Urban policy NYC Issue - Assignment Example

The City should focus on Housing First that will ensure every child has a place to live in so that they can be able to continue with their lives and attend schools. Children who are homeless lack basic need like health and are unable to attend school. The New York City Local Government adopts the Federal government’s definition of homeless in accordance to the department of housing and urban development. In this case, homeless people are those “without a regular dwelling or fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence” (New York Department of Homeless Services).

The most affected by homelessness in NYC are children where they are denied their basic needs for survival like shelter and education. The total number of homeless people in 2015 was 60,000. 80 percent of the homeless is made up of families and children where almost 25,000 of them are children. During the last fiscal year of 2014 were 116,000 who were different NYC residents where 42,000 were children. They slept at least once in NYC shelters and moved on to other areas. Homelessness hits children most, especially African American and Latino families.

It is estimated that almost 1 out of 43 NYC children that are under the age of eighteen has spent a night in the municipal shelter. One in seventeen African children has utilized NYC shelters. The number of children who missed schooll totalled to approxiately 8,000 where most were allowed in schools even without the porper documentation (Office of Children and Family Services, 2013).. Officials of the city estimate that there were additional 3,357 homeless people who were living in the parks and public places in the year 2014.

This shows that the homeless people estimated in 2015 have been living in the city as homeless people for over a year and even more, where they stay in such stated parks and pavements (Hu, 2015). The number of children who are homeless in NYC