The 74 | Nationwide, at least 80% of women with children experiencing homelessness also experienced domestic violence, and over half say it was the immediate cause. In New York City alone, roughly 40,000 people became survivors in 2022.

In fact, more families entered the city’s Department of Housing Services shelters due to domestic violence (20%) than evictions (11%).

With at least 146,000 children experiencing homelessness in New York City and domestic violence on the rise, advocates, experts and families are teaching students about healthy relationships and urging schools to develop clear safety plans with shelter staff to better support survivors.

Even when families disclosed instances of domestic violence to schools and asked them to alter contact information, New York City schools failed to immediately update student profiles and contacted dangerous individuals on several occasions. Some survivors were forced to seek emergency shelter and school transfers out of their borough as a result, said Janyll Canals-Kernizan, director of the Robin Hood project with Advocates for Children of New York.

Some school staff have misguidedly asked survivors for confidential domestic violence shelter addresses, or refused to set up busing because they claimed P.O. box numbers are unacceptable. The lack of clear guidance has produced harmful ripple effects on families, including limiting kids’ ability to get to school and feel safe and stable once there, as well as parents’ ability to attend work.

“I’ve had families have to pick between participating in an economic empowerment program or taking their kid to school because the bus has never been set up and now they can never get to their economic empowerment program, which means then that they can never really establish independence and get out of shelter … All of that is interrelated in a way that we don’t talk about,” said Canals-Kernizan, an attorney who represents families facing school-based discrimination.