NY makes homeless young people eligible for vaccine, but COVID data locked away
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New York state made so called “runaway and homeless youth” eligible for COVID-19 vaccines Monday. Photo courtesy of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
By David Brand
After months of advocacy, New York’s COVID-19 vaccine eligibility guidelines now include young people living in youth shelters and juvenile jails, the state Health Department told providers Monday.
But despite daily reporting by organizations that serve so-called “runaway and homeless youth” — homeless young people aged 16 to 24 — the state and city agencies overseeing those programs have not shared COVID-19 case data with providers, advocates or the media.
Groups serving young people experiencing homeless say that information is important for assessing the impact of the coronavirus on clients and staff at youth shelters and drop-in centers.
“For transparency’s sake, we as a society need to be taking stock of what has happened with the pandemic,” said Beth Hofmeister, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project. “We need to assess it and have a better plan in place on how to address it.”
There are more than 600 young people living in RHY shelters in New York City, THE CITY reported Tuesday. The city’s Department of Youth and Community Development has at least 753 RHY beds, City Limits reported last year.
Other young adults who would qualify for RHY programs, which are specifically tailored to the needs of young people, instead live in shelters run by the Department of Homeless Services or forgo city-run emergency housing.
DHS shelter residents qualified for vaccines prior to the state’s new guidance for homeless young people Monday.
DYCD and the state’s Office of Children and Family Services oversee organizations serving runaway and homeless youth. The two agencies do not make the COVID-19 case information public, unlike other agencies, including DHS and the city’s Department of Education.
“Minus data, it’s hard to prove a need,” said Coalition for Homeless Youth Executive Director Jamie Powlovich, who submitted a Freedom of Information Law request for the information. “I think where it could have really helped early on was to demonstrate a need for access to resources and other supports specific to COVID.”
In response to Powlovich’s FOIL request, DYCD said they do not maintain data on the number of RHY testing positive for COVID-19 — in spite of daily reports submitted by providers.
DYCD did, however, provide information that 35 RHY clients had been referred to isolation hotels between May and September 2020, an indication that they had tested positive for COVID-19.
When contacted by the Eagle, DYCD referred questions about the number of COVID-positive young people in youth shelters or drop-in programs to the state’s Office of Children of Family Services.
An OCFS spokesperson said the information was only available through a FOIL request. An attorney for OCFS acknowledged receipt of a FOIL request from the Eagle, but said the information was not yet available.
Powlovich said the lack of transparency complicates the response to the needs of young people and the staff who serve them.
“We knew there was a need because we were hearing from young people and the providers themselves, but there wasn’t any additional pressure,” she said.
Powlovich called the state’s decision to make young people in RHY programs eligible for the vaccine “a win,” but said the guideline should have been instituted earlier.
“It’s a success,” she said. “But ideally runaway and homeless youth should have had access to the vaccines when the governor released the guidance for homeless people across the state.”
Despite the once vague guidelines, many young people in RHY programs did manage to access the vaccines before Monday, said Alex Roque, executive director at the Ali Forney Center. Roque’s organization serves hundreds of young people who identify as LGBTQ+ and experience homelessness.
Some young people qualified under previous guidelines that made people experiencing homelessness eligible for the vaccine, or because of other factors, like their roles as essential workers or their underlying health conditions.
Between 60 and 75 percent of the agency’s 225 staff members have also managed to get vaccinated, Roque said.
AFC has limited the spread of COVID-19 throughout the second wave of the illness by enforcing mask and distancing measures and by staggering staff shifts, Roque said.
In the past eight weeks, just two young people and two staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, he said.
Overall, he said, the city has taken important steps to support the needs of young people in AFC’s drop-in and shelter programs.
“My perspective is the glass is always half full,” Roque said. “This is a very challenging time and no one knew what was going on.”
