NEW YORK, NY — Today, the Family Homelessness Coalition released the following statement in response to Mayor de Blasio’s State of the City address:

“The digital divide in New York City has left thousands of children growing up in shelter without the devices, internet access and support they need to keep up with schoolwork, causing them to lose countless days of essential learning. Mayor de Blasio has outlined a bold vision for what equitable education could look like, but he has failed to keep promises to solve the bare-minimum problem of internet access since the pandemic pushed kids into remote learning in March 2020. The 25,000 children in shelter can’t wait until the school year is over to get reliable Internet access. The City must act quickly to set up hot spots at the community level in close proximity to all family shelters. If the City fails to act soon, homeless children will have lost more than an entire school year.”