# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Everybody's fighting some kind of stereotype, and people with disabilities are no exception. The difference is that barriers people with disabilities face begin with people's attitudes - attitudes often rooted in misinformation and misunderstandings about what it's like to live with a disability.

Myth 1: People with disabilities are brave and courageous.

Fact: Adjusting to a disability requires adapting to a lifestyle, not bravery and courage. Of course, people with disabilities can be brave and courageous, just like someone without disabilities can; be mindful about how you use those terms as they are often seen as offensive when applied to a person with a disability for simply existing.

Myth 2: All persons who use wheelchairs are chronically ill or sick.

Fact: The association between wheelchair use and illness may have evolved through hospitals using wheelchairs to transport sick people. A person may use a wheelchair for a variety of reasons, none of which may have anything to do with lingering illness.

Myth 3: Wheelchair use is confining; people who use wheelchairs are "wheelchair-bound."

Fact: A wheelchair, like a bicycle or an automobile, is a personal assistive device that enables someone to get around.

Myth 4: All persons with hearing disabilities can read lips.

Fact: Lip-reading skills vary among people who use them and are never entirely reliable.

Myth 5: People who are blind acquire a "sixth sense."

Fact: Although most people who are blind develop their remaining senses more fully, they do not have a "sixth sense."

Myth 6: People with disabilities are more comfortable with "their own kind."

Fact: In the past, grouping people with disabilities in separate schools and institutions reinforced this misconception. Today, people with disabilities are in mainstream society.

Myth 7: Non-disabled people are obligated to "take care of" people with disabilities.

Fact: Anyone may offer assistance, but most people with disabilities prefer to be responsible for themselves.

Myth 8: Curious children should never ask people about their disabilities.

Fact: Many children have a natural, uninhibited curiosity and may ask questions that some adults consider embarrassing. But scolding curious children may make them think having a disability is "wrong" or "bad." Most people with disabilities won't mind answering a child's question - just ask and introduce your child beforehand.

Myth 9: The lives of people with disabilities are totally different than the lives of people without disabilities.

Fact: People with disabilities go to school, get married, work, have families, do laundry, grocery shop, laugh, cry, pay taxes, get angry, have prejudices, vote, plan and dream like everyone else.

Myth 10: It is all right for people without disabilities to park in accessible parking spaces, if only for a few minutes.

Fact: Because accessible parking spaces are designed and situated to meet the needs of people who have disabilities, these spaces should only be used by people who need them.

Myth 11: Most people with disabilities cannot have sexual relationships.

Fact: Anyone can have a sexual relationship by adapting the sexual activity. People with disabilities can have children naturally or through adoption. People with disabilities, like other people, are sexual beings.

Myth 12: People with disabilities always need help.

Fact: Many people with disabilities are independent and capable of giving help. If you would like to help someone with a disability, ask if he or she needs it before you act.

Myth 13: There is nothing one person can do to help eliminate the barriers confronting people with disabilities.

Fact: Everyone can contribute to change. You can help remove barriers by:

Understanding the need for accessible parking and leaving it for those who need it

Encouraging participation of people with disabilities in community activities by using accessible meeting and event sites

Understanding children's curiosity about disabilities and people who have them

Advocating a barrier-free environment

Speaking up when negative words or phrases are used about disability

Writing producers and editors a note of support when they portray someone with a disability as a "regular person" in the media

Accepting people with disabilities as individuals capable of the same needs and feelings as yourself, and hiring qualified disabled persons whenever possible

More about inclusion:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Myths and Facts About People with Disabilities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Everybody's fighting some kind of stereotype, and people with disabilities are no exception. The difference is that barriers people with disabilities face begin with people's attitudes - attitudes often rooted in misinformation and misunderstandings about what it's like to live with a disability. Fact: Adjusting to a disability requires adapting to a lifestyle, not bravery and courage.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in elementary and secondary school closures in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and has forced a sudden and widespread shift to online learning. This transition has been especially challenging for the nation's nearly 7 million disabled students. Instruction and support for this group of students are not as easily transferred to the internet, and school systems and families are struggling to meet the challenge.

Disabled students ages 3 to 21 are served under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which guarantees students with disabilities the right to free public education and appropriate special education services. Here is what the data shows about disabled students in the United States.

To compile this look at disabled students in the U.S. as they face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, we combined an analysis of federal education data from the National Center for Education Statistics and Pew Research Center survey findings.

The spring 2016 Pew Research Center survey was conducted using the Center's American Trends Panel. The fall 2016 survey on technology adoption was conducted by telephone.

For the purposes of this analysis, disabled students include those ages 3 to 21 who are served under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Through IDEA, children with disabilities are granted a free appropriate public school education and are ensured special education and related services.

1 The nearly 7 million disabled students in the U.S. make up 14% of national public school enrollment, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. This group has grown 11% between 2000-01 (when there were 6.3 million students) and 2017-18, the most recent year for which data is available.

As students across the country shift from classrooms to online learning, disabled students may face unique barriers. A Pew Research Center survey of Americans ages 18 and older conducted in spring 2016 found disabled Americans express lower levels of comfort with using technology. Disabled adults are less likely than those without a disability to say that having a high level of confidence in their ability to use the internet and other communication devices to keep up with information describes them "very well" (39% vs. 65% of all adults). A separate survey conducted in fall 2016 found that 23% of disabled adults say they never go online, compared with 8% of non-disabled adults (the survey defines disability as a "health problem, disability or handicap currently keeping you from participating fully in work, school, housework or other activities").

3The most common type of disability for students in prekindergarten through 12th grade involves "specific learning disabilities," such as dyslexia or a brain injury. In 2017-18, about a third (34%) of disabled students had a specific learning disability, 20% had a speech or language impairment and 14% had a chronic or acute health problem that adversely affected their educational performance, federal education data shows.

4Autistic students made up 10% of the nation's disabled schoolchildren in 2017-18, compared with 1.5% nearly two decades earlier. During that same time, the share of disabled students with a specific learning disability, such as dyslexia, declined from 45% to about a third, according to NCES data.

5The percentage of students in special education varies widely among the states. At 19.2% of public school enrollment, New York state serves the largest share of disabled students in the country, followed by Pennsylvania (18.6%), Maine (18.4%) and Massachusetts (18%), federal data shows. The states serving the lowest shares of disabled students include Texas (9.2% of total public school enrollment), Hawaii (10.6%) and Idaho (11%).

Between the 2000-01 and 2017-18 school years, all but 15 states experienced growth in their disabled student populations. In Nevada, the disabled student population increased by 58%. Rhode Island saw a 23% decline, the largest of any state.

These disparities are likely the result of inconsistencies in how states determine which students are eligible for special education services and some of the challenges involved with identifying disabled children.

6The racial and ethnic makeup of the nation's special education students is similar to public school students overall, but there is a difference when it comes to gender. About two-thirds of disabled students are male (67%), while 33% are female, according to data from the 2017-18 school year. Overall student enrollment is about evenly split between boys and girls, according to federal data for 2016-17, the most recent year for which NCES has published this data.

(Research has shown that inconsistencies exist by race and ethnicity when it comes to which students are recommended for special education, and that the socioeconomic makeup of a school and achievement markers, such as test scores, may factor in.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
As schools shift to online learning amid pandemic, here's what we know about disabled students in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in elementary and secondary school closures in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and has forced a sudden and widespread shift to online learning. This transition has been especially challenging for the nation's nearly 7 million disabled students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For 26 years, AAPD has worked tirelessly alongside disability advocates, government agencies, and corporate and nonprofit partners to advance the goals of the ADA - and there's more work to be done. Join us in marking this meaningful milestone and become a part of the next wave of change in the disability rights movement. Photo by Chona Kasinger, Disabled and Here
Support AAPD's work

Our Progress

This year marks a significant milestone in the fight for the rights of all Americans with disabilities. The disability community has seen modifications to the built environment, increased access to affordable healthcare and an uptick in political participation in the last 31 years. However, the work to create an inclusive society began long before, and extends beyond, the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Explore key milestones in the disabilities rights movement below:

The 1940s and 1960s

Polio and Progress

In the late 1940s, polio outbreaks in the United States increased in frequency and size, disabling more than 35,000 people each year. These outbreaks, coupled with the return home of disabled service members from World War II, drastically changed the landscape of the disability community in the United States. Although disability was highly stigmatized at this time, there was also a greater push for inclusion of disabled children in schools, social, community, and sports organizations, and the federal government began initiatives like "Hire the Handicapped Week," now, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, to increase the employment and economic self-sufficiency of the disability community. During this time, racial segregation shaped the outcomes of polio survivors. Black polio survivors had limited treatment options and fought the perception that Black people were less susceptible to the virus.

Protesting and Power

The growth of the civil rights movement in the 1960s elevated public appreciation for the power of protest and political organizing. Members of the disability community took note and employed similar tactics of protest to advance disability rights. As Black people fought for integration of businesses and places of public accommodation, President John F. Kennedy called for a reduction in the institutionalization of people with disabilities. This call was further amplified by the publication of Christmas in Purgatory, which shed a light on the unjust conditions in state. There was also a greater realization of the barriers created by the built environment, which led to the creation of the barrier free standard. This became the standard for accessibility in many building codes. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act became law and in addition to protecting the right to vote for minorities, it allowed people with disabilities to receive accommodations at the polls.

The 1970s and 1980s

Independent Living Movement

After experiencing discrimination, fighting for self-determination, and establishing the Physically Disabled Students Center at the University of California Berkeley, Ed Roberts, Hale Zukas, Jan McEwan Brown, John Hessler, Phil Draper and Dick Santos joined forces to lead a movement that made university life accessible to all. In 1972, these students and community members joined together to form The Center for Independent Living, Inc. Since the formation of the first Center for Independent Living (CIL), the independent living movement and associated CILs have spread across the United States and around the world. The independent living movement was founded on the principle that people with disabilities are the best experts on their needs, and therefore they must take initiative, individually and collectively, in designing and promoting better solutions and must organize themselves for political power. In addition to promoting greater self-representation, the independent living movement fought for de-medicalization and deinstitutionalization of disabled people. Among the victories of the independent living movement, disability advocates organized the 504 protests. Through cross-disability organizing and support from other civil rights allies, the 504 sit-ins resulted in the longest occupation of a federal building in United States history and led to the finalization of the 504 regulations of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability for any entity that receives federal funds.

Inclusive Education

As of the early 1970s, United States public schools accommodated 1 out of 5 children with disabilities. Until that time, many states had laws that explicitly excluded children with certain types of disabilities from attending public school. At the time, 3.5 million disabled children attended school but were "warehoused" in segregated facilities and received little or no effective instruction. Schools were not only segregated on the basis of disability, and often the type of disability, but also by race. Many children who lived in institutions had no access to education or other supports. Congress then enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, which required that schools place students within the least restrictive environment and one that allows for integration with non-disabled students. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) replaced this law in 1990. IDEA required that education and special education services be designed to meet the individual needs of students and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living. It also required that schools provide each disabled student an education that access to the general curriculum to meet the challenging expectations established for all children.

Deaf President Now

In March 1988, Gallaudet University, the only university in the world for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, experienced a watershed event that led to the appointment of the 124-year-old university's first deaf president. At the announcement of the retirement of the current Gallaudet President, Gallaudet students, alumni, faculty, and staff, engaged in a letter-writing campaign, which received support from leaders across the country, from Jesse Jackson to President George H.W. Bush. Thousands of students began organizing rallies around the Gallaudet campus. After a week of rallies, when the Board of Trustees announced a hearing person as president of the university, students marched from Gallaudet to the White House and proceeded to organize a series of rallies which shut down campus for a week. After all of this direct action and protest that became known as Deaf President Now (DPN), the Board of Trustees announced that I. King Jordan would be the first Deaf President of Gallaudet. Deaf President Now has become synonymous with self-determination and empowerment for deaf and hard of hearing people everywhere.

The 1990s and 2000s

Americans with Disabilities Act

July 26, 1990
Despite significant progress in disability rights and improved accessibility and inclusion with transportation, schools, housing and federal programs, there were no comprehensive civil rights protections for disabled people in the United States until the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990. The ADA is based on a basic presumption that people with disabilities want to work and are capable of working, want to be members of their communities and are capable of being members of their communities, and that exclusion and segregation cannot be tolerated. The passage of the ADA prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunication - accommodating a person with a disability was no longer a matter of charity, but instead a basic issue of civil rights. The ADA was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in one of the largest signing ceremonies in United States history. With the ADA signed, people with disabilities began to challenge societal barriers that excluded them from their communities, and parents of children with disabilities began to fight against the exclusion and segregation of their children. Local groups to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities were established, and the independent living movement, which challenged the notion that people with disabilities needed to be institutionalized, fought for and provided services for people with disabilities to live in the community.

Olmstead Decision

June 22, 1999
Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, who had a mental illness and developmental disabilities, were voluntarily admitted to the psychiatric unit in the state-run Georgia Regional Hospital. Following the women's medical treatment in the hospital, mental health professionals stated that each was ready to move to a community-based program. However, the women remained confined in the institution for several years after the initial treatment was concluded. They filed suit under the ADA for release from the hospital. On June 22, 1999, the United States Supreme Court ruled that involuntary institutionalization of disabled people was discrimination in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This decision stated that public entities must provide community-based services to persons with disabilities.

Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act

September 25, 2008
A series of Supreme Court decisions led to the protections of the ADA being restricted and weakened, which ultimately limited the rights of people with disabilities. Sutton v. United Air and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams narrowed the definition of "disability" and only people with severe disabilities qualified for protection under the ADA. A coalition of disability rights organizations created a strategy and developed a new bill that would bring clarity to and broaden the definition. Advocates from the business and disability communities worked with many of the original legislative champions of the ADA and spearheaded efforts to pass the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAAA). The ADAAA overturned the previous Supreme Court decisions and expanded the definition of disability and further stated that disability shall be defined broadly to the maximum extent possible by the law.

The 2010s and Beyond

Affordable Care Act

March 23, 2010
Despite the significant improvements in accessibility created by the ADA, people with disabilities experienced significant discrimination in healthcare. People with disabilities who were not covered by Medicaid or Medicare experienced barriers to accessible health insurance coverage because insurance providers could reject people with pre-existing conditions. Insurance providers could also charge people with disabilities large amounts and limit access to employer-based insurance options. Because of the Affordable Care Act, young adults can now remain on their parents' insurance plan until age 26. Insurers cannot discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions by denying coverage, charging higher premiums, or refusing to cover care related to those conditions. Insurers are not allowed to impose lifetime or annual dollar limits. People with incomes of up to 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL) are eligible for subsidies to purchase health coverage. All plans are required to cover certain minimum benefits. Medicaid was expanded in 32 states in addition to the District of Columbia. There are countless other provisions in the ACA that are important to people with disabilities. The ACA has unquestionably improved access to care for people with disabilities and chronic conditions to help them live healthy, independent, and fulfilling lives. Since its passage, there have been many attempts to overturn the ACA and undercut its provisions, and at each of these attempts, the disability community has organized and advocated for the ACA to remain in place.

Technology, the Gig, and App Economy

Today, the use of technology and the gig economy across industries create new opportunities and barriers for the disability community. Advances in technology, web-based systems, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, 5G technology, and "smart" states and cities can provide for new ways of navigation, access to services, and employment. But development of these new tools often outpaces the development of accessibility standards, and disabled people are frequently excluded from enjoying the benefits of these tools. The rise in the gig economy creates new flexible employment options for people with disabilities but also creates major questions and concerns regarding these issues include worker classification, civil rights and worker protections, portable benefits, informed choice of worker status and data collection. Research on these emerging technologies reveals algorithms, artificial intelligence, and other technologies can replicate and increase biases around gender, race, disability, and other identities. Understanding these shifts and how they interact with and influence each other is among the key policy and civil rights decisions of the next 30 years.

Championing Disability Rights in 2021 and Beyond

There is still work to be done. We will continue the disability rights movement with a focus on:

Join the Movement

As we celebrate this momentous occasion, we will boldly enter into the next 30 years of the disability rights movement. The resources below are available to help individuals and organizations nationwide mark this important milestone as we continue to advocate for a more equitable, inclusive America.

Celebrating Disability Rights Across Communities

Support AAPD's work

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This year marks a significant milestone in the fight for the rights of all Americans with disabilities. The disability community has seen modifications to the built environment, increased access to affordable healthcare and an uptick in political participation in the last 30 years.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hunger

The uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food. The recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food. For more information see the ERS/USDA Briefing Room - Food Security in the United States: Measuring Household Food Security.

Backpack Program

While free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs provide significant nutritional benefits to students during the school day, many children do not receive sufficient food when school is not in session. Backpack Programs help alleviate child hunger by discreetly providing hungry children with backpacks full of nutritious, easy-to-prepare food on Friday afternoons so they have food to eat throughout the weekend.

Basic Food

Called "Basic Food" in Washington state, this is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that provides people with monthly benefits to buy food.

Child Nutrition Act

The Child Nutrition Act and the National School Lunch Act are the two pieces of authorizing legislation for the child nutrition and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs. These laws were most recently reauthorized through 2009 by the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, P.L. 108-265.

The five U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) domestic food assistance programs that primarily serve the nutritional needs of children. These programs include the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Special Milk Program.

Commodity Foods

As a result of federal surplus-removal and price-support programs, the USDA purchases excess food produced by American farmers. The USDA utilizes a number of commodity distribution and nutrition programs to provide these excess commodities to low-income Americans.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A type of farm where growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, CSA farm members, or "shareholders," pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer's salary. In return, the shareholders receive shares in the farm's production throughout the growing season. Shareholders also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. Through direct sales to community members who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing. CSAs are increasingly used as a way to provide lower-income, urban neighborhoods with access to fresh produce. More information can be found at the USDA's Alternative Farming Systems Information Center.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Issued jointly every five years by Health and Human Services (HHS) and the USDA, the Dietary Guidelines provide recommendations for dietary habits to promote health and reduce the risk of chronic disease. Meals served under many of the federal nutrition programs, such as the Child Nutrition Programs, must meet the requirements outlined in the Guidelines.

Emergency Food Providers

Private, nonprofit organizations that provide food to individuals and households in need. Emergency food providers obtain most food through bulk purchasing and donations. However, the federal The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) program also makes excess commodities available to the emergency food network.

Farm Bill

Authority for the Food Stamp Program is contained within the Farm Bill. This legislation can also affect commodity distribution programs such as TEFAP and Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the child nutrition programs that receive commodity foods. In addition to nutrition programs, authority for many other USDA programs and activities is contained within the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill was most recently reauthorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, P.L. 107-171.

Farm to Cafeteria / Farm to School

Part of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, Farm to Cafeteria projects link local farmers and schools to bring locally grown food into the National School Lunch Program. Examples of Farm to Cafeteria projects include salad bars, seasonal items incorporated into lunch menus, and school gardens. Although currently no funds have been appropriated for the implementation of this program, schools in 17 states have started their own programs, sometimes referred to as Farm to School programs, with funding from community organizations and Community Food Projects Grants from the USDA.

Farmers Market

A market where consumers can purchase fresh produce and other food items (such as meat, dairy products, and baked goods) directly from small- to medium-sized farms. Farmers markets are often located in urban settings, providing an important link between rural and urban communities. Some farmers markets also have the ability to accept EBT, allowing consumers to use their food stamp benefits to purchase food at these locations.

Federal Poverty Level (FPL)

Also referred to as the poverty level, the FPL is a measure used to determine the household income level for a family to be considered "in poverty." The measurement was developed in 1965 by multiplying the USDA's economy food plan (predecessor to the Thrifty Food Plan) by three. The measurement is updated each year based on price increases reflected in the Consumer Price Index.

FMNV

Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value. FMNV is defined as: (i) In the case of artificially sweetened foods, a food which provides less than five percent of the Reference Daily Intakes (RDI) for each of eight specified nutrients per serving; and (ii) in the case of all other foods, a food which provides less than five percent of the RDI for each of eight specified nutrients per 100 calories and less than five percent of the RDI for each of the eight specified nutrients per serving. The eight nutrients to be assessed for this purpose are: protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, calcium and iron. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 210.11 defines FMNV; Appendix B states foods of minimal nutritional value include: soda water, water ices, chewing gum and certain candies.

Food Bank

A private, nonprofit organization that collects mostly nonperishable food in bulk from private and government sources. The food bank then distributes the food to food pantries and emergency kitchens which serve individuals and households in need.

Food Pantry

An agency that provides food directly to households[ET1] in need by distributing bags of grocery items to be prepared and eaten at home.

Food Bank Network

An organization of food banks that coordinates the transfer of donated food and grocery products to where they are needed most. Often a food bank network will coordinate transfer of food to areas of need on a nationwide basis.

Food Insecurity

Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). For more information see the ERS/USDA Briefing Room -Food Security in the United States: Measuring Household Food Security.

Food Security

Access by all people, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food Security includes at a minimum: (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). For more information see the ERS/USDA Briefing Room - Food Security in the United States: Measuring Household Food Security.

Food Stamp Administration

Administration of the Food Stamp Program is shared by the federal and state governments. The USDA monitors state administration of the program and provides bonus awards to states with the lowest and most improved payment error rates, lowest and most improved negative error rates, highest and most improved participation indices, and highest rates of timeliness in case handling.

Food Stamp Program

The largest nutrition program for lower-income Americans that provides an allotted monthly benefit on electronic debit cards. Benefits can be redeemed at many grocery stores, some farmers markets, and other retail sites, allowing individuals to obtain food through normal channels of trade. The Food Stamp Program is a USDA program that provides an entitlement to states. Benefits are 100% federally funded. Administrative costs are shared between the federal and state governments. Food stamp benefits can only be used for food, and cannot be used to buy any nonfood item (such as pet food, household supplies, grooming items, etc.); alcoholic beverages and tobacco; vitamins and medicines; any food that will be eaten in the store; and hot foods.

Meal Program

An organization that provides free, prepared meals on-site directly to hungry individuals or families. Often focused specifically on serving children, seniors, people experiencing homelessness, or other vulnerable populations.

National School Lunch Program (NSLP)

This USDA program helps public and private schools provide nutritious lunches to all students. Low-income students are able to receive free or reduced-price lunches through the program.

Poverty Guidelines

Guidelines issued each year by HHS that are used to determine eligibility for the all means-tested programs, including nutrition programs. Poverty guidelines are based upon calculation of the Federal Poverty Level.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food. The recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food. For more information see the ERS/USDA Briefing Room - Food Security in the United States: Measuring Household Food Security.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The updated New York City Self-Sufficiency Report ("Overlooked and Undercounted 2021: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in New York City") specifies the challenges families face in meeting their basic needs, and the budgets they require to reach financial self-sufficiency. The report's analyses are based on the Self-Sufficiency Standard, a realistic, geographically-specific, and family-composition specific measure of income adequacy that indicates how race, gender, education, and age affect a person's opportunity to achieve self-sufficiency.

The report is especially critical now, as many working families in New York City are struggling to recover from the ongoing economic crisis triggered by COVID-19. Need within many households is hidden and unaddressed because the outdated Official Poverty Measure (OPM) is used to determine poverty rates and eligibility for safety net benefits. The Self-Sufficiency Standard should replace the OPM given its accuracy in measuring income inadequacy, which is income that is too low to meet basic needs.

The report is based on the most recent data available from the 2019 American Community Survey, and it compares household incomes to the Self-Sufficiency Standard (as well as the Official Poverty Measure) across a wide range of household characteristics. The Standard provides policymakers, investors, philanthropists, nonprofits, government officials, corporate partners, and advocates with a more comprehensive lens to advance reforms that support New Yorkers on the road to self-sufficiency.

Food Bank For New York City

Food Bank For New York City's food distribution program provides more than 121 million free meals per year for New Yorkers in need.

Since 1983, Food Bank For New York City has provided more than 1.3 billion meals to New Yorkers in need.

Food Bank For New York City's income support services, including food stamps (also known as SNAP) and free tax assistance, put more than $53.4 million into the pockets of low-income New Yorkers last year.

Food Bank For New York City's nutrition education programs and services empower nearly 9,000 children and families to sustain a healthy diet on a limited budget.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 18.1 percent, or nearly 318 thousand (317,920) children lived in households that were already food insecure before the COVID-19 pandemic.

A donation of $1 to Food Bank For New York City helps provide 5 meals.

Source: Food Bank for New York City, Fiscal Year 2022

Food Insecurity
Food security means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.

More than 35.2 million United States residents, or 10.9 percent, are food insecure.

Nearly 2.1 million New York State residents, or 10.7 percent, are food insecure.

Nearly 1.1 million New York City residents, or 12.5 percent, are food insecure.

New York City residents make up half (50 percent) of all food insecure people living in New York State.

The number of food insecure individuals in New York City is projected to increase by more than 44 percent due to COVID-19. As such, nearly 1.6 million or 18.6 percent New York City residents are now projected to be experiencing food insecurity.

Source: NYS & NYC: Map the Meals Gap (2019); Feeding America (2021). Note that this data is released one year after it is collected

The Meal Gap represents the meals missing from the homes of those struggling to put food on the table.

The meal gap for the United States was 6.8 billion before the COVID-19 pandemic; that is, US residents who experience food insecurity fall short of an adequate diet by 6.8 billion meals in a single year.

The meal gap for New York State was approximately 367 million before the COVID-19 pandemic; that is, New York State residents who experience food insecurity fall short of an adequate diet by 367 million meals in a single year.

The meal gap for New York City was nearly 185 million before the COVID-19 pandemic; that is, New York City residents who experience food insecurity fall short of an adequate diet by 185 million meals in a single year. New York City's meal gap makes up over half (51.7 percent) of New York State's meal gap.

Source: Map the Meals Gap (2018); Feeding America (2020). Note that this data is released two years after it is collected.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
View Our Research & Financials - Food Bank For New York City

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The updated New York City Self-Sufficiency Report ("Overlooked and Undercounted 2021: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in New York City") specifies the challenges families face in meeting their basic needs, and the budgets they require to reach financial self-sufficiency.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Food banks, shelters, and soup kitchens may seem like the answer to hunger in America. They are, however, a short-term and inadequate response. There has been a stunning increase in the number of emergency food programs over the last 40 years. In 1980, there were about 2 dozen food banks in the United States.

Today, there are more than 200, which serve 63,000 affiliated pantries and shelters. The growth of the emergency food system, however, has failed to solve "hunger." Despite a spike during the Great Recession and a recent trend downward as the economy has recovered, the prevalence of food insecurity has remained relatively constant over the past 25 years. 11.1% of households were food insecure in 2018, which is only slightly below the 11.9% rate that was recorded in 1995, the year federal government started keeping statistics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Food banks, shelters, and soup kitchens may seem like the answer to hunger in America. They are, however, a short-term and inadequate response. There has been a stunning increase in the number of emergency food programs over the last 40 years. In 1980, there were about 2 dozen food banks in the United States.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
However, people in rural communities and the South are often more likely to lack access to enough food. This is because of many factors like poverty, unemployment, and the cost of living,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
34 million people are food insecure in the United States. That's millions of people facing hunger. Learn more about hunger in America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hidden in Plain Sight: Portraits of Hunger in NYC - Chasing the Dream

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Teenagers get a crash course in food-justice issues at community classes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At community cooking classes, Seattle teens learn about food-injustice issues.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Each year, farmers like Joe Tisbert of Valley Dream Farm in Cambridge, Vermont, are challenged with finding an outlet for their surplus crop. Surplus crop is defined as the food remaining after a harvest that cannot be sold on the market, or which cannot be harvested. As a result, farmers make less revenue for the season, but it also poses a potential loss of food for people in their communities.

Farming is the genesis of our food supply, and it's an industry that is wracked with labor shortages, weather impacts from climate change, food waste, price volatility, and unequal distribution of land.

In response to some of the challenges that some Vermont farmers face, one Vermont nonprofit organization, Salvation Farms, which is not a farm, is devising ways to work with farmers to manage their crop surplus and get it to people who need fresh produce.

Salvation Farms co-founders, Theresa Snow and Jen O'Donnell, piloted their model in 2004, which centered the agrarian practice called gleaning. Since ancient times, poor people or travelers would visit local farmed fields, whose owners would leave small sections of their land to be harvested, or gleaned, by those with lesser means. Snow, who now sits as the executive director of Salvation Farms, learned about gleaning while she was serving in AmeriCorps in the early 2000s on a farm in rural Virginia. She grew up with parents who Snow described as "modest homesteaders" and with grandparents who owned a dairy farm, and she says her upbringing was very rooted in home and land-based economies and not "just a monetary commerce-based economy."

Theresa Snow learned about gleaning while she was serving in AmeriCorps in the early 2000s on a farm in rural Virginia.. Photo from Salvation Farms.

AmeriCorps later transferred Snow to New York City, where she was tasked with helping families and individuals who had lost their jobs, homes, and loved ones in and after the 9/11 attacks. There, Snow realized how far people were from meeting their basic subsistence needs.

"What I experienced providing service-essentially casework to individuals who are seeking support-was that these individuals had no ability to meet any of their essential needs because they had fully bought into a monetary economy," said Snow.

Snow maintains this was not just an issue for people in metropolitan areas, but also in her home state of Vermont, where people could be just as removed from their food sources. After her time in AmeriCorps, Snow moved back to Vermont and returned to working on a farm. She struggled with what to do with her life and when asked by a farmer where she really wanted to put her energy, she said that she wanted to teach people about farming. On that farm, Pete's Greens, she devised and tested the plan for Salvation Farms.

"I want to teach people about farms, I want to teach people and communities that, through relationship and appreciation with farms, we can have more personal and community agency," Snow said. "We can have more control over meeting our needs."

The United States has more than 2 million farms. According to the USDA, agriculture, food, and adjacent industries contribute $1.11 trillion to the U.S. economy. Of that amount, farming produces $136.1 billion. Snow, along with staff and volunteers at Salvation Farms, help farmers such as Tisbert find a place for their surplus food.

Valley Dream Farm sits on a 300-acre tract made up mostly of streams, pastures, and woods, with 10 to 15 acres reserved for growing food. Its main crops are potatoes, cucumbers, and kale, which are sold through three channels: its own farm stand, wholesale buyers such as groceries, and a cooperative, Deep Root Organic Cooperative, which sells farmers' produce to other food cooperatives, CSAs, and some grocery chains like Whole Foods.

The sign at Valley Dream Farm in Cambridge, Vermont. Photo from Salvation Farms.

"It's great to grow something and say, 'Wow, I really like to grow this little one. I like to really grow this and sell it and try to make a living on it,'" Tisbert said. "Well, you've got to find a market. Everybody has to have a niche. People are trying to figure out where to go. How can I sell it?"

That's where Salvation Farms comes in.

"When I can't market the product, I have Salvation Farms," said Tisbert, who has been working with the organization since 2006. "They show up, and I give them things that I can't sell in a timely manner. I need to get it out the door because I need my space."

Salvation Farms is part of the Vermont Gleaning Collective, which consists of a number of organizations that glean throughout the state.

For some farmers of color, such as Amber Arnold, gleaning is not something her farm uses now. Arnold, who identifies as Black and multiracial, has other considerations in establishing her farm's practices.

Most farms in Vermont, and in the U.S., have White owners. As of 2017, White farmers owned nearly 93% of farmland in the United States, and accounted for about 97% of the market value of their products. Nevertheless, Black, Asian, Native American, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander farmers still owned about 60 million acres combined, and farmers of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin, regardless of other racial identification, owned 32 million acres. Of the nearly 7,000 farms in the state of Vermont, only 13 are owned or operated by those of Asian descent, 17 by Black Vermonters, 23 by Native Americans, and 82 by people with more than one racial identity.

Arnold's farm, Susu CommUnity Farm in Brattleboro, Vermont, was founded in October 2020 as a response to its community's wants and needs around food access during the pandemic. Arnold and her co-founder, Naomi Moody, who identifies as AfroIndigenous, are in the process of purchasing 37 acres to grow and continue a free CSA program they devised called Boxes of Resilience.

Arnold and Moody learned about gleaning through a funder and ultimately determined that the way Susu CommUnity Farm's produce is harvested, and the way they want to work with whom they harvest or partner, has to be intentional and aligned with the founders' values.

"All of the people who engage in our programs and stuff, we want to make sure that they have a racial analysis and that they want to connect in a very particular way," Arnold said. "And so I think it's not just about labor for us. There's a whole communal collective piece that has to be present."

Salvation Farms only gleans produce that will be used by the organizations and people it works with. The group works with 20 to 30 farms and 50 recipient sites, including food banks and other charitable food organizations like Meals on Wheels of Lamoille County, and Lamoille Community Food Share as a way to bring farm fresh produce to the food insecure. According to the USDA, the average food insecurity rate for Vermont households between 2017 and 2019 was 9.6% before the pandemic.

Meredith Niles, a researcher and professor of food systems at the University of Vermont, is part of a team that has conducted six studies on food insecurity in the state during the pandemic. In the first month of COVID-19, Niles and her colleagues surveyed 600 people about their food security before and after the onset of the pandemic in the U.S. in March 2020. The survey revealed a 33% increase in food insecurity among households during the COVID pandemic.

Food insecurity is not just defined by the lack of economic resources with which people can obtain food, but also whether or not people have the ability to travel to access food. Additional obstacles were presented by the pandemic when much public transportation was curtailed.

Niles believes that Vermont farmers, including a small number who identified as BIPOC, have the opportunity to act as a solution to this issue.

"We did see that there were a number of respondents-farmers-that wanted to in the future start accepting SNAP benefits post-COVID, for example," she said. "So there's a lot of opportunity to better connect these two things, especially in a state like Vermont where we have such a vibrant local farmer and food business sector, and also we have demonstrated a need for increasing food security."

Food service programs such as Meals on Wheels of Lamoille County receive, on average, 100 pounds of local produce a week from the Salvation Farms gleaning program. During their eight-year relationship, Salvation Farms has learned what produce will serve the recipients of the Meals on Wheels program, many of whom are older Vermonters.

"They know what we need," said Nicole Fournier Grisgraber, executive director of Meals on Wheels of Lamoille County. "They show up here every Monday and drop our delivery off."

It's important to note that the work of Salvation Farms is one strategy of collaborative ecosystem of food banks, food pantries, gleaning collectives, and farmers to feed those in Vermont who may lack sufficient access to food.

In some cases, Salvation Farms will act as a broker for farmers who might not have a client base. In those instances, Salvation Farms will purchase the produce outright when they have found a buyer who will pay for the produce as well as transportation costs.

Snow believes that food that does not make it off the farm and into the community is food lost. In Snow's eyes, food loss is different from food waste. Food waste is a product that has left the farm and gone into the food supply chain; waste can occur anywhere along that chain from storing, to shipping and distribution to consumers.

In the U.S., about 400 pounds of food per person is wasted annually, according to the National Resources Defense Council. An organization like Salvation Farms tries to intercept food before it leaves the farm to make sure that food has a clear endpoint. In the end, there is less food loss and potentially less food waste.

Snow also maintains, and Tisbert supports, that most farmers are not wasteful and that if they cannot sell a crop in the traditional market, they will find something to do with it, even if it's tilling that harvest back into the land. Tisbert composts some his surplus on-site. For other farms, if no recipient for a donation can be found, or there is too much surplus crop, Salvation Farms will help give that food to an animal farmer or composting operation.

Tisbert said working with Salvation Farms has been helpful, "Farmers sometimes have crops that are second, that the Whole Foods of the world won't take," he said. "So, you've got to find something to do with it. And you don't want to just throw it away. They have a great service to myself and a lot of other farmers that I know."
CORRECTION: This article was updated at 4:58 p.m. PT on July 6, 2021 to clarify Amber Arnold's racial identification. Read our corrections policy here.
Inspiration in Your Inbox.

Sign up to receive email updates from YES!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Each year, farmers like Joe Tisbert of Valley Dream Farm in Cambridge, Vermont, are challenged with finding an outlet for their surplus crop. Surplus crop is defined as the food remaining after a harvest that cannot be sold on the market, or which cannot be harvested.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
intro

jessica

crossing

house

alicia

park

school

martin

shops

harold

taxi

house

outro

pantry

bag

Below are the stories of four Americans. They lead different lives, but have one thing in common:

Meet Jessica, Alicia, Martin and Harold.

Each represents the face of hunger in our nation as revealed through Hunger in America 2014, the largest research study of its kind in the U.S., carried out by Feeding America.

Follow their paths and find out how you can make a difference in their lives.

Jessica loves school. But lately she has been struggling to get through the day.

The Feeding America network serves 12 million children each year, just like Jessica

Jessica needs nutritious food to help her grow and stay alert in school. Her parents work hard, but have had a difficult time putting food on the table.

79% of households we serve buy cheaper food, despite knowing it might not be the healthiest, in an effort to feed their family

Meet Alicia

Alicia is a full-time college student, wife and mother.

1 in 10 adults we serve is currently a student

41% of households we serve have someone with a post high school education

As she works to build a better life, money is tight. At times, Alicia skips meals so her children won't have to.

31% of households we serve have to choose between paying for education and food every year

Meet Martin

He's 52 and works as a janitor at a local school. He also lives with diabetes.

1 in 3 households we serve has a member with diabetes

Despite his hard work, Martin earns minimum wage. After paying rent, he doesn't always have enough left over for food and medical care.

66% of households we serve have to choose between paying for medical car and food every year

Meet Harold

Harold is a grandfather and proud veteran.

1 in 5 households we serve has a member who has served in the U.S. military

With so many bills to pay and rising food costs, Harold struggles to survive in a country whose prosperity and freedom he so bravely served to protect.

69% of households we serve have to choose between paying for food and utility bills every year

Jessica, Alicia, Martin and Harold are just four of the more than 46 million people Feeding America serves each year.

But we don't do it alone.

We rely on people like you, who give food, funds and time to the Feeding America network of food banks.

There are 200 Feeding America member food banks that serve every community in the United States

There are 60,000 food pantries and meal programs across the Feeding America network

2 million volunteers contribute more than 8.4 million hours of support each month

But the people we serve need more than food. That's why we partner with health, housing and employment organizations to help provide families with the support they need to build more stable lives.

The Feeding America network serves millions of families, yet there are millions more who still need help.

That's why your support is more important than ever.

Together, we can help build a bright future for our neighbors in need.

Together, we can solve hunger.™

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
1 in 7 people struggle with hunger in the U.S. Follow the stories of four people struggling with hunger and learn how you can help.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

Students Saul Morel, left, and Jasmely Torres examine butterhead lettuce at the DeWitt Clinton Campus' hydroponic farm. Photo Credit: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin

No soil? No problem.

A group of Bronx teens helped create a 1,300-square-foot hydroponic farm designed to grow 25,000 pounds of produce a year in one of the city's toughest "food deserts."

The project is designed to teach students about sustainable agriculture, advocacy and nutrition while building their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills.

"Watching the students blossom and change through the program even in this short period of time is really impressive," said Katherine Soll, CEO and director of Teens for Food Justice, a nonprofit that helped students build the indoor farm with a $127,000 grant from the Green Mountain Energy Sun Club, as well as other donors. "They have really grasped all the concepts of the farm, how the systems work and how it is different from growing in soil."

Hydroponic farms use water and a nutrient solution to grow food. The farm was built inside a former lab at the DeWitt Clinton Campus, located off the Mosholu Parkway, between October and January, Soll said.

A celebration Saturday marked the end of the farm's first year and signaled its ability to go into full production mode.

The goal is to grow enough food to use in the school's cafeteria, distribute to food pantries and sell at a low cost to the community.

The farm can produce various types of lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, tomatoes and cucumbers along with herbs as such basil, thyme, oregano and cilantro.

"Healthy food is not readily accessible and affordable in that area, which is why we refer to it as one of the food deserts," said Soll.

Students like Jasmely Torres work at the farm several days a week through an environmental science class. They plant seeds and measure the pH balance of the nutrient solution.

Torres has also given out samples of the fresh produce to students in the cafeteria.

"A lot of the kids eat salad but don't really like the salad in the cafeteria," said the DeWitt Clinton High School senior. "They try this and tell us how different it tastes. And we tell them we just grew it."

Torres, 18, said the program also gives students important hands-on work during the school day.

"Usually all you touch during the time you are at school is paper and pencils," she said.

Teens for Food Justice has worked with several schools throughout the city to build sustainable agriculture projects.

"We are excited to build this program here," Soll said. "A lot of the students are struggling to achieve academically. They are getting an immersive experience in STEM skills."

Students in an after-school program focus on nutrition, healthy eating and cooking. They become leaders, sharing that knowledge with classmates, their families and the community.

"It can be tough because kids like to eat sugary stuff and fast food," said 10th-grader Teresa Martinez, 15, who participates in the after-school program on the campus. "But I tell them it won't hurt to try new things."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bronx teens create hydroponic farm to grow 25,000 pounds of produce a year | amNewYork

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC No soil? No problem. A group of Bronx teens helped create a 1,300-square-foot hydroponic farm designed to grow 25,000 pounds of produce a year in one of the city's toughest "food deserts."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Please note that food distribution dates and times are subject to change. Food is available while supplies last.

Distribution Schedule - September, 2023

Saturday, September 9, 2023, 11:00am-1:00pm, Eastwood School P.S 95Q 179-01 90th Avenue Queens 11432 | Directions

Saturday, September 9, 2023, 10:00am-12:00pm, Robert Van Wyck MS (28Q 217) 85-05 144 Street queens 11435 | Directions

Saturday, September 9, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm, Queen Public Library Peninsula 92-25 Rockaway Beach Boulevard Queens 11693 | Directions

Tuesday, September 12, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm, Mobile Pantry at Vista Academy K661 350 Linwood Street Brooklyn 11207 | Directions

Wednesday, September 13, 2023 12:00pm-2:00pm, Queens Public Library Ozone Park 92-24 Rockaway Blvd Queens 11417 | Directions

Saturday, September 16, 2023, 11:00am-1:00pm, Lehman Village 1589 Madison Ave. Manhattan 10029 | Directions

Saturday, September 16, 2023, 11:00am-1:00pm, Butler NYCHA CC 1368 Webster Avenue Bronx 10456 | Directions

Saturday, September 16, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm, Deliverance Baptist Church (DBC) Queens - Cambria Heights 227-11 Linden Blvd Queens 11411 | Directions

Saturday, September 16, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm, PS 54 Samuel C. Barnes 195 Sanford St. Brooklyn 11206 | Directions

Saturday, September 16, 2023, 11:00am-1:00pm, ThinkWatts x Dyckman Basketball Courts 500 W 204th Street Manhattan 10034 | Directions

Saturday, September 16, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm, MS 117 1865 Morris Avenue Bronx 10460 | Directions

Monday, September 18, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm, Renaissance School of the Arts, MS377 319 E 117th Street Manhattan 10035 | Directions

Saturday, September 23, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm, Queen Public Library Rochdale 169-09 137th Ave Queens 11434 | Directions

Tuesday, September 26, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm, Mobile Pantry Hunts Point/Longwood 923 Longwood Avenue Bronx 10459 | Directions

Get weekly updates on where our Mobile Pantry will be sent straight to your inbox.

Do you feel that you've been discriminated against at one of our member soup kitchens or food pantries? If so, you may file a complaint with Food Bank For New York City to address the matter. Additionally, you may file a complaint with USDA using the information below.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:

U.S. Department of Agriculture: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410
Fax: (202) 690-7442; or
Email: program.intake@usda.gov.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find the help you need, where you need it. Search the map to find a soup kitchen, food pantry, senior center, or SNAP enrollment site near you. Find a free tax assistance site here. - Food Bank For New York City

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Affordability Gap

The difference between the home price a household can afford and the current market price of a typical home for that household size. A deficit or shortage in affordable housing for a region is the difference between the number of affordable homes available and the number of homes needed to house all of that region's low-income residents.

Affordable Housing

According to federal government standards, housing, including utilities, should cost no more than 30% of your total income. Publicly-subsidized rental housing usually has income restrictions, dictating that tenants cannot not earn more than 60% of area median income (see "Area Median Income" below). For King County in 2017, this equates to an annual income of $40,320 ($3,360 monthly) for a one-person household, or $51,840 ($4,320 monthly) for a three-person households. At these income levels, an individual can afford to spend $1,008 per month on rent, and a three-person household can afford $1,296 in rent without spending more than 30% of their monthly income.

Homeownership programs generally serve residents earning up to 80% of median, or $53,760 for an individual or $69,120 for a three-person household.

Area Median Income (AMI)

Area Median Income. See " Median Income" below. This number can be calculated for a specific area, for instance, Seattle, King County, and Pierce County will have different AMIs based on income in each of these areas, and will compare differently with local housing prices.

AMI is used to determine affordability at varying income levels, and different agencies have different definitions for these levels. For example, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines "Low-Income" as households earning below 80% AMI. The King County Countywide Planning Policies, on the other hand, define households earning 50-80% AMI as "Moderate Income" households.

Emergency Shelter

An intervention that places homeless families directly in permanent housing, rather than putting them through a succession of programs. Families reside in shelters for the minimum time necessary to secure housing. Individually tailored support services assist families in attaining housing and achieving stability.

HAMFI

HUD Area Median Family Income

HUD

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Homeless

A person who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence. The general public tends to think of "homeless" as persons living on the streets, whereas it can include persons living involuntarily with a friend or family member, living in a car, etc.-anyone without a fixed address.

Housing Authority

A federally recognized public corporation with boards appointed by the local government. Their mission is to provide affordable housing to low- and moderate-income people. In addition to public housing, housing authorities also provide other types of subsidized housing for seniors or others with special needs and via housing vouchers such as Section 8, Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) or Family Unification Program (FUP).

King County has three public housing authorities: the King County Housing Authority, the Seattle Housing Authority and the Renton Housing Authority (KCHA, SHA, RHA).

Housing First

An innovative approach to ending chronic homelessness in which people are provided rapid access to low-cost apartments, with vital medical, mental health and other support services available on site. It is a more humane, a more successful and a more cost-effective method than paying for these same individuals to cycle in and out of the emergency room, the sobering center or jail.

Seattle has taken a leadership role in funding Housing First programs, 1811 Eastlake being an example cited by Housing First proponents nationwide.

Incentive Zoning (IZ)

Incentive zoning is a policy requiring developers to make a percentage of housing units in new residential developments available to low- and moderate-income households. In return, developers receive non-monetary compensation in the form of density bonuses, zoning variances, and/or expedited permits that reduce construction costs. By linking the production of affordable housing to private market development, incentive zoning expands the supply of affordable housing while dispersing affordable homes throughout a city or county to broaden opportunity and foster mixed-income communities.

Although some jurisdictions have voluntary programs, the vast majority of jurisdictions require compliance. Most programs mandate that 10-20% of the homes developed be affordable.

Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)

Many for-profit and nonprofit-developed rental properties use federal income tax credits to create financially viable projects. The Washington State Housing Finance Commission allocates these credits to developers to build or rehabilitate low-income housing. Large corporations, financial institutions, pension funds, and insurance companies invest in the housing as a method to gain the tax credits and reduce their income tax obligations. Projects funded through this source must serve residents below 60% of median income and must accept Section 8 vouchers.

Market Rate Rent

The prevailing monthly cost for rental housing. It is set by the landlord without restrictions. The rate varies on market conditions but historically trends higher over time. The 2018 Fair Market rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in King County is $1,527.

This is a statistical number set at the level where half of all households earn incomes above this level and half below. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Economist calculates and publishes this median income data annually in the Federal Register. See also " Area Median Income ".

Nonprofit Housing

Nonprofit housing is developed by nonprofit corporations with a community board of directors and specific mission. Most housing developed by nonprofit housing developers is affordable with rents or prices below market-rate. Income generated from the housing is put back into the buildings and the mission of the organization, rather than being distributed to stockholders or individual investors as would be the case in for-profit housing

Nonprofit Housing Developer

A nonprofit organization with a mission that involves the creation, preservation, renovation, operation and/or maintenance of affordable housing.

Operating Subsidy

This is a type of subsidy going to property owners to reduce the management, maintenance and utility costs of housing. It is needed for projects housing extremely low-income residents who can't afford rents covering the actual costs of housing.

Permanent Housing

Rental apartments or ownership homes that provide individuals and families with a fixed street address and residence. Most housing is permanent.

Private Market or For-profit Housing

This housing rents or sells at market rate and is developed and owned by for-profit individuals, partnerships, or corporations. Most housing in Seattle is privately developed.

Project-Based Section 8 Housing

This federal program created in the mid-1970's initially pledged 20-year commitments of rent subsidy to developers of privately owned rental housing stock in the community to encourage them to build affordable housing. The program is subsidized and regulated by HUD.

The Seattle Housing Authority and King County Housing Authority are able to convert some of their Section 8 vouchers to project-based subsidy because of their participation in HUD's Moving to Work program. This demonstration program for public housing authorities provides them the opportunity to design and test innovative strategies that use Federal dollars more efficiently, help residents find employment and become self-sufficient, and increase housing choices for low-income families

Public Housing

Public housing is housing owned and run by a local housing authority under the oldest federal housing program-the Housing Act of 1937. To be eligible to live in public housing, you must meet program requirements including being low income. In most cases, rent including utilities can comprise no more than 30% of your income.

The Seattle Housing Authority owns and operates over 8,000 units of public housing on about 400 sites, serving 34,000 people. For the rest of King County, KCHA and RHA provide over 9,000 and nearly 1,000 public housing units, respectively. Housing authorities operate significant numbers of other types of subsidized housing in addition to public housing.

Rapid Re-Housing Program

Short-term intervention for homeless families, which includes housing attainment, employment, and financial assistance services. Support is provided for up to one year.

Permanent Affordable Housing for Homeless Families

Permanent affordable housing with tenant services serves homeless families with barriers to sustaining sufficient income to maintain independent housing. Like Rapid Re-Housing, emphasis is placed on rapid placement into housing from shelters or homelessness to support families in establishing permanent housing as quickly as possible.

Rent obligations remain affordable by an established standard (based on fund sources). Supportive services are not required, but Tenant Services may be made available for families.

Section 8 Vouchers

This federal program is administered by local housing authorities. Also known as Housing Choice Vouchers, eligible tenants receive vouchers they can use to help them pay for apartments in the private market. With a voucher, tenants pay between 28 and 40 percent of their household income for rent and utilities, and the housing authority pays the difference between this amount and the amount the landlord requests. In King County, Section 8 Vouchers help more than 11,000 households rent affordable private-market housing.

Shelters

Also called emergency housing. Provides temporary overnight living accommodations. Shelters often are not open during the day.

SRO

Single room occupancy units. The traditional SRO unit is a single room, usually less than 100 square feet, designed to accommodate one person. Amenities such as a bathroom, kitchen or common areas are located outside the unit and are shared with other residents. Many SROs can be found in renovated hotels in downtown Seattle and provide affordable options for recently homeless individuals linked with supportive services.

Subsidized Housing

A generic term covering all federal, state or local government programs that reduce the cost of housing for low- and moderate-income residents. Housing can be subsidized in numerous ways-giving tenants a rent voucher, helping homebuyers with down payment assistance, reducing the interest on a mortgage, providing deferred loans to help developers acquire and develop property, giving tax credits to encourage investment in low- and moderate-income housing, authorizing tax-exempt bond authority to finance the housing and/or providing ongoing assistance to reduce the operating costs of housing and others.

Public housing, project-based Section 8, Section 8 vouchers, tax credits, the State Housing Trust Fund, and Seattle Housing Levy programs are all examples of subsidized housing.

Over the years, programs have been designed to help local housing authorities, for-profit developers and builders, nonprofit organizations and public development authorities provide low-cost housing. Unfortunately, the number of people needing subsidized housing is far greater than federal, state or local funding for these programs.

Supportive Housing

Combines affordable housing with individualized health, counseling and employment services for persons with mental illness, chemical dependency, chronic health problems, or other challenges. Generally it is transitional housing, but it can be permanent housing in cases such as a group home for persons with mental illness or developmental disabilities.

Supportive housing is a solution to homelessness because it addresses its root causes by providing a proven, effective means of re-integrating families and individuals into the community by addressing their basic needs for housing and on-going support.

Transitional Housing

This housing model provides stability for residents who need more intensive support services. Length of stay is flexible to allow them to recover from a crisis such as homelessness or domestic violence before transitioning into permanent housing. Transitional housing providers often offer supportive services, which enable a person to transition to a more independent living situation in market rate or other permanent housing.

Low income housing providers and funders have moved away from this model, and toward permanent supportive housing or housing with transitional services due in part to difficulties for residents to secure and maintain market housing.

Vacancy Rate

The percentage of unoccupied units in a particular rental building or complex. A desirable low vacancy rate is generally considered to be 5% and factors for recently-vacated units beings prepared for the next occupants. Generally, in boom times, vacancy rates fall; while in recessions, vacancy rates rise. Low vacancy rates often are a signal for market providers to raise rents.

Waiting List

Because there is a shortage of affordable housing, many individuals and families must sign up to be on a waiting list for a particular apartment or type of affordable housing. Waiting lists in King County can be up to three years depending on location and type of subsidy offered.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Glossary - Housing Development Consortium

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Click a term for its definition or scroll down to view them all. View our local government glossary here. Affordability Gap Affordable Housing AMI Emergency Shelter HAMFI HUD Homeless Housing Authority Housing First Incentive Zoning (IZ) Low Income Housing Tax Credit [...]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Facts About Homelessness - Coalition For The Homeless

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Number of Homeless People in NYC Shelters Each Night In April 2023, 78,807 people slept in the…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Statistics

Shelter Repair Squad Scorecard

DHS Data Dashboard

The DHS Data Dashboard provides information on individuals and families by case type; the ethnicity of shelter clients; the number of shelter entrants by borough; the number of shelter exits; how many school aged children are in shelter; the placements of chronically street homeless individuals; and prevention enrollments.

*Please Note: Only supported by Internet Explorer to properly view in browser.

DHS Data Dashboard Tables

Archive

For further information on citywide temporary housing, please visit the Mayor's Office of Operations website, NYCStat.

Reports

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The DHS Data Dashboard provides information on individuals and families by case type; the ethnicity of shelter clients; the number of shelter entrants by borough; the number of shelter exits; how many school aged children are in shelter; the placements of chronically street homeless individuals; and prevention enrollments.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Pushed Out: Displacement Today and Lasting Impacts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About one in 10 New York City public school students is experiencing homelessness, a rate that has remained stubbornly similar for several years.

That means roughly 111,600 children were without stable housing, according to an analysis of state data released Thursday morning. As large as that number is, advocates worry that it might be an undercount - given that remote learning has made it harder for schools to identify homeless students.

The data released Thursday shows that about 3,000 fewer children were homeless during the 2019-20 school year than the year prior, a 2% drop.

In New York City, most homeless children across district and charter schools - about 65% - were doubled up in shared housing, such as with friends or relatives, according to the Advocates for Children New York report. Another 30% lived in city shelters. The remaining 5%, comprising some 5,900 children, were identified as "unsheltered," meaning they could be living in cars, parks, temporary trailers, or abandoned buildings.

"The vast scale of student homelessness in New York City demands urgent attention," said Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children, the nonprofit that compiled the report and provides legal services for high-needs students. "If these children comprised their own city, it would be larger than Albany, and their numbers may skyrocket even further after the state eviction moratorium is lifted."

New York residents have some protections against evictions until at least the end of the year, but it doesn't apply in all cases, and tenants must prove in court that they qualify for such relief, THE CITY reported.

Advocates for Children pointed out that the number of homeless students this year may exceed what's reported. The closure of school buildings amid the coronavirus pandemic hinders school staffers' ability to spot changes to students' housing situations, officials at the organization said.

That echoes national trends, with fewer students across the country being identified as homeless, according to a recent study.

The pandemic has exacerbated existing disparities between homeless students and their housed peers. Many of these students have not had reliable access to the internet or technology to participate in remote learning. Those who do may be learning in a space shared with multiple family members.

"Most of the [homeless] families we've been talking to have been living in one or two rooms, often with multiple kids, trying to be online at the same time," said Susan Horwitz, an attorney with Legal Aid Society. "And you know, they don't have noise-canceling headphones, they don't have a room to be in alone with less distractions."

Living in a homeless shelter during the pandemic has made it difficult for Areinny Lacayo, a recent immigrant from Honduras, to secure a good education for her 5-year-old son.

There is no Wi-Fi for residents at her Bronx shelter, and the cell service that powers her son's city-issued iPad is spotty. Often, on the two or three days a week her son is learning from home, his remote classes cut out halfway through the lesson. Sometimes Lacayo leaves the shelter to grab produce donations from local churches, but she has to pull her son away from lessons because she can't leave him alone. She described the school and his teachers as supportive, but Lacayo - a single mother and Spanish speaker - still relies on Google Translate to translate homework for her son, who is learning English as a new language. That's tough with unreliable internet.

Signal issues remained such a problem for Lacayo that a social worker at the shelter gave her the Wi-Fi password that staff uses. But "there are some days where the signal just fails completely," she said. On Thursday, her son was not able to log on to remote classes at all.

"This is [my] day-to-day life, and it's really hard right now," Lacayo said through a translator.

Lacayo's son is using one of the 350,000 internet-enabled iPads that the city distributed to students, prioritizing students in temporary housing, and is in the process of delivering 100,000 devices to fill remaining gaps. But Wi-Fi access remains an issue.

Such challenges means fewer homeless students "show up" for remote lessons. The virtual attendance rate for homeless students was 70% or lower at about 300 city schools during the spring. That was significantly lower than the 86% citywide average attendance rate during the same period, when attending a Zoom lesson or answering a teacher's text message could count for being marked "present."

After mounting pressure, the city committed to equipping all units at family shelters with Wi-Fi and also said it would quickly switch cell service providers on devices without a strong connection, according to an October announcement. But citing the difficulty in wiring up these shelters, city officials said Wi-Fi won't become available in all of these buildings until the school year ends.

Legal Aid has since filed a lawsuit, pressing the city to complete its Wi-Fi installations at all family shelters by Jan. 4, the first day back to school after winter break.

Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters this week that getting shelters wired "is obviously a bigger job and one we're committed to, but that is something that we need to be realistic about the timeline and I'll leave it there, given that it's a litigation matter."

Advocates remain concerned about students in temporary housing falling even further behind academically. In the 2018-2019 school year, 29% of city students experiencing homelessness passed state reading state tests, and 27% passed the math exam - nearly 20 percentage points lower than their peers who live in stable housing. Homeless students were also more likely to miss school and be suspended, a previous Independent Budget Office analysis found.

The de Blasio administration has dedicated some additional resources for homeless students, including a $12 million investment for boosting school-based supports for these children. It has also hired 100 "Bridging The Gap" social workers to serve schools with high numbers of students in temporary housing. Following a hiring freeze and budget cuts at the department of education, at least 20 positions dedicated to supporting students in temporary housing are unfilled, according to Advocates For Children.

Advocates for Children is asking the city to ensure every homeless student has proper technology, to reach out more often to students who haven't been regularly participating in remote learning, and to offer in-person instruction to families of homeless students who want it.

This school year, the city's child care centers - known as Learning Bridges - are prioritizing seats for homeless students, in addition to the children of some essential workers. The education department did not immediately say how many homeless children are enrolled in Learning Bridges.

Following recent citywide building closures, schools will reopen next week for 3K, pre-K, K-5 and students with the most significant disabilities. As schools figure out whether they can offer more in-person learning days, the education department is asking principals to first prioritize seats for students with disabilities, then move on to other high-needs groups of students, including homeless children and students learning English as a new language.

However, the city has not yet outlined a plan to bring back middle and high schoolers, meaning all homeless students in those grades will be learning remotely until at least the start of 2021.

"We are committed to providing our students experiencing homelessness with a high-quality education that delivers critical supports and resources to meet their needs every step of the way," Sarah Casasnovas, a spokesperson for the education department, wrote in a statement. "These students remain top of mind during this crisis, and we continue to work closely with advocates like [Advocates for Children] and partner agencies to provide caring, supportive environments whether in-person or remote."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NYC is home to more than 111,000 homeless students, new data shows

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
About one in 10 New York City public school students is experiencing homelessness, a rate that has remained stubbornly similar for several years. That means roughly 111,600 children were without stable housing, according to an analysis of state data released Thursday morning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
More and more Americans are struggling to make rent. Each year, an estimated 2.5 million people across the country are evicted.

Today, in a joint investigation called Poverty, Politics and Profit, FRONTLINE and NPR join forces to examine the crisis in affordable housing, exploring why so few people are getting the help they need, and whether government programs designed to aid low-income Americans with rent are working as they should.

One of those programs, called the low-income housing tax credit, relies on partnerships between the federal government and the private sector. The IRS gives billions in tax credits to the states, who then award the credits to developers. The developers sell them for cash to investors, mostly banks, and then use that money to help build apartment buildings. And because taxpayer money pays for most of it, they can charge the lower rents required.

The program, which has cost about $8 billion annually in recent years, is often described by supporters as a win-win: Low-income people get quality affordable housing and the private sector makes money. But in Poverty, Politics, and Profit, NPR and FRONTLINE crunch the numbers - and find that the program is costing taxpayers more in tax credits, but producing fewer units.

In the above excerpt from tonight's documentary, produced by FRONTLINE's Rick Young and his team, follow Laura Sullivan of NPR as she tries to find out why.

Then for more on the story, listen to All Things Considered today and watch FRONTLINE tonight. From exploring why those who receive Section 8 vouchers often struggle to find housing, to examining charges that developers have stolen money meant to house low-income people, to delving into the legacy of segregation in government housing programs, Poverty, Politics and Profit is a probing exploration of a system in crisis.
Watch Poverty, Politics and Profit starting Tuesday, May 9 at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. CST on FRONTLINE (check local PBS listings), and listen May 9 on NPR's All Things Considered.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
In America's Affordable Housing Crisis, More Demand but Less Supply

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More and more Americans are struggling to make rent. Each year, an estimated 2.5 million people across the country are evicted. Today, in a joint investigation called Poverty, Politics and Profit , FRONTLINE and NPR join forces to examine the crisis in affordable housing, exploring why so few people are getting the help they need, and whether government programs designed to aid low-income Americans with rent are working as they should.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When schools in New York City abruptly closed in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, Prince, a bright, chatty 9-year-old bursting with kinetic energy, found himself at home plodding through the Google Classroom app on his mother's phone. The limbo that came with the shutdown was not a new experience for him. He and his mother, Fifi, who is 29, had been homeless for nearly his entire academic career. (To protect their privacy, their personal nicknames are being used to refer to Fifi and Prince.)

He had attended five different elementary schools and missed many weeks of classes by the time the city's schools went online-only. Like many of New York City's more than 100,000 homeless schoolchildren, Prince was familiar with uncertainty and isolation, with not knowing what day it was. For nearly all his life, he had lived under the curfew imposed by homeless shelters, with no visitors or play dates allowed at his home, and had adapted to long, endless waits at city agencies. Quarantine had coincidentally found him better situated than he had ever been: For the first time in Prince's memory, his family had a precarious hold on a rental apartment in the Bronx.

Since Prince was little, teachers have been telling Fifi that with the right challenges and encouragement, he has enormous academic potential. Before the pandemic, Fifi had been looking for bigger academic opportunities for Prince, researching charter schools and gifted programs. All that was now on hold. It was disappointing for both of them that Prince was not really learning anything as they tried to peck through screens, but they'd been there before.

When I first met Prince, on a Thursday in March 2019, he had also been trying to keep up with school from his mother's tiny phone screen. His second-grade class was working on a new unit; there would be a big test the following week. Math was Prince's favorite subject, and he wanted to do well on the test. When he brought home A's, his mother would buy him a new toy. Prince almost always delivered the grades. It wasn't hard; he genuinely loved school. The teachers at his elementary school in East Harlem were kind; there was a free after-school soccer program on Mondays, and the class took trips to parts of the city he'd never seen. Prince enrolled in that school just five months earlier but had been absorbed into a group of friends and the rhythms of the classroom easily. Prince was well liked, and he knew it; if he arrived too late for school breakfast, he would flash his gap-tooth grin and the cafeteria workers would wave him in to pick up a bagel on his way to class.

But on that March morning in 2019, as his classmates settled into their seats in East Harlem, Prince, dressed in a puffy black coat and jeans that slid down his slim frame, instead skipped up the ramp to the PATH intake center in the Bronx for homeless families. Fifi, who is petite and has shiny brown hair, wore skinny jeans and a cross-body purse. Her boyfriend, Manuel (his middle name), who is 37 and whom Prince called Dad, followed, carrying a backpack cooler full of the family's important documents and pushing a shopping cart loaded with neatly folded bedding and clothes packed in laundry and garbage bags.

PATH, Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing, is where homeless families in New York City go to apply for shelter, and where they go to reapply if they are initially found ineligible or if they are "logged out" after missing check-in at their shelter for two nights in a row. The number of homeless New Yorkers has risen to the highest point since the Great Depression, and the largest demographic within the homeless population is children. As a result, the number of homeless students has increased nearly 70 percent over the last decade, according to the Department of Education. Over the past two years, I've spoken with more than a dozen homeless families with school-age children as they struggled with the often dueling imperatives of finding shelter and keeping their children in school.

Despite making up a majority of the city's homeless population, homeless families are often not visible in the way single homeless adults can be - if a family is found living on the street, the children can be taken away by Child Protective Services. The people walking into the PATH center on any given day are mostly indistinguishable from those walking to the shopping center a few blocks away. You have to look closely to find the telltale giveaways - a few too many bags, or the little boy I met with his sister and mother on a sunny day dragging a large plastic Paw Patrol umbrella with a hooked handle, a prized possession that he wanted to have with him wherever he ended up next.

New York City is the only place in America that guarantees a universal "right to shelter," hard fought for by activists over decades in court and granted to men, women and children by 1987. In New York, this right has created a system incomparable to any other in the nation - a sprawling, incoherent megaplex that involves at least six city departments, which sometimes work at odds with one another, and has a presence in hundreds of buildings in the city, offering very different levels of supervision and support.

In order to qualify to be placed in a homeless shelter, a family must document all residences from the previous two years and prove to PATH's fraud investigators that they cannot return to any of them. And if families become homeless because of domestic violence, as Prince's originally did, they have to provide each police report and restraining order when they first go to the PATH center. In 2018, only 40 percent of families who applied for shelter at PATH met all the requirements and gained a placement.

At the PATH intake center, Manuel parked the family's cart in the luggage area. Prince settled into a gray vinyl chair. He would spend most of the next week at the center, along with many other city schoolchildren, watching boards that flashed the number of the next family to be called. Experientially, PATH is like a multilevel Department of Motor Vehicles: Families arrive during the day and move from floor to floor, with long waits on each one, finally ending up on the basement level. From there, they might receive a housing assignment by midnight or later. If they don't, they're bused to a temporary overnight placement for some sleep and then bused back as early as 6 the next morning to continue waiting.

It was Fifi's ardent wish that Prince would manage to put himself on the other side of the city's divide and end up more like the people she had served as a nanny or in jobs at Whole Foods and food service at the airport. That's why she offered toys for good grades. She and Manuel showed up together for every parent-teacher conference, checked in with Prince's teacher at school pickup and often took home the free books that were left in a box at the school entrance to read with Prince at night.

If Prince could have been in school instead of the PATH center that Thursday, Fifi would have found a way, but the city generally requires parents to bring their school-age children to the center for the intake process, regardless of whether they're missing school. So at the center each day around 3 p.m., when school let out, Fifi logged into Prince's class app from her phone to download the day's math lesson. It was the most challenging work of the year, and the two pored over the lesson - subtraction on a number line, addition with regrouping 10s - and reviewed the three pages inked in colored pen over and over as they waited.

Fifi and Prince entered the homeless-shelter system when Prince was a baby and Fifi fled a dangerous situation at home with Prince's biological father to a temporary shelter for women escaping domestic violence. After Fifi's time at the domestic-violence shelter ran out, she started looking for a rental apartment for herself and Prince. But working minimum-wage jobs, she was never able to save enough to afford New York City rents, and over the years she and Prince bounced from shelter placement to shelter placement. In 2015, she met Manuel, and they moved to Florida, where they hoped to find better housing and work opportunities. But after about a year and a half of difficulty finding jobs, they came back to New York, and eventually the three of them ended up in a shelter in East Harlem.

In February 2019, Fifi suddenly started to see a relative of Prince's biological father on the street near the shelter. She and Prince's father are from a tight-knit community of first-generation Bangladeshi immigrants in Queens, and news often travels fast. She was terrified that if the relative saw her, Prince's father would find out where she was and would come for them. Over the years, police reports show that when Prince's father has found Fifi, he has at various times beaten her (slamming her against a wall) and locked her in his apartment. He also kidnapped Prince, when he was a toddler, from a family barbecue, she said. But those events happened a while ago; the restraining orders Fifi took out against him after each one had expired.

Fifi stopped going to her job at Whole Foods to avoid seeing the relative. She asked for a shelter transfer but was told it would take up to six months. On the informal advice of a worker in the East Harlem shelter, Fifi decided to have the family stay away from the shelter for two nights, which would mean they were logged out and officially homeless again.

She and Manuel packed whatever belongings would fit in their shopping cart and the two crates the homeless shelter had previously given them, she said, to protect their food from the shelter's mice. They left Prince's math posters, stuffed animals and other belongings, vowing to replace them when they were settled in a new shelter. Prince at this point was used to losing things in moves; the only toy he really missed was a jumbo Nerf gun he got for Christmas one year.

The family walked with their shopping cart to Manuel's father's one-bedroom apartment in public housing in East Harlem. It was already overcrowded, with six people staying there. The bathroom had a broken door that would not fully close, and there was mold on the walls. Fifi helped Prince shower in the bathroom for school, but she could not bring herself to use it.

Prince, Fifi and Manuel slept on the floor of the apartment for two nights, but when they went back to the PATH center, they were told that they had not been officially logged out, so they had to spend another two nights on the floor. On Thursday morning, having finally logged themselves out, they hoisted their metal shopping cart up the subway stairs to go to PATH.

Prince had switched schools every time his family's shelter placement changed, so he had never completed more than one year in any school in New York. That year, he started asking his parents if he would be able to stay with his friends at his school in East Harlem. Fifi was happy with the instruction and the school culture. "I think it is my favorite school of all the ones he went to," she told me. She was hoping that they would be placed close enough to the school to keep Prince there.

The Department of Homeless Services says it takes into account the neighborhood where the family's youngest child attends school in its placement, and Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has made this a policy priority. Nonetheless, according to the 2020 Mayor's Management Report, only some 50 percent of city shelter placements in 2019 were in the same borough as the youngest child's home school, a percentage that rose in the first four months of this year to 60 percent. Of the families I spoke to, only one had actually been placed close to their child's school.

According to the department, this is partly because the vacancy rate in shelters is so low that it is hard to make precise placements. It's also partly because families fleeing domestic violence are not supposed to be placed in a shelter in the same borough as the abuser; 40 percent of all homeless families have some history of domestic violence.

After some 13 hours at the PATH center that Thursday, Fifi and Manuel received a new shelter placement: Crystal's Place, a family shelter at 555 Hutchinson River Parkway in the Bronx. As they waited for the Department of Homeless Services van to pick them up, another mother whom Fifi met during the day told her that Crystal's was a bad place, that it had bedbugs in the rooms and drug dealers out front.

When the van dropped them off around 11 p.m., with Prince sleeping in Manuel's arms, Fifi took a good look around. The shelter was off a highway. Until 2014, the building had been the Capri Whitestone, a "hot-sheet motel" where patrons paid by the hour. When the Department of Homeless Services turned it into a family shelter, it left up the signs advertising the Capri Whitestone and its 555 Lounge, and people would continue to arrive looking for it, until a local state senator petitioned the department to remove the signs. The next year, according to news reports, the department placed two convicted sex offenders - one who had molested children - at Crystal's Place. (The department did not respond to a majority of fact-checking requests.)

Fifi didn't know any of that at the time, but standing on the sidewalk as cars whirred past on the other side of the highway barrier, she saw what looked like drug dealers in front of the entrance, just as the woman at PATH had described. There were few stores except for a strip mall a bit down the highway, and the shelter was 2.2 miles from the subway stop they would need to use to take Prince to and from school every day. She thought about making this walk and crisscrossing the isolated highway, past the cemetery and the Home Depot, twice a day. Bus service to the subway was more than a half-mile away. "I just had a really, really bad feeling," Fifi told me.

Manuel called his father, and he sent an Uber to get them to the subway, where they rode back to his apartment in East Harlem. The family waited there for another two days to be logged out of Crystal's Place.

Over the course of 2019, 132,660 people slept in the New York City municipal shelter system; over two-thirds were families, and almost 45,000 were children. Those statistics don't represent the true number of children without stable homes in the city - children whose families are doubled up at a friend's house or staying in a cheap motel. In some cases, families who have been denied eligibility for shelter might park their children at a relative's home or with a babysitter for the night while they sleep on a subway or in a hallway. A federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, requires that public schools ask incoming students about their housing status; at the end of last year, families in New York City reported that 114,000 school-age children met the McKinney-Vento definition of homelessness: lacking a "fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence."

New York City has the largest public-school system in the nation, with more than 1.1 million students. The number of students who are homeless is larger than the entire school populations of Boston, Indianapolis and Rochester combined. The influx of homeless children into the city school system echoes nationwide trends; the number of homeless students in the United States has increased by 70 percent over the last decade and shows no signs of slowing.

Last year, 43 percent of the city's homeless students were chronically absent - defined as missing 10 percent or more of the school year - compared with 30 percent of students in poverty and 16 percent of students not in poverty. A 2018 audit by the city comptroller's office found that there was no evidence of outreach efforts to 34 percent of students it surveyed who were chronically absent.

Many homeless children have a hard time simply getting to school, because they are exhausted from sleeping in an apartment with more people than beds, or aren't able to clean their clothes, or have slept somewhere far from their school, or have to miss school to attend mandatory appointments with their parents. In New York City, families who have not yet been found eligible for shelter receive temporary placements in shelters, often miles from their schools, and are not able to get school bus service until they are found eligible, a process that can take anywhere from 10 days to many months.

Around the country, the increase in student homelessness has gone on for years, mostly under-acknowledged and poorly studied. "Most research on homelessness focuses on single homeless adults," says Barbara Duffield, director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national nonprofit organization that focuses on homelessness and education. "There is a lack of rigorous research on children who are homeless, their educational outcomes and the long-term implications of childhood homelessness."

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development oversees tracking of homelessness by something called a point-in-time count, in which it records the number of people on the streets and in shelters on one night. By this method, the department reports that there has been a 29 percent decline in family homelessness over the last 10 years. But families avoid the street, and many cities and rural areas simply don't have shelters.

The data from schools' reporting show that nationally, the number of homeless children has gone from more than 650,000 in the 2004-5 school year to more than 1.5 million in 2017-18. State education data released by the National Center for Homeless Education this January found that in that same year, nationally, only 29 percent of homeless students passed state exams in reading and 24 percent in math. In New York City in 2018-19, 29 percent of students in temporary housing passed the state reading exam and 27 percent passed the math exam, according to the New York City Department of Education. Children living in shelters fared worse: In 2015-16, only 15 percent of third-through-eighth-grade students living in one read proficiently, and only 12 percent met state requirements in math.

Homeless students also have higher rates of special needs, partly because of health and developmental factors - poor nutrition, low birth weight, asthma, exposure to lead, stress. Their transience also hinders access to treatment and early intervention, and low-income parents of children with special needs can have a harder time maintaining employment. Federal Department of Education data compiled by the National Center for Homeless Education shows that while children with disabilities made up roughly 14 percent of the overall student population, among homeless students in 2017-18, the average rate in many states was between 18 and 20 percent or higher. Last year, nearly 85 percent of homeless students in New York City were Black or Hispanic; the negative academic impact of homelessness compounds existing inequities in the education system.

Broadly, homeless children across the country tend to get so far behind in their early elementary years that they see no way to catch up and drop out when they are older. Only 62 percent of New York City's homeless students graduated from high school last year; citywide, the overall graduation rate was 77 percent. Research from Voices of Youth Count at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago showed that failure to graduate from high school or earn an equivalency diploma increased the chances of experiencing homelessness as young adults by 4.5 times. "If you are not reading on time," Duffield says, "you are more likely to drop out of school, and in fact, children who are homeless have higher dropout rates than other poor children. Not having a high school degree is the single greatest risk factor for future homelessness. Not having access to an education condemns these kids to a life of poverty, homelessness and hardship."

The shutdowns the pandemic has brought have worsened many of the conditions that drive family homelessness and undermine education. Advocates for homeless families warn that without action, the city is poised for an enormous wave of new homeless families and even more children not able to attend school consistently. According to data compiled by the N.Y.U. Furman Center, whose research focuses on housing, 239,000 very-low-income renter households are at "high risk" of becoming homeless. If they experienced job loss because of the pandemic, they're currently protected by an eviction moratorium, which has been extended to the end of the year, but they are most likely amassing unpaid back rent. A coalition of organizations has urged city lawmakers to plan for the likelihood that when the moratorium lifts, these households will still be unemployed and will start entering the shelter system. Christine C. Quinn, the former City Council speaker who is now the president and chief executive of Win, formerly Women in Need, which runs 11 family shelters in the city, told me: "Even if a small fraction come, the system, which was already at capacity on the family side, will be swamped. If we don't intervene before the eviction moratorium expires, we will have a catastrophe in New York City."

Prince returned with his parents to the PATH center on Monday morning, after another two days of waiting to be logged out. Again Prince missed school, and again they spent the entire day shuffling between floors waiting for placement in a shelter. That night around 11, in the rain, the family boarded the Department of Homeless Services van to the Pan American, another former hotel on Queens Boulevard near city impound lots. Fifi's case file indicates that she can't be placed in Queens because that's where her abuser and his large extended family live. But by the time the placement came, Fifi was too exhausted to protest.

At the Pan American, the security guard warmed up a frozen pizza from the cafeteria for them and took them to a room that Fifi said had filthy carpets and packing tape holding the door to the next room shut. She got up at 6 a.m. after a sleepless night "freaking out," she said, and the family took the long subway ride back to the PATH center. This time they headed straight for the floor with the domestic-violence office. "You can't put me in Queens," Fifi, in tears, said when her number was called. "My file says so."

As their third day at PATH wore on, Prince could not stomach the food he'd had in the past at PATH - a still-frozen bologna sandwich and a small cup of warm juice with a foil lid, which "tasted like medicine." He focused all his boredom and frustration on this matter. "Mommy, can you get me something to eat?" he pleaded and whined over and over as the day passed. "Mommy, please, can you get me something to eat?"

Although PATH serves only families with children, it is organized in a way that makes astonishingly little accommodation for that fact. The vans, which transport families, appear to have no car or booster seats and seem to operate primarily at hours that are far past any child's bedtime. Endless waiting with an unpredictable outcome in a space that does not allow food or drinks to be brought in and doesn't provide toys or books is especially agonizing for small children and those with special needs. When families make it down to the bottom level of the center, some take a chance with letting their children run just outside the exit door to burn off some steam. One day near that door, I met Caledra, who had also become homeless fleeing a violent partner and whose seven children were squealing and dashing around a garbage can. She said: "We were all at PATH less than eight months ago. I'm not sure why they still need me to bring all seven kids back for the whole day." She shrugged, laughing ruefully. "Who lies about having seven kids, anyway?"

By midafternoon, Fifi realized that the last thing Prince had eaten was the frozen pizza they were given when they arrived at the Pan American at midnight. She knew that if they left the PATH center to get food, they would risk losing their place in line, but she decided it was worth the gamble. The family ran down the street in the light rain to McDonald's and bought a 20-piece box of McNuggets. Then, thinking about the many children also waiting and whining, Fifi used a coupon from her McDonald's phone app to get a second box of 20 McNuggets for just a dollar more. Fifi put the boxes in her purse, and the family raced back up the block to the center. But the security guard at the entrance took the warm boxes out of her purse and told her she had to throw them away. She took a few McNuggets out of the box and hastily tried to feed them to Prince outside. She brushed away tears angrily. "He's a baby," she said. "He can't eat prison food." Prince didn't cry, and he stopped whining about being hungry. He just got, in his words, "really mad and really quiet" for the rest of the day. "I never know what he's absorbing about our situation, what's bothering him," Fifi later told me. "Sometimes he will bring up something that happened months earlier, and I realize, Whoa, he's been thinking of it all this time."

That night, around midnight, the Department of Homeless Services van took the family to a new placement in the Bronx. It was a cluster apartment - a building, often rundown, that the city rents from landlords. They were overjoyed. True, someone had scrawled "shelter people are pigs" in the elevator, and an addict could sometimes be found rocking himself trancelike in the stairwell, and a piece of the bathroom ceiling was coming down. But the family happily agreed that it was the nicest place they had lived so far. For one thing, there was a bedroom, where they set up Prince's books and toys, careful to not use the dresser that came with the room for fear of bedbugs. They draped a Mickey Mouse blanket over the leaky window in his room to insulate against the cold and try to block the sound of the subway thundering past on elevated tracks nearby. The kitchen was basic, but "it's not completely disgusting," Fifi reported happily. "You could cook in that oven." Prince skipped across the living-room area, where Fifi and Manuel slept on twin beds pushed together, to show me how big it was. "See? I can run from this side to the other," he told me, hamming it up, and added, "There are no rats under the heater!" The subway outside Prince's room went directly to his school, and the neighborhood had the stores and laundromat the family would need.

When Prince returned to school on Tuesday morning, two weeks after he left, his teacher asked where he had been for so long. "We were moving," Prince reported. The teacher, who didn't know at the time that the family was homeless, found it odd. "In my mind, I had never heard of it taking that long to move, and I wondered, Why didn't the parents bring him to school while they moved?" she told me.

Not long after Prince returned to school was the big math test he had been anticipating. His teacher told him he didn't have to take it if he didn't want to because he had missed the last unit. But Prince and Fifi had been practicing the math sheets on the class app at the PATH center, and she wanted Prince to take the test. "In a way, I wanted to see - is he still OK from this week?" Fifi told me. "How much is he affected?" When the results came back, Prince scored an 84, lower than his usual top grades. He knew that his mother wanted to see higher scores. When he turned over the test to Fifi, he said in a small voice: "I'm sorry, Mama. I'll do better next time."

Family homelessness in New York City at the current scale is a phenomenon of the last several decades. For many years, the city population of homeless families hovered between 250 and 1,000 a year. In the 1980s, during Ronald Reagan's presidency, a recession coincided with deep cuts in social-service programs like job training, day care and aid for dependent children. Perhaps most significant, Reagan greatly reduced the budget for public housing and Section 8 housing, a voucher program that subsidizes rent; between 1981 and 1989, budget authorizations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is responsible for low-income housing, fell to $6.9 billion from $32.2 billion. In 1970, there were 6.5 million subsidized rental units and 6.2 million low-income renter households; by 1985, there were 5.6 million units and 8.9 million low-income renter households.

During this period, families in New York started showing up in unexpectedly large numbers at Emergency Assistance Units in each borough, which were the precursors to PATH. Ralph da Costa Nunez served as deputy commissioner of social services 40 years ago, when Ed Koch was mayor. He remembers that when the population of homeless families went from 950 in 1982 to more than 5,000 in 1988, he and Koch at first thought it was a temporary bump. But as the years dragged on, it became clear that stagnating wages, cuts to public programs and a lack of affordable housing had permanently dislodged a segment of low-income earners from the housing market.

Homeless families slept on metal cots in gyms and auditoriums, in wards at the Bellevue psychiatric hospital and in "welfare hotels" with deplorable conditions. During his tenure, Koch announced a 10-year plan to create 150,000 affordable-housing units, later revising this to 252,000 units, and to allocate 15,000 of them to homeless households. He also began developing shelters for families, which were assumed at the time to be an interim measure. When Mayor David Dinkins took office in 1990, he added social services to family shelters and continued to offer priority for public housing to homeless families. The homeless-family population grew, and a theory developed among some policy experts that the practice of offering homeless families priority placement in affordable housing provided incentives for people to enter the shelter system; this theory was later refuted. But when Rudolph W. Giuliani became mayor, he sought to discourage people from entering the shelter system. Although Giuliani continued the practice of placing shelter residents in public housing and in Section 8 housing, he did not invest in shelter infrastructure and made it harder to apply for placement. He started the cluster-site program in 2000, paying market rates to landlords of apartments that were often of poor quality to house homeless people with little oversight.

Michael R. Bloomberg came into office with a pledge to cut homelessness by two-thirds. He initially stopped offering homeless families priority placement for public housing and Section 8 programs and established a rental subsidy called the Advantage program, and at first the homeless population dropped. Advocates for the homeless were critical of the program's work requirements and temporary nature and lobbied against it; Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo withdrew funding, and the program ended in 2011. As a result, tens of thousands of families were evicted. During Bloomberg's tenure, the shelter population grew from 37,000 in 2010 to nearly 61,000 by the end of 2014, 70 percent of whom were families.

When de Blasio was elected, he walked into a storm. He had campaigned on reducing income inequality and had promised to lower the homeless population. He initially instituted anti-eviction measures and rental subsidies, which moved many people out of shelters but couldn't stop the flow of others into the homeless system. In 2017, de Blasio unveiled a second plan, Turning the Tide on Homelessness, to invest in shelter infrastructure, reduce the reliance on hotels and cluster housing and mitigate some of the worst impacts of family homelessness. The plan calls for the construction of 90 shelters, including family shelters, 39 of which have opened, according to the Department of Homeless Services. These shelters have social-service providers and offer things like after-school programs. They are unusual in that they are in neighborhoods that have never had shelters; the hope is that by increasing capacity, more families can be placed near "anchors of life," especially schools.

Today, no one imagines that family homelessness in New York City is a temporary emergency; it is a tacitly accepted part of the picture of what it means to be poor here. According to an analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, New York and its surrounding metro area currently has 950,673 extremely-low-income renter households; the number of units for such households is 321,000. Even if the goals of Turning the Tide are met, the city will still have a population of some 57,500 homeless individuals, according to the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness, a nonprofit research-and-advocacy organization. Last year, the city spent roughly $3.2 billion on homeless services, more than double what it spent in 2014, according to a comptroller report. The average length of stay in a shelter is 474 days.

Steven Banks, one of the original Legal Aid Society lawyers who went to court to fight for a right to shelter, is the city commissioner of social services and oversees the Department of Homeless Services. Banks told me that the right to shelter has "transformed lives" in New York City, and he also pointed to Los Angeles, where many more homeless people live in unsheltered situations. But, he said, if he could have brought the case as a right to housing in addition to shelter, he would have. "Temporary versus permanent housing and other resources is equivalent to having a debate in the health care sector over funding emergency rooms or just preventative medicine," he said. "Of course you need both."

Nunez, who is now the president and chief executive of the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness, says that "after years and years of growing the shelter system, it's time to call it what it really is: a surrogate for affordable housing." But unlike the affordable-housing programs of the past - rent-regulated apartments, federally funded Section 8 vouchers - the shelter system is, in Nunez's words, "creating a whole class of poverty nomads, a generation that is getting accustomed to nomadism."

The consequences of this nomadism go beyond education. The norms at many homeless shelters can be jail-like and put a heavy social burden on children. Families are not allowed to have any visitors in their rooms and have to be present at nightly curfew. They must sign in and out every time they come and go. Some families told me that they were not allowed to bring in furniture, including air-conditioners, microwave ovens, TVs or a mini-trampoline if an autistic child requires one to calm herself. I was also told by residents at various shelters that nail clippers, scooters and flip-flops were forbidden. And some families said that shelter personnel used the threat of calling Child Protective Services as a way to enforce their rules.

One afternoon in September 2018, after school let out, I met Angel, who was from a Puerto Rican family and was 17 at the time. He was wearing Vans and earrings. He, his mother and his little brother, RJ, had been evicted from their Bronx apartment in December 2017 and were living in a family shelter in Brooklyn. (To protect their privacy, only their first names are being used.) RJ had switched to the school near their shelter, but Angel was old enough to make the daily three-subway commute back to the Bronx to continue at his high school. After school, Angel said, his friends would go home, have a snack and play video games, talking on their headsets, until they met up later.

Angel wanted to stay in the Bronx to play basketball with his friends when they went out later. So he would walk around the neighborhood near school, killing time, maybe stopping at his grandmother's house before her shift as a subway conductor began. "I just wait for someone to text me where they decided to meet up," he explained as we sat on a bench near the subway stop in the Bronx. Angel ate a foot-long marinara sub and drank a blue Gatorade. The move had taken an academic toll - Angel said that there was no desk or comfortable place to do homework in the shelter and that he had fallen off the honor roll - but there was also a social toll. "People always ask why I have to go home so early, why I never stay over," he told me.

Angel was stoic when he told me about a pool party that he couldn't go to because of the shelter curfew. But he became agitated describing a weekend morning when his mother let him sleep in while she took RJ to football practice in the Bronx. "A shelter supervisor came out, and she screamed at my mother in front of everyone that they're going to call C.P.S. if she ever leaves me sleeping in the room again," he said, his face seared with shame. "I didn't mind that I will now have to get up at 7 a.m. on a weekend, but I minded a lot that they yelled at my mother in front of everyone. They made her cry. They threatened her."

In April 2019, the family was able to move to a shelter back in the Bronx, where RJ, who was 8 at the time, started his third school in 18 months. RJ, who has chubby cheeks and soft black hair, showed me a swimming pool at a nearby housing project and excitedly said his mother had promised to teach him to swim there. Then he paused and added the qualification: "If we still live here in the summer." (They did not live there by summer.)

Over a snack at McDonald's, I asked RJ, who was repeating first grade, if students in his newest class knew that he was homeless. He looked at me as though I were crazy. "I don't tell anyone I'm homeless," RJ said. "Everyone else has a house or an apartment." His mother pointed out to him that another child in his class also lived in the shelter, a fact they discovered one afternoon when the boys returned from school at the same time. I asked RJ if he played with his classmate at the shelter, and he again looked at me with utter bafflement. "No one can come in your room, not even your cousins," he said. "And if we played in the hallway, the security would yell."

One Thursday in May 2019, I waited with a father named Allen on a street corner in South Brooklyn, near the homeless shelter where he lived. He was waiting for the school bus carrying his first-grade daughter, London. (To protect their privacy, Allen and London are identified by their middle names.) She was coming home from her school in Queens, where she had enrolled when they lived in a shelter there. The driver had said the bus would arrive at 3:30. Though the bus was often late, Allen had to leave work early and be there just in case; if he missed the bus, he worried that he might be reported to Child Protective Services.

Allen, who is Black, is tall and wears a baseball cap slightly cocked to the side and holds a steady, gentle gaze. He is 32 and works for a city agency as a mentor for young fathers in the foster-care system. He told me that he spent time in the foster-care system as a child and served time as a minor for selling drugs. He got his high school equivalency diploma while incarcerated on Rikers Island, and some years after he was released, London was born. She lived with her mother, but when she turned 2, Allen said, her mother told him she could no longer take care of her. Allen, who had been living on Long Island, didn't have a suitable apartment for London to move into. He entered the New York City shelter system, he said, and the city later placed him in an apartment in the Bronx and paid the moving costs. Allen leaned into parenting London; he fusses over her, worrying that she looks messy if he can't take her to his aunt's to get her hair braided, and he special-ordered a "Little Mermaid" birthday cake she wanted.

That Thursday, hours passed, and still no bus arrived. Allen went back to his shelter room for a while, where he could watch for the bus through the window. At 6 p.m., London's bus finally pulled up. Allen said to the driver, "Man, does this look like 3:30?" The driver shrugged. "I forgot two kids," he said. "I had to go back."

Allen climbed the steps. London, who had now been riding on the yellow school bus long enough to have gotten halfway across Delaware, made no move to get off. She sat on the brown vinyl-covered bench, stupefied, the contents of her bag scattered through the bus. "Aw, your stuff is everywhere," Allen said as he scooped up her pink flowered coat and an I Can Read book and put them into her Inside Out backpack.

Allen took London's hand as they walked down the street. She looked completely zoned out. Halfway down the block, she bit her father's arm through his leather coat sleeve, and something about the contact and his reaction seemed to help her reoccupy her body. She started debriefing him about her day. "My teacher said I am a reader!" she said, adding that she was given a new Disney book.

Ever since they had been transferred to this South Brooklyn shelter, the bus ride often took this long, Allen told me. For the first few weeks, London would sometimes wet her pants on the bus or sprint down the street to try to make it to the bathroom, he said.

Allen and London became homeless after they were evicted from the Bronx apartment in the summer of 2017, where they had been living for two years with two cats, one of whom was named Percy for the "Thomas the Tank Engine" series. London had gone to prekindergarten at a nearby school, where a teacher suggested that she might apply for a gifted program. London had been notably ahead of her peers for a while, Allen said. At age 2, she knew all her colors, senses and numbers and spoke in full nontoddler sentences. "Other kids in her preschool were barely talking," Allen remembered proudly.

But Allen could not keep up with the rent on his salary. "I couldn't buy her clothes, shoes, food and also cover it," he said of the rent grimly. When they were evicted, they were placed at the shelter in Queens, and Allen enrolled London in kindergarten at the zoned school up the block from the shelter.

One day at the Queens shelter, Allen told me, he left London alone in their room and walked to the room next door to speak to someone. London wandered out into the hall, and Allen said a shelter staff member reported him to Child Protective Services for negligence. London was placed in foster care for 90 days while he attended mandated parenting classes. During that time, Allen went to a shelter for single men in Brooklyn, and London's foster family enrolled her in a different school in Queens that was close to their house.

After three months, when the two were reunited, they were placed in a family shelter in Brooklyn. London had to take a 90-minute school-bus ride to and from her school in Queens each day, but it was workable.

Then, during first grade in December 2018, the city announced that the family shelter in Brooklyn where Allen and London lived would be converted into a men's shelter, so they were transferred to a shelter even farther from London's school. The commute would take an hour to drive, but it is 2½ hours by mass transit on a good day, and the city did not immediately provide school-bus service. London missed two weeks of first grade waiting for the school bus to show up at her new shelter. When it finally did, it was a disaster.

Although Allen woke London at 5 a.m. so the school bus could take her to Queens, it often dropped her off at school an hour late, and she would miss her first period. Her teacher sent home the lessons London missed for Allen to review with her. But the bus ride home was even worse, often taking three hours. By the time she got home, did homework, ate dinner and showered, the work from first period was not getting done. "It's piled so high," Allen told me that Thursday in the spring of 2019. "I don't know when we will do it."

Allen was then faced with the choice that nearly every homeless family I'd met agonized over: whether to continue to unpredictably uproot their children from school every time they moved or endure the brutal commute. "I like the teacher, I like the principal, I like the school," he told me. "I didn't want to keep switching her. I like that she has all these friends."

Allen understood the dangers of switching schools. "Every time she changes schools, she loses time - the teachers don't know her, she doesn't know them and she falls more and more behind," he said. She started kindergarten ahead of grade level, he added, "and I just got a letter that this year she may be held back."

Allen's experience is borne out by most research about midyear transfers, which shows that these changes usually cause academic setbacks for children. There was a school down the street from his Brooklyn shelter. "But what if I start her there and we get transferred again?" Allen asked, pained. "She makes friends, leaves them, makes friends, leaves them. It's not good. I don't want her to be a loner."

Before the start of second grade in September 2019, Allen knew he couldn't sustain the lost hours of work and London's missed first periods any longer, so he did enroll her in the school down the block from their Brooklyn shelter. Then, in December, he got off the waiting list for public housing, and he and London moved to a building in Harlem. He used the furniture allowance he was given to take London to her Brooklyn school in cabs for weeks, until the bus came to Harlem. He managed to buy London a nice bed, but he sleeps on a mattress pad on the floor and the apartment is mostly unfurnished.

For two weeks after the schools closed down in March because of the coronavirus, Allen had to report to work in Midtown Manhattan. He hired a babysitter to stay home with London and fell behind on rent. Starting in April, Allen was able to work from home on a computer while London tried to do assignments on the iPad she received through the Department of Education. London had only one live online class a week on Friday. The rest of the time, a feed on Google Classroom would bring up new assignments. Allen tried to get London to write them out in a notebook. At first, she would work until noon, but as time went on, she became less and less engaged with the new assignments. "It seems like she can't even read anymore," Allen told me in May. "It's really bad. She's moving backward. I've seen her watch YouTube 24 hours a day. I have to find a way to get her back on track."

Nearly 40 years after the city was first caught off guard by the influx of homeless families, the system for placing them is still unpredictable and haphazard. A family may be placed in one of the new Turning the Tide facilities with better resources. More likely, though, they will be sent somewhere like Crystal's Place or Baychester, a former motel that is across the street from a live poultry market in the Bronx and looks as though it were pilfered from the set of "The Munsters." Families can be placed in cluster housing. And they are also sent to commercial hotels, where they live, at great expense to the city, often without a kitchen, far from amenities most families need, trying not to advertise their presence to the paying guests. Of course, plenty of guests figure it out; in a review of the Skyline Hotel, a midrange hotel on 10th Avenue in Manhattan, one traveler complained on TripAdvisor about "men in the lift with reheated microwave meals" and noted "children coming back to the hotel in uniforms."

The Department of Homeless Services has paid as much as $549 a night to rent hotel rooms and has also housed families at hotels that were being used for sex work and were troubled by violence. In 2018, the city's Department of Investigation published a report showing that from January to August of the previous year, 59 prostitution-related arrests and 34 assault-related arrests had been made at 34 of the city's 57 commercial hotels housing homeless families with children.

One night outside the PATH intake center in the Bronx in April 2019, I met a mother, Elizabeth, pushing a double stroller with two babies and trying to reassure her sixth grader, who attended a charter school in the Bronx, that their placement in a hotel in Flushing, Queens, would be fine. "It won't be as bad as Rockaway was," she said to him reassuringly as he stomped his foot, upset. When she turned away from her son, the gentleness dropped from her voice, and she burned with frustration and panic, describing the impossible logistics of this placement. She began to cry and told me that she couldn't get upset in front of her son; we would have to talk later.

Elizabeth texted me the number of her room at the Prince Flushing Hotel, a small, boxy new building on a block with Chinese restaurants. As the Department of Homeless Services van transported her and her children to the hotel, I took a car to meet her. When I arrived, I told the desk clerk that I wanted to visit Room 505. He looked bewildered. "Uh, the fifth floor is not part of the hotel," he said, although of course the fifth floor was part of the hotel, stacked right on top of the third and fourth floors. He was adamant that no visitors could go to the fifth floor. He said the hotel was sold out that night, so I booked a room for the next night on Booking.com. The next day, I checked into my room on the second floor and rode the elevator to the fifth floor in the hopes of talking to Elizabeth. But by then, she had decided to move back in with relatives in an apartment closer to her children's school and child care.

I stayed at the hotel anyway. In the elevator, I chatted with a tourist toting her pink, flowered N.Y.C. souvenir backpack. At the breakfast area for guests, I got a cup of coffee next to a hotel guest on his laptop and then walked maybe 30 feet down the hallway, where the Department of Homeless Services quietly admitted homeless families and handed out meals that could be microwaved in rooms, away from the guests.

I identified myself as a reporter and asked if I could speak with someone. The social-service worker looked flummoxed. Journalists are generally not allowed in department shelters or the PATH center. She phoned someone who seemed to oversee the area's hotels. A few minutes later, that person charged in, reprimanded me for trespassing and demanded that I leave the property. I explained that I had paid for a room in the hotel, and then no one knew what to do.

P.S. 401, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, is the zoned school for two large homeless shelters, which house over 400 families. The backs of the shelters face a rail line. Nearby is a scrap-metal facility and a recycling center piled with mountains of bags filled with plastic bottles. Of the 338 students who attended P.S. 401 during the 2018-19 school year, 104 lived in temporary housing. Eighty-nine were in homeless shelters, and 15 were doubled up. In one kindergarten class, three-quarters of the students were homeless. More than half of P.S. 401's students were chronically absent.

Homeless students attend all but a dozen of New York City's 1,600 noncharter public schools, but they are much more highly concentrated in schools in high-poverty areas like Brownsville; according to Advocates for Children of New York, during the 2018-19 school year, there were three other city districts where at least one in five students were homeless. Schools have traditionally been organized around place, parish, zone. Now that roughly one-tenth of city students are untethered to a place, in the last few years the de Blasio administration and the Department of Education, under Chancellor Richard Carranza, have made efforts to focus on homeless students. The department formally placed responsibility for students in temporary housing with two upper-level officials: Chris Caruso, senior executive director of the Office of Community Schools, which helps underserved students and tries to improve attendance, and LaShawn Robinson, the deputy chancellor for school climate and wellness. They have increased the number of regional managers and community coordinators to help homeless students, and over the past year, they have spent $15 million to, among other things, hire more than 100 "Bridging the Gap" social workers to aid the unstably housed student population.

At P.S. 401, Shondelle Wilson, a social worker, was appointed to care for the unstably housed children, and Reginald LeRouge was brought on to coordinate efforts for students in temporary housing. I visited the school twice in June 2019. When I first met Wilson, she told me: "These children have so much weight on them. Children understand. We don't give them credit for how well they know their circumstances."

Every morning, Wilson, LeRouge and the principal, Deon Mitchell, began their day in the cinder-block cafeteria with yellow painted radiators, where many of the children ate the free breakfast provided by the city. They assessed how the children were - who was too tired or too stressed to go directly into the classroom - and set the tone for the day. During breakfast, they oriented the children about what day and month it was, because they said children who switch schools a lot and miss days sometimes lose the narrative thread.

One morning I joined the team before breakfast began. The children were coming back after a one-day holiday. Wilson wore a belted dress and flat sandals, and her hair was arranged in a regal swirl atop her head. She took a deep breath before she entered the auditorium, where children who arrive early, before breakfast is served, wait. A second grader whose hair was threaded with beads sidled up to her. "This is my beauty," Wilson told me. The girl smiled delightedly. "Are you looking for a hug?" Wilson asked. The girl nodded yes. Wilson squeezed her to her side and told her she would check in when she had breakfast.

Wilson then entered the cafeteria, where workers were handing out pancakes, cereal and previously frozen omelets in perfect semicircles. She tried to make contact with each of the unstably housed children at breakfast, except for the kindergartners, whom she connects with at lunch. They were bobbing and squirming at their table, all chipmunk cheeks, glitter headbands and braids. She waved to them. "That's my kindergarten class," she told me. "Some of those kids are so smart," she added proudly and a little wistfully.

Wilson approached two boys with their heads lying on their crossed arms, not eating breakfast. "Good morning, brothers. You had a day off. Did you do anything?" One brother shook his head no. "Are you tired today?" They nodded. "Come, walk with Ms. Wilson. We are going to get some water to splash on your face, and we are going to have a great day today."

Wilson returned to the second grader with the beads in her hair and sat next to her. "Good morning. How was your day off?"

"I did a lot of things. My mom made me lunch, and I had strawberries on Oreo ice cream, and I played with slime."

She paused and added, "I was excited to come back today so I can have a new start with what we talked about."

"Oooooh," Wilson beamed. Then she asked, "What did we talk about?"

"The relaxation response for when I get anxious and upset," the girl said solemnly.

The second grader transferred to P.S. 401 in October 2018, before Wilson started working there, and for a while she was known only as a very smart, very competitive student who got high grades. Then one day in November, she got into a disagreement with a student in her class. The teacher asked her to step outside to defuse the situation and told her that she would come out and speak to her in a moment.

Out in the hallway, the girl let out a piercing scream and pulled a bulletin board down with a huge crash. She ran through the halls, yelling, throwing things and tearing down bulletin boards. Security guards intervened. It took Mitchell, the principal, a full half-hour to calm her down. Mitchell said she had to take off her high heels and was sweating from the physical effort of it.

Wilson and Mitchell didn't know under what circumstances the girl moved to one of the nearby shelters, and they didn't know much about where she was before. Wilson told me: "What I do know is she doesn't like to feel a sense of loss and can't handle disappointment. And I know that as soon as she de-escalates from her anger, she apologizes and asks: 'Are you still proud of me? Do you still love me?' and wants to be held."

Earlier that week, the girl was playing musical chairs in the gym. When the music stopped and she lost her chair, she got angry and started screaming and hyperventilating. But she was able to use some breathing techniques that Wilson had taught her and calmed down within minutes. "The whole episode was very short," Mitchell said. "It was a massive improvement from the fall, when it took all hands in the building to manage her."

The girl had told Wilson that she prays at night that Wilson will remain at P.S. 401. That morning in the cafeteria, she looked at me, following Wilson and holding my notepad, and then back at Wilson. She asked Wilson in a panicked tone, "Are you leaving?!" She thought I might be training to take over Wilson's job. The girl was also the only child in the school who remembered Mitchell's birthday - she gave her a Little Debbie Honey Bun and a $1 bill.

When most of the students had finished breakfast, Mitchell headed to the front of the cafeteria with an air of gravitas. She reminded the children: "We are in the homestretch of the year. Let's end strong. We are at the finish line. It's been a while since we sent a strong, loud message to everyone in Brownsville: Everyone needs to wake up to what we are!"

A group of older girls started pounding on hand drums, and the cafeteria came to life chanting: "We are 401! Our school is on the rise, working hard to win the race! No time for nonsense! No time to waste!"

Mitchell implored the students to repeat after her: "Say: 'I am great! Nothing can stop me from my greatness!'" The girl with the beaded hair screamed back at the top of her lungs, eyes shining happily.

After breakfast, Reginald LeRouge, the coordinator, went upstairs to a room where he reviews attendance records for the day. The office was filled with boxes of phonics books, and an old lavender-color rotary phone hung on one wall. LeRouge was wearing a red polo, khakis and boat shoes. He made his first call to a family at one of the shelters down the street and offered to walk down the block and take the child to school if the parent could meet him halfway. "You can still make it - we can change attendance before 11," he said hopefully.

Around 10 a.m., a school aide brought in a boy who looked to be about 9 or 10, with messy hair, who had arrived at school late and then acted out in class. "What can we do better?" LeRouge asked. "You were not only late today; you also got yourself kicked out of class two times."

While the boy was there, LeRouge tried to follow up on his nearly two dozen absences. LeRouge had previously gone to the Brooklyn shelter that was listed as the boy's home address to speak with his parents, only to find that the family had been moved to a shelter in the Bronx.

"Why weren't you here Monday?" he asked the boy, who looked at him blankly. "What happened the day before yesterday?" LeRouge asked again. "I had to go with my uncle to get eye surgery," he said. "Your sister was not here either," LeRouge said. "Yeah, she helped him walk because he couldn't see with his eye."

"Attendance is really important," LeRouge said. "You have to be here every day. Did the surgery take all day?"

"No, it took 15 minutes," he replied. "But I couldn't come to school after because the doctor was all the way in the Bronx."

"Even if you want to help a special person in your life, you can come to school after, OK?" LeRouge told him.

After LeRouge entered the day's attendance data, he did a circuit through the halls, checking in with students who had missed school recently.

Children in the hallway also came to him looking for a hug, just as they did with Wilson; he tried to redirect them to fist bumps. "Acknowledgment is huge in this school, huge," he told me.

LeRouge peeked in on the kindergarten class where three-quarters of the students were homeless and found a girl sitting apart from her classmates looking morose. He asked her to come out to the hallway, crouched down and addressed her gently. "I came to see how you are doing," he said. "You weren't here on Monday. Do you know why you weren't here?" The girl rubbed her eyes and shook her head no. "Are you OK?" LeRouge asked. She shook her head no. "Did you eat today?" The girl looked blankly at him. "OK," LeRouge said uncertainly. "I'll be back in a little to check in with you." He sent her back to her classroom.

His next stop was to follow up with a fifth-grade boy, a twin who had lived in one of the local family shelters for five years, to find out why he most recently missed school. LeRouge tried to keep it light. The boy was a Stephen Curry fan, and LeRouge had bought a Curry jersey, which he kept in his office. He had told the boy that if he came to school for one full week at any point that year - five consecutive days - he would give the jersey to him. But so far, the boy had not been able to earn the jersey. LeRouge told the boy: "I want this jersey out of my office before the year ends. I'm not a Golden State fan!"

P.S. 401 shares a building with a K-8 charter school, Leadership Prep Ocean Hill, which has higher test scores than P.S. 401. It also has far fewer homeless students enrolled, despite its identical proximity to the shelters. About one in 10 students at Ocean Hill are homeless, compared with more than one in four at P.S. 401. Mitchell told me that sometimes P.S. 401's more stable families transfer their children upstairs, where they are better shielded from the challenges that the very poorest and most transient students bring.

Mitchell, whom I had mostly seen imploring children to chant that nothing can stop them, suddenly seemed weary. Speaking of the kindergarten class in which three-quarters of the students were unstably housed, she said: "We've been working so hard to prepare them for the first grade, and I would love to keep them. Will I have them in September? No. I will have a totally new crop of children. We have no ability to transfer what we are working so hard to do, because we are starting over every year with a completely new group of students."

When the pandemic closed schools, Mitchell went to the two shelters that are zoned for P.S. 401 and run by Win to hand out gift cards for groceries. At first, that second-grade girl didn't show up online, and Mitchell worked with shelter employees to help her get connected. The challenges of "at home" learning for the city's many children without a home have worried advocates for homeless children since March, when they unsuccessfully campaigned to get access for all homeless students to regional enrichment centers set up by the city for children of essential workers.

A national survey of 600 public-school teachers conducted in May by Educators for Excellence about the effects of school shutdowns on their students found that only 21 percent of teachers said homeless students' needs were often met. The New York City Department of Education has not released information about engagement in online learning for students in temporary housing. In May, I spoke to Chris Caruso, the Office of Community Schools senior executive director, and he would tell me only that the average rate of interaction for all students in the city was 88 percent (a number the Department of Education later updated to 86 percent), which can mean just a single interaction each day. "We have a caring adult checking in with students who are living in homeless shelters," he said, "connecting with these students around access to technology."

Christine Quinn, Win's president, said her shelters set up informal centers where children of essential workers could do their remote learning while their parents worked. Over all, she said, the city's approach to homeless students during the pandemic has been "nothing but broken promises." She noted that this summer, when many struggling students were to be enrolled in summer school and when schools that serve children with severe disabilities have a six-week session, Department of Education iPads could not access the internet; a new login was required. "There was no coordination with D.H.S.," she said, "so none of us knew this was happening. The staff was trying to figure out how to get students back online. The D.O.E. said, 'We forgot to notify people about this change.' They've been nothing but Keystone Kops as it relates to homeless kids doing virtual learning."

The challenges that homeless students face with remote learning are one reason de Blasio has advocated a partial reopening of schools. He said in a statement forwarded by a Department of Education spokeswoman: "These kids were top of my mind the entire time our city was debating school reopening. We had to do it for them." He continued: "We can't operate out of a place of fear when it could mean everything for a child who has little to nothing. That's the reality. We owe it to them to do better."

In August, roughly 30 organizations that work with homeless children and families wrote a letter urging de Blasio to offer in-person instruction to homeless children or give them access to a space where they can get support with remote learning, as well as provide transportation. The letter noted that shelter rules prohibit leaving even older children in shelters during the day while parents work and that more than half of families are placed in a shelter in a different borough from their youngest child's school.

At the end of August, Randi Levine, the policy director of Advocates for Children of New York, expressed disbelief about the lack of planning for homeless students. "It's shocking how little is in place for students in shelter," she wrote in an email. "Many are starting the school year with no internet for remote learning, no bus to get to school and no child care for days when their parents are working. At a time when the city should be doing everything possible to support students in shelter, it is instead letting them fall even further behind."

When my own son started kindergarten four years ago at our Brooklyn neighborhood public school, a solid city building where vines creep around the recess-yard fence, it was a big beginning, a step into the wider world. He became a citizen of the city, shepherded by its crossing guards, fed its lunches, schooled in its many celebrations - the Chinese New Year, Easter and Eid. He learned to pledge allegiance to our country, and four times a year he was drilled in surviving a national sickness - school shooters.

And he reported that he had made a best friend, J, a boy with bright eyes and a calm, easygoing demeanor who was, his teachers told us, "incredibly sweet." J was repeating kindergarten because he had completed his first try while still struggling to read, and so he had a few adult teeth poking bunny-style out of his smile. My son, by contrast, was one of the youngest students in the class, an early reader, with what the parenting euphemizers call a "spirited" temperament. Sometimes when he played with children who had similar dispositions, it got volatile - hands slammed under blocks, bitter tears over losing - but with J he found balance.

The two took care of each other. If my son got a better prize from a red supermarket machine, he would gladly give it to J. When I went with the boys and some friends to Legoland, my son came charging off a play structure, red in the face and crying, looking for me. J intercepted him, put an arm on each of his shoulders as if to steady him and spoke a few words. Then they ran off together.

J lived with his 8-year-old sister and his mother, Mae (Mae asked that I use her middle name and her son's first initial to protect their privacy), on the top floor of a modest house opposite a cemetery where some of J's great-grandparents are buried; his family is Hispanic and Italian. J's mother moved into the small apartment after J's father left her when J was 2. The elderly woman who owned the building gave her the apartment rent-free in exchange for helping out with chores.

Mae had dyslexia and crippling anxiety, which made it hard for her to take mass transit. But she was going to counseling and was also enrolled in a job-training program. She got by on food stamps and public assistance and made her life work, cooking cornbread on a hot plate because her apartment's ancient stove didn't work. She had raised five older children, who were in community college or working jobs around Brooklyn, and they helped out with J and his sister when they could. One of her older daughter's boyfriends took J to get haircuts in Sunset Park; that daughter got the children winter coats. Mae had spent the previous year going through the arduous process of getting her daughter, who is also dyslexic, placed in a private school for children with learning disabilities, where she was now thriving. And in his second run of kindergarten, J was getting a lot of extra help and was reading well. He was a popular kid, generous and kind and self-possessed.

J's family's apartment faced a street that trucks rumble loudly through at all hours. It was not a desirable place to live as recently as 10 years ago, but as gentrification galloped through Brooklyn, it devoured that corner as well. New owners moved into a house down the block from J's a few years ago, painting the exterior a shade of charcoal. Mae said that developers then offered to buy her landlady's building.

Mae received a notice of eviction before J's first-grade year. She qualified for a housing voucher for $1,515. She went through lists of landlords who supposedly accepted the vouchers and found numbers not in service and dead ends at every turn.

Mae worked with the office of a city councilman and a public-interest lawyer to get a stay on her eviction to continue apartment hunting. She applied for affordable housing, which is awarded through a lottery, but she was not chosen. She organized folders of documentation and paperwork so she could jump on any opportunity that came along. She stayed up nights crying and had to leave her job-training program because dealing with her housing situation was a full-time job.

Eventually, Mae began moving things in plaid plastic zippered bags to the basement of one of her older children's jobs. She called a local shelter every day for two weeks to see if she could be placed near her children's schools, but she says no one ever picked up the phone or returned her calls.

J cried when he had to give up his little gray dog because pets are not allowed in homeless shelters. He cried when his PlayStation and train table got packed up. At school pickup, he showed me toys he made out of paper and school supplies to take home to play with in his now-empty room.

On the day Mae was told the marshals would come and give her the final eviction notice, she kept the children home from school so they could go straight to the PATH intake center with the final notice.

Mae had J stay with a relative to avoid witnessing the formal eviction, but her daughter was too anxious to be away from her mother, so she stayed in the apartment waiting, whistling at birds from her bedroom window, a favorite stuffed animal zipped into the front of her hoodie to take with her to PATH.

Although Mae had submitted medical documentation that she suffers from panic attacks on mass transit, the family was placed in conditional housing in a shelter in the Bronx, more than an hour by subway from both children's schools. She would not be able to attend therapy, which was also back in Brooklyn. And Mae says she was told that the conditional status could take 10 days or more, which she had not anticipated, and that during that time, the Department of Education would not provide a school bus.

Ten days came and went. Mae said her daughter spent the first few days taking pictures of baby rats on glue traps in their living space in the shelter, marveling at their long snouts and tails. Then her school figured out a way to get a bus to the Bronx; the ride took 2½ hours each way. But the Department of Education could not get a bus to take J back to our sons' school until the family had an official shelter placement, so after two weeks without school, Mae reluctantly enrolled him in the local public school. She went to a store to get curtains to make the shelter living space more like a home.

When J's sister got sick with strep throat, Mae discovered that her thermometer was packed in one of those plaid bags in Brooklyn. Her pediatrician was in Brooklyn too, so they went to the emergency room. The city called to say that it had found a potential apartment for the family, but Mae could not take her daughter to view the apartment - she was vomiting violently at this point - and shelter rules prevented Mae from bringing anyone into the shelter to watch her; the family lost that opportunity. At one point, after a fire alarm went off in the shelter and sent them out into the winter night unexpectedly, J began sleeping in his clothes.

Ultimately, through her own connections, Mae found a tiny apartment on Staten Island where the landlord was willing to accept her voucher. J cried when he learned he would be switching schools again, and not coming back to our school. He fell far behind academically. The Staten Island apartment turned out to have black mold, Mae said, so the family moved again to another place in the borough, where a relative agreed to accept her voucher. J went to a new school again.

In August, Mae called me from their current home on Staten Island. It was a nice neighborhood, she said, but hard for her to navigate. Many of the children went to private Catholic school, and there was no laundromat or store she could walk to. She wasn't socializing in the new neighborhood and was panicking more.

She still talked longingly about moving back to the neighborhood where she had many relatives within 10 minutes, where she had grown up, and she talked about having J come back to our school.

School was supposed to start in two weeks, but she hadn't heard much. Bus service hadn't been set up, and if there wasn't a bus, she had no way to get J to school. Remote learning had not gone well. J had no live teaching, and his speech therapist had sent Mae cards to print out. She didn't have a printer, and her dyslexia made it hard to read many of the instructions that came with the assignments.

We talked about trying to get the boys together, as we often did, and I felt a familiar pit of grief and guilt in my stomach. From my son's perspective, on a random school day, his best friend vanished from school without notice or explanation. The day before, J had apparently told a few children he was moving to California. At the time, I wanted to protect J's face-saving story and actually didn't know what to tell my son about where his friend had gone. I didn't prepare him to lose his best friend, because neither Mae nor I understood what the process would entail or how long it would take. I didn't know J wouldn't be allowed to have visitors at the shelter or spend a night at our house because of curfew. My son missed J terribly for quite some time. He made other friends, but he never found a new best friend.

School was an exposure to the wider world of our city in unanticipated ways; to the truth that there was no place for a family that had lived in our neighborhood for generations amid the new, understated charcoal-gray houses, and that more broadly, the enormous wealth of the city would not insulate its vulnerable citizens but rather accelerate their destabilization, and that the adults involved, myself included, were seemingly powerless to help children no different from our own.

Samantha M. Shapiro is a contributing writer for the magazine, for which she has written about Egyptian Facebook groups, a home-birth commune in Tennessee and child preachers in Brazil. Her work has also appeared in Foreign Policy, ESPN the Magazine and Wired.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Children in the Shadows: New York City's Homeless Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When schools in New York City abruptly closed in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, Prince, a bright, chatty 9-year-old bursting with kinetic energy, found himself at home plodding through the Google Classroom app on his mother's phone. The limbo that came with the shutdown was not a new experience for him.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
NYC Housing Affordability And Homelessness Crises Exacerbated By Covid-19

May 19, 2020

Long before the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, many New Yorkers faced severe rent burden, overcrowded living conditions, unstable employment opportunities, and other immense challenges to their housing security. For years, rising rents outpaced wage growth, and now an estimated 475,000 New Yorkers may lose their jobs over the coming year, which will exacerbate housing instability in New York City.

Working with its partners in the Family Homelessness Coalition (FHC), CCC is focused on advancing policy priorities to prevent homelessness, improve conditions in homeless shelters, and expand access to affordable housing. These priorities are even more critical today as we move towards a citywide recovery plan. Below, CCC highlights existing data that point to the alarming and disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has on communities that were already grappling with housing instability

Disparate Impacts Of COVID-19 On Communities Of Color

Tragically, data from the NYC Department of Health show that many NYC communities reporting higher numbers of positive COVID-19 cases are also those which have been in need of greater investments to address housing insecurity long before the current crisis. Residents in many of these hardest hit communities are predominantly Black and Latino, and to address housing insecurity in NYC requires that we confront racism and discrimination.

Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city had released Where We Live NYC, a draft plan detailing goals, strategies, and actions the City of New York will undertake to advance fair housing over the next five years. The process to develop the plan included efforts to better understand how challenges like segregation and discrimination impact New Yorker's everyday lives. CCC provided public comment on the draft plan, which focused on ensuring families with children in shelter, and those at risk of homelessness, are at the forefront of the City's efforts. These families are two-thirds of the shelter population, and disproportionally Black and Latino.

THREE KEY INDICATORS OF HOUSING INSECURITY TO MONITOR

The crisis has put a spotlight on the conditions that we have known compromise the well-being of children and families. In CCC's recent report, Child and Family Well-being in NYC, we examine the combination of 18 indicators across six domains of well-being: economic security, housing, health, education, youth, and family and community. The Housing Domain comprises three key indicators measuring housing security at the community-level:

1. Families with Children in Homeless Shelters, which identifies the population adjusted rates for each community district where families lived prior to shelter

2. Rental Overcrowding, which identifies the share of households in each community district where there is more than one person per room living in rental housing units

3. Severe Rent Burden, which identifies the share of households in each community district spending more than half of their monthly income on rent

As shown in the map below for the Housing Domain of CCC's Child and Family Well-being Index, risks to the housing security of NYC families are greatest in several Bronx communities, as well as Borough Park, Brooklyn. Each of these are ranked in the Highest Risk category (red). Risks to housing security are also higher in East New York and Brownsville in Brooklyn, as well as Elmhurst/ Corona, Jackson Heights, and Jamaica in Queens, and the North Shore of Staten Island. These communities are ranked in either the Moderate High Risk (orange) or Moderate Risk (yellow) categories in the index based on the three indicators of rate of family homelessness, rental overcrowding, and severe rent burden in these districts. Several of these districts are also communities with high numbers of positive COVID-19 cases.

Families With Children In Shelter

Several communities with the highest rates of families in shelter, specifically, are also those with higher shares of COVID 19 cases, including East Tremont in the Bronx and East New York in Brooklyn.

RE-ENTRIES AMONG FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN INTO DHS SHELTER, BY EXIT WITH/WITHOUT SUBSIDIES

While re-entries to shelter among families with children have declined in recent years, more than one in five families with children who exit homeless shelters without a housing subsidy return to shelter within 12 months.

Overcrowded Housing Conditions

Overcrowded housing conditions also increase risk of exposure to the virus, and several communities where high rates of positive COVID-19 cases occur also have higher rates of overcrowded rental housing. This is particularly true in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst/Corona in Queens, as well as Borough Park in Brooklyn.

More distressing is when looking at households with children, the overcrowding rates in these communities is much higher. About half of households with children are overcrowded in multiple communities.

Overcrowded Rental Housing by Household Type, 2018

Severe Rent Burden

In addition to the risks around overcrowded rental housing, the burden of housing affordability is also prevalent in several hard-hit communities, such as East Tremont in the Bronx and Borough Park in Brooklyn. More than one in three households in these areas pay more than half their income towards rent.

The housing affordability crisis has been a topic of policy advocacy for the decade since the Great Recession in 2008 when the trends in median rent and median household income became to shift significantly. Relative to 2005, changes in household income dipped in years after the recession and only more recently began to increase. Meanwhile, median rents grew steadily.

CHANGES IN MEDIAN RENT AND HOUSEHOLD INCOME

The results of this trend are an increase in the share of households that are rent burdened. Low income households are much more likely to be severely rent burdened, meaning any loss of income for these households as a result of the economic fallout related to the COVID-19 pandemic puts them on the precipice of homelessness

SEVERE RENT BURDEN BY HOUSEHOLD INCOME LEVEL, 2018

Housing Support Services - Home Base And Free Legal Services

Housing support services, such as Homebase-NYC's homelessness prevention program-support households experiencing housing instability. During the current crisis, all Homebase locations are closed and services are available by phone to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The same is true for HRA locations offering free legal services, which includes the Universal Access to Council program detailed below.

Even with a moratorium on evictions in place until August 2020, phone consultations these programs provide are critical to address the variety of challenges related to housing families may continue to face over the coming months. The physical location of Homebase and HRA Free Legal services locations may be less important now, but we see from the map below that these locations were not present in multiple areas of the city where indicators of housing insecurity are high. These include but are not limited to Jackson Heights and Elmhurst/Corona in Queens, and Borough Park in Brooklyn. This example from the data spotlights how investment in housing support services was already needed prior to the current crisis.

HOUSING SUPPORT SERVICES

Policy Considerations

On March 20, 2020 the State of New York put a 90-day eviction moratorium in place, protecting housing for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. On May 7th, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo extended the moratorium on evictions to August 20th, 2020. Without the continuation of such protections, access to legal counsel to combat unlawful evictions will be critical, such as the Universal Access to Council program. The program provides low-income residents in targeted zip codes of the city legal representation in housing court, with plans to expand the program to all ZIP Codes in the future. Even prior to the current crisis, many advocates lauded the program and how it inspired similar efforts in other parts of the country. However, funding for the Universal Access to Council program has been cut in the City's Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2021. The program will be more important than ever when the moratorium on evictions is lifted. The potential surge in homelessness created by the economic fallout of the pandemic requires that the state and city place greater importance on upstream homelessness prevention programs and housing supports to both prevent shelter entry and expedite exits out of shelter and into permanent housing.

As a co-lead convener of The Family Homelessness Coalition (FHC), CCC continues to elevate family homelessness to advance policy reforms. The data illustrated above point to the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 is having on NYC communities of color that were already enduring housing instability. To prevent a surge in family homelessness in the aftermath of this pandemic, policy solutions aimed at investing in upstream homelessness prevention; improving family shelter conditions; expediting exits to permanent housing and supporting nonprofits including frontline staff are necessary. With Coalition partners, CCC continues to advance policy priorities to ensure housing security and prevent homelessness post the eviction moratorium. As noted above, households with low income are much more likely to be severely rent burdened, and the alarming numbers of unemployment insurance claims point to the magnitude of income loss across NYC households and potential inability to cover rent payments. To mitigate this increased risk to housing stability, short and long-term rent assistance will be necessary to help families recover.

Additionally, greater investments are needed to expand homelessness prevention particularly in hardest hit communities. Access to preventive services and supports further upstream - before a housing and/or eviction crisis ensues - will be key. FHC has long promoted upstream prevention models that include family supports through service coordination and case management, eviction prevention, and service referrals for childcare, education, and job training and employment. Greater resources are warranted, especially now, for community-based service supports including expanded outreach to connect with households facing the greatest challenges.

Lastly, to expedite placements into permanent for families already experiencing homelessness, efforts to streamline exits out of shelter are necessary including strengthening housing subsidies, expanding access to vouchers through online processing and continued prioritization of homeless families in the City's affordable housing capacity.

Explore Related Content

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NYC Housing Affordability And Homelessness Crises Exacerbated By Covid-19 | CCC New York

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
May 19, 2020 Long before the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, many New Yorkers faced severe rent burden, overcrowded living conditions, unstable employment opportunities, and other immense challenges to their housing security. For years, rising rents outpaced wage growth, and now an estimated 475,000 New Yorkers may lose their jobs over the coming year, which will exacerbate housing instability in New York City.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR - Behavior that deviates in form, frequency, or sequence from a defined standard.

AGGRESSION - Purposeful action with actual or potential result of harming, limiting, intimidating, instilling fear or submission, etc.

ALPHA ANIMAL - The animal that ranks highest in its social group.

ANIMAL WELFARE - A movement that believes a reduced and minimal number of animals should be used in research-and that those animals used should be treated as humanely as possible. This concept includes proper housing, disease prevention, nutrition, and humane euthanasia or slaughter.

ANIMAL RIGHTS - A movement that insists animals have moral rights equal to those of humans and is totally opposed to using animals for biomedical research, sporting events, clothing, entertainment, product testing, and for food.

ANOREXIA - refusal to eat.

ANTHROPOCENTRIC - Placing humans at the center of one's world, as though all other life forms are relatively unimportant or inferior to humans.

ANTHROPOMORPHIC - Attributing to animals the human features and behaviors, thinking that animal needs and wants are the same as human needs and wants.

ANTIBIOTIC - Product produced by living organisms such as yeast and destroys or inhibits the growth of other organisms, especially bacteria.

APATHY - Listless behavior, lack of interest or motivation, loss of initiative; sometimes due to continual frustration.

APHAGIA - Unable to eat, due either to physical or neurological conditions.

ARITIFICIAL INSEMINATION (AI) - Placing semen into the female reproductive tract (usually the cervix or uterus) by means other than natural intromission (also referred to as "service" or "cover").

AUTONOMOUS - A species living or conducting itself completely independent of others: self-determining, subject to its own laws. When applied to the consideration of animals and their relationship to humans - are the animals free from dependence on humans for well-being? If so, they are autonomous.
B
BARROW - A young castrated male pig.

BATTERY CAGES (focus poultry) - Cages for housing of egg-laying chickens. The cages have water sources and feeders. Battery cages usually are placed on top of each other in such a way that there is a roof to prevent excretions from falling on birds below. The number of hens housed in each cage depends on its size and specified guidelines for space allowance.

BEAK TRIMMING - Removal by laser or hot knife of the distal portion (tip) of the beak in chicks. This is done in some operations to reduce injuries from pecking by other birds.
C
CRATE (focus on pigs and calves) - A pen area that allows lying down and standing up but prevents the animal from turning around or leaving the crate. Gestation crates house pregnant sows (female pigs). Farrowing crates house sows near and after giving birth to off-spring (piglets). Veal crates are used to house some young diary calves being raised for the purpose of producing veal.
D
DECLAWING - Surgical removal of claws and last (most distal) bones of the toes of cats but has been used for other animals at times.

DEHORNING - Removal of horns or horn buds of calves and goat kids.

DISCRIMINATION (focus on biomedical research) - Selection of an animal for experimentation, where that animal's responses are applicable and the results of the experiment will apply to the target organism (animal or human).
E
ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT - Adding complexity to the animal's enclosure for the purpose of mental and behavioral stimulation.

ESTRUS - Period of sexual receptivity of females of several species and preparatory for mating activity. Sometimes called "heat."

ETHICS - The study of ultimate values and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.

ETHOLOGY - The study of animal behavior.
F
FARROWING - The process of giving birth (parturition) in swine.

FETICIDE - Male harassment of pregnant females carrying the fetus of another male, apparently to cause abortion. Has been observed in wild or feral horses.

FIGHT/FLIGHT DISTANCE - Distance at which an organism will have a response (normally behavioral) upon the approach of another organism or object.
G
GENE PHARMING - The use of transgenic animals (and sometimes plants) to produce medicines or other pharmaceutical products.

GENETIC ENGINEERING Changing the characteristics of an animal by altering or rearranging its DNA. It is an all-encompassing term for several techniques: (1) manipulations at a cellular level (cloning); (2) manipulation of the DNA itself (gene manipulation); (3) changing the DNA sequence through the selection and mating of animals.

GENOME - Total number of genes in a species.

GESTATION - Time elapsing from conception until birth.
H I
INSTINCTIVE BEHAVIOR - Inborn, unlearned responses, activities, and behaviors.

INFANTICIDE - Killing of young of the same species. An example would be a male bear killing cubs of a female. This will cause the female to come back into reproductive receptivity or estrus. Also seen with feral cats.
J K
KAINISM - Killing siblings.

KOSHER MEAT - Meat from ruminant animals (with split hooves) that have been harvested (slaughtered) according to Jewish law. Islam has similar requirements (Halal).
L
LIBERATION - The concept that animals are not to be put to work in any way, and all use of animals should be eliminated. Animal liberationists have been known to break into research labs and set animals free.
M
MATRIARCH - A predominant female in a social hierarchy.

MOLTING (poultry) - Seasonal shedding feathers of birds.

MORALITY - Internal rules that govern and limit our conduct.

MORBIDTY - Measurement of illness; morbidity rate is the number of individuals in a group that become ill during a specified time period. (# / time = rate).

MORTALITY RATE - Number of individuals that die from a disease during a specified time. (# / time = rate).
N
NEEDLE TEETH (swine) - Temporary tusks and a pair of incisors in the upper and the lower jaws of baby pigs.

NON-AMBULATORY DISABLED CATTLE - [Cattle] "that cannot rise from a recumbent position or cannot walk, including, but not limited to, those with broken appendages, severed tendons or ligaments, nerve paralysis, fractured vertebral column or metabolic conditions."

NUTRIENT - (1) Substance that nourishes the metabolic processes of the body. (2) End product of digestion that is absorbed by the intestinal tract.

NUTRIENT DENSITY - Concentration of energy (calories/gram) or of essential nutrients relative to the number of calories in a given amount of food.
O
OUTDOOR HOUSING - Housing where animals are kept predominantly or continuously outdoors.

OX - A castrated male bovine used for work (draft) or transport activities.
P
PILING (poultry) - Voluntary accumulation of individuals in a small area so that some may be buried under others. Piling is observed in cold temperatures, drafts, or by events inducing fear and escape responses.

PREFERENCE - Choice of a certain alternative over another alternative(s). Often used with animals to test food or housing choices.
Q R
RESTRAINT - Temporary restriction of movement for examination, surgery, medication, and breeding.

ROUGHAGE - Feed that is high in fiber, low in digestible nutrients, and low in energy (e.g., hay, straw, silage, and pasture).
S
SAPIENCE - Awareness of being aware that comes with sentience.

SENTIENCE - Capability of detecting changes in one's personal environment - particularly regarding pain or discomfort. Having a nervous system and capable of responding to stimuli. Sentience is awareness. Sapience is awareness of that awareness.

SPECIESISM - Placing the interest of one chosen species above the interests of another species.

STEREOTYPICAL BEHAVIOR (Stereotypy) - A constant, repeated behavior. Has been attributed to extended social isolation, low environmental complexity, deprivation, etc. Stereotypy also may arise from genetic predispositions, or from disease of, or damage to the brain. Definition from Hurnik et al., 1995. #
T
TAIL BITING (swine) - Mouthing, chewing, or rigorous biting of the tails of other pigs. Tail biting can lead to injury and death.

TIE STALL - Housing option in which the animal is kept in a stall or pen area by a device around the neck, sometimes seen in diary operations, where an animal is retained except when released temporarily for grazing, milking, etc.

TRANSGENIC - An organism or animal whose genome includes "foreign" genetic material. Foreign genetic material would be a DNA sequence or gene that does not normally occur in the species of the host organism or animal.
U
UTILITARIANISM - Philosophy of decision making where the best conduct or viewpoint is the one that best serves the majority. For most animal rights advocates, other animals are equal to humans - all are beings. Thus, the utilitarian aspect brings the most good to the most beings.
V
VEAL - Meat from very young cattle (under 3 months of age). Veal typically comes from dairy bull calves.

VEGETARIAN - Persons who do not eat meat, poultry, and fish. There are several different sub-classifications. Vegetarians who consume dairy products are Laco-vegetarians. Vegetarians that consume dairy and eggs are Lacto-Ovo-vegetarians. There are other classifications. Therefore offering a "vegetarian" meal on a menu may not meet the requirements of all vegetarians (e.g. salad with cheese topping and some salad dressing may contain egg products, many forms of mayonnaise may contain egg products).

VEGAN - Vegans are vegetarians who abstain form eating or using all animal products (e.g. animal derived food, fiber, pharmaceuticals, etc.). As with vegetarians there may different classifications.

VIVISECTION - Act of operating or experimenting on living animals.
W X
XENOTRANSPLANTATION - The transplanting of living cells, tissues, and/or organs from one species to another species. Organs from various species have been transplanted into people - for example, rabbits, pigs, goats, lambs, and non-human primates.
Y Z
ZOONOSIS - Animal disease (bacterial, fungal, parasitic, viral, or prion) transmissible to humans. Examples include tuberculosis and rabies.

ZOOPHOBIA - An excessive fear of animals by humans.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR - Behavior that deviates in form, frequency, or sequence from a defined standard. AGGRESSION - Purposeful action with actual or potential result of harming, limiting, intimidating, instilling fear or submission, etc. ALPHA ANIMAL - The animal that ranks highest in its social group.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How many pets are in the United States? How many animals are in shelters?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Front Street Animal Shelter - City of Sacramento

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Virtual field trip to our animal shelter

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Most of the illustrations on this page were created by me in collaboration with professional educators. These illustrations are FREE to download, share, print and distribute under these Creative Commons License terms:

1. Attribution - Please give credit when sharing online and leave author and artist info on printed copies

2. Noncommercial - Please do not make money with these images. They should be given away for free. No selling, no business/product advertising, no reprinting in books/magazines without checking with me first.

3. No Derivative Works - Please do not modify any of these images. No cropping, no editing, no translations or additional logos without checking with me first.

If you plan to print and distribute multiple copies within your organization, please consider making a Paypal donation.
Any amount (no matter how small) would be gratefully appreciated! THANK YOU! - Lili

If you are a professional dog trainer/behaviorist and are interested in translating the pages that have not yet been translated, please email me and I will send you blank copies.

Some of these images are available to purchase as posters from my ZAZZLE STORE if you are unable to do your own printing.

If you'd like to order in bulk (minimum 10 copies), please email me and I can arrange for more affordable printing options.

​

If you don't see the infographic that you are looking for...

it might have been a commissioned piece for a specific client and may or may not be available for public download.
Visit this page to see these infographics.

"Thank you so much for making your drawings available for people to use. Recently I took several with me to a prison where I volunteer as a behavior consultant to inmates who are learning how to be dog trainers. They loved the illustrations! We were working on body language so we had a lot of fun looking at the illustrations and then working with the dogs and using observation skills."

- Patricia Tirrell, Duke University

﻿

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
DoggieDrawings.net | Free Downloads (Donations welcome)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most of the illustrations on this page were created by me in collaboration with professional educators. These illustrations are FREE to download, share, print and distribute under these Creative Commons License terms: Attribution - Please give credit when sharing online and leave author and artist info on printed copies Noncommercial - Please do not make money with these images.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
DOGS DESPERATELY NEED YOU TO LISTEN

Although most dogs are amazing at dealing with all the crazy stuff a family can throw their way, they still may need your help. Kids can sometimes be scary to dogs because... they're KIDS! By nature, they're just more unpredictable, more uncoordinated and way more likely to get in a dog's face than most adults. So, to keep them safe, it's YOUR job to watch and listen. Dogs use their eyes, ears, mouth, tail and whole bodies to show you how they're feeling.

Dogs will usually communicate using their polite, subtle signs ('whispering') but, if those are ignored, they may resort to growling, snarling or snapping ('shouting').

Check out the video to understand the very FIRST signs dogs show when they are becoming uncomfortable.

PROTECT YOUR DOG - AND YOU'LL BE PROTECTING YOUR KIDS

Now that you know the signs, watch your dog carefully. The goal is to ensure that your dog ALWAYS feels safe around your kids, but at the first sign that they're not - give your dog a break!

If your child is doing something that is stressing your dog, be sure to move them, far enough away, so that your pup can relax again. After all, if no one is there to protect your dog, they're left with no choice but to protect themselves - and no one wants that!

NOW SHOW YOUR KIDS THE VIDEO

Help them understand what dogs are saying and teach them a VERY important skill: WHEN TO STAY AND WHEN TO WALK AWAY. If you keep pointing out your dog's body language clues, showing when it is best to leave your dog alone, over time it will just become second nature to your kids (even without prompting!).

Not only will they understand YOUR dog, but being able to read body language will keep them safer around ALL the OTHER dogs they meet too.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
DOGS DESPERATELY NEED YOU TO LISTEN Although most dogs are amazing at dealing with all the crazy stuff a family can throw their way, they still may need your help. Kids can sometimes be scary to dogs because... they're KIDS!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Help your pets live their happiest, healthiest, fullest lives at home, at the vet, at the groomer, and everywhere in between.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Thirty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act became law, most of the nation's public school districts remain inaccessible to students with disabilities, government investigators say.

A Government Accountability Office report out late last week finds that in 63 percent of public school districts, at least a quarter of facilities aren't physically accessible to those with disabilities. Problems at the schools included steep ramps, inaccessible playgrounds and restrooms and door handles that are difficult to use, among other issues.

Moreover, in 17 percent of districts, there are schools that typically do not serve students with physical disabilities because of the barriers in their buildings.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

In site visits to 55 schools across 16 districts, the most common issues cited by GAO investigators were related to restrooms, interior doorways and classrooms. Barriers existed in all of the schools regardless of the age or condition of the facility, they found, but were most prevalent in buildings that were over 25 years old.

About 70 percent of school districts have plans to improve the accessibility of their facilities in the next three years, the report indicated. That includes everything from large-scale renovations to small upgrades like changing door hardware or signage. Cost issues were frequently cited by school officials as a challenge to ensuring accessibility.

One issue GAO noted is that the U.S. Department of Justice has not issued technical assistance specific to physical accessibility in schools as it has for other settings like stadiums. Investigators recommended that the Justice Department work with the Department of Education to provide this type of guidance.

"Sadly, this GAO report shows that thirty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, its promise has yet to fully be realized," said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., who chairs the House education committee and was one of the lawmakers to request the investigation. "While an estimated 70 percent of districts had renovations planned in the next few years, the devastating impact of COVID-19 on school resources is putting these necessary improvements at risk."

GAO's findings mirror those from a 2015 report from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York which found that 83 percent of elementary schools in New York City were not "fully accessible."

The accessibility of school buildings affects more than students and teachers, GAO noted. The locations are often used for voting, as emergency shelters and for other purposes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Majority Of School Districts Not Accessible For Students With Disabilities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Thirty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act became law, most of the nation's public school districts remain inaccessible to students with disabilities, government investigators say. A Government Accountability Office report out late last week finds that in 63 percent of public school districts, at least a quarter of facilities aren't physically accessible to those with disabilities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Julien Palafax is a 19-year-old student in San Francisco Unified School District's program for students 18-22 with moderate to severe disabilities. In pre-pandemic times, Julien had anxiety about riding the school bus and had difficulty participating in classroom activities. In this interview, he and his teacher Heidi Seretan talk about how things are different now, and how, in some ways, Julien is thriving. Since this interview was done, the program has returned to in-person, but Julien and all his classmates have elected to remain remote.
Report Card is a Mission Local project supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Wallace House, where editor and reporter Sindya Bhanoo is a Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow. The project uses illustration and audio to highlight the unseen hurdles that students in underserved communities are facing. All audio interviews are being done remotely due to COVID-19.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
When Faced with Distance Learning, Julien Thrives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Julien Palafax is a 19-year-old student in San Francisco Unified School District's program for students 18-22 with moderate to severe disabilities. In pre-pandemic times, Julien had anxiety about riding the school bus and had difficulty participating in classroom activities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Is New York City's Subway Actually ADA Accessible?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NYC Students With Disabilities Speaking About Accessible Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A major campaign in Hollywood strives to accurately portray individuals with disabilities in film and television. Image by Scott Catron. United States, 2009.

Although you may not recognize her, Diana Jordan is a film and television actress. Recently Jordan has appeared in several documentaries and independent films, but she hasn't landed a significant role since 2004. Like many who flock to Hollywood, Diana says she's wanted to be an actor ever since she can remember.

"I can't remember ever wanting to do anything else," and when she landed a role on "7th Heaven" in 2004, she says "it was a dream come true." "7th Heaven" was a popular television show following the life of the Camden family, a religious family that faced real-life issues in each episode. Jordan appeared in two episodes as Helen, an African American woman with a disability.

Jordan has cerebral palsy, a disorder which can affect the brain and movement. For Jordan it particularly affects her speech, at times her voice sounds labored because she has to work very hard to articulate. In spite of this disability, Jordan holds an MFA in acting from California and is actively pursuing her dream.

Jordan is part of a recent movement that is sweeping Hollywood to gain more access, inclusion, and accuracy in the casting and representation of individuals with disabilities. Inclusion in the Arts and Media of People with Disabilities (I AM PWD) is a tri-union campaign seeking to address these issues. The campaign began in 2008 to seek equal opportunities for performers with disabilities. According to Adam Moore, the interim national director for Affirmative Action and Diversity at the Screen Actor's Guild, "this wasn't just an issue of actors trying to get jobs, it was an issue of equality."

Members of the I AM PWD campaign insist that the lack of visibility of actors with disabilities on the screen is an issue of unequal opportunities for employment. According to the US Census Bureau's 2010 American Community Survey, 12 percent of the US citizens have a disability. In contrast, according to the Screen Actor's Guild, only 1 percent of scripted roles on television are characters with disabilities. Moore points out that "the film industry is the most visible industry on the planet. If you're not represented [on film], you may as well not exist."

Many actors with disabilities are struggling to get cast in roles that do not highlight their disabilities. In 2011, Jordan went on only five auditions and was cast in three projects. But this new push for equal opportunities for actors with disabilities is causing the industry to reconsider this representation issue.

Gloria Casteñada, director of California's Media Access Office, which acts as an agent for actors with disabilities, states "many actors with disabilities are on a fixed income," potentially limiting their access to transportation to auditions which could turn into roles.

Advocates are also concerned that actors with disabilities are not being sought for roles with disabilities. A perfect example of this appears on "Glee" with the character, Artie. The actor, Kevin McHale, is not physically disabled like his character. This is problematic because "that took away [a role] from a performer with a disability," Casteñada asserts. According to Casteñada, it's a frequent problem "that really bothers us that are working to raise awareness."

Advocates for actors with disabilities insist they are not looking for special attention. Instead, they seek fair opportunities. Jordan sums this up, "A lot of actors with disabilities are not called in for a lot of scripted roles. Sometimes they don't even get the chance to work. I don't ever want to take away from an actor's artistry, but that's an opportunity an actor with a disability didn't get to have." Jordan also feels that an actor with a disability "would bring who he or she is to that role."

In addition, the I AM PWD campaign seeks the opportunity for actors with disabilities to play non-disabled roles. Moore asserts that this is about "expanding the world view." This implies showing disabilities on the screen because it is a part of the real world. With such a huge population of this particular minority in the US, Moore asserts that "disability is diversity" and it needs to be represented on the screen.

In moving towards casting actors with disabilities for non-disabled roles, Moore feels they need to "work from the bottom up." He wants to begin with the people who write casting breakdowns and move up to casting directors. The idea is to make the definition of a role as broad as possible, so that actors with disabilities might be thought of for the role.

In a rare example, Robert David Hall, a double leg amputee plays the role of Dr. Al Robbins on CSI. Advocates tout Hall as an example of an actor with a disability who was also right for the role. Hall got the opportunity to play the role because he was a good actor.

Recently, Jordan has been successful in casting opportunities. She's auditioned for roles where the casting director was not looking for someone with a disability and landed the part. Jordan was just cast in a short film called Miracle Maker. She will be playing a woman who was in a car accident and suffered brain damage, now she's looking for a miracle. The role was originally written for an 80-year-old woman and the director was not looking for an actor with a disability. But when Jordan auditioned "They liked what they saw," she says. They reworked the role so it worked for Jordan, a 40-something, African American woman with a disability.

While Jordan and other actors have experience some success, advocates are still concerned about equal access to employment opportunities. Jordan realizes, "I'm not gonna get cast to play a high schooler and I'm not gonna get cast to play the bikini babe." But she wants people to know her disability "limits how people see me, more than my abilities as an actor." Actors with disabilities are not looking for special treatment they are simply looking for representation and inclusion.

Morgan Barker's Pulitzer Center mentor during the Sharp Seminar was David Rochkind.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Seeing Disability: Individuals with Disabilities Seek Representation on Screen

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Although you may not recognize her, Diana Jordan is a film and television actress. Recently Jordan has appeared in several documentaries and independent films, but she hasn't landed a significant role since 2004. Like many who flock to Hollywood, Diana says she's wanted to be an actor ever since she can remember.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Big Apple. Gotham. Metropolis. The city that never sleeps. The largest city in the United States. New York City is often considered to be the world's city. Tourists fly to NYC from all points around the globe every day. A short stroll through central park will expose you to countless foreign languages. In the span of just five minutes, you could hear French, Dutch, Chinese and Russian, if not more! A trip to New York can be a trip across the globe, even if it is truly only a trip from Pennsylvania or Utah or Illinois.

Despite New York's status as the "city of the world," it is lagging in many critical areas of accessibility. The city's subway system is complicated, crowded, and only partially accessible. The sights are worth the hassle, and the vast majority of NYC's most popular attractions are open to all. Dig into this guide, and I'll show you how to navigate this mega-sized metropolis.

Guide Contents

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New York City Wheelchair Accessible Travel Guide - WheelchairTravel.org

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Big Apple. Gotham. Metropolis. The city that never sleeps. The largest city in the United States. New York City is often considered to be the world's city. Tourists fly to NYC from all points around the globe every day. A short stroll through central park will expose you to countless foreign languages.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 47.8 million people age 65 and older in the United States in 2015. This means that approximately 16 million families now find themselves sandwiched between caring for their children and their parents. That number will only continue to grow, given that seniors account for at least 14.5 percent of the U.S. population.

Whether you're currently caring for an aging loved one or not, it's crucial that you begin to familiarize yourself with all the aspects of senior care. From insurance policies to medical situations, there are a lot of terms that come with aging-along with an even longer list of acronyms that could make anyone's head spin. Here's a list of the 128 most commonly used senior care terms and acronyms that you should know as you help your loved one on their care journey.

1. Activities of Daily Living (ADL): "Activities of daily living" are basic tasks that people complete each day and are needed in order for basic functioning. This includes bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, and continence.

2. Acute: Severe or sudden.

3. Acute Care: "Acute care" is a type of care that is provided to a senior for a short-term medical condition from which they are expected to recover. Once they are fully recovered, seniors who needed short-term care typically don't require daily attention in order to resume their normal routines and lifestyle.

4. Adult Day Care: "Adult day care" is a program in which adults are supervised and provided care during the day; Elders can typically attend one to two days per week up to five days per week. Some programs are open on the weekends.

5. Adult Protective Services: "Adult Protective Services" is a publicly funded investigative unit that works to review reports of abuse and neglect of seniors. The agency works with local law enforcement officials to handle abuse claims and connects seniors with support resources. To report an abuse claim, contact your local police station. If there is an emergency, call 911.

6. Aging Life Care Manager: An aging life care manager (formerly known as a "geriatric care manager" or GCM) is a type of health care professional who generally has more local connections and can assist an elder and/or their family with the process of deciding what care is needed, finding the providers of that care, and coordinating the administration of that care.

7. Alzheimer's Disease (AD): The most common type of dementia, Alzheimer's Disease is a degenerative disease in which the brain's function gradually declines and eventually results in death. This disease starts with short-term memory loss.

8. Ambulatory: "Ambulatory" is a term used to refer to someone who is capable of moving. In other words, someone who is not confined to a bed or wheelchair.

9. Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA): The Americans With Disabilities Act is a law passed in 1990 that is intended to prevent discrimination based on mental or physical disability. This includes regulations on the design and accessibility of public buildings and modes of transportation, as well as business practices.

10. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): ALS (also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease") is a progressive disease in which a person's brain degenerates and causes muscle weakness and eventually death. Generally, the patient's cognitive functioning is unaffected.

11. Area Agency on Aging (AAA): "Area Agency on Aging" is a publicly funded agency that provides elders with programs and resources to assist in their care and to ensure their rights are protected. The agency has local chapters that are located throughout the U.S.

12. Arthritis: Arthritis is a joint disorder in which the joints become swollen and cause pain.

13. Assignment of Benefits: An Assignment of Benefits is the arrangement a patient has with their insurance company that details who will receive payments from their health benefit plan. Payments can go to the patient or a doctor, hospital, or medical facility.

14. Assisted Devices: Equipment that provides minor care and allows seniors to perform their activities of daily living. Some-but not all-of those devices include motorized wheelchairs, walkers, walking sticks, and guard rails.

15. Assisted Living Facility (ALF): " Assisted living facilities" provide a lower level of care than do nursing homes. They generally allow the residents more freedom and the residents require less skilled care and supervision than those in nursing homes do. A higher percentage, if not all, of the residents are private pay. These facilities may also be referred to as "assisted living" (AL), "assisted living communities" (ALC), or "assisted living residences" (ALR).

16. Asymptomatic: Without any symptoms (or effects of a disease or illness).

17. Beneficiary: The individual who receives the benefits of a will, trust, insurance policy, or other contract. A person covered by Medicare is also referred to as a "beneficiary."

18. Benefits: "Benefits" is the money paid under an insurance policy. An insured senior can also assign their benefits to a family member or a health care provider.

19. Benefit Period: A "benefit period" is the amount of time during which an insurance policy provides a senior with benefits. Typical options for benefit periods include three years, five years, or lifetime.

20. Benefit Trigger: A "benefit trigger" is a specific condition that must be satisfied in order for an individual to be deemed eligible to use their benefit. occur to start a "benefit period." A "benefit trigger" is part of a long-term care insurance policy.

21. Blood Pressure (BP): The pressure created by the blood circulating in the human body; it is one of the basic vital signs used.

22. Carcinoma: Cancer.

23. Caregivers: Caregivers provide non-medical care for seniors who need assistance with activities of daily living. This care can be provided in the home, or in a senior living community. Although a caregiver is generally not a skilled medical professional, some may have specialized certifications or training.

24. Cataract: A condition in which the lens of the eye becomes clouded. Surgery can be performed that usually restores much of the eyesight.

25. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): The "Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services" is a federal agency that is in control of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. It is also in charge of many regulations and certifications.

26. Certified: Medicare and Medicaid outline a set of requirements that a long-term care facility, home health agency, or hospice agency must meet to be considered certified. Medicare and Medicaid will only cover the costs of care if an establishment is certified. Some long-term care insurance policies also have this same provision.

27. Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): A certified nursing assistant is a health care worker who works under the supervision of a nurse. They are required to go through training and generally work in nursing homes or hospitals. They provide patients with non-medical support, such as help with eating, getting dressed, or cleaning their living space.

28. Chronic: Ongoing.

29. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A disease in which the air pathways in the lungs narrow and limit the ability to get air to the lungs. The disease progresses over time and can result in death.

30. Community Health Center (CHC): A "community health center" is a provider of basic medical care. They typically exist in "medically underserved" areas and charge people on a sliding-scale basis.

31. Community Meal Program: A "community meal program" is a program typically offered by community centers that serves healthy, balanced, nutritious meals to seniors.

32. Companions: " Companions" are people who provide in-home care and companionship for seniors. While companions do not provide medical care or hands-on care, they may perform household chores like cooking, cleaning, transportation, and errand-running. Individuals who need less assistance would hire companions for caregiving roles.

33. Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT/CT): A scan of head and/or body that produces a cross-sectional image.

34. Congestive Heart Failure (CHF): The inability of the heart to provide sufficient blood to the rest of the body which can lead to shortness of breath, swelling of legs, and inability to exercise. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a heart attack.

35. Conservator: A "conservator" is a person who handles the financial affairs of someone who is no longer able to do so themselves. A court will appoint a conservator when necessary.

36. Copay/Copayment: A "copay" or "copayment" is the amount of money a person has to pay before their insurance covers costs.

37. Cueing: "Cueing" is when a caregiver helps a senior complete a task using prompts. The caregiver will provide the senior with specific visual or verbal actions that remind them to perform tasks and other daily activities like eating, taking medicine, or getting dressed.

38. Dementia: "Dementia" is a symptom that refers to memory difficulties and other cognitive problems which interfere in daily life. The deterioration of intellectual abilities can include a reduction in vocabulary, abstract thinking, judgment, memory, and physical coordination. Alzheimer's Disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for dementia, but there are treatments that can address some of the symptoms associated with dementia.

39. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHA): The Department of Health and Human Services is a cabinet department of the U.S. government which aims to improve the health and well-being of all Americans. It is in control of many regulations relating to health care provisions related activities.

40. Diabetes: A disease in which the body either doesn't make enough insulin-a hormone the body needs to convert sugar to energy - or doesn't use it properly. The result is that the person suffers from high blood sugar levels. The disease is treatable, but requires constant maintenance. Poor maintenance can lead to deteriorating eyesight, cardiovascular disease, and, in extreme situations, gangrene that requires amputation.

41. Discharge Planner: A discharge planner is a health care professional who provides support to seniors and their families following a hospital or rehabilitation stay. They are tasked with working with the senior to develop and coordinate a plan for post-recovery care.

42. Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR): A "Do Not Resuscitate" order is a legal document-written by a doctor or lawyer-that informs medical staff that they do not wish machines or "drastic measures" (often including CPR) to be used in order to prolong their life. A DNR may also be referred to as a "No Code" or an "Allow Natural Death" order as well.

43. Durable Medical Equipment (DME): "Durable medical equipment" is medical equipment that's used in a home to improve a senior's quality of life; examples include wheelchairs (electric or not), hospital beds, and catheters.

44. Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA): "Durable power of attorney" is a written authorization that enables a person to be in charge of addressing the legal issues of another. It may also be referred to simply as the "power of attorney" (POA).

45. Durable Power of Attorney for Finances: A "Durable Power of Attorney for Finances" is a legal document that allows a person to transfer authority over their financial decisions to a trusted individual. In this context, the term "durable" means that the order will go into effect if the person is unable to manage their own financial decisions.

46. Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care: A "durable power of attorney for health care" is a person who has been designated in advance by an elderly person to make health care decisions when he/she is unable to make those decisions about their own care. This is also known as a health care proxy.

47. Electronic Health/Medical Record (EHR/EMR): An "electronic health/medical record" is an electronic system which maintains patients' health records. This makes it easier to transfer information across institutions and doctors' offices.

48. Emergency Medical Services (EMS): "Emergency medical services" generally means an ambulance with EMTs.

49. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT): An "emergency medical technician" is a health care worker who responds to emergency medical situations. Generally, they are the workers that staff an ambulance. They have training, but not as much as a nurse or doctor.

50. Emergency Room/Department (ER/ED): An "emergency room" or "emergency department" is the part of a hospital that treats patients who have immediate and emergency medical conditions.

51. Emphysema: A progressive disease in which the lungs lose their ability to maintain their shape and can lead to the collapse of the lungs and inability to breathe.

52. Employee Assistance Program: An employee assistance program is a collection of benefits companies may offer to employees that include a range of services that help people deal with personal issues. Counseling and referral services are some of the benefits offered in the program, which aims to help employees improve their job performance, health, and well-being.

53. Exclusion: When an insurance company or medical plan does not cover something it is called exclusion. Health conditions, certain situations, equipment, services, or other expenses can be considered exclusions. For example, a Medicare exclusion could be coverage of prescription drugs or long-term care.

54. Family and Medical Leave Act: The Family and Medical Leave Act is a U.S. law that requires employers of private sector employers with 50 or more employees, public agencies, and public and private elementary and secondary schools to provide unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. The critical aspect of the law is that eligible employers must provide their employees with health insurance under the same terms as if the employee had not taken a leave of absence. Families typically use their time (up to 12 weeks in a 12 month period) when they have or adopt a baby, get ill, or are caring for a family member.

55. Family Caregiver: A family caregiver is a person who provides unpaid care to a family member. They often help their relative who is ill, disabled, or dealing with a medical situation.

56. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC): A "federally qualified health center" is a community health center that meets the government's standards and receives government funding.

57. Geriatrician: A geriatrician is a doctor who specializes in providing care to elderly patients. These physicians typically treat seniors who have complex medical or social issues.

58. Guardian: A guardian is a person who is appointed by a court to make decisions on behalf of someone who is unable to make decisions for themselves. In the context of senior care, a guardian is responsible for making choices regarding an elderly person's care.

59. Health Care Proxy (HCP): A "health care proxy" is a document that names a person to make health care decisions in the event that the patient is unable to do so.

60. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a law that gives U.S. citizens certain rights to privacy when it comes to their health information. Specifically, HIPAA determines who can and cannot view personal health records or have access to health information.

61. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): A "health maintenance organization" is a type of managed-care organization that provides health care coverage for its clients, but only if it is administered by providers who have contracts with the HMO and are part of the network.

62. Health Spending Account (HSA): A "health spending account" is an employee medical expense system in which the employee pays a high deductible and low premium. The money in the account is tax-free and can be used for deductibles and copays. Money can roll over from year to year.

63. Heart Disease: A term that includes a number of diseases which affect the heart and is the number one cause of death in the U.S.

64. Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS): "Home- and community-based services" are services that are provided outside of an institutionalized facility. This includes home health care and adult day care.

65. Home Health Agency: A "home health agency" is a Medicare-certified organization that provides health care-related services in a person's home. In other words, they are responsible for coordinating and managing the care provided by home health aides to their clients. Nursing, social work, personal care, and various forms of therapy such as physical or occupational are often provided by these agencies.

66. Home Health Aide (HHA): A "home health aide" provides basic care, typically to people in their homes. This care includes waking, bathing, cleaning the living space, feeding, making sure medications are taken, and assisting with any medical conditions. Most HHAs care for elderly clients.

67. Home Health Care (HCA): "Home health care" is a type of care that is provided in a client's home. It can include home health aides, registered nurses, and skilled or unskilled care.

68. Homemaker Services: Homemaker services are businesses that offer help with household duties like meal preparation, grocery shopping, cleaning, and laundry.

69. Hospice Care: "Hospice care" is end-of-life care that focuses on making the patient as comfortable as possible, while helping them cope with end-of-life issues. Specifically, hospice providers provide pain management, counseling, and comfort to care recipients and their family members. Hospice care continues until the end of life and can be provided in a facility, hospital, or private home, depending on the recipient's wishes and circumstances. It's worth noting that hospice care is for individuals who have a life limiting diagnosis of six months or less and is covered under Medicare. However, room and board in a hospice home or nursing home is generally private pay.

70. Hypertension: Chronic high blood pressure that can lead to other complications, such as a stroke.

71. Incontinence: The inability to control one's bladder.

72. Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL): "Instrumental activities of daily living" are tasks that are usually done each day. They are not necessary for basic functioning, but they allow a person to live independently. This includes using the phone, managing finances, preparing meals, maintaining the home, managing medications, shopping, and using transportation.

73. Intensive Care Unit (ICU): An "intensive care unit" is a part of the hospital for people who are in medically unstable conditions.

74. Intestate: The term used for when a person dies before having made a legal will.

75. Licensed Health Care Practitioner: Doctors, nurses, licensed social workers, who have met qualifications for health care workers set by the U.S. Treasury Department.are considered Licensed Health Care Practitioners.

76. Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN): A "licensed practical nurse" is a type of nurse who receives less training than a registered nurse, and is slightly more limited in the type of care that she/he can provide.

77. Life Plan Communities: A life plan community (formerly known as a "continuing care retirement community" or CCRC) is a retirement community for the elderly that helps them live as independently as possible. As the elder's needs for assistance increase, so does the level of care provided. These communities usually have facilities that range from independent living apartments or condos to skilled nursing facilities. Seniors will often move into continuing care retirement communities because they provide various levels of care in one place.

78. Living Will: A "living will" is a legal order that outlines an individual's desires about the types of medical treatments they wish to receive. It is helpful always to have one but especially so if someone has a terminal diagnosis.

79. Long-Term Care (LTC): "Long-term care" is health care that is provided over an extended period of time for people who are chronically ill, disabled, or mentally handicapped.

80. Long-Term Care Insurance (LCTI): "Long-term care insurance" is an insurance plan, separate from health insurance that is designed to cover the cost of long term care. Typically, it needs to be purchased before the need for long-term care exists as the cost of the plan is based on the individual's age and health when purchasing the plan. What is covered in the policy will vary, so it's important for families to understand components such as what type of care is covered, the amount of care that is covered and if there are any elimination periods as part of the policy.

81. Long-Term Care Ombudsman: A "long-term care ombudsman" is a person who is responsible for resolving issues between seniors and/or their families and care facilities. People living in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities can file a complaint, and the independent, federally-funded ombudsman program will investigate their claims.

82. Macular Degeneration: A condition that affects the ability to see, especially in the center of one's field of vision. This is a major cause of sight loss in older adults.

83. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): A type of medical imaging device that uses radio and magnetic waves instead of radiation.

84. Managed-Care Organization (MCO): A "managed-care organization" is a method that attempts to manage care costs by selectively contracting with certain health care providers and various other cost-management techniques.

85. Medicaid: Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that is administered by each state and provides health insurance for those who are financially unable to cover their own care. A large percentage of those who live in nursing homes are covered by Medicaid. Medicaid has certain federal requirements, but the specific coverage and eligibility requirements differ from state to state.

86. Medicare: Medicare is a federal program that provides health insurance coverage for seniors in the U.S who have paid into the benefit for a certain number of periods. There are different parts of Medicare that individuals can purchase and individuals must choose which plan type they would like. Typically, individuals become eligible at the age of 65, but individuals under the age of 65 with certain disabilities may be eligible.

87. Medicare Advantage (MA): The "Medicare Advantage" program (formerly known as the "Medicare+Choice" or Part C programs) is a private insurance policy that is meant to provide similar health insurance coverage to what Medicare provides. Keep in mind that there may be preferred networks with Medicare Advantage Plans and individuals are not eligible for a MediGap policy.

88. Medicare Savings Program: A "Medicare savings program" is a financial program that helps people who have Medicare, but who can't afford some of the costs. It can cover the costs of premiums and copays.

89. MediGap Insurance: "MediGap insurance" is a supplemental insurance plan in which a Medicare recipient pays an extra monthly premium for coverage of the cost of services that Medicare does not cover. Services include copays, coinsurance and deductibles. Medigap cannot be used to cover the cost of long term care.

90. Multiple Sclerosis (MS): A disease in which the brain has difficulty communicating with the rest of the body. It generally results in physical and/or mental disability. Life expectancy is 5 to 10 years shorter than unaffected people.

91. Myocardial Infarction (MI): A heart attack.

92. Network: A "network" is the group of doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and other health care professionals that a particular person has access to.

93. Nurse Practitioner (NP): A "nurse practitioner" is a registered nurse who has completed graduate-level education and is authorized to conduct many of the functions that a doctor usually does, such as acting as a primary care provider and writing prescriptions.

94. Nursing Care Center: A nursing care center (formally called a "nursing home" or NHA) provides care for seniors who require constant assistance and medical care. This term covers a wide range of options defined as providing 24/7, out-of-home care and monitoring by skilled medical professionals.

95. Occupational Therapy (OT): A kind of therapy that works with a person in order to help them be able to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs).

96. Older Americans Act (OAA): The Older Americans Act is a law that forbids discrimination of the elderly, and funds transportation, meals, senior centers, long-term care ombudsman, and other programs that benefit the elderly.

97. Operating Room (OR): The "operating room" is a room in a hospital that is used to conduct surgeries.

98. Out-of-Area Benefits: "Out-of-area benefits" are benefits that are offered outside of the HMO's service area, usually only emergency services.

99. Out-of-Pocket Maximum: An "out-of-pocket maximum" is the total amount of money a person is required to pay every year for their health insurance's deductibles and coinsurance. The cost is in addition to the insurance plan's premiums.

100. Out-of-Pocket Payments (OPP): "Out-of-pocket" payments are health care costs that are not covered by any sort of insurance and have to be paid out of the consumer's pocket.

101. Osteoporosis: A disease in which bones become frail and brittle and are easily broken.

102. Over the Counter (OTC): "Over the counter" is a term that refers to medication that does not require a prescription.

103. Pacemaker: A medical device that is implanted in the body and helps to regulate the heart rate by using electrical impulses.

104. Palliative Care: Palliative care is designed to reduce the physical and emotional pain that can come from having a serious illness. It's important to note that an individual does not need a terminal diagnosis in order to receive palliative care. In addition to their work with chronically ill individuals, palliative care providers also provide support services to family members. Most palliative care is provided in hospitals or doctors' offices.

Want to know more about the differences between hospice care and palliative care? Make sure to read our article, " Palliative Care and Hospice Care: Everything You Need to Know."

105. Parkinson's Disease: A degenerative disorder in which a person's central nervous system gradually erodes a person's ability to control the movements of his/her body.

106. Patient Assessment: A "patient assessment" is an assessment of the patient that is usually conducted in health care facilities (e.g., assisted living facilities). They can be used to determine the level of care that the patient requires.

107. Patient Days: The "patient days" are the number of days that a person is considered to be a patient in a health care facility. Certain insurance plans only include coverage for a certain number of patient days.

108. Personal Care Assistant (PCA): A "personal care assistant" is a person who is paid to provide those who are ill or chronically disabled assistance with their ADLs.

109. Personal Emergency Response System (PERS): A "personal emergency response system" is an alarm system that's designed to alert medical personnel when there is an emergency. Generally, it consists of a wireless transmitter that can be easily activated (e.g., through pushing a button) in the case of an emergency. They are typically portable and worn by or kept near the person who might need it.

110. Physical Therapy (PT): A type of therapy that focuses on helping a person promote their ability to move, minimize pain, restore function lost through disease or injury, and prevent further disability.

111. Physician Assistant (PA): A "physician assistant" is a health care professional who is licensed to work under a physician's supervision. A PA can conduct physical exams, write prescriptions, and diagnose and treat illnesses, among other functions.

112. Plan of Care: A "plan of care" is a written plan of medical services and care a person needs, typically prepared by the individual's doctor.

113. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO): A "preferred provider organization" is a managed-care organization that has contracted with health care providers to provide discounted rates to patients covered under its insurance plan.

114. Pressure Sore: A type of skin degeneration due to pressure, temperature, age, medication, lack of movement, or a combination of all of the above. Generally, the condition can be treated by frequent turning of bed-bound patients, special medication, or in early stages moisturizers. This is also known as a pressure ulcer or bedsore.

115. Primary Care: "Primary care" is an outpatient medical setting that provides continuity and integration of health care to a patient across a broad spectrum of care (e.g., regular check-ups).

116. Primary Care Physician/Provider (PCP): A "primary care physician" or "primary care provider" is a health care provider who provides care to a person in the outpatient setting, both preventative and curative (e.g., regular check-ups and advice on basic medical issues).

117. Private Pay: "Private pay" refers to people who are paying for care out of pocket, instead of through public or private insurance plans.

118. Provider: A "provider" is a term used to refer to anyone who provides care for another person. This term can be used in reference to doctors, hospitals, medical facilities, home health aides or agencies, and other types of health care professionals.

119. Registered Nurse (RN): A "registered nurse" is a licensed health care professional who provides care in a variety of environments. They can conduct tests and other medical procedures under a physician's supervision, but they cannot prescribe medications.

120. Respite Care: "Respite care" is a type of care that is provided in order to give a caregiver a break, or respite, from the normal stresses of caregiving. Respite care can last anywhere from an hour to a month. People typically need respite care if the regular caregiver becomes sick, goes on vacation, needs to run errands, etc. According to the National Institute on Aging, respite care "can be provided at home, in a health care facility, or at an adult day center."

121. Rider: A rider is an add-on provision to an insurance policy that details additional benefits the policyholder will receive for an additional cost.

122. Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF): A "skilled nursing facility" is a facility that provides a high level of nursing care. It's also known as a nursing home.

123. Social Security: Social security is a benefit that provides any eligible U.S. citizen with an inflation-adjusted monthly income for the rest of that person's life. Once eligibility requirements are met, a person can receive Social Security benefits at age 62, or if they become disabled before they hit that age.

124. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD/SSDI): "Social Security Disability Insurance" is a federal insurance program that covers people who are unable to work due to a disability. The aid is given in the form of a monthly stipend and is not dependent on income.

125. Spend Down: Typically referred to with Medicaid as a "spend down" is when someone must use their income and assets to qualify for Medicaid. For example, if someone does not quality for Medicaid because their income is too high, they may go through a Medicaid spend-down to spend their income and assets until they are eligible for Medicaid.

126. Supplemental Security Income (SSI): "Supplemental Security Income" is a federal program that provides stipends to those who are low-income and above 65, blind, or otherwise disabled.

127. Veteran's Affairs (VA): "Veteran's Affairs" is a government veteran benefit program. Health care insurance is included as a benefit option as well as some benefits that can help cover the cost of long term care.

128. Visiting Nurses: "Visiting nurses" are registered nurses who provide in-home care. They can provide medical, rehabilitative, and hospice care.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Senior Care Dictionary: 128 Words and Acronyms You Need to Know

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 47.8 million people age 65 and older in the United States in 2015. This means that approximately 16 million families now find themselves sandwiched between caring for their children and their parents. That number will only continue to grow, given that seniors account for at least 14.5 percent Read more...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Seniors home brings young and old together

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
High School Lesson Plan

Overview

Our aging population is continuing to grow. This lesson will focus on the challenges elderly people face and innovative ways to help them adapt to lifestyle changes. Students will explore ways to help seniors use technology to get assistance living at home, improve their lives, and stay connected to family and friends.

Objectives

Students will focus on challenges the growing elderly population face

Students will explore how technology can improve the quality of life for the elderly by helping them physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally

Students will explore ways to aid the elderly residents in their community using various types of technology

Time

Two 45 - 60 minute sessions

Subject

English Language Arts, Literature, Writing

Sign up or log in to see or download the full lesson plan.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
High School Lesson Plan Overview Our aging population is continuing to grow. This lesson will focus on the challenges elderly people face and innovative ways to help them adapt to lifestyle changes. Students will explore ways to help seniors use technology to get assistance living at home, improve their lives, and stay connected to family and friends.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Map of free community fridges and food shares across New York City

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In addition to delivering meals to homebound elderly New Yorkers, Citymeals is dedicated to making sure our older neighbors have access to the help they need. Learn more about other programs and services that provide support for this vulnerable population.

To get a Covid-19 vaccine, you can call 1-877-VAX-4-NYC or 1-877-829-4692 to make an appointment by phone or visit https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov to find a location near you and schedule your appointment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In addition to delivering meals to homebound elderly New Yorkers, Citymeals is dedicated to making sure our older neighbors have access to the help they need. Learn more about other programs and services that provide support for this vulnerable population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resources | INCLUDEnyc - love, equity & access

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
INCLUDEnyc works to bring love, equity, and access to young people with disabilities in New York City.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Waste Prevention Terms

Composting--The biological decomposition of organic materials such as leaves, grass clippings, brush, and food waste into a soil amendment. Composting is a form of recycling. The CalRecycle Organic Materials Management Web site addresses many aspects of composting.

Electronic Waste--Sometimes called E-Waste. A term loosely applied to consumer and business electronic equipment that is near or at the end of its useful life. There is no clear definition for e-waste. It includes, computers, computer peripherals, telephones, answering machines, radios, stereo equipment, tape players/recorders, phonographs, video cassette players/recorders, compact disc players/recorders, calculators, and some appliances. However, whether or not items like microwave ovens and other similar "appliances" should be grouped into the category has not been established. Certain components of some electronic products contain materials that render them hazardous, depending on their condition and density. For instance, California law currently views nonfunctioning CRTs (cathode ray tubes) from televisions and monitors as hazardous. Therefore, nonfunctioning CRTs from televisions and monitors are banned from the trash. See the Electronics portion of this Web site for a description of Electronic waste.

Extremely Hazardous Waste--A subset of Hazardous Waste. Extremely hazardous waste is any hazardous waste or mixture of hazardous wastes which, if human exposure should occur, may likely result in death, disabling personal injury or serious illness caused by the hazardous waste or mixture of hazardous wastes because of its quantity, concentration, or chemical characteristics.

Grasscycling--The practice of leaving clippings on the lawn while mowing. For more information, see the CalRecycle grasscycling page.

Green Building--The practice of creating buildings that are designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Also known as sustainable building. Green building includes the practices of salvaging material from building demolition for reuse in new buildings and for recycling. The term, green building, is also applied to buildings that minimize impact to the environment, protect health and enhance productivity of occupants, and utilize energy, water, and other resources efficiently.

Hazardous Waste--Speaking in general terms, hazardous wastes are solid wastes that are toxic, ignitable, reactive, or corrosive according to Chapter 11 of Division 4.5 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. Other wastes can be categorically, or specifically included or excluded from the definition of hazardous waste. For a more complete definition refer to Title 22 or contact the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Hazardous waste is defined in section 66261.3 of division 4.5 of title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. Hazardous waste includes extremely hazardous waste, acutely hazardous waste, RCRA hazardous waste, non-RCRA hazardous waste and special waste.

Integrated Waste Management--Managing waste by multiple techniques to achieve solid waste and resource conservation goals. The techniques may include waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, transformation, disposal to landfills, and other means.

Medical Waste--In general, medical waste is waste which is generated or produced as a result of diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals, is biohazardous according to Section 117635 of the California Health and Safety Code, is generated by biohazardous research, is generated by the production or testing of biologicals including serums, vaccines, antigens, and anti-toxins, or is considered to be sharps waste. For a more complete definition, see Section 117690 of the California Health and Safety Code. You may also want to visit our page on health care waste at home.

Mercury--A toxic metal that can cause harm to people and animals including nerve damage and birth defects. Liquid mercury that is exposed to the air evaporates readily at room temperature. If mercury is released into the environment, it can contaminate the air we breathe and enter streams, rivers, and the ocean, where it can contaminate fish that people eat.

Pollution Prevention--Preventing all forms of pollution, including toxics and other pollutants emitted into air, water, and land. Waste prevention is a type of pollution prevention.

Postconsumer Content--Also known as postconsumer waste, any product which has served its intended use by a business or a consumer, which has been disposed and subsequently separated from solid waste for use as a constituent in a new product.

Postmanufacture Content--Also known as postmanufacture waste, waste that is created by a manufacturing process, and that is subsequently only used as a constituent in another manufacturing process.

Precycling--This is not a widely used or accepted term, but it refers to actions such as making purchasing decisions that will reduce waste such as buying goods with less packaging (e.g., goods in bulk or concentrated form), choosing products that will last longer, and avoiding single-use or disposable products. These actions are also considered to be waste prevention.

RCRA--The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. RCRA is a federal law that is the root of most federal and state hazardous waste management law in the United States, although California and a few other states were already regulating hazardous substances, including hazardous waste, before RCRA. RCRA also set forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous wastes, although many states, including California, already managed non-hazardous solid wastes in a manner very similar to that framework. For California the main benefit of RCRA was the establishment of a national cradle-to-grave tracking system for hazardous waste transport and disposal. For details on RCRA see U.S. EPA's description of federal laws and regulations.

Recycling--Using waste as material to manufacture a new product. Recycling involves altering the physical form of an object or material and making a new object from the altered material.

Recycling is not waste prevention because only waste can be recycled. One must generate waste in order to recycle the waste. Therefore, if you are recycling, you have already generate waste. Although recycling is a very good thing, ideally it would be better to not generate any waste.

Reuse is not recycling because reuse does not alter the physical form an object. Reuse is preferred to recycling because reuse consumes less energy and less resources than recycling. Of course, recycling consumes less energy and resources than making new replacement items with unrecycled or new material.

With recycling, you generally need to collect a material, transport it, clean and sort it, transform it (for example, melt it down, see secondary material, below), market that transformed material, make the transformed material into a new product, package the product, and market the product. Making a product out of recycled materials is better than using virgin materials, but waste prevention is even better because it is better to not create any waste. Unlike recycling, most forms of waste prevention require little, if any, transportation, processing and marketing. See the CalRecycle recycling page for more information.

If you send your waste away to be recycled, but you do not buy products made from postconsumer waste, then you are not completing the "cycle."

Examples of recycling:

At Home--Placing all your paper, cardboard, boxboard such as empty cereal boxes and empty toilet paper tubes, into the recycle bin, and then purchasing paper products made from post consumer recycled paper. Note that if you "recycle" paper, plastic, or anything, but you do not buy products made from postconsumer recycled material, then you are not completing the "cycle."

In Business--Old tires can be ground up and used to make a wide variety of things, including rubber mats, door mats, pet food bowls, and playground cover. The canvas covered mats in marital arts dojos are commonly stuffed with ground up tires. Used motor oil can be reprocessed into new motor oil, and motor oil made from this "rerefined" oil is widely available.

Composting is a form of recycling.

Reuse--Using an object or material again, either for its original purpose or for a similar purpose, without significantly altering the physical form of the the object or material.

Reuse is not recycling, because recycling alters the physical form of an object or material. Reuse is generally preferred to recycling because reuse generally consumes less energy and resources than recycling. Waste is defined as material for which no use or reuse is intended. Thus, reuse prevents objects and materials from becoming waste. Therefore, reuse is considered to be a form of waste prevention. Examples of reuse follow. To learn more about reuse, consult the CalRecycle Reuse website.

At Home--Wash and reuse your plastic food bags or consider purchasing reusable cloth bags.. Buy reusable storage containers to store leftover food, and to store foods that you buy in bulk. Consult material exchanges to purchase used items or to find new homes for items that you no longer need. If you remodel your home, consider using reused building materials, and send demolition materials that you create for reuse. Bring a reusable coffee mug or commuter mug with you when you buy coffee drinks. Many coffee shops offer discounts for customers using their own mugs.

In Business--Purchase "recycled" ink and toner cartridges for your printers and photocopiers. Have the tires on your cars retreaded when the tread is worn, but the tire is otherwise reusable.

One exception to the normal preference of reuse to the purchasing new items might be some appliances. It is often environmentally preferable to replace very old refrigerators, clothes washers, clothes dryers, or central heating and air conditioning units with new appliances if given a choice between repair and replacement, because the amount of energy (and water, in the case of clothes washers) used to operate some older appliances is substantially more than the amount used to operate new appliances. Of course attempts should be made when replacing appliances to have the metal in the discarded appliances recycled.

Secondary Material--This term traditionally refers to industrial byproducts of a manufacturing process that are used as an ingredient of another manufacturing process to create another product. Traditional usage of the term, secondary material, does not refer to scrap or fragments generated by a manufacturing process and subsequently returned to the same manufacturing process. However, some recent usage of the term, secondary material, contradicts the traditional definition. In some cases the term, secondary material, does include scrap or fragments generated by a manufacturing process and subsequently returned to the same manufacturing process. There is a contradiction between how this term is defined in Section 42002 (f) of the Public Resources Code and in Section 12200 (c) of the Public Contract Code.

Sharps Waste--Go to CalRecycle's Sharps Waste web page. You may also want to visit our page on health care waste at home.

Solid Waste--In general terms, solid waste refers to garbage, refuse, sludges, and other discarded solid materials resulting from residential activities, and industrial and commercial operations. This term generally includes used oil. This term generally does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage or other significant pollutants in water such as silt, dissolved or suspended solids in industrial wastewater effluents, dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or other common water pollutants. However, if any of these materials are separated from the water that carries them, then they generally are considered solid waste. For regulatory purposes, hazardous waste is a subset of solid waste.

Source Reduction--Section 40196 of the California Public Resources Code defines source reduction as any action which causes a net reduction in the generation of solid waste. "Source Reduction" includes, but is not limited to, reducing the use of nonrecyclable materials, replacing disposable materials and products with reusable materials and products, reducing packaging, reducing the amount of yard wastes generated, establishing garbage rate structures with incentives to reduce the amount of wastes that generators produce, and increasing the efficiency of the use of paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastic, and other materials. "Source Reduction" does not include steps taken after the material becomes solid waste or actions which would impact air or water resources in lieu of land, including, but not limited to, transformation. See §40196 of the California Public Resources Code. Also see California Code of Regulations, Title 22 §67100.1 (o).

An alternative definition to the one in the statute was adopted by the CalRecycle in May 1993 (as recommended in the Statewide Waste Prevention Plan). This definition highlights the role of individuals as well as organizations, clearly states that source reduction occurs before anything enters the waste stream; and addresses the question of the overall environmental impacts.

"Any action undertaken by an individual or organization to eliminate or reduce the amount or toxicity of materials before they enter the municipal solid waste stream. This action is intended to conserve resources, promote efficiency, and reduce pollution."

The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines the term, source reduction, as follows:

"Source reduction is the design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials or products (including packages) to reduce their amount or toxicity before they enter the municipal solid waste stream. Because it is intended to reduce pollution and conserve resources, source reduction should not increase the net amount or toxicity of wastes generated throughout the life of a product."

The above definition emphasizes the process of how waste is generated. Analyzing this process helps us find source reduction opportunities. The last sentence of the definition handles life-cycle questions that often arise when substituting products or packaging. As you can see, waste prevention, or source reduction, has everyday opportunities such as when mowing your lawn, buying pet food, and in industrial settings such as when designing consumer products.

Source Reduction is used synonymously with the term, waste prevention, defined above. The combined experience of other states and public interest groups indicates that it is easier to understand the term waste prevention. Therefore, the CalRecycle adopted the term waste prevention in May 1993. Check how the terms are being used when reviewing documents or in conversation to avoid confusion.

Sustainability--Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (See Our Common Future: The World Commission on Environment and Development, Bruntland, G (ed) (1987), Oxford: Oxford University Press.)

Transformation--Transformation refers to incineration, pyrolysis, distillation, or biological conversion other than composting. The statutory definition of transformation does not include composting, gasification, or biomass conversion. See §40201 of the California Public Resources Code.

Universal Waste--Sometimes called U-Waste, they are any of the wastes that are listed in section 66261.9 of division 4.5 of title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

The term, universal waste, was coined by U.S. EPA in an attempt to describe wastes that seem to come from everywhere. The term results in part from an early federal method of identifying hazardous waste, which was distinctly different from the early California method of identifying hazardous waste. The earliest federal waste laws paid attention mostly to the processes that generated waste. Certain processes, mostly manufacturing processes, were deemed to generate hazardous waste based on both scientific and political criteria. The earliest California regulations took a different approach. California identified substances in wastes that were considered hazardous based solely on risk to human health and the environment. California declared that if those substances were in waste, and if the presence of those substances in waste posed a risk to human health or the environment, then those wastes were considered to be hazardous regardless of which process generated them. Since the passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976, there has been a blending of the two concepts, with federal regulations moving more closely to the pattern adopted by California. Additionally, RCRA allowed states to have more stringent standards than those required by federal law, and California's standards are more stringent. That is largely why the list of California universal wastes is longer than the federal list. Nevertheless, the term, universal waste, reflects the traditional federal concept of identifying processes. In the case of universal wastes, there are supposedly no processes that can be clearly identified as the source of generation because they come from an infinite number of sources. They seem "universal." Hence the term. California universal wastes include:

Batteries--Includes AAA, AA, C, D, button cell, 9-volt, both rechargeable and single use. These may contain a corrosive or reactive chemicals, as well as toxic heavy metals like cadmium. (Automotive type batteries are not universal waste. However, when they become waste, they are banned from the trash.) For more information seeBatteries.

Fluorescent lamps and tubes--Includes fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps, metal halide lamps, sodium vapor lamps, high intensity discharge (HID) lamps, and neon bulbs. These lamps contain Mercury. Mercury vapor might be released to the environment when they are broken. The mercury from broken lamps in trash bins could find its way to lakes and rivers during rain storms.

Thermostats--There is mercury inside the sealed glass "tilt switch" of the old style thermostats (not the newer electronic kind).

Electronic Devices--Includes televisions and computer monitors, computers, printers, VCRs, cell phones, telephones, and radios. These devices often contain heavy metals like lead, cadmium, copper, and chromium.

Electrical Switches--Some electrical switches and relays contain mercury. Such mercury switches can be found in some chest freezers, pre-1972 washing machines, sump pumps, electric space heaters, clothes irons, silent light switches, automobile hood and trunk lights, and ABS brakes.

Pilot Light Sensors--Mercury-containing switches associated with pilot light sensors are found in some gas appliances such as stoves, ovens, clothes dryers, water heaters, furnaces and space heaters.

Mercury Gauges--Some gauges, such as barometers, manometers, blood pressure, and vacuum gauges contain mercury.

Mercury Added Novelties--Examples include greeting cards that play music when opened; athletic shoes (made before 1997) with flashing lights in soles; and mercury maze games.

Mercury Thermometers--Mercury thermometers typically contain about a half gram of mercury. Many health clinics, pharmacies and doctor's offices have thermometer exchange programs that will give you a new mercury-free fever thermometer in exchange for your old one.

Non-Empty Aerosol Cans that Contain Hazardous Materials--Many products in aerosol cans are toxic. And many aerosol cans contain flammables, like butane, as propellants for products like paint. If your aerosol can is labeled with words like TOXIC or FLAMMABLE don't put it in the trash unless it is completely empty.

Waste--Objects or materials for which no use or reuse is intended.

Some statutory and regulatory definitions use the terms discarded, relinquished, stored, and accumulated to define waste.

Waste Diversion--As defined in California statute, the combined efforts of waste prevention, reuse, and recycling practices.

Waste Management Hierarchy--The order of preference of waste management techniques, reduce, reuse, recycle, dispose, as specified in §40051 and §40196 of the California Public Resources Code. This is to say that individuals and businesses should look for opportunities to reduce the waste that they generate before they practice any other option. After all attempts to reduce or eliminate the generation of waste have been exhausted, the next preferred option is to look for opportunities to reuse items or substances which could become waste. If all waste reduction and reuse options are exhausted, individuals and businesses should try to recycle waste items or substances. Note that, in general, items and substances are not considered to be waste if they are reused, and not recycled or discarded. Items or substances that are recycled are considered waste.

Waste Minimization--Refers to reducing or eliminating, and recycling, hazardous waste.

Waste Prevention--Actions or choices that prevent the generation of waste.

Common examples of waste prevention:

At Home--Avoiding the use of disposable utensils, napkins, and paper towels, and other disposable products. Buying durable items that will last longer than less durable items. Buying breakfast cereal, rice, or other grain-related foods in bulk, and store these items in reusable containers until needed. This eliminates the boxes used to package and store smaller portions. Note that buying a case of individual boxes of cereal would not help prevent packaging waste, although it might help reduce the frequency of automobile trips to the store.

In Business--Buying cases of paper in which the paper is not packaged in individual reams. Some paper companies provide paper this way. Why package the package? By not creating individual packages of 500 sheets you can just open a box of paper next to the photocopier or printer, and put what they need into the machine. There is no hassling with wrappers, and more importantly, no wrapping paper waste is created.

Waste prevention is used synonymously with the term source reduction which is defined above. The combined experience of other states and public interest groups indicates that it is easier to understand the term waste prevention. Therefore, the CalRecycle adopted the term waste prevention in May 1993. A number of local jurisdictions in California, public interest groups and a few states also use the term, waste prevention, synonymously with waste reduction, also defined below. Check how the terms are being used when reviewing documents or in conversation to avoid confusion.

U.S. EPA and many states use this term to mean any action undertaken to eliminate or reduce the amount or toxicity of materials before they enter the municipal solid waste stream. Reuse is a type of waste prevention. Waste prevention is a type of waste reduction. Waste Prevention is a type of pollution prevention.

Note: Recycling is not a form of waste prevention. See the definition of recycling for more information.

Waste Reduction--Actions taken before waste is generated to either reduce or completely prevent the generation of waste. The combined efforts of waste prevention, reuse, composting, and recycling practices. A number of local jurisdictions in California, public interest groups and a few states use waste reduction synonymously with waste prevention, defined above. Check how the terms are being used when reviewing documents or in conversation to avoid confusion.

Worm Composting--Worms feed on slowly decomposing materials (e.g, vegetable scraps) to produce a nutrient rich soil amendment, in a controlled environment. For more information, see the CalRecycle worm pages.

Vermicomposting--Same as worm composting, above.

Xeriscaping--The practice of landscaping with slow growing, drought-tolerant plants. For more information see the CalRecycle xeriscaping page.

Disclaimer

The forgoing definitions are provided to help those who want to improve or maximize their personal or business waste reduction efforts in order to conserve plant and mineral resources, energy, and water, and in order to reduce the pollution of water, soil, and air. The foregoing are not intended to provide legal definitions of waste or any terms related to waste. If you are looking for such definitions, please refer directly to the statutes and regulations that apply to your activities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Composting--The biological decomposition of organic materials such as leaves, grass clippings, brush, and food waste into a soil amendment. Composting is a form of recycling. The CalRecycle Organic Materials Management Web site addresses many aspects of composting. Electronic Waste--Sometimes called E-Waste.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
New York City has no landfills or incinerators, yet residents produce 12,000 tons of waste every day. What happens when you throw something away?

In reality, there is no "away".

Our discards are buried in the ground, burned or recycled into new products. NYC's non-recyclable waste is sent to landfills in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia. Much of Manhattan's waste is incinerated across the Hudson River, in New Jersey. Paper waste that is properly separated from regular garbage is recycled locally or is processed for further recycling overseas. Glass, metal and plastics collected at the curbside are sent to Brooklyn and New Jersey, where they are processed and sent to various recycling markets.

Waste in the United States

The United States produces 33% of the world's solid waste, with 4.6% of the global population.

80% of US products are used once and then thrown away.

43% of dumped or burned municipal discards, by weight, consists of packaging and containers, or disposable products such as paper or plastic plates, cups, diapers, junk mail, trash bags, tissue paper and towels.

Waste in New York City

New York City residents currently recycle only about 17% of their total waste--half of what they could be recycling under the current program.

7.5% of our waste stream consists of plastic film such as supermarket bags.

Clothing and textiles make up 5.7% of our waste.

Does Recycling Work?

Recycling is a vital component of NYCs 20-year plan to handle our waste in an environmentally sensible, economically viable manner.

Exporting our garbage to other communities cost New York City taxpayers $290 million in 2007. This does not include the cost of collection.

Waste Less, Breathe More

Diesel trucks carry Manhattan's garbage 7.8 million miles every year. That's the equivalent of driving more than 312 times around the earth!

Landfills are responsible for 36% of all methane emissions in the US, one of the most potent contributors to global warming.

Close the Loop: Buy Recycled

Using recycled materials to make new products saves energy and other resources, reduces greenhouse gases and industrial pollution, and curbs deforestation and damage to ecosystems.

There are more than 4,500 recycled-content products available.

More than 90 percent of printing and writing paper still comes from virgin tree fiber

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our discards are buried in the ground, burned or recycled into new products. NYC's non-recyclable waste is sent to landfills in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia. Much of Manhattan's waste is incinerated across the Hudson River, in New Jersey. Paper waste that is properly separated from regular garbage is recycled locally or is processed for further recycling overseas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Since early 2016, I have traveled to six major cities around the world (Jakarta, Tokyo, Lagos, New York, Sao Paulo and Amsterdam) to investigate how they manage - or mismanage - their waste. There are some remarkable differences. And a question emerges: Is this just garbage, or is it a resource? The world generates at least 3.5 million tons of solid waste a day, 10 times the amount a century ago, according to World Bank researchers. If practices aren't changed, that figure will grow to 11 million tons by the end of the century, the researchers estimate. On average, Americans throw away their own body weight in trash every month. In Japan, meanwhile, the typical person produces only two-thirds as much. It's difficult to find comparable figures for the trash produced by mega-cities. But clearly, New York generates by far the most waste of the cities I visited: People in the broader metropolitan area throw away 33 million tons per year, according to a report by a global group of academics published in 2015 in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences. That's 15 times the Lagos metropolitan area, their study found. ¶ With a sharp increase in the world population and many economies growing, we are producing more waste than ever. In Europe and the United States our trash is largely invisible once it's tossed; in other parts of the world it is more easily seen in waste dumps, sometimes in the middle of cities.

Since early 2016, I have traveled to six major cities around the world (Jakarta, Tokyo, Lagos, New York, Sao Paulo and Amsterdam) to investigate how they manage - or mismanage - their waste. There are some remarkable differences. And a question emerges: Is this just garbage, or is it a resource?

The world generates at least 3.5 million tons of solid waste a day, 10 times the amount a century ago, according to World Bank researchers. If nothing is done, that figure will grow to 11 million tons by the end of the century, the researchers estimate. On average, Americans throw away their own body weight in trash every month. In Japan, meanwhile, the typical person produces only two-thirds as much. It's difficult to find comparable figures for the trash produced by mega-cities. But clearly, New York generates by far the most waste of the cities I visited: People in the broader metropolitan area throw away 33 million tons per year, according to a report by a global group of academics published in 2015 in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences. That's 15 times the Lagos metropolitan area, their study found.

With a sharp increase in the world population and many economies growing, we are producing more waste than ever. In Europe and the United States our trash is largely invisible once it's tossed; in other parts of the world it is more obvious, in the form of waste dumps, sometimes in the middle of cities.

Dumps are a problem because they release methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. Burning trash outdoors is also harmful, to the environment and people's health.

Landfills and waste dumps are quickly filling up - with many of the largest receiving on average 10,000 tons of waste per day.

As a country becomes richer, the composition of its waste changes - more packaging, electronic components, broken toys and appliances, and relatively less organic material.

New York and San Francisco now have a goal of "zero waste" to be achieved by a reduction in trash and more recycling, but they still have a long way to go. In New York, plastic shopping bags are still provided in almost every store. The world produces over 300 million tons of plastic each year, of which only a small fraction is recycled.

By 2050, there will be so much plastic floating in the ocean it will outweigh the fish, according to a study issued by the World Economic Forum. Scientists estimate that there are at least 5.25 trillion plastic particles - weighing nearly 270,000 tons - floating in the oceans right now.

On average, a person in the United States or Western Europe uses about 220 pounds of plastic per year, according to the Worldwatch Institute, a research organization. The packaging industry, growing thanks to the rise of online stores and other factors, poses a huge challenge.

About one-third of the food produced in the world gets thrown away or otherwise wasted, according to U.N. data. The Dutch toss out the equivalent of over 400,000 loaves of bread per day, on average. The United States wastes by far the most food, due in part to fast-food restaurants at which employees and consumers dump unsold items or leftovers.

Most waste in Africa, the United States and Asia ends up in dumps, many of which are already at capacity. Europe sends less of its waste to dumps or landfills and more to incinerators. While some of them are relatively clean, many are a threat to the environment and public health. Tokyo has more than 20 garbage incinerators in the metropolitan area. The city says they are not hazardous to public health, because they burn mostly organic material and use an advanced system to filter out damaging gases.

But if the world is not prepared to think about waste reduction and actually treat garbage as a resource, future generations will drown in their own waste.

In Jakarta, nowhere to go but up

Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, has grown extremely fast in recent years, partly because of a national economic boom. Most of Jakarta's waste ends up at Bantar Gebang, one of the biggest landfills in the world: It covers 272 acres and receives over 6,000 tons of trash per day.

The thousands of people who scavenge at Bantar Gebang work in dangerous conditions, navigating mountains of unstable trash at risk of toppling in avalanches of garbage.

Jakarta doesn't have incinerators and has no space for another landfill. And the scavengers who work in the streets and at the landfill play an important role in recycling, in a city with hardly any formal recycling industry.

Waste flowing into the canals and rivers of Jakarta also causes issues. The waterways clog, causing extensive flooding. For the past two years, Jakarta has made a big effort to clean the garbage from its waterways.

Indonesia is one of the world's biggest sources of plastic that is dumped into the oceans.

- Kadir van Lohuizen

A bold goal in the Big Apple: 'Zero Waste'

The New York metropolitan area produces 33 million tons of garbage per year, according to a group of global scientists that calculated all the trash being tossed out by the city and its sprawling suburbs and exurbs. That puts it well ahead of the rest of the world's major mega-cities, according to the researchers.

The United States is one of the planet's biggest generators of waste, and New York presents a particular challenge because it is so densely populated. In most parts of the world, growing wealth is associated with an increased output of trash. But in the United States, the poorer population also contributes a considerable amount of garbage, much of it fast-food packaging. Food waste is also a huge issue, in New York and the rest of the country.

Despite its problems, New York does better in some ways than other U.S. cities when it comes to trash: Paper, plastic bottles and cans are often separated for recycling, even though the recycling industry is limited in size. Most of New York's waste goes to landfills or to incinerators out of state.

Under Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), New York City has begun its "Zero Waste" initiative, which among other things will aim to reduce the amount of non-compostable trash and improve recycling. The city's goal is to eliminate the transfer of garbage to out-of-state landfills by 2030.

In recycling and management, New York is more advanced than many other American cities, but the sheer amount of garbage it generates would be difficult for any municipal government to deal with.

- Kadir van Lohuizen

Lagos works to slow a rising tide

Lagos has a population of around 21 million people but produces only around 2.5 million tons of waste a year, according to a study by a global group of academics published in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences. Some estimates are higher. One of the fastest-growing cities in the world, Lagos struggles not only with how to deal with its own waste but with garbage sent to Nigeria illegally from Europe and the United States.

The biggest landfill in Lagos, Olusosun, is near capacity, and there is no viable alternative set to take its place in the near future. It receives about 3,000 to 5,000 tons of trash per day, officials say.

The thousands of scavengers who work at the landfill help the recycling efforts, albeit under harrowing conditions. What looks apocalyptic is actually a well-organized work site. What is surprising is that the landfill doesn't smell as bad as others do around the world. This is largely due to the fact that Nigerians hardly waste any food.

The city is planning to close the landfill and build transfer and sorting stations and incinerators - as well as another major dump 40 miles away, in the city of Badagry - but these steps will take years. In the meantime in some areas of Lagos, people use waste to create land, building homes on it.

- Kadir van Lohuizen

Read more about the Olusosun landfill

In Lagos, trash is both a curse and a treasured commodity. At a massive dump, thousands make a living sorting through garbage piled 10 stories high. Read story

Short on space, Tokyo gets proactive

The Tokyo metropolitan area is one of the most populous in the world, with at least 36 million people, and produces around 12 million tons of waste a year, according to a report published in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences.

Constrained by a lack of space, Tokyo puts a lot of emphasis on recycling. It has 48 incinerators, which also convert garbage into energy. Authorities claim that the facilities are very clean and don't pose a threat to public health. Households separate their waste into categories - such as burnable, nonburnable, bottles and cans, and oversize items - that are collected on different days.

There are 12 landfills, the largest of which is on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay and is expected to last for about 50 years.

- Kadir van Lohuizen

In Sao Paulo, relying on people power

About 21 million people live in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area in Brazil. As the number of middle- and upper-class residents has grown over the past decade, Sao Paulo has produced ever more waste.

Most of it has ended up at landfills.

Sao Paulo is one of the few cities where "garbage picker/scavenger" is an officially recognized profession. Such workers are organized in cooperatives and collect mainly plastic, cans and paper from the streets, to be sold to companies that handle recycling. The scavengers are seen as a solution to the problem.

- Kadir van Lohuizen

Amsterdam looks to burn less, recycle more

Amsterdam has a population of around 900,000, a number that swells to over 2 million if the surrounding area is included.

Much of what people throw in the garbage goes to an incinerator, with metals removed. There are plans by the end of this year to open a new facility that will take out plastics and other recyclables, but it will not be able to handle all the city's garbage.

The incinerator also receives British household waste: Britain doesn't have enough incinerators, and Amsterdam has surplus capacity. Because the Dutch use waste as a source of fuel, they might be less likely to separate out recyclable material, burning it instead.

Paper and glass are pretty well separated by the residents of Amsterdam, and they are starting to set aside plastic. At shops you have to pay for plastic bags. About 28 percent of the city's waste is recycled.

Food waste is a huge issue in Amsterdam and around the world. The Dutch alone throw away more than 400,000 loaves of bread per day.

- Kadir van Lohuizen

Kadir van Lohuizen is an Amsterdam-based freelance photojournalist and founding member of the social documentary photography agency Noor. He began his career in 1988 as a conflict photographer and has been internationally recognized for his long-term projects on life along the world's major rivers, the perils of rising sea levels, the blood-diamond industry and the impact of migration in the Americas.

Photo and videos by Kadir van Lohuizen/Noor. Photo editing by Nick Kirkpatrick and MaryAnne Golon. Video editing by Sarah Parnass. Content editing by Mary Beth Sheridan. Design and development by Brian Gross and Courtney Kan.

More stories

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Since early 2016, I have traveled to six major cities around the world (Jakarta, Tokyo, Lagos, New York, Sao Paulo and Amsterdam) to investigate how they manage - or mismanage - their waste. There are some remarkable differences. And a question emerges: Is this just garbage, or is it a resource?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About this film

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Share

Movie Resources

Credits

The Story of Stuff was written by Annie Leonard, Louis Fox, and Jonah Sachs, directed by Louis Fox and produced by Free Range Studios. Executive Producers included Tides Foundation and the Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption. It was released in December 2007.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
About this film From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
PRINT RESOURCES:

Andrus, Aubrey, and Lonely Planet Kids. 101 Small Ways to Change the World. Lonely Planet Kids, 2018.112 pages. Print.

French, Jess. What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting Our Planet. New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2019. 72 pages. Print.

Fyvie, Erica, and Bill Slavin. Trash Revolution: Breaking the Waste Cycle. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2018. 64 pages. Print.

Kirk, Ellen. Human Footprint: Everything You Will Eat, Use, Wear, Buy, and Throw Out in Your Lifetime. National Geographic Society Children's Books, 2011. 32 pages. Print.

Moser, Elise. What Milly Did: The Remarkable Pioneer of Plastics Recycling. Groundwood Books, 2016. 48 pages. Print.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When Milly Zantow learned about a problem in her Sauk County community-a landfill closing much earlier than it should-she took action. Seeing for herself that there was too much plastic waste, she thought it should be recycled. At that time, no one was recycling plastics, but Milly worked with others to make it happen.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At age 22, on an expedition in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Kristal Ambrose witnessed a horror she couldn't unsee: a vast patch of garbage, made up mostly of plastics.

She was onboard the ship of the 5 Gyres Institute, a Los Angles-based nonprofit that studies gyres, ocean currents that trap marine debris. What she saw inspired her to take on the problem of plastic pollution back in her home country of the Bahamas.

Kristal Ambrose founder of Bahamas Plastic Movement. Photo by Elyse Butler.

Now 29, Ambrose is an environmental educator and founder of the Bahamas Plastic Movement, a youth-led initiative that last year convinced the Bahamian government to commit to banning all single-use plastics countrywide.

She was in Seattle recently to address the regional office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about her group's work. She sat down with Fran Korten to talk about how she took on plastic pollution in the islands.

Korten: You have mounted a successful campaign to reduce plastics in the Bahamas. What inspired you to do that?

Ambrose: In 2008, when I was 18, I was working at an aquarium in the Bahamas. We had a sea turtle that had some internal blockage. For two and a half days we had to go inside the rectum of the sea turtle. We pulled out one piece of plastic after another. My role was to hold down her front flippers. Now, sea turtles have salt glands to protect their eyes from the sand, so it looks as if they're crying. So while I'm holding down her fins, she's crying and I'm crying. I'm saying to myself, "I'll never drop a piece of plastic on the ground again."

Then in 2012 I met Dr. Marcus Eriksen, who cofounded the 5 Gyres Institute, which studies the huge circulating ocean currents that trap marine debris. He was mounting an expedition that would sail from the Marshall Islands all the way to Japan to study the Western garbage patch. I wanted to go.

Kristal Ambrose identifying plastic debris during a beach survey.Photo from Bahamas Plastic Movement.

So I raised money to get to the Marshall Islands and back home from Japan. I lived on the boat for 20 days with all these strangers who were trying to understand the problem of plastic. We were out there where there were no landmasses, just us, wildlife, and the garbage. We pulled this huge discarded net onto the boat. There were all these different types of plastic. As we looked through the waste I realized that everything there were things that I was using at home-plastic bags, Styrofoam, plastic cutlery, straws. I realized I was the biggest offender that I knew.

"Recycling is not the most viable option for plastic. Not all plastic can be recycled."

Korten: How did you deal with the realization that you were part of the problem?

Ambrose: Once I got back from the trip, I started doing research. I wanted to see how plastic was moving around the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas, where I lived. How much was out there? What size was it? Where was it coming from? In the spring of 2013, I started taking my students with me to collect data on the beach. I would jokingly say, "This is the Bahamas plastic movement." Then in November I realized I wanted to start a nonprofit and call it the Bahamas Plastic Movement.

I started a summer camp for Bahamian youth focused on plastic pollution. The camp is really about engaging young people in environmental education and helping them understand that they have the power to make a difference. They do surveys of the plastics on the beach and go out in boats where they see how much microplastics are on the sea surface. They dissect the stomach of mahi-mahi, a popular fish that we eat in the Bahamas. They're finding plastic in the stomachs. They're making the connection between how their lifestyle on land impacts animals in the sea-especially animals that they like to eat.

Campers investigate plastic ingestion in the stomachs of mahi-mahi fish. Photo from Bahamas Plastic Movement.

Korten: In addition to the surveys, what actions did the students take?

Ambrose: One was the project where they went to different restaurants and got them to commit to only giving straws out upon request. And we've been pushing the message of refusing to use. We changed the "three R's" to the "five R's"-refuse, rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle. You ask anyone on the street, "What's one thing you can do to go green?" The first thing they'll say is recycle. But recycling is not the most viable option for plastic. Not all plastic can be recycled. And in the Bahamas we don't have the capacity for recycling.

A camper quantifying microplastic trawl sample. Photo from Bahamas Plastic Movement.

Korten: Tell me about your efforts to change government policy.

Ambrose: The theme of our 2017 summer camp was gearing the Bahamas to ban single-use plastic bags. The students made a video that named the government ministers that the students thought needed to hear this message. So they said: "Minister of environment and housing: The fish are eating the polluted toxic plastic and we're eating that, too. We need your help. Minister of education: People in the country need to know about this issue. We need your help. Prime minister of the Bahamas: This is happening all around our country. We need your help."

"That's my role, making sure this is effective and that people are engaged and they have viable options."

Then we put on a three-day youth activism workshop focused on how we were going to get the Ministry of Environment and Housing and the prime minister to agree to ban single-use plastic bags. We wanted something easy that would be a springboard so that the government could later add on other single-use plastic items. We had a social scientist talk to the students about how to get attitude and perception measurements of the public. We learned a lot of people were receptive but they just wanted something that was affordable and practical. With the help of a lawyer, the students created a bill for a single-use plastic bag ban.

Korten: What happened with your draft bill?

Ambrose: On Jan.3, 2018, we got a meeting with the minister of environment and housing. I had my idea of what the presentation should be like, but the students said, "That's boring. We need to sing a song to really get his attention." So we went in beating on the desk and singing, "We are the change, we are the solution, we can fix this plastic pollution."

We talked about the environmental implications and the economic impacts of plastic on shorelines, especially with tourism being our number-one industry. And the minister was onboard. And then he said, "You guys just want to ban plastic bags? Why not all single-use plastic?" So we were like, "OK! We were trying to make this easy for you. But, yes, let's do it."

Campers remove scores of plastic from a Bahamian beach. Photos from Bahamas Plastic Movement.

Korten: Did you ask the minister for anything else?

Ambrose: We gave him three things to do. We said by the end of March, we need you to run this proposed law in the Parliament. Second, we need the Bahamas to sign on to the United Nations Clean Seas initiative, which gets countries to commit to reducing their plastic output. And third, we want a partnership between the Bahamas Plastic Movement and the Ministry of Environment and Housing to do public education on plastic impacts around the country. On Earth Day 2018, the minister made the announcement to the whole country that the Bahamas would ban single-use plastics and join the U.N. Clean Seas initiative.

Korten: That's a huge success. And amazingly fast. So what's next for you?

Ambrose: My job as an activist now is to hold them accountable. They made this commitment, which is great. And they're going to have to see it through. And that's my role, making sure this is effective and that people are engaged and they have viable options.

Inspiration in Your Inbox.

Sign up to receive email updates from YES!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Where Kids Fought Plastic Pollution-and Won - YES! Magazine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At age 22, on an expedition in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Kristal Ambrose witnessed a horror she couldn't unsee: a vast patch of garbage, made up mostly of plastics. She was onboard the ship of the 5 Gyres Institute, a Los Angles-based nonprofit that studies gyres, ocean currents that trap marine debris.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How much did you leave on your plate last time you ate? A few scrapings? A couple of rogue chips? Or perhaps even a few mouthfuls you were too stuffed to finish off?

It is worth considering, then, that every time you throw leftovers away, you're not just binning tomorrow's lunch - each forkful of food was responsible for greenhouse gas emissions before it even got to your plate. Growing, processing, packaging and transporting the food we eat all contributes to climate change. And then when we throw it away, as it rots it releases yet more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

It has been estimated that if food waste was a country, it would be the third highest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. One third of greenhouse emissions globally come from agriculture, and 30% of the food we produce is wasted - about 1.8 billion tonnes of it a year. If, as a planet, we stopped wasting food altogether, we'd eliminate 8% of our total emissions.

Of course, individual households aren't to blame for all of this waste. A 2018 study found that about a third of our fruit and veg is rejected for being the wrong size or shape before it even reaches the supermarket shelf, for example. ( Read more about how the food chain is being redesigned to cut down on waste.)
You might also like:
● The ethereal art of fog-catching
● The country where unwanted food is selling out
● Why the vegan diet is not always green

Where food is most wasted differs across the world. In low income countries, 40% of food is wasted after it's harvested but before it makes it to people's homes, usually because of a lack of adequate infrastructure. But in middle- and high-income countries, consumers take a bigger slice of the blame: estimates suggest that households are responsible for 53% of all food waste in Europe, and 47% of food waste in Canada.

The reasons for that waste can vary too - in some parts of the world it is considered polite to leave a small amount of food on the plate to show that the host hasn't scrimped on portions. Lack of refrigeration is another major cause of waste. But in many developed countries, easy access to abundant supplies of cheap produce has made consumers less thrifty about what they keep in their fridges and put on their plates.

Quantifying exactly how much food we're wasting at a household level isn't easy, though. Kate Parizeau, an associate professor at the University of Guelph, and colleagues ran a study in Canada that involved digging through all the rubbish generated by 94 families living in Guelph, Ontario. They categorised the food they found based on how edible it was and how much of it there was. They discovered that each family threw out around 3kg of avoidable food waste each week, equivalent to 23.3kg of carbon emissions. Figures for the UK are comparable, with 68kg of food wasted at home each year per person, according to 20 20 data from the British waste and recycling charity W rap.

But not many studies, or indeed individuals, choose to delve this deep into our bins. And when people are asked to record what they waste in diaries, they tend to under report what they are throwing in the bin.

"I don't think people are completely aware of [the climate impacts of food waste]," says Mattias Eriksson, who researches food waste at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala. "But I think the problem is even bigger, because most people, they don't actually waste food, according to themselves."

But a lack of precise data shouldn't stop us trying to tackle the problem, says Parizeau. "We know just by the audits that we've done, it is excessive," she says. "There's so much edible food that ends up in the trash."

By simply rethinking how you shop and cook, in most high income countries at least, it should be possible to reduce the amount we waste and so lessen our contribution to climate change.

"We know that there's a whole bunch we can do at the household level," says Parizeau.

Anne-Marie Bonneau, a book editor based in California and author of the Zero Waste Chef blog, started thinking seriously about food waste after learning that up to 40% of the food produced in the US isn't eaten. "My mouth fell open," she says.

Now, Bonneau estimates that she's cut her food waste to almost zero, composting scraps like tea leaves, eggshells and citrus peels, and using up everything else. "I try to keep our inventory small enough that I don't throw out food, and large enough that we have enough food to eat," she says. "If I can't get to something before it will go south, I freeze it."

Achieving that level of waste reduction isn't easy, but Bonneau recommends starting with a few simple steps. If you can't already cook, she says, learn to make some simple meals, like soups. Then, start checking what you have at home already before going to buy ingredients. "Instead of surfing the internet and finding a recipe that looks good or going through cookbooks, first look at the food you have on hand," she says.

This suggestion is also backed by research. "Checking inventory is a big one," says Parizeau. "Often people will have habitual shopping habits. You go to the store, you buy a loaf of bread every week - but maybe you already have some in the freezer."

Another effective way to reduce food waste is planning ahead, she adds. When people make shopping lists and meal plans, and stick to those, "that does seem to have a relationship to the amount of food waste" they produce.

Once using up what you already have becomes second nature, you could be saving not just carbon emissions, but potentially time and money, too, by avoiding the need to run to the shops each time you cook dinner. "It's so satisfying when I make a meal out of almost nothing," says Bonneau.

Of course, for some of us cooking from scratch and even keeping track of the food already in our fridge is not that easy. "We know there are many reasons why people aren't able to reduce their food waste," says Parizeau. Some people want to provide abundance for their families by having a well-stocked fridge, others might be overly-cautious when it comes to food safety and discard food they deem too old, while many people simply struggle to find the time to plan meals at all.

To tackle some of these barriers, Parizeau recently worked on a cookbook featuring food waste-reducing recipes that use, for example, a whole head of cauliflower rather than half of one, to avoid leaving people with leftover vegetables that will eventually turn nasty and need to be thrown away. Other recipes can be adapted to whatever vegetables you have on hand.

But not all food waste is equal when it comes to carbon emissions. Meat and dairy products have much higher carbon emissions than fruit and veg etables, so reducing the amount of meat you waste will have a bigger impact than cutting down on throwing out carrots.

A 2018 study found that fresh vegetables and salad make up 25% of edible household food waste in the UK, for example, but only account for 12% of the greenhouse gas emissions from wasted food. On the other hand, meat and fish account for just 8% of wasted food but 19% of emissions.

Similarly, a 2015 study on food waste in Swedish supermarkets found that, though the fruit and vegetable department account for 85% of food wasted by mass over a three year period, that food only made up 46% of the total carbon footprint from wasted food. Meanwhile, meat made up 3.5% of the total mass of food that was discarded, but 29% of the carbon footprint.

"If you want to reduce carbon footprint then beef will be a real target product," says Eriksson. "There you have super concentrated emissions, so you have a lot of emissions in a few kilos of food waste."

With this in mind, it's worth remembering that consumption and waste go hand in hand, says Eriksson. "If you consume a lot, you probably also waste more of that product," he says. "A vegetarian will not waste any beef, for example, for obvious reasons."

How you throw your food away also matters. Organic matter rotting in a landfill releases methane, a greenhouse gas several times more potent than carbon dioxide. But if you compost your leftovers in a well-maintained bin that lets in oxygen, you'll significantly reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere and the carbon in the composting organic matter will be held in the resulting soil.

One study estimated that the greenhouse gas emissions from composting are just 14% of the same food dumped into landfill, while Mattias's own work found the emissions vary depending on the food, but composting bread, for example, would release just 2.2% of the emissions from putting it in landfill. Project Drawdown, a research organisation that identifies potential solutions to climate change, estimates that if composting levels worldwide increased, we could reduce emissions by 2.1 billion tonnes by 2050.

"The low hanging fruit in the food system is to move from landfill to anything else," says Eriksson. "Home composting, anaerobic digestion, incineration, whatever you do, everything is better than landfill." While there are environmental differences between those other disposal methods, the magnitude is much smaller. So if your leftovers currently go in the bin, it's worth considering whether you can change that.

If you don't have a garden at home, you could check whether you can get your food waste collected from your home for industrial composting instead. The UK has set out plans to offer weekly food waste collections by 2023, for example, and many local authorities already do so to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfill. In some countries, like Denmark, sending organic waste to landfill is already banned.

Still, the biggest change most people in high income countries could make is to stop buying too much food in the first place, says Eriksson. Eventually, a reduction in demand could lead us to a system where we no longer produce more food than we need. "For most people, at least in the Western world, consuming less will be something that they can actually contribute with," says Eriksson. "It is our consumption that drives the whole problem."

If your own contribution to that problem seems like a drop in the ocean, don't think of your actions in isolation. "As people start to care more about food waste in their household, they become more informed citizens," says Parizeau. "They ask questions about how the food system works, and they ask for regulation to reduce waste across the entire system."

It may take some effort, but cutting the amount of food you throw away can have a real impact on the planet.

--
Smart Guide to Climate Change
For most BBC Future readers, the question of whether climate change is happening is no longer something that needs to be asked. Instead, there is now growing concern about what each of us as individuals can do about it. This new series, our Smart Guide to Climate Change, uses scientific research and data to break down the most effective strategies each of us can take to shrink our carbon footprint.
-- Join one million Future fans by liking us on If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called "The Essential List". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. Facebook, or follow us on Twitter or Instagram.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How cutting your food waste can help the climate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
All food generates greenhouse gases to reach our plates, but when nearly a third of it is thrown away or wasted, does that mean we could be doing more to protect the climate?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The True Cost of Fast Fashion | EcoSense for Living | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Journalist, fashion lover, and expert shopper Elizabeth Cline walks us through her journey to discover the high environmental and human cost of the fashion industry, while sharing tips for how to better "shop for the planet."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Americans love online retail - the channel grew by 16% last year in the US, while all retail rose 3.8%. We love the speed and convenience. We love the 'just-got-a-gift' feeling of boxes turning up on our doorstep. We love Amazon too - one fan back in 2014 remarking, "I'm in a monogamous relationship with #amazonprime." But love, as they say, is blind. And as consumers, we turn a blind eye to the environmental cost of online retail, particularly when it comes to packaging.

As reported in Fast Company, about 165 billion packages are shipped in the US each year, with the cardboard used roughly equating to more than 1 billion trees (that's billion with a 'b'). If you look specifically at meal-kits, category leader Blue Apron sends out around 8 million meals a month, each one containing two six-pound ice packs. The freezer pack waste is about 192,000 tons per year, or, as Mother Jones noted, "the weight of nearly 100,000 cars or 2 million adult men."

Generally speaking, we are drowning in a sea of packaging waste, and too much of it is ending up in the ocean. A recent campaign from Lonely Whale and Point Break Foundation claims that by the year 2025, there will be 1 tonne (a metric ton) of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish in the ocean. (It gets worse - the United Nations tells us that by 2050 there will be more plastic waste than fish.) Online retail is certainly not responsible for all that trash - but it sure doesn't help.

An article by Pam Baker on "E-commerce packaging waste becoming a bigger issue" helps to unpack the problem. Prior to the Internet, the logistics for traditional retail were simple and linear - goods were shipped in bulk to a warehouse and then to the store. The system for e-commerce is much more complex, and involves many more hands. As a 2017 white paper entitled "Optimizing Packaging for an E-commerce World" reminds us, e-commerce has about four times as many touch-points as regular retail, and shipments are broken down into individual packages for delivery.

Retailers also want to ensure that goods arrive in perfect condition - and that can result in over-packaging. The average box is "dropped 17 times", according to ANAMA Package and Container Testing owner, Anton Cotaj. So that's why you can receive a small package inside a relatively large box filled with "air-bags". It means that the retailer is literally "shipping air", as the director of packaging program at Rutgers University, Hae Chang Gea, puts it. Effective, but wasteful.

It seems that both shoppers and retailers are starting to wake up to the packaging issue. Consumers are getting the guilts. A 2016 New York Times article chronicles the "guilt and frustration" and sheer embarrassment of recycling all those boxes as part of the "cardboard economy". Amazon has a "Frustration-Free Packaging Program" designed to "produce less waste and put an end to 'wrap rage'." Envelopes have replaced boxes for smaller shipments, and a system has been introduced to ship products in their original packaging, rather than doubling up. Amazon also asks constantly for "packaging feedback" after shipping items, and if a comment is sufficiently pointed, will pull "the Andon cord" to stop a product from letting down another customer. Amazon claims to have cut nearly a quarter of a million tons of packaging materials from 2007 to 2017, "avoiding 500 million shipping boxes".

Other big retailers appear to be similarly motivated - no doubt partially to anticipate backlash. Walmart has a "Sustainable Packaging Playbook". In China, e-comm giant Alibaba and L'Oreal are partnering on "green packaging". (Watch this space: brand and retailer packaging partnership initiatives will start coming thick and fast.)

Start-ups are popping up in the field of responsible packaging. Limeloop is pioneering durable shipping pouches that are recycled from billboard wraps and intended to be reused as many as 2,000 times. Co-founder Ashley Etling says it is "essential we reimagine the packaging experience" for an e-commerce economy. A European company called Repack not only promotes re-use but has a reward model, offering an incentive for customers to return the packaging rather than toss it in the trash.

Other entrepreneurs are opening outlets boasting zero waste. Lauren Singer, author of the blog "Trash is for Tossers" has set up Package Free Shop, which ships completely plastic free, re-using the boxes they have in their inventory. Ex-Amazon employee Tamara Lim is establishing The Wally Shop, with fresh food items to be delivered in reusable containers.

Online retail is only going to get bigger. Amazon alone sold 100 million products on Prime Day, and shipped over 5 billion items through Prime last year. Brand-owners, retailers and plain old consumers alike all need to take responsibility for reducing the packaging impact on the environment. Otherwise, just as in Pixar's Wall-E, we will wind up suffocating in garbage.

... Read More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What A Waste: Online Retail's Big Packaging Problem

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Americans love online retail - the channel grew by 16% last year in the US, while all retail rose 3.8%. We love the speed and convenience. We love the 'just-got-a-gift' feeling of boxes turning up on our doorstep. We love Amazon too - one fan back in 2014 remarking, "I'm in a monogamous relationship with #amazonprime."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Americans are consuming more and more stuff. Now that other countries won't take our papers and plastics, they're ending up in the trash.

Robert Galbraith / Reuters

After decades of earnest public-information campaigns, Americans are finally recycling. Airports, malls, schools, and office buildings across the country have bins for plastic bottles and aluminum cans and newspapers. In some cities, you can be fined if inspectors discover that you haven't recycled appropriately.

But now much of that carefully sorted recycling is ending up in the trash.

For decades, we were sending the bulk of our recycling to China-tons and tons of it, sent over on ships to be made into goods such as shoes and bags and new plastic products. But last year, the country restricted imports of certain recyclables, including mixed paper-magazines, office paper, junk mail-and most plastics. Waste-management companies across the country are telling towns, cities, and counties that there is no longer a market for their recycling. These municipalities have two choices: pay much higher rates to get rid of recycling, or throw it all away.

Most are choosing the latter. "We are doing our best to be environmentally responsible, but we can't afford it," said Judie Milner, the city manager of Franklin, New Hampshire. Since 2010, Franklin has offered curbside recycling and encouraged residents to put paper, metal, and plastic in their green bins. When the program launched, Franklin could break even on recycling by selling it for $6 a ton. Now, Milner told me, the transfer station is charging the town $125 a ton to recycle, or $68 a ton to incinerate. One-fifth of Franklin's residents live below the poverty line, and the city government didn't want to ask them to pay more to recycle, so all those carefully sorted bottles and cans are being burned. Milner hates knowing that Franklin is releasing toxins into the environment, but there's not much she can do. "Plastic is just not one of the things we have a market for," she said.

The same thing is happening across the country. Broadway, Virginia, had a recycling program for 22 years, but recently suspended it after Waste Management told the town that prices would increase by 63 percent, and then stopped offering recycling pickup as a service. "It almost feels illegal, to throw plastic bottles away," the town manager, Kyle O'Brien, told me.

Without a market for mixed paper, bales of the stuff started to pile up in Blaine County, Idaho; the county eventually stopped collecting it and took the 35 bales it had hoped to recycle to a landfill. The town of Fort Edward, New York, suspended its recycling program in July and admitted it had actually been taking recycling to an incinerator for months. Determined to hold out until the market turns around, the nonprofit Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful has collected 400,000 tons of plastic. But for now, it is piling the bales behind the facility where it collects plastic.

This end of recycling comes at a time when the United States is creating more waste than ever. In 2015, the most recent year for which national data are available, America generated 262.4 million tons of waste, up 4.5 percent from 2010 and 60 percent from 1985. That amounts to nearly five pounds per person a day. New York City collected 934 tons of metal, plastic, and glass a day from residents last year, a 33 percent increase from 2013.
Read: 'We are all accumulating mountains of things'
For a long time, Americans have had little incentive to consume less. It's inexpensive to buy products, and it's even cheaper to throw them away at the end of their short lives. But the costs of all this garbage are growing, especially now that bottles and papers that were once recycled are now ending up in the trash.

One of those costs is environmental: When organic waste sits in a landfill, it decomposes, emitting methane, which is bad for the climate-landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions in the country. Burning plastic may create some energy, but it also produces carbon emissions. And while many incineration facilities bill themselves as "waste to energy" plants, studies have found that they release more harmful chemicals, such as mercury and lead, into the air per unit of energy than do coal plants.

And as cities are now learning, the other cost is financial. The United States still has a fair amount of landfill space left, but it's getting expensive to ship waste hundreds of miles to those landfills. Some dumps are raising costs to deal with all this extra waste; according to one estimate, along the West Coast, landfill fees increased by $8 a ton from 2017 to 2018. Some of these costs are already being passed on to consumers, but most haven't-yet.

Americans are going to have to come to terms with a new reality: All those toothpaste tubes and shopping bags and water bottles that didn't exist 50 years ago need to go somewhere, and creating this much waste has a price we haven't had to pay so far. "We've had an ostrich-in-the-sand approach to the entire system," said Jeremy O'Brien, director of applied research at the Solid Waste Association of North America, a trade association. "We're producing a lot of waste ourselves, and we should take care of it ourselves."

As the trash piles up, American cities are scrambling to figure out what to do with everything they had previously sent to China. But few businesses want it domestically, for one very big reason: Despite all those advertising campaigns, Americans are terrible at recycling.

About 25 percent of what ends up in the blue bins is contaminated, according to the National Waste & Recycling Association. For decades, we've been throwing just about whatever we wanted-wire hangers and pizza boxes and ketchup bottles and yogurt containers-into the bin and sending it to China, where low-paid workers sorted through it and cleaned it up. That's no longer an option. And in the United States, at least, it rarely makes sense to employ people to sort through our recycling so that it can be made into new material, because virgin plastics and paper are still cheaper in comparison.

Even in San Francisco, often lauded for its environmentalism, waste-management companies struggle to keep recycling uncontaminated. I visited a state-of-the-art facility operated by San Francisco's recycling provider, Recology, where million-dollar machines separate aluminum from paper from plastic from garbage. But as the Recology spokesman Robert Reed walked me through the plant, he kept pointing out nonrecyclables gumming up the works. Workers wearing masks and helmets grabbed laundry baskets off a fast-moving conveyor belt of cardboard as some non-cardboard items escaped their gloved hands. Recology has to stop another machine twice a day so a technician can pry plastic bags from where they've clogged up the gear.

Cleaning up recycling means employing people to slowly go through materials, which is expensive. Jacob Greenberg, a commissioner in Blaine County, Idaho, told me that the county's mixed-paper recycling was about 90 percent clean. But its paper broker said the mixed paper needed to be 99 percent clean for anyone to buy it, and elected officials didn't want to hike fees to get there. "At what point do you feel like you're spending more money than what it takes for people to feel good about recycling?" he said.

Then there's the challenge of educating people about what can and can't be recycled, even as the number of items they touch on a daily basis grows. Americans tend to be "aspirational" about their recycling, tossing an item in the blue bin because it makes them feel less guilty about consuming it and throwing it away. Even in San Francisco, Reed kept pointing out items that aren't easily recyclable but that keep showing up at the Recology plant: soy-sauce packets and pizza boxes, candy-bar wrappers and dry-cleaner bags, the lids of to-go coffee cups and plastic take-out containers.

If we can somehow figure out how to better sort recycling, some U.S. markets for plastics and paper may emerge. But selling it domestically will still be harder than it would be in a place such as China, where a booming manufacturing sector has constant demand for materials. The viability of recycling varies tremendously by locale; San Francisco can recycle its glass back into bottles in six weeks, according to Recology, while many other cities are finding that glass is so heavy and breaks so easily that it is nearly impossible to truck it to a place that will recycle it. Akron, Ohio, is just one of many cities that have ended glass recycling since the China policy changes.

For now, it's still often cheaper for companies to manufacture using new materials than recycled ones. Michael Rohwer, a director at Business for Social Responsibility, works with companies that try to be more environmentally friendly. He told me that recycled plastic costs pennies more than new plastic, and those pennies add up when you're manufacturing millions of items. Items made of different types of plastic nearly always end up in the trash, because recyclers can't separate the plastics from one another-Reed equates it with trying to get the sugar and eggs out of a cake after you've baked it. But because companies don't bear the costs of disposal, they have no incentive to manufacture products out of material that will be easier to recycle.

The best way to fix recycling is probably persuading people to buy less stuff, which would also have the benefit of reducing some of the upstream waste created when products are made. But that's a hard sell in the United States, where consumer spending accounts for 68 percent of the GDP. The strong economy means more people have more spending money, too, and often the things they buy, such as new phones, and the places they shop, such as Amazon, are designed to sell them even more things. The average American spent 7 percent more on food and 8 percent more on personal-care products and services in 2017 than in 2016, according to government data.
Read: The Amazon selling machine
Some places are still trying to get people to buy less. The city of San Francisco, for instance, is trying to get residents to think of a fourth r beyond "reduce, reuse, and recycle"-"refuse." It wants people to be smarter about what they purchase, avoiding plastic bottles and straws and other disposable goods. But it's been tough in a place centered on acquiring the newest technology. "This is our big challenge: How do you take a culture like San Francisco and get people excited about less?" Debbie Raphael, the director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment, told me. The city passed an ordinance that required that 10 percent of beverages sold be available in reusable containers, and it is trying to make reuse "hip" through an online campaign and dedicated website, Raphael said. San Francisco and other Bay Area cities have banned plastic bags and plastic straws, but that option isn't available in many other parts of the country, where recently passed state laws prevent cities from banning products.

But even in San Francisco, the most careful consumers still generate a lot of waste. Plastic clamshell containers are difficult to recycle because the material they're made of is so flimsy-but it's hard to find berries not sold in those containers, even at most farmers' markets. Go into a Best Buy or Target in San Francisco to buy headphones or a charger, and you'll still end up with plastic packaging to throw away. Amazon has tried to reduce waste by sending products in white and blue plastic envelopes, but when I visited the Recology plant, they littered the floor because they're very hard to recycle. Even at Recology, an employee-owned company that benefits when people recycle well, the hurdles to getting rid of plastics were evident. Reed chided me for eating my daily Chobani yogurt out of small, five-ounce containers rather than out of big, 32-ounce tubs, but I saw a five-ounce Yoplait container in a trash can of the control room of the Recology plant. While there, Reed handed me a pair of small orange earplugs meant to protect my ears from the noise of the plant. They were wrapped in a type of flimsy plastic that is nearly impossible to recycle. When I left the plant, I kept the earplugs and the plastic in my bag, not sure what to do with them. Eventually, I threw them in the trash.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Alana Semuels is a former staff writer at The Atlantic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Americans are consuming more and more stuff. Now that other countries won't take our papers and plastics, they're ending up in the trash. After decades of earnest public-information campaigns, Americans are finally recycling. Airports, malls, schools, and office buildings across the country have bins for plastic bottles and aluminum cans and newspapers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Visit Our Recycling Education Center in Brooklyn

Interested in seeing what actually happens to recyclables beyond the bin?

View the largest sorting system of its kind in the country from an elevated observation deck and bridge overlook. Discover the expansive system of equipment which sorts hundreds of tons of metal, glass, and plastic each day. Explore the 8,000 square foot Recycling Education Center with interactive displays, engaging activities, and informational videos. The REC includes a theater, lunch space, and outdoor patio with views of the NYC skyline. See sustainability in action with the city's only commercial-scale wind turbine, native plants, stormwater management, and marine habitats.

The Recycling Education Center is open Monday-Friday, 10 am to 5 pm, by appointment only.

We offer a range of tour options for school groups, adult groups, and individuals through our online calendar. Due to popularity, booking 2 to 3 months ahead is recommended. Wheel-chair accessible, parking available on-site.

All tours are guided by a Sims recycling expert and include the opportunity for extensive Q&A.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Recycling Education Center (REC) in New York City

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
SMR is dedicated to educating the public about the benefits of recycling. We offer free tours of our Sunset Park recycling facility in Brooklyn for school groups, adult groups and colleges. Designed with public education in mind, including safe access for visitors to view and learn about the recycling process.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Take your educational career to the next level with MFTA's studio-style Professional Development courses and workshops.

Our classes provide educators with the insight and tools to integrate the arts across the curriculum. MFTA's unique approach to Creative REuse which combines hands on art making with supporting your students' growth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
MFTA's Online Education Center - Materials for the Arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Take your educational career to the next level with MFTA's studio-style Professional Development courses and workshops. Our classes provide educators with the insight and tools to integrate the arts across the curriculum. MFTA's unique approach to Creative REuse which combines hands on art making with supporting your students' growth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
FOR TEACHERS AND PROFESSORS:

*Pre-select and reserve required fabric/material for your students*
If a planned assignment requires specific fabrics or materials, our team will work with you to curate an online selection reserved just for your class. Simply fill out this Google Form.At the end of the form, there is a Calendly link to make a video appointment time to review fabric options, but please do not forget to still hit "Submit" on the Google Form. **Please submit a separate Google Form for each assignment/project/class.** Questions? Email fabric[@]fabscrap.org.

*Have FABSCRAP guest lecture on textile waste and sustainability*
Via Zoom! We'll review some of the effects of the fashion industry on our environment, particularly from textile waste going to landfill or incineration, and explain FABSCRAP's role as a service and resource. To arrange a date and time, email education[@]fabscrap.org.

FOR STUDENTS:

You can still access saved-from-landfill fabrics! Find them via:

Our Online Store ships domestically (curbside pickup is available as well). We upload new fabrics, trims, leathers, and yarn cones every two weeks!

In-Person Shopping: at our Shop in Manhattan and at our Warehouse in Brooklyn (appointments needed for our Brooklyn location, sign-up for an appointment here).

Virtual Appointments are held via Google Hangouts and are a perfect option for those located outside of New York who need to purchase a higher quantity of fabric, or for local shoppers who would prefer a contact-less shopping experience for curbside pickup. Minimum purchase of $50 required. Sign-up for a virtual appointment here.

Volunteer to learn more about fabrics, explore circularity in fashion, support our mission, and get 5 pounds of fabric for FREE. Signe up to volunteer here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Pre-select and reserve required fabric/material for your students* If a planned assignment requires specific fabrics or materials, our team will work with you to curate an online selection reserved just for your class.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A network of partners committed to nourishing healthy and thriving communities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Community Food Advocates | New York City

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fighting against hunger and poverty in New York City. Access to nutritious food is a basic income and food equity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Coalition for the Homeless is the nation's oldest advocacy and direct service organization helping homeless individuals in New York City.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn more about The Bowery Mission’s holistic approach to helping men and women experiencing homelessness.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We provide youth with quality services in an LGBTQ+ affirming environment. Given the discrimination and harassment that so many of these young adults face, they need comprehensive support to develop pride and security in their LGBTQ+ identities. At AFC, we approach each young person with respect and sensitivity- to develop trust first so we can help get their life back on track.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We provide youth with quality services in an LGBTQ+ affirming environment. Given the discrimination and harassment that so many of these young adults face, they need comprehensive support to develop pride and security in their LGBTQ+ identities. At AFC, we approach each young person with respect and sensitivity- to develop trust first so we can help get their life back on track.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Breaking Ground's mission is to strengthen individuals, families and communities by developing and sustaining exceptional supportive and affordable housing as well as programs for homeless and other vulnerable New Yorkers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At a time when homelessness has reached record proportions, being homeless has been politicized and criminalized by this New York City Police Department, while the mainstream press has demonized these homeless New Yorkers. As a result, in every venue where law enforcement agents and the homeless interact it becomes a potential powder keg, and breeds potential police brutality.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Please note, our in-shelter Community Kids programming (including care center tours, classroom visits, and Books with Boroughbreds) is currently on hold. But there are still ways kids can help animals in need! Please see below for some projects that can be done from home, as well as humane education resources.

If you're interested in having an ACC representative "visit" your school or organization, please fill out this form requesting a virtual presentation and we'll get in touch soon!

Love animals? Interested in learning more about what we do? Want to help end animal homelessness in NYC? You're in the right place! Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC) invites compassionate New Yorkers of all ages to get involved. We're happy to give group tours of our care centers as well as visit classrooms, and we welcome student projects that support animals in need. Volunteers who work hands-on with dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs have to be at least 18, but there are lots of ways kids and teens can make a difference for animals at ACC and in the larger community.

Are you looking for a way to draw attention to our pets from home?

For centuries, artists have used their skills to inspire people to take action. For years, ACC has been using profile pictures to help potential adopters get to know each of our individual animals. By drawing a one-of-a-kind profile portrait for an animal up for adoption, you can help inspire someone to add a new pet to their family. Talk about a masterpiece!

Take a look through our website or app to find an animal you think could use an awesome portrait and then send a photo of your artwork to us at CommunityOutreach@nycacc.org.

Be sure to include the animal's name and ID number. We will limit submissions to one drawing per family and we can include up to three portraits per animal in their adoption profile, but all submissions can be featured and shared on our social media.

Together we can create something beautiful!

Sign up for the Pawprint!

Want to join ACC in encouraging and empowering the next generation of animal advocates? Sign up for the Pawprint, an e-newsletter specifically for educators, students and families! Each month we'll share animal-related activities, resources and more.

We strive to keep our cats, dogs and rabbits as comfortable as possible while they're at the care center-a strange environment, to be sure, compared with a permanent home-and toys can go a long way toward relieving their understandable stress, as well as keeping them entertained. And who doesn't appreciate a soft, cozy spot to cuddle up on?

The more comfortable animals are at ACC, the better chance they have of being adopted. Our own Behavior & Enrichment staff members regularly make toys for our animals, and they can always use your help!

Below are some suggestions for items that you can make. Drop them off at any ACC location and shelter animals and humans alike will be grateful!

Pipe Cleaner Feather Toys
Twist one end of a pipe cleaner (or two) around a couple of feathers. The pipe cleaner can then be attached to a cat's cage, so that the feathers hang down and tempt the cat-a hunter, after all!-and can amuse him or her for hours.

Hay Rolls for Rabbits
Have some cardboard paper towel rolls lying around? Cut them in half, stuff them with hay and voilà, toys for our bunnies! (Don't have hay? You can still drop off the paper towel rolls at ACC, and we'll add the hay).

ACC is a nonprofit organization, and with tens of thousands of animals coming through our doors each year, we can always use supplies such as carriers, blankets, towels, toys, kitten food and much more. Check out our Wish Lists here and here, then organize a collection drive in your school, apartment building, or community center.

Once the drive wraps up, you can drop off donations at any one of our locations or send them to Animal Care Centers of NYC, ATTN: Development Department, 11 Park Place, Suite 805, New York, NY 10007. Please be sure to include your contact information, so we can thank you with a certificate of appreciation!

* Please email donate@nycacc.org with any questions and to run your collection drive flyer by us. Any use of ACC's name, logo, photographs, images, or language must be approved in advance.

ACC, a nonprofit, relies on donations to help us go above and beyond our contracted animal care services. Lemonade stands, bake sales, walk-a-thons, car washes, raffles... There are lots of ways you can raise funds for ACC animals! Some animal lovers put together events, and others ask for donations instead of birthday gifts. You might offer to walk people's dogs or pet-sit when they go on vacation and donate the money to help homeless animals.

If you're planning a fundraising event or activity in support of ACC, please let us know! We'd love to share info about it, and any use of ACC's name, logo, photographs, images, or language must be approved in advance.

By using our JustGiving site, you can create unique and personalized online fundraising events to support the many boroughbreds in our care. Whether you're hosting a birthday party or running a race, creating a personalized fundraiser is a great way to raise funds for NYC's shelter animals while also getting your friends and family involved! You can also donate online or send donations to Animal Care Centers of NYC, ATTN: Development Department, 11 Park Place, Suite 805, New York, NY 10007

You can help animals find homes simply by spreading the word to friends, family members and neighbors. Many people aren't aware that there are many great cats, dogs and rabbits available for adoption right here in NYC.

Share profiles of animals available for adoption
Animals available for adoption at ACC have individual profiles, and you can share them on your social media pages by checking out ourAdoption Search page. Our free mobile adoption app, "ACC of NYC," also makes a posting, tweeting and texting about available animals easy as ACC! You can download the app and start sending adorable animal photos and videos to friends today. The app also provides details about upcoming adoption events across the city.

Share ACC flyers in your building and community
We bring our Mobile Adoption Centers to neighborhoods throughout the city, and we often have adoption specials with reduced or waived fees. Help us spread the word by posting theseprintable flyers in your neighborhood.

Please ask for permission to post a flyer in a store or veterinarian's window and/or leave a few copies on their counter. We'd love to hear how this goes! Please email CommunityOutreach@nycacc.org to tell us which places you've visited that have agreed to display or distribute the flyer.

We humans can do a lot to help prevent animals from becoming homeless in the first place. Help spread the word about steps people can take to reduce animal homelessness:

Discuss the importance of spay/neuter

Kittens and puppies are cute, but too often they're born with no place to go, or brought to shelters once they get big. Pet guardians can have their female pets spayed and their male pets neutered to prevent litters from being born and countless animals from becoming homeless.

With so many animals already coming into shelters, spaying or neutering pets is essential. You can learn more about ithere and here then encourage others to make sure their pets have had the surgery. If anyone you know has any questions about getting their pets spayed or neutered, they can email ACC staff at admissions@nycacc.org.

Share information about dog licenses

One of the best ways we can reunite people with their lost dogs is through dog licenses, which are actually required by law in New York State. If one of our Animal Rescue Specialists finds a stray dog with a license, they'll give him or her a free ride home! You can find out more about dog licenses and apply for or renew onehere.

Encourage people to make sure their pets are vaccinated

Vaccinations are important for our animal companions, just like they are for us. You can share thisinformation on vaccinations, and direct people to ACC's free vaccination clinics in the Bronx (they can email communitypets@nycacc.org for more information) or the NYC Health Department's. If anyone has any questions about vaccinations for their animals, or is looking for information on low-cost veterinary care, they can email admissions@nycacc.org.

Alert people to available resources

Know someone who's having an issue with their pet? Anyone facing challenges keeping their pets can contact our surrender prevention team, who may be able to connect them with resources tohelp them keep their pet. You can also share these behavior flyers.

Animals at the shelter (Boroughbreds, as we call them at ACC) are in a new, unfamiliar place and maybe shy and scared. By reading to them in a calm, comforting voice, we hope to make them feel more relaxed. We can show animals who may be afraid of humans that they don't need to be. Even though they don't understand words, they can understand our tone of voice and appreciate our company. If you're too young to join our adult volunteer program, consider becoming a Books with Boroughbreds junior volunteer!

Before you start reading to cats, rabbits, and dogs at ACC, we ask that you attend an orientation to learn about our organization and what you'll be doing as a Books with Boroughbreds volunteer. We'll give you a tour of the care center, show you where you'll be reading, talk about animal body language and answer any questions you may have.

While Books with Boroughbreds is currently on hold, we are excited to welcome new volunteers to our team when it's back up and running. Please ask a parent/guardian to fill out this interest form so that we can reach out to you and your family in the future.

This program is open to animal lovers five years old and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Humane Education Resources

ACC takes in more than 25,000 animals each year. Every day is different, but that averages out to about 70 animals a day!

As an open-admissions shelter, ACC is open to animals of all kinds, conditions, and backgrounds

Animals come to ACC for many reasons - some were found as strays, others used to live in homes but their families were unable to keep them

In addition to promoting adoption, ACC helps people keep their pets so animals don't have to come to the shelter in the first place

"Hearts and Paws," the episode of the national PBS series "Shelter Me" that featured ACC and premiered in 2016, is available online!

If you're looking for a classroom or after-school activity, check it out to see award-winning artist and animal advocate Patrick McDonnell, creator of the MUTTS comic strip, turn his experience at ACC into a week's worth of "Shelter Stories." Then you might...

Make your own comic strip! Draw a shelter animal's story.

Write a short story about an animal who comes to a shelter.

Share your comics and stories with ACC! We just may share them on our social media channels. Please email them to us at CommunityOutreach@nycacc.org.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
animal care and control of new york city

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Please note, our in-shelter Community Kids programming (including care center tours, classroom visits, and Books with Boroughbreds) is currently on hold. But there are still ways kids can help animals in need! Please see below for some projects that can be done from home, as well as humane education resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Here we are, over a year into this painful and terrible time, but we are slowly coming through it. The Society has gone to great lengths and taken every precaution to keep our staff and everyone safe. We have been steadily busy, as our doors have remained open every day. No matter what is going on around them, the animals still need medical care and comfort.

People from all walks of life have suddenly found themselves with no income. For the first time they have had to ask for help for their pets, which we try very hard to provide to all who turn to us.

This is the box she was found in

As we pause and reflect on the hundreds of animals that we treated this year, we choose to share two stories of a dog and a cat. We want to think of the kindhearted man who was walking his dog in the rain and heard mewing sounds coming from a pile of garbage. His dog was barking and laser-focused on a certain spot. The man knew there was a live animal in there. He called his friend who was a cat rescuer, and she came over right away.

The woman started digging through the debris and followed the sounds to one large black trash bag. Inside the bag was a litter box with a lid. The opening where a cat could go in or out had been sealed with a piece of cardboard. Duct tape was wrapped round and round the plastic box from top to bottom, making sure that it would not open.

The woman tore off the cardboard to find a black-and-white cat sitting in an inch of water. The woman was amazed at how friendly she was. This sweet old cat, someone's pet, was simply put outside for sanitation to take her away.

Instead of taking her to a vet or surrendering her to a shelter, the person chose to put her in the garbage.

The cat was in terrible condition. Her fur was mostly hard clumps of matted hair, soaked in urine. The woman took her right away to another animal hospital. They did some testing, put the cat on pain medication and ultimately recommended that she bring the cat to us. We did a medical workup, and an abdominal ultrasound revealed an inoperable situation. It is heartbreaking to say that we were presented with a terminally ill animal.

We didn't even know the poor cat's name.

We wish we could say that she had a happy ending. It was upsetting for all of us to deal with. To honor her memory, we chose to tell her story. She deserved a gentler and softer world. We were consoled that we were at least able to provide her some care and affection in her last days.

COVID Services

As the Covid-19 situation evolves we at the Humane Society of New York must take important steps to ensure the health of our patients, our staff and the community. We are notifying you that we are significantly restricting access to the hospital as part of our commitment to deliver medical care.

Our hospital remains open for urgent cases and wellness appointments.

For safety measures, no one other than staff is allowed to enter our building, and clients must wear face masks. We are taking pets at the front door and speaking to their owners on their phones during the exams.

We have introduced telemedicine as another choice of service.

Our Adoption Department is closed to the public. Adoptions are by appointment only. We invite you to complete an application online.

This protocol will continue for the foreseeable future. We apologize for any inconvenience this disaster policy may cause, and we hope you understand we did not make these decisions lightly or without considerable thought. These are difficult but necessary steps intended to keep everyone safe as we manage the Covid-19 crisis.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here we are, over a year into this painful and terrible time, but we are slowly coming through it. The Society has gone to great lengths and taken every precaution to keep our staff and everyone safe. We have been steadily busy, as our doors have remained open every day.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
BARC's mission is to provide a safe haven for abandoned animals and to find permanent loving homes for them. We provide them with quality food, shelter, medical attention, and the love they deserve.

To read about BARC's adopted animals' happy beginnings in their new furever homes,
please click the button below.

BARC Shelter is equipped with a new PetAirapy system.
Read below to see how our animals are
​protected from epidemics!

To protect the animals in our care , PetAirapy has led the way in cleaning or sanitizing the air and surfaces with a number of upper air systems, as well as Independent EPA approved laboratory test results show that PetAirapy UVGI had over 99.9% kill rate against zoonotic pathogens. HVAC systems that clear away germs, bacteria and viruses such as Distemper, MRSA, Canine Parvovirus, and so many more. Within minutes, our building and other areas of concern have been sanitized, disinfected and made safe for you and the animals.

HOW UVGI WORKS: UVGI works as a mutagen to bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms on a cellular level, penetrating the cell wall. This disrupts the microorganism DNA, breaking the carbon bond, which causes the death of the cell and/or renders it helpless.
PetAirapy's air purification and surface sanitation systems utilize UV-C germicidal energy.

Why utilize UVGI within the animal care industry? UVGI has the ability to
Respiratory infections are easily spread through the air and you want to inactivate airborne viruses and bacteria as quickly and as effectively as possible - Ultra Violet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) systems have proven that they are capable of doing this again and again.

kill the microbes that are known to cause:
Canine Influenza
Canine Parvovirus
Feline Calicivirus
Kennel Cough (Canine Cough) Canine Distemper

​FAQ
Is UV light safe for animals and humans?
YES! PetAirapy's UVGI air systems are designed to be installed within your HVAC system or away from animal or human's direct visibility. Surface disinfection units have a delayed start timer on them allowing ample time to leave the room and close the door before illuminating.
What makes PetAirapy's UVGI different?
PetAirapy specializes exclusively in the animal care industry. Collaborating with reputable microbiologists and mechanical engineers, we developed an exclusive sizing method to deliver the correct amount of UV dosage or energy needed to quickly kill over 99.9% of zoonotic pathogens that can harm the animals in your care.
Do PetAirapy systems help control odor?
​ YES! VOC's and odors that are suspended in the air will become neutralized as it passes over our UV lamps and Photo Catalytic Oxidation (PCO) grills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
BARC's mission is to provide a safe haven for abandoned animals and to find permanent loving homes for them. We provide them with quality food, shelter, medical attention, and the love they deserve. To read about BARC's adopted animals' happy beginnings in their new furever homes, please click the button below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our goal is to improve access to, and availability of services that enable Older New Yorkers to live, work and age in their community of choice.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Have a question? Give us a call on the Senior Planet NYC hotline: (917) 936-4410

Free

- EDT

Online

End your week with a fun dance party! Hosted by Senior Planet NYC.

Free

- EDT

|Recurring Event (See all)

An event every week that begins at 12:00am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, repeating until 09/30/2021

Online

Start your day with a short morning stretch. Hosted by Senior Planet NYC

Free

- EDT

Online / By Phone

This lecture offers an overview of Facebook's evolution, its most popular features, and tips for getting in on the action. Hosted by Senior Planet NYC

Free

- EDT

|Recurring Event (See all)

An event every week that begins at 12:00am on Monday and Wednesday, repeating until 09/30/2021

Online

Get your heart pumping during this fun, high-energy workout!

Senior Planet helps seniors learn new skills, save money, get in shape, and make new friends. Our courses, programs, and activities are changing the lives of older adults far beyond technology. Won't you join us?

We read chapters 1- 13 this week. Let's discuss!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Have a question? Give us a call on the Senior Planet NYC hotline: (917) 936-4410 - EDT Online End your week with a fun dance party! Hosted by Senior Planet NYC. - EDT |Recurring Event (See all) An event every week that begins at 12:00am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, repeating until 09/30/2021 Online Start your day with a short morning stretch.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Environmental education
with youth-leadership, citizen science, civic action,
media + arts
​(scroll down to watch the program in action!)

Students collect data, debate the issues, and then take action,
​using their own local data to inform policy!

Watch "Got Reusable Bags?" and see the program in action:

Youth-led Action!

youth-made videos
on Plastic Free Waters

Our students debate, ask questions, collect data, and tell their own powerful stories about how local plastic street litter becomes global toxic marine pollution, threatening our oceans and marine wildlife.

​Cafeteria Culture empowers youth with
the knowledge & tools to design and pilot
community-based solutions
that have a global impact
​to reduce plastics in our waterways.
​

Are there microplastics in the fish we eat?
How do tiny microbeads from our body care products get into the ocean?
​
How does our plastic street litter become deadly marine pollution?

Youth Take Action on the NYC Plastic Bag Bill

Watch:
Global Partnerships for Plastic Free Waters!
Kids in Tokyo and NYC Share a Message about Marine Litter

Why PLASTIC FREE WATERS education?

Youth Citizen Scientists!

Learn more about plastic free action you can take!

Giant Data Puppets - student messaging about styrofoam

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PLASTIC FREE WATERS youth media, arts, and action

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our students debate, ask questions, collect data, and tell their own powerful stories about how local plastic street litter becomes global toxic marine pollution, threatening our oceans and marine wildlife. ​Cafeteria Culture empowers youth withthe knowledge & tools to design and pilot community-based solutionsthat have a global impact​to reduce plastics in our waterways.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
DEC uses an integrated approach to keep New York's lakes, rivers, and streams clean. The programs outlined below work together to manage sources of water pollution, reduce the amount of specific pollutants, and improve and protect the water quality in targeted waterbodies and watersheds.

Managing Sources of Pollution

Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) - general information about combined sewer systems, CSOs, CSO abatement, BMPs and long-term control plans, and CSO wet weather advisory.

Compliance & Enforcement - information about how compliance and enforcement activities are related to State Pollutant Elimination Systems (SPDES) permit programs and links to Annual SPDES Compliance and Enforcement reports

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) - program that issues permits for concentrated animal feeding operations

Green Infrastructure - general information about green infrastructure for wet weather.New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual - provides overview on how to size, design, select and locate stormwater management practices at a development site to comply with state standards.

Municipal/Industrial Wastewater - wastewater discharges are regulated by the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permit Program.

Nonpoint Sources - Onsite Wastewater Treatment (Septic) Systems, Riparian Buffers, Guidance and Technical Assistance, Funding, Dishwater Detergent and Nutrient Fertilizer Law

Stormwater - information about the permit programs that manage stormwater include: Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Program, the Construction Stormwater Program, and the Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP).

Wastewater Treatment Plant Operation - information and resources for wastewater operators and municipalities.

Reducing Pollutants

Protecting Waters & Watersheds

New York State Watersheds - information about each of NY's 17 watersheds, including watershed facts, water quality overview, and links to monitoring and assessment reports.

Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2) - information about the statewide program that aims to provide municipalities with informational resources to protect sources of public drinking water.

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Plans - information about watershed-based pollutant reduction plans and links to TMDLs for specific waterbodies and pollutants.

Water Quality Standards and Classifications - information about the water quality standards and guidance values for surface and groundwater and water classifications.

Watershed Management Programs - DEC has several watershed management programs. The programs were implemented to address the specific water quality issues within the watershed.

Vessel (Boat) Waste No Discharge Zones (NDZs) - information about vessel (boat) wastewater No Discharge Zones in NYS

The following funding programs help to keep water clean:

For information about all of DEC's grant programs, visit the Grants Applications web page.

More about Water Quality Management:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
DEC uses an integrated approach to keep New York's lakes, rivers, and streams clean. The programs outlined below work together to manage sources of water pollution, reduce the amount of specific pollutants, and improve and protect the water quality in targeted waterbodies and watersheds.