Bed-Stuy's Student Homelessness Problem: Politicians Weigh In

This piece was written by Kings County Politics and posted here in partnership with Patch:

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Two of the leading candidates for the vacant 41st District City Council Seat weighed in yesterday on one of the district’s biggest issues – how to deal with Bed-Stuy and Brownsville housing the third and fourth largest population citywide of homeless public school students.

The issue was highlighted this week when the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness (ICPH) released an interactive map on neighborhoods with the highest percent of homeless students. The map was part of a report that found Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville had percentages of 15.2% within their school districts (District 23 and 16). That's a rate of homelessness more than three times that of the neighborhoods Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Sunset Park, which, when measured altogether, have a rate of 4.2 percent homelessness, according to the report.

The report further stated that the homeless population was 1,267 for Bedford-Stuyvesant and 1,617 for Brownsville. The stat sheets included in the report showed that one out of five students in both district 16 and district 23 were reported as homeless within the last five years. This is in contrast to the one out of eight students who have experienced homelessness within the past five years in the whole of New York City.

Kings County Politics polled the leading candidates in the race including Community Board 3 District Manager Henry Butler, Former Female Democratic District Leader Alicka Samuel, Current Male Democratic District Leader Cory Provost and community activist Deidre Olivera on their views on the issue. Only Butler and Samuel responded.

“It is our responsibility to help children perform their best in school and live up to their full potential. My focus has always been to build a healthy community. When elected to the NYC Council I will work to bring funding and C to our district focusing on wrap around services for the children and their families,” said Samuel, who worked as a case manager for homeless individuals and saw firsthand how hard it could be trying to navigate through NYC’s shelter system.

“We need a holistic approach to deal with the needs and interests of homeless students. We need to ensure that families can easily travel from housing placements to their child’s school while ensuring all educational and psychosocial needs are addressed daily. All while increasing affordable housing units for low and extremely low-income families. The immediate fix is making sure children get to the school building and helping families remain in the area,” she added.

Samuel said the effects of homelessness have been an ongoing issue in the district for quite some time. In 2004, studies revealed that families from the zip code 11212 were entering the shelter system at alarming rates, she said.

“This is why I worked for a community-based organization in Brownsville providing eviction prevention services such as rental arrear payments to families facing evictions from NYCHA. Many of us are just a paycheck away from being homeless. The key to solving homelessness is funding eviction prevention services. What this (ICPH) study shows is the deep impact and effect homelessness has on children, but it’s what we already know,” Samuel said.

Butler said the key to ending youth homelessness is a multi-pronged approach that must include providing incentives for non-profits and the private sector to invest in economically disenfranchised communities, while also creating truly affordable housing that gives preference to community residents so they can have the stability needed to raise their families.

“At the same time, we must focus on increasing employment opportunities in the area and adding funding for our schools and after-school programs so they have the added resources needed to turn failing schools around,” said Butler.

The ICPH data suggests homelessness is a pivotal factor in chronic absenteeism. Across grade levels, homeless students missed nearly twice the amount of class as their housed peers. The report indicates that homeless students are held back a grade level at a rate 4% higher than their housed counterparts. This is particularly true if high school students were either unhoused or staying in shelters.

This, the institute asserts, is problematic to the civic attempt of breaking the cycle of poverty. Data indicates homelessness has lasting negative effects on a student’s grades long after she acquires housing. Students who experienced homelessness had higher rates of grade retention, suspensions and drop-outs. Overall, they also scored lower in proficiency testing administered across grade levels.

Read the full homelessness report here.

Image by Kings County Politics