New York, July 5, 2017 : The city’s street homeless population skyrocketed by 39 percent this year to 3,892 — highest since 2005 — but the number was not posted or publicly released as usual.
Last year, when 2,794 homeless individuals were found living and sleeping on the streets the de Blasio administration issued a press release on April 28, 2016 trumpeting the sharp reduction from 3,183 in 2015.
The new surge comes despite a massive effort by the administration to canvass the streets for homeless individuals and convince them to enter the city’s shelter system.
In December 2015, de Blasio announced that initiative — dubbed “HOME-STAT” — which added 137 more workers to the Department of Homeless Services and 40 more cops to the NYPD’s homeless outreach unit.
In April 2016, de Blasio announced that the program, which city officials hailed as the most comprehensive street homeless outreach initiative in the country, was fully operational.
But just over a year later, the administration undertook a significant overhaul — without citing the elevated street homeless numbers recorded during the annual, federally-mandated count in February.
City officials couldn’t immediately say how much the HOME-STAT initiative has cost to date.
The new street homeless figures were first reported by PoliticoNY.
News Courtesy: NY Post
