City puts more at risk by cutting funds for homeless youth

Due to city and state budget cuts, the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) will be cutting its Runaway and Homeless Youth Services expenditures by $969,407 in the current fiscal year, and by another $700,000 in FY12. Other reductions by the DYCD in services for homeless youth include:

• Street Outreach Services will be cut by 50% in FY11 and eliminated in FY12;
• Drop-In Centers, funded by the City Council, will be reduced by 50% in FY11; and
• The DYCD’s Borough-based Drop-In Centers in Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens will be reduced by 1/3 in FY11 and 23% in FY12. The Staten Island Drop-In Center will be cut by 10% in FY12.

Homeless LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) youth, who make up 40% of the homeless youth population, will be disproportionately affected by these cuts. The Ali Forney Center and the Bronx Pride Center, both of which provide supportive services for this population, are both losing 50% of the city funds that were allocated for their drop-in programs, totaling $185K of the $969K in cuts.

These cuts could be devastating. A 2008 census by the New York City Council indicated that about 3,800 youth experience homelessness in NYC, and there are only several hundred shelters and transitional beds available for these thousands of young people. Moreover, homeless LGBT youth often have a more difficult time staying in these shelters because they are often subjected to homophobic abuse. Drop-in and outreach centers are critical, and without these services many will not have the assistance needed to combat the struggles of living on the street.

These cuts are also being enacted despite research that indicates need for more drop-in centers and outreach efforts. In October 2009, Mayor Bloomberg appointed a 25-member commission to research how to better assist homeless LGBT youth and prevent future homelessness amongst this population. The commission’s report suggested adding 200 beds for LGBT youth, increasing drop-in center hours, extending particularly overnight hours, and expanding street outreach. Ironically, the city is now doing precisely the opposite of what their own commission recommended, making what could have been an effective effort to help NYC’s struggling youth completely go to waste. Hopefully these changes will not put more youth at risk, but it seems, undoubtedly, that they will.

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