Trending
Homelessness is falling across the state through the end of 2025 – but not in Chautauqua County. The rate of new homelessness is decreasing locally.
A recent analysis by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli shows after the state’s homeless population doubled between January 2022 and January 2024, homelessness in New York declined by 7.9% in January 2025 to 145,560. The decline of 12,459 homeless residents was the largest among states, and was driven predominantly by New York City. Declines were not universal across the state. In 17 of 25 regions known as Continuums of Care (CoCs), homelessness grew. In 11 regions, it grew by more than 10%, with the highest increases in Columbia and Greene counties, Troy/Rensselaer County and Schenectady. Homelessness increased 23.7% in the Jamestown/Dunkirk/Chautauqua County Continuum of Care, the fifth-highest increase in the state and a more than 9% higher increase than the Buffalo area.
"While the number of homeless declined, there's a lot of work left to do," DiNapoli said. "The problem is widespread and it is not confined to major cities. In particular, the public, private and nonprofit sectors need to work together to address the crisis of so many children experiencing homelessness in New York."
Children are nearly one-third of the homeless population in the state. New York's children make up 31.7% of the homeless population, a rate that is more than double the rate of homeless children in the rest of the country. The rate is even higher in Chautauqua County, where 32.5% of the homeless are children under the age of 18. That rate is the fifth-highest in the state behind Troy/Rensselaer County (39.9%), Yonkers, Mount Vernon/Westchester County (37.4%), Nassau/Suffolk Counties (32.9%) and Newburgh, Middletown/Orange County (32.7%).
Chautauqua Opportunities Inc.’s 2026 Community Needs Assessment states youth homelessness continues to be a problem in Chautauqua County. Data from COI's youth programs indicate that youth become homeless primarily because they are asked to leave the home by a parent or caregiver (51.2%), but substantial numbers are homeless because they cannot find a job (24.7%), they experienced physical abuse (23.8%), or their caretaker engages in substance abuse (22.6%). This data has remained consistent over the past several years.
Data from 2022 through 2024 showed the number of homeless youth as part of a family unit has increased from 223 to 315, while unaccompanied homeless youth decreased from 125 to 106. Unaccompanied youth ages 18 and under also decreased from 101 to 91 from 2022 to 2024.
The report notes that the state is moving ahead with its multi-year housing plan. Since the 2023 state fiscal year, the state has begun work on Gov. Kathy Hochul's $25 billion five-year comprehensive Housing Plan, including $5.3 billion through its multifamily housing programs, $1.1 billion in community development grants through HCR's Office of Community Renewal, and $1.7 billion in the financing of mortgages for first-time homebuyers through the State of New York Mortgage Agency. The 2027 executive budget invests $250 million in capital funding to accelerate the construction of thousands of new affordable homes. Changes in state law also direct more school aid to districts with homeless students.
DiNapoli has previously called for additional efforts to reduce evictions and provide housing assistance, especially to families with children.
Even as New York puts more resources toward housing, HUD is shifting funding away from "housing first" solutions and making it harder to qualify for federal assistance. DiNapoli's report emphasizes the need to prioritize housing, in particular for families with children, at the federal, state and local levels.
"Policies that can mitigate evictions and provide housing assistance, particularly to families with children, should continue to remain a focus of policymakers at federal, state and local levels," DiNapoli said in his report.