259— Housing as a Human Right: Addressing Family Homelessness in New York City

New York City has the largest homeless population in the United States. In fiscal year 2019, 132,660 New Yorkers entered the New York City municipality including 44,300 children. Families with children accounted for 70% of this population. These data represent an 80% increase in family homelessness since 2002 and make clear the fact the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness goal to end family homelessness by 2020 has not been guided by proper social policy in the City of New York. The Bloomberg and De Blasio Administrations represent two extremely different ideologies, however, neither administration, to this point, has been able to improve the condition of family homelessness in New York. This work seeks to examine housing and homelessness policies under the Bloomberg and De Blasio Administrations, and their success, or lack thereof, in addressing the city’s homelessness issue. Specifically, it addresses the shortcomings of Bloomberg’s Housing Stability Plus and Advantage programs, and De Blasio’s LINC and Housing New York 2.0. Finally, this work seeks to recommend a set of robust policy solutions to reduce the number of New York City families experiencing homelessness.