New York – Today, Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, New Destiny Housing, and Enterprise Community Partners issued the following statement on behalf of the Family Homelessness Coalition in light of new figures released by the City Council on Tuesday showing that 72% of all asylum-seekers in the city’s care are families with children:

“The emergency created by the influx of new arrivals to New York is only growing in scale. The report released Tuesday from the New York City Council provides concrete evidence that families with children make up the majority of the new arrivals, who are bearing the brunt of this crisis.

More children than ever before will sleep in shelters in New York City tonight. To address this urgent situation, all the levels of government – federal, state and local – must partner in taking action to ensure that new arrivals have access to the resources they need. The federal government can open support centers offering health care and wrap around services and take emergency action to expedite work authorization. Gov. Hochul can invoke executive orders to ensure new arrivals can be accepted across the state, and must work with mayors and county executives to coordinate the relocation of new arrivals. Mayor Adams must implement recently enacted local legislation that improves access to city housing vouchers and expedite access to permanent housing for all households already in, or entering, shelter.

A collective effort is needed to address this humanitarian crisis and ensure that the children and families impacted do not simply survive, but thrive.”

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This statement is from the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, Enterprise Community Partners and New Destiny Housing on behalf of the Family Homelessness Coalition.

ABOUT

The Family Homelessness Coalition (FHC) is composed of 20 organizations representing service and housing providers and children’s advocacy organizations. FHC is united by the goal of launching a coordinated, collaborative, multi-agency effort focused on preventing family homelessness, improving the well-being of children and families in shelters, and supporting the long-term stability of families with children who leave shelters.