Current:Home > ContactNYC policy on how long migrant families can stay in shelters was ‘haphazard,’ audit finds -Quantum Capital Pro
NYC policy on how long migrant families can stay in shelters was ‘haphazard,’ audit finds
View
Date:2025-04-12 17:22:15
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City policy imposing 60-day limits on shelter stays for migrant families was rolled out haphazardly over the past six months — with issues such as the city failing to notify pregnant women they may be exempt, a new audit by the city’s comptroller has found.
The city began evicting migrant families in early January in order to ease pressure on its strained shelter system. However, women in their last trimester of pregnancy were exempted after news that 26-year-old who was nearly nine months pregnant was among those moved out.
That policy was never actually written down or communicated properly to agencies, shelter providers or the women themselves, according to the report released by Comptroller Brad Lander this week.
“No written policy was ever promulgated. Staff and contractors did not get that information. The notice that you get when you get a 60-day notice doesn’t tell you that if you’re pregnant, you’re exempt,” Lander said Thursday at a news conference.
The city’s policy allows families to reapply for shelter beds, although doesn’t guarantee another bed.
Addressing concerns that kids might wind up on the other side of the city from their schools, city officials said at the time that they would try to keep families in or near the districts where their children are enrolled.
But Lander’s audit says educators and families reported to his office that they didn’t receive this courtesy. It said at least three families at an elementary school in Brooklyn left the shelter system not because they were ready, but because they were offered placements in other boroughs.
Lander urged Mayor Eric Adams to suspend the 60-day rule until the end of the school semester.
The report did not systematically document housing, health, or educational outcomes for immigrants leaving a shelter. Lander said the city hasn’t done that either, tracking only whether immigrants stayed in the shelter system or not.
Responding to Lander’s report, the mayor’s office says the 60-day eviction notices — along with 30-day notices for single adult migrants — are one of the few tools it has to nudge migrants out of shelters.
“Nearly half of all families who have seen their 60-day notices expire, and more than 65 percent of all migrants that have come through our care, have moved out of our shelter system — without a single migrant family with children being forced to sleep on the street,” City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said in a statement.
Fewer than one in five children were disenrolled from their school after their family’s eviction notice expired, according to the statement.
New York is one of the few cities in the U.S. legally obligated to provide shelter to all people who ask for it, the result of a decades-old legal case. Separately, U.S. schools are legally obligated to enroll immigrant students who are minors, regardless of their parent’s immigration status.
Mamelak reiterated the city’s position that the Biden administration needs to fill in funding gaps for refugee resettlement programs. Those federal programs benefit virtually none of the 65,000 immigrants in the New York shelter system — many of whom are asylum applicants or have temporary legal status but not refugee status.
“A national humanitarian crisis requires a national solution,” Mamelak said.
Immigrant advocates say they’re having to help hundreds of parents individually negotiate with shelter officials to let them stay in their neighborhood.
Shuffling families between shelters is a daily problem for New York City council member Gale Brewer and her staff in Manhattan, who have handled dozens of cases flagged by schools and other community members.
“We’ll get a call: ‘They’re on their way to Queens,’ and we panic,” Brewer said.
Some of the schools in her district benefit from immigrant students because they are under-enrolled, and homeless students bring additional funding. The schools are often a good fit for the students because they have diverse language offerings.
Staff members, school workers and parent volunteers hurriedly assemble paperwork for the kids. To help families remain in their current shelter or get moved to one nearby, Brewer says city officials have stuck to an informal agreement — a system she likens to a modern-day “underground railroad.”
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- See the 'ghost' caught on video at a historic New England hotel: 'Skeptic' owners uneasy
- Boston councilmember wants hearing to consider renaming Faneuil Hall due to slavery ties
- Suspect in Chicago slaying arrested in Springfield after trooper shot in the leg, State Police say
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- In the time travel series 'Bodies,' one crime happens four times
- 'No one wants kids dying in schools,' but Americans disagree on how to keep them safe
- Tom Bergeron will 'never' return to 'DWTS' after 'betrayal' of casting Sean Spicer
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- White House scraps plan for B-52s to entertain at state dinner against backdrop of Israel-Hamas war
Ranking
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Nashville police chief’s son, wanted in the shooting of 2 officers, found dead after car chase
- Is alcohol a depressant? Understand why it matters.
- France’s Macron seeks international support for his proposal to build a coalition against Hamas
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Former hospital director charged after embezzling $600,000 from charitable fund, police say
- 'A Christmas Story' house sold in Cleveland ahead of film's 40th anniversary. Here's what's next.
- Why Cruise driverless cars were just suspended by the California DMV
Recommendation
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
Celtics, Bucks took sledgehammer to their identities. Will they still rule NBA East?
ESPN's Pat McAfee pays Aaron Rodgers; he's an accomplice to Rodgers' anti-vax poison
FDA says the decongestant in your medicine cabinet probably doesn't work. Now what?
South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
Senate votes 98-0 to confirm Biden’s nominee to run the Federal Aviation Administration
Is daylight saving time ending in 2023? What to know about proposed Sunshine Protection Act
'A Christmas Story' house sold in Cleveland ahead of film's 40th anniversary. Here's what's next.