More than 20K Queens students were homeless last school year: report

A young student heads to school in Ozone Park on the first day of the 2018/2019 school year. More than 20,000 Queens students experienced homelessness at some point last year, according to DOE data. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

By David Brand

Nearly 20,300 Queens school children experienced homelessness last year, according to an examination of Department of Education enrollment data by the organization Advocates for Children of New York. Overall, more than 114,000 New York City students experienced homelessness during the 2018-2019 school year.

“This problem is immense. The number of New York City students who experienced homelessness last year — 85 percent of whom are Black or Hispanic — could fill the Barclays Center six times,” said AFC Executive Director Kim Sweet.

AFC’s New York State Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students, or NYS-TEACHS, found that one-in-ten New York City schoolchildren were homeless at some point last year. It was the fourth straight year that the number of homeless students surpassed 100,000 citywide.

Map via AFC

At least 20,298 students from Queens’ seven school districts experienced homelessness at some point last school year, the data shows. The highest rates of homelessness occurred in districts with the highest concentrations of people of color.

School District 24, Queens’ largest district, accounted for the highest number of homeless students with 5264 last school year. The district includes predominantly Latino neighborhoods, like Corona and Elmhurst as well as Ridgewood, Middle Village, Maspeth and other nearby neighborhoods.

At least 3,042 students experienced homelessness in Southeast Queens’ District 29, the district with the highest rate of homelessness among schoolchildren in the borough. Between 10 and 14.9 percent of students experienced homelessness in the district last year, according to the city data. The district includes several majority black and African American neighborhoods like Cambria Heights and St Albans.

While more than 34,000 students across the city spent time in the municipal shelter system, another 73,750 lived in unstable housing — often “doubled-up” in temporary housing with family members, friends or other people. Unstably housed people are at particular risk for eviction because their names do not appear on a lease.

A total of 21,754 children stayed in a New York City municipal shelter on Oct. 24, according to the most recent daily census report from the Department of Homeless Services.

Coalition for the Homeless Policy Director Giselle Routhier said the report on student homelessness illustrate the city’s failure to house low-income New Yorkers — especially children. She called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to create truly affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness.

“Until he uses every available tool to help our homeless neighbors, the mayor is needlessly condemning thousands of children to the long-lasting trauma of dislocation that we know impacts their mental health as well as their ability to learn and succeed for years to come,” she said in a statement.