Groups Urge Bloomberg to Reconsider Homeless Youth Funding Cuts

The following letter was signed by fourteen members of New York City’s Commission on LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth, in protest of the recently announced DYCD funding cuts that threaten the safety of homeless LGBTQ youth throughout the city.

To Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Mullgrav,

We, the undersigned members of the Commission on LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth, are writing to express our concern and alarm at the recently announced cuts in DYCD support of Street Outreach and Drop-In Centers in FY11 and FY12 - cuts that have followed shortly on the heels of previous cuts made to Out of School Time (OST) funding that effectively ended DYCD funding to LGBT youth-serving organizations. Over the past weekend we learned that, due to City and State budget decisions, DYCD plans to cut Street Outreach by 50% in FY11 and eliminate it in FY12, plans to cut Council-funded Drop-In Centers by 50% in FY11, and plans to cut DYCD-funded borough-wide Drop-In Centers by one third in FY11 and by 23% in FY12, except for the Staten Island Drop-In Center which will be cut by 10% in FY12. We urge you not to make these cuts, which will disproportionately harm LGBTQ youth.

The Commission Report released last June acknowledged the terrible shortage of safe shelter beds for homeless LGBTQ youth in New York City. Every night, hundreds of LGBTQ youth are forced to survive on the streets. The drop-in centers and street outreach workers constitute the safety net for these youths. LGBT youth are more reliant than others on outreach and drop-in services because of the barriers they face in accessing the shelter system.

The Commission's report actually urged that additional funding be made available to expand the availability of drop-in services, especially during overnight hours. Reducing this support will leave LGBTQ youth stranded on our streets without support. Many will turn to drugs and prostitution to survive, and many will become HIV infected and involved in the criminal justice system, outcomes that will cost far more to the City than will be saved through these cuts. Especially concerning is the fact that 62% of homeless LGBTQ youth report having attempted suicide, and we are terrified at how the lack of basic services will escalate that risk. The OST funding cut, also provided through DYCD, reduced the ability of LGBTQ organizations to provide services that began the necessary work of re-introducing these disconnected youth back into a population that has previously rejected and ejected them.

We applaud the concern for the welfare of homeless LGBTQ youth that led to the formation of the Commission. We are grateful for the recognition of the disproportionate suffering of LGBTQ youth that informed the work we did with the Commission. We envisioned a City in which LGBTQ youth would be safer, better protected, where their ability to receive the care they need would be expanded.

We are disheartened by these enormous cuts to the basic safety net for homeless LGBTQ youth. Our distress is enhanced by the fact that already in this fiscal year we have seen the elimination of LGBT-specific foster care supervised independent living programs and LGBT-specific after school programs.

We urge you not to cut runaway homeless youth services. We urge you to continue to work with us to find ways to implement the recommendations of the Commission so that New York City can become a place where our youth are safe.

Sincerely,

Ali Forney Center
APICHA
Bronx Community Pride Center
Callen-Lorde
Cindy Rizzo
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
Covenant House
FIERCE
GMHC
Green Chimneys
Project Hospitality
Safe Space NYC
United Neighborhood Houses of NY
Urban Justice Center