CBS2 Exclusive: Experts Say Child Development Programs Are Crucial For Homeless Shelters

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City increasingly has been asked to meet the needs of homeless families with very young children, as the homeless population has skyrocketed.

As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, the city has seen varying degrees of success in its efforts.

Kramer had an exclusive look Tuesday inside an East New York, Brooklyn shelter where children under 5 get special treatment. The kids in the pre-kindergarten program at the shelter are happy, engaged and excited – some of them playing with pieces of an imaginary playground.

"I'm building a castle!" one girl said excitedly as she played with a foam cylinder. Others bounced on beanbag chairs, played with Duplos, and sifted sand through funnels.

But of course, the pre-K program at the St. John's Place family shelter is far from ordinary. It is one of three programs run for kids under 5 run onside by the shelter.

There is another program for toddlers ages 2 and 3, and one for the under 2 set. Stunningly, those under 5 make up nearly half of the 23,000 children in the city shelter system.

Only about a third of the city shelters offer programs for small children, and that is a problem, Kramer reported.

St. John's Place is the fourth shelter that Denia Cuello and her son, Yadiel, have been in. It is the first to care about helping her son develop.

"I was in Staten Island; in the Bronx," Cuello said. "This place is amazing. They didn't even have day care in the other shelters."

And that, Cuello said, has made a big difference for little Yadiel.

"I've been surprised with my son after he started coming here, like, my son – he was never, you know, reaching for stuff; never," Cuello said. "The moment I came and brought him here and I bring him to my house, he's knocking everything down."

Anibal Quinones was a shelter kid himself. He told CBS2's Kramer he has never had opportunities like he has at the shelter, and has been great for his own three children – especially his daughter.

"She was a shy girl; she didn't want to talk with nobody; she didn't know how to interact with other kids," Quinones said. "That's something great to me."

Shelter director Valerie Figueroa said offering educational programs is key to development, and children lose out if they do not get it.

"I think it's critical, because they can look back and say even though, you know, we were homeless, we were able to receive so many services," Figueroa said. "They're developing. They receive nurturing, you know, loving care from the teachers."

Programs like those offered at St. John's are incredibly important, according to homeless expert and former Deputy Commissioner for Homeless Services Robert Mascali.

"Between the ages of, say, 1 and 5, it's really a very crucial time in a child's development," Mascali said. "There are many children in the system that are not getting this level of care."

Mascali said it is time for the city to step up to the plate and make sure all its shelters offer child development programs.

Mascali further said he is particularly concerned about the 5,000 kids whose families live in cluster housing with few programs. He said the city is not moving fast enough to phase them out.