“We are thrilled that the administration has acknowledged the ongoing needs of the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, children who are homeless without their families and who are forced to sell their bodies, souls and dignity to survive another day on our streets. We thank the administration for including full spending in the November plan for our expanded shelter bed program. It is an acknowledgement not only of the work done on this issue over the past 12 years by the council and of the fact that responsible adults don’t let children sleep on subway gratings at night.”

“For years, The Council has made a point of including funding to shelter services for runaway and homeless youth in each annual budget, and now with cooperation from the Administration, we can safely say that these important services will continue to be funded now and in the future. Thanks to this change in process, funding for at least 8 drop-in centers and 159 residential beds for homeless youth will be a built-in part of the city’s budget, rather than a year-to-year uncertainty in budget negotiations. Caring for the homeless youth of this city should be treated as a necessity rather than an option, and ensuring this annual funding sends the message that these services are a real priority for this city.”

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