Street Homelessness in NYC: By the Numbers
A recent count of homeless people in New York City recorded 4,140 individuals living on the streets. This year’s figure is slightly up from 4,042 in the previous year. Despite being marginally higher, the count shows the city’s significant efforts to manage homelessness.
Rising Shelter Population
It must be noted though, the actual shelter population has doubled over the same period due to an influx of over 200,000 asylum seekers. This has inevitably strained the city’s limited resources as attempts to keep men, women, and children from resorting to the precarious conditions of street life intensify.
NYC’s Response to Homelessness Crisis
New York’s scuffle with homelessness reflects its triumphs and challenges. Given the significant rise in the shelter population, maintaining last year’s count of street homelessness suggests a victory for the city. Even smaller cities than New York house a larger number of street homeless people, proving NYC’s commitment to this pressing issue.
Placement in the Shelter System
The city has successfully managed not to leave these new arrivals in the lurch, supporting them in transition instead. Asylum seekers, just like existing residents, are offered shelter placements. It’s quite an achievement for a large and complex city like New York to manage everyone’s shelter needs. This testifies to the diligent work of the Department of Homeless Services alongside other agencies who work in unison to offer assistance and case management to the homeless.
Creating Permanent Homes
The primary goal remains connecting people to permanent homes. Nearly 1,000 individuals last year were able to find subsidized permanent housing, a commendable step towards ending street homelessness.
Refining Policies and Practices
The job, however, is far from done. Policy changes and best practices can further improve the city’s homelessness situation. A recent initiative in Buffalo, which offers asylum seekers a refugee resettlement system, is seen as a potential model to lighten the load on NYC’s shelter system.
Addressing the Housing Deficit
One of the main contributors to homelessness is the lack of affordable homes, an issue where both the city and state have failed to deliver thus far. State’s recent reinstatement of a housing development incentive similar to the 421a program, coupled with pro-housing shifts, hopefully will help make a difference.
Potential Policy Changes
Decisions that may help include the potential approval of the third and final component of the mayor’s City of Yes plan. This targets zoning requirements and other hurdles to housing construction. Quick action on these could be instrumental in solving NYC’s homeless problem.
Support for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Issues
It’s also crucial that New Yorkers grappling with mental health and substance abuse issues receive the help they need. This includes ways to increase the number of available mental health beds and greater funding for substance recovery programs. The state has so far been reluctant to approve or fund overdose prevention centers but doing so could help a lot of people.
Path to Success: Collaborative Efforts
If all these initiatives are combined with the existing efforts like provision of Safe Haven beds and outreach teams, NYC could significantly lower street homelessness. The object is not to criminalize homelessness, but to help those in need. By doing this, New York can prove itself a city committed to eliminating street homelessness, and in the most humane way possible.