The last time the number of low-income rental units exceeded the number of low-income renters was 1970 (see chart, below). A recent brief by the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, "A Home by Any Other Name: Enhancing Shelters Address the Gap in Low-income Housing," reports that by...

It has been almost 30 years since New York City established the right to shelter for homeless families. While this right was decreed to guarantee that no New York City family would be left to fend for themselves on the street, it has now become a national and, in some...

Indisputably, the American economy is ailing and its citizens are suffering. Beginning with the 2007 recession, most Americans have become increasingly familiar with financial uncertainty, disappointment, and frustration while politicians of both parties have grown adept at packaging blame into sound bites. All but a few insiders and pundits are...

I recently returned from Pittsburgh, where on Friday, May 4, I keynoted the Homeless Children's Education Fund's "Summit III: Impact of Poverty on Learning & Brain Development for Children & Youth Experiencing Homelessness."

HCEF brought together individuals on the front lines at shelters and school systems, those...

When U.S. attorney general Eric Holder described the United States as a "nation of cowards" when it comes to openly discussing race, he was lambasted. But he was absolutely right. And one area where race has long been an issue spoken about in hushed tones is the...

At a time when nearly 50 percent of Americans are either low-income or poor, members of the middle class are at risk of joining their ranks. The gradual erosion of household incomes, and decreased quality of life that many Americans have been experiencing over the past few decades,...

On this Veterans Day, as we take pause to remember the veterans who so bravely served our country it's imperative that we not overlook homeless women veterans and their families.

While women represented only 8 percent of all sheltered homeless veterans in 2010, that statistic masks the...

Homeless families currently spend an average of 11 months in New York City's transitional shelters, longer than the length of a school year. This is time they will never get back. But in part because of bureaucratic roadblocks, New York City has not been able to fulfill its...

Six months have passed since New York City's Department of Homeless Services (DHS) discontinued Advantage, a rental subsidy program designed to move homeless families out of shelters and into market-rate apartments. Since that time, the number of homeless families placed in permanent housing has decreased, and the average...

New York City's Department of Homeless Services' Advantage program aims to assist families in making a permanent transition from shelter to self-sufficiency by providing a rent subsidy for one to two years once they leave shelter. To maintain their eligibility, Advantage program participants are required to work at least part...

Welfare as we knew it was dead. That must be distinctly understood or nothing good can come of the story I am going to relate. The register of its burial was signed by elected officials and witnessed by its chief mourner: a senator from New York. Such was the case...

Over the last two decades, rapid rehousing strategies have grown to become the dominant trend among the homeless policy and services community. Yet New York City is emerging as an example of how a narrow focus on housing can have serious unintended consequences for so many homeless families. A June...