Children Die in City Shelters

New York, NY —

Twenty children died while staying in city shelters over a recent 3 year period, that's according to a report by the Public Advocate's Office.

REPORTER: The leading cause of death was infants sleeping with adults or in other unsafe positions. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum says a new law requires shelters to post signs about the risks of co-sleeping.

GOTBAUM: There are signs up in the homeless services in the shelters. But you need more intervention than that. You need to really educate parents that they should not be co-sleeping with their infants.

REPORTER: According to the report, 13 of the families had prior histories with the Administration for Children's Services. The agency disputes those numbers and says it regularly alerts shelter staff about families with open cases. Gotbaum says ACS should create a citywide unit devoted to monitoring families within the shelter system.