Migrant Children Leaving School Due to Shelter Evictions
About 1,000 children — or nearly 15% of the 7,600 kids living in migrant shelters whose families got notices to leave city shelters since the end of June — have left the public school system, representatives of the city’s Office of Asylum Seekers disclosed at a City Council hearing Tuesday.
Devastating the Schools
Molly Schaeffer, the head of the city’s Office of Asylum Seeker Operations, shared that and other statistics in her testimony regarding families that had received notices to vacate shelter within 60 days — suggesting widespread disruption to children.
“It’s devastating the schools,” responded City Councilmember Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan). “We’re one administration. Are we thinking about what we can do to keep those kids…so they will stay in those schools.”
Statistics
According to Schaeffer, another 830 transferred schools while another 2,300 switched shelters but remained in their original school, and 3,100 remained in the same shelter and school.
Shelter Stay Time Limits
The figures came out in a Council hearing scrutinizing the shelter stay time limits, which the administration of Mayor Eric Adams began phasing in just over a year ago.
More than 23,000 60-day eviction notices have gone to families with children since then, who have had to re-apply for shelter if they had nowhere else to go. According to the most recent data, from August, only 5,300 households currently live in shelters subject to the 60-day time limits — indicating some families have had to move again and again.
Talking Trauma
Protesters calling for an end to the time limits on shelter stays briefly interrupted the proceedings, chanting “end shelter evictions now,” before they were forced out of the chambers by Council guards.
“Eviction after 60 days is not a trauma-informed policy,” Councilmember Alexa Avilés (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the council’s Immigration Committee, told Dr. Ted Long, who oversees the city’s Health and Hospitals emergency shelters, after he’d dodged her question multiple times if he considered it to be a trauma-informed policy as a physician. “Its important for human dignity to acknowledge.”
Conclusion
The statistics and testimony presented at the City Council hearing highlight the devastating impact of the 60-day shelter stay time limits on migrant children and families. The policy has been criticized for months, and it is clear that it is causing widespread disruption to children’s education and daily lives. The city must reconsider this policy and work to find a solution that prioritizes the needs of these vulnerable families.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why were the 60-day shelter stay time limits implemented?
A: The administration of Mayor Eric Adams implemented the 60-day shelter stay time limits to help the city rein in costs and prevent the shelter system from growing in perpetuity.
Q: How many migrant families are currently living in city shelters?
A: Around 57,000 migrants currently live in city shelters, down from around 67,000 in January.
Q: What is the impact of the 60-day shelter stay time limits on children’s education?
A: The statistics and testimony presented at the City Council hearing suggest that the 60-day shelter stay time limits are causing widespread disruption to children’s education, with over 1,000 children leaving the public school system in the past few months alone.
Q: What is being done to address the concerns of advocates and families affected by the policy?
A: The city has announced a tweak to the policy, allowing families to apply for additional stays without needing to relocate, as well as a plan for a new centralized mail system to help prevent the loss of important documents.
