Domestic violence still leading driver of city’s shelter population: report
A new report from Comptroller Scott Stringer’s Office found that domestic violence remains far and away the leading cause of homelessness in the city, and that the number of families entering shelters due to domestic violence has risen dramatically over the past half decade.
Forty-one percent of the people entering the city’s Department of Homeless Services shelters from July 2017 to July 2018 — more than 12,500 people — did so following a domestic violence incident, according to the report, which analyzed Department of Social Services data from 2013 to 2018. The number of families leaving homes with a history of domestic violence and entering the shelter system rose by 44 percent in that time period.
The report found that the second leading cause of homelessness in the city is eviction, which accounted for 27 percent of the population entering DHS shelters.
The face of homelessness in New York City today is a single mother with young children. According to the DHS, 70 percent of the people in the shelter system are families, and one-third are headed by a working adult — usually a single mom. Nationwide, around 80 percent of homeless mothers have experienced domestic violence at some point in the past.