lives including where to go following
their stay in the program. For youth who have been traumatized by
living on the street, or while at home, this first residential program
is crucial to helping them find long-term stability.
CURRENT
STATE
Current laws
regarding the care of homeless youth state that thirty day residential
services are divided into three possible age groups: under 18; 16 –
21; and over 18. New York State Office of Children and Family
Services (OCFS) will certify programs for youth under the age of 18 or
between the ages of 16 – 21. New York City’s Department of Youth and
Community Development can fund programs certified by OCFS. Programs
for youth ages 18 and over fall into the adult service system.
EXISTING
SERVICES
Today, in New
York City, the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 homeless youth have less
than 200 crisis shelter beds available. Every single shelter bed is
in the borough of Manhattan. In addition to the dearth of available
beds, there are strict criteria youth must meet to access these
limited resources. Seventy-five of the beds are reserved for females
with children only, 10 beds are for Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender
and Questioning youth ages 16-21. There is only 1 shelter available
to youth under the age of 16.
GAPS IN
SERVICES
Less than 10
years ago there were crisis shelters in every borough (Staten Island
technically did not have a shelter but could house youth in community
host homes.) Today the only shelters that exist are in Manhattan and
only one exists for youth under the age of 16. Aside from the sheer
lack of beds available, there is the greater issue of the need for a
diversity of service options. It is incumbent upon us to create a
system that meets the needs of our youth. Some young people are
comfortable in large facilities, while some need the intimacy of a
small program. Some youth will only feel safe in a homogeneous
setting (single gender, GLBTQ, parenting, etc.) while others need to
interact with a diversity of people. In small, rural areas the luxury
of choice is not always available. In New York City, where the most
conservative count of homeless youth tops 10,000, service options are
not only doable, they are essential.
Further, if
our goal is to reunite youth with their families and integrate youth
into their communities, small, community-based programs that work with
and are an integral part of a neighborhood work best. Youth need to
be close to the school they attend, as well as the friends and
families who support them, and learn to use the community’s resources
where they will most likely reside.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EMERGENCY HOUSING SERVICES
Over the next
two to three years, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development
and the NYC Department of Homeless Services must reconfigure their
service system to better meet the needs of homeless youth by:
-
Supporting small crisis
shelters in communities throughout the city.
-
Funding myriad models
of services to meet the needs of youth.
-
Insuring multiple
service options are available to all youth who need emergency
shelter.
