A new report from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said that homelessness has grown sharply in the state in recent years.
The report released Wednesday by DiNapoli shows homelessness in New York more than doubled between January 2022 and January 2024.
In an interview with WXXI News, DiNapoli said that the large spike was driven in part by the influx of asylum-seekers into New York City, but he also noted that the rest of the state also had double- and triple-digit rate increases.
In Monroe County, homelessness grew by 41% during that period.
The comptroller said one particularly troubling aspect of this report is the number of children in the state who don’t have permanent housing.
“And I think one of the big concerns that I see in this report is that one in three of New York's homeless are children,” DiNapoli said. “I mean, these are our youngest neighbors, and you can just imagine what kind of an impact it has on a child if they are homeless in the beginning of their life.”
DiNapoli called on the state to take a closer look at resources allocated for housing assistance, to help find ways on where additional resources may be needed.
“You know, the challenge is to move from a shelter or emergency housing to a permanent housing.,” said DiNapoli, “and I think it's not only a question of finding more affordable housing that's permanent, but for some of these families, you also need supportive housing. You need services that can help them, you know, really make that transition back into the mainstream.”
DiNapoli also said that the state has long had a housing affordability crisis, and he hopes that can be addressed in the upcoming budget.
