“A stable and safe home can bend the arc of their lives, empowering them to secure steady employment and earn money and save. These 800 homes represent 800 opportunities to break the cycles of poverty.”

A rendering of The Eliza in Inwood, which the author says can be a model for housing projects open to foster youth. (Photo courtesy of The Children’s Village)

Every year, hundreds of young people in New York age out of the foster care system with nowhere to go. After experiencing the trauma of family separation, navigating the complexities of the system, and never getting the family the system promised them, they now face a daunting housing market with few resources and little support.

The numbers are alarming. Nearly one-third of the 429 young people who aged out of foster care in New York City in 2022 remained in this expensive, impersonal system past age 21 simply because they had no housing option. Nationally, up to 46 percent of former foster youth experience homelessness before the age of 26. 

This isn’t just a housing shortage; it’s a policy failure. New York’s elected officials, housing developers, mission-driven investors, and social service providers must act now. Without stable housing, these young people face insurmountable barriers to education and employment, trapping them in cycles of intergenerational poverty.

The Children’s Village, in partnership with youth advocates and affordable housing developers, created a blueprint to end this cycle. The report, “Housing Justice for Young People Aging Out of Foster Care in New York City,” offers a five-year plan to create 800 new homes for youth exiting foster care—enough to effectively eliminate the foster care-to-homelessness pipeline in our city. The report was coauthored by The Center for Fair Futures, HR&A Advisers, and Good River Partners.

The report is powerful because it was shaped by those who grew up in foster care. These youth leaders who struggled to find housing after leaving foster care established a housing justice standard that guided our approach. They didn’t just identify the problem—they helped design the solution. 

They reminded us that the vast majority—85 percent—of affordable housing continues to be built in our most burdened and racially segregated communities. And they urged us to break away this history of segregation by giving them the opportunity to experience the safety and joys of integration.  

At The Children’s Village, we value their perspective. We know that living in a beautiful home that is affordable and located in a desirable neighborhood, that I would choose to live in, is a game changer. The research is clear—where you live and where your children go to school is the most powerful predictor of second generation success in the United States. Yes, it is location, location and location! 

We tested this hypothesis of integration by building housing in integrated, desirable neighborhoods, and the results are overwhelming. Everyone does better when we learn to live together. This is true of all our housing developments, including our most recent success, The Eliza, a 14-story development in the racially integrated community of Inwood, that is available to all, including youth exiting foster care. It illustrates what is possible when we turn policy into progress, when nonprofits, investors and government agencies collaborate and fight to realize the promise of integration. 

Yet, The Eliza also highlights the limitations of our current approach: it is difficult to do, it takes too long, and we are not building enough of these desirable homes. This report calls for innovative funding and policy changes to incentivize projects similar to The Eliza and a Home for Harlem Dowling to secure 800 new units for youth exiting foster care. 

To construct these beautiful, integrated, desirable homes, we recommend blending private investment with mission-driven capital through a Fair Futures Housing Fund. This fund would mitigate risks and offset revenue limitations for investors, offering returns of 4-6 percent. This will accelerate the construction of new homes these young people urgently need.

We would also propose policies to leverage existing housing located in desirable communities, including the expanded use of master rental subsidy agreements (MRSAs). These arrangements allow nonprofits to work with landlords to “bank” apartments for voucher-holders, including young people aging out of care. 

Additionally, we recommend loosening restrictions on city housing vouchers, making them transferable to nearby states, and creating a centralized hub with the city’s Administration for Children’s Services for young people to access housing assistance.

By constructing new affordable housing, leveraging existing housing, and simplifying the housing search, we can end the foster care-to-homelessness pipeline and provide just, quality housing in desirable neighborhoods for youth exiting the foster care system. A stable and safe home can bend the arc of their lives, empowering them to secure steady employment and earn money and save. These 800 homes represent 800 opportunities to break the cycles of poverty. 

The solution is within our reach. To our elected officials, housing developers, investors, and fellow service providers: the blueprint is here. We can act now to end this intergenerational crisis.

Jeremy Kohomban is the president and CEO of The Children’s Village.

The post Opinion: How 800 Homes in Desirable Communities Could Disrupt a System-to -Homelessness Pipeline appeared first on City Limits.

By JENNIFER PELTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — When Harvey Weinstein’s landmark 2020 #MeToo conviction was overturned, accuser Miriam Haley was frank about her feelings about participating in a retrial: “I definitely don’t want to actually go through that again.”

But on Tuesday, Haley became the first of the former movie tycoon’s accusers to take the witness stand as prosecutors seek to convict him again. Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting anyone.

As Haley started what are expected to be multiple days of testimony, she walked quickly to the witness stand without looking at Weinstein. The ex-studio boss, sitting between his lawyers, looked at her as she passed by and again when prosecutors asked her to identify him from the stand.

Haley told the jury that when she went to meet Weinstein on the sidelines of the 2006 Cannes film festival, all she wanted was work.

But Weinstein commented on her legs, asked for a massage and, when she balked, asked her to give him one, she recalled.

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan as jury selection continues in his retrial on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in New York. (David Dee Delgado/Pool Photo via AP)

“Did you have any interest whatsoever in the defendant, Harvey Weinstein, romantically or sexually?” prosecutor Nicole Blumberg asked Haley, 48.

“No, I did not, and I was there to try and find work,” said Haley, who’d been an assistant to another producer.

Her testimony so far closely echoes what she told the prior jury, though she hasn’t yet gotten to the July 2006 date when she has said Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her. She recounted earlier interactions with Weinstein that alternated between being personally off-putting and professionally encouraging for her.

Haley said she left the Cannes meeting crying and feeling humiliated. But she accepted when Weinstein arranged a basic assistant job for her on his company’s reality show “Project Runway” in June 2006.

Miriam Haley, center, an accuser testifying at Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial, arrives to the courtroom after a break in New York, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

After the roughly three-week gig ended and Haley thanked him by email, Weinstein communicated that he’d heard good things about her work and invited her to meet at a Manhattan hotel lobby, she said as prosecutors displayed her 2006 calendar with the meeting noted.

She and Weinstein talked business, and he was “very respectful and quite charming” and talked about other potential job opportunities, she recalled.

“Were you flirty or suggesting anything sexual between you and the defendant at that meeting?” the prosecutor asked.

“Absolutely not,” Haley replied.

She said another meeting in Weinstein’s office also went pleasantly and professionally, and so did a ride with him, his assistant and his driver back to her apartment — and then the Hollywood honcho suddenly suggested she accompany him to Paris fashion shows.

Haley said she had no interest in going but gave a vague response, “trying to be polite.” They said goodbye.

Yet Weinstein repeatedly asked her to come to Paris with him for fashion shows, even showing up uninvited and barging into her apartment to try to persuade her, she said.

Haley told jurors she again declined, but Weinstein was “insistent and overwhelming,” so she told him: “I heard about your reputation with women.”

Weinstein took a step back, seeming offended, and quizzed her about what she meant, she recalled. She told jurors she actually hadn’t heard much about Weinstein at that point but was just trying to avoid the Paris trip.

Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan as jury selection continues in his retrial on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in New York. (David Dee Delgado/Pool Photo via AP)

Eventually, Weinstein left the apartment and backed off, she said.

Almost two decades later, a series of sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein would energize the #MeToo movement’s demands to hold powerful men accountable for misconduct toward women.

Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, is expected to continue testifying Wednesday.

The retrial is happening because New York’s highest court found the original trial was tainted by “egregious” judicial rulings and prejudicial testimony.

The retrial includes charges based on allegations from Haley and another accuser from the original trial, Jessica Mann, who was once an aspiring actor. She alleges that Weinstein raped her in 2013.

He’s also being tried, for the first time, on an allegation of forcing oral sex on former model Kaja Sokola in 2006. Her claim wasn’t part of the first trial.

Mann and Sokola also are expected to testify at some point.

Weinstein’s attorneys have argued that all three accusers consented to sexual encounters with him in hopes of getting work in show business.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they have been sexually assaulted unless they give permission for their names to be used. Haley, Mann and Sokola have done so.

Clutch-time play was Minnesota’s Achilles heel all season — and, frankly, had been for years.

The Timberwolves were 23rd in net rating in the clutch, classified as the time in the final 5 minutes of a game when the margin is within five points, during the regular season. Last year, they were 29th in the NBA after Christmas.

That was one of Minnesota’s glaring concerns heading into the postseason. With so many playoff contests determined in the final 5 minutes, you’re going to struggle to advance if you cannot perform in those moments. The Wolves learned that first hand a year ago, dropping each of the first three games of the Western Conference Finals in crunch time to Dallas.

That’s what got the Wolves eliminated.

Yet pressed twice at Target Center over the weekend, Minnesota made the requisite plays down the stretch to beat the Lakers and claim a 3-1 series lead heading into Game 5 on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Minnesota outscored Los Angeles by 14 points in 7 clutch-time minutes, which proved to be the difference in Games 3 and 4.

Much of that success has, justifiably, been attributed to the play of Anthony Edwards, who has balanced playmaking and timely scoring with the game on the line. But those around him have certainly played a role, as well.

For this specific matchup, in which the Lakers condense their defense to limit Edwards’ driving lanes, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has gone with an offense-heavy closing lineup of Edwards, Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo, Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels, which has done the job so far.

That lineup has produced 25 points in 7 clutch-time minutes, going 7 for 11 from the field, including 4 for 4 from distance. Minnesota is also a perfect 7 for 7 from the free-throw line in those situations.

That lineup complements Edwards well, particularly on the offensive end. Reid has buried three triples, including one on a kickout from Edwards in Game 3. In Game 4, Edwards got off the ball late to hit DiVincenzo, who attacked a closeout and got to the rim for an and-1 bucket.

“Everyone that we’ve got has been playing at a high level, especially that five that’s been finishing the game,” Edwards said. “When they’re trapping, we’ve got four guys out there offensively that know how to play, know when to cut, know when to come to the ball, know when to space and then just have shooters all over the place. So, FInchy is doing a great job of having the right guys out there at the right time.”

Finch said the five-man group features “the perfect blend of passing and shot-making and activity.”

What’s ironic is that lineup played just 113 minutes together during the regular season, and was outscored by 4.3 points per 100 possessions when it was on the floor — largely because it struggled to make shots. Now, it can’t miss. It’s notable two of those guys came to Minnesota via trade just days before the start of training camp.

Finch said at this point in the season, everyone is comfortable with one another.

“I think that unit on the offensive end, you can throw it to anybody and anybody can get downhill and make plays for one another,” DiVincenzo said. “When that is the situation, and Ant’s up top doing his thing, they have to respect everybody on the line, and he’s making the right play over and over and over again. We can just be physical and be ourselves. At that point, it’s winning time and that’s the only thing we’re trying to do is win the game.”

On both ends of the floor. That unit’s ability to defend will ultimately determine its success.

The Lakers have just 11 points in those 7 clutch-time minutes. Part of that has to do with outside shooting struggles in those instances, but Minnesota has also shut down most driving attempts.

“This is kind of crazy we’ve been connected on the defensive end,” Edwards said. “Making the right rotations, having each other’s backs.”

That’s exactly what’s required to win time this time of year.

“I think, defensively there’s enough grittiness,” Finch said. “These guys just lead with their physicality.”

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St. Paul Park Police Chief Jessica Danberg sent a letter to city officials last week announcing she would resign on May 31, citing lack of support from the city council, gender inequity and a move to disband the city’s nine-member force.

The resignation of Danberg, who has been with the city since 2016, is the fourth of a city department head since January. Mayor Keith Franke said Monday that he did not believe the resignations were related.

As for Danberg’s assertion that city officials undervalue leadership by women, Franke said St. Paul Park was one of the first cities in the area to hire a female police chief.

The other St. Paul Park officials who’ve announced resignations are:

Melody Santana-Marty, St. Paul Park’s finance director, who earlier this month announced she would resign on April 21.
City Administrator Kevin Walsh, who has held the city’s top post since May 2008 and will resign on July 31.
Public Works Director Jeff Dionisopoulos, who’d been with the city for eight years and resigned Jan. 9.

“I think they’re all separate situations,” Franke said. “It’s just poor timing for us. … It’s going to be a challenge that I think we’ll be able to overcome.”

Chief questions city council support

Danberg’s resignation came after the St. Paul Park City Council on April 21 voted 3-1 to increase her pay rate to $63.50 an hour, a 6 percent increase. Council member Char Whitbred-Hemmingson pulled the pay increase from the consent agenda and voted against it; council member Tim Conrad was not in attendance.

“To be effective in a role as critical as the Chief of Police, one must have the support of both the City Council and the Mayor,” Danberg wrote in her resignation letter. “It has become increasingly clear that such support has not been extended to me. The council meeting … made that particularly evident.”

During the meeting, Whitbred-Hemmingson asked if the council had ever done a performance review of Danberg. “We have done one?” she asked. “Is there any way that we can see the performance review?”

City Administrator Walsh told Whitbred-Hemmingson and the other council members that the council “typically doesn’t supervise the department heads.”

“You only supervise my position, the city administrator’s position, so typically the council wouldn’t do performance reviews for anybody else besides myself,” Walsh said. “That’s common practice.”

St. Paul Park Police Chief Jessica Danberg outside St. Paul Park City Hall on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Danberg, who has been with the city since 2016, sent a letter to city officials last week announcing she would resign on May 31, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Danberg did not receive a 6 percent cost-of-living increase on Jan. 1, when other city employees did, but she did not request reimbursement for back pay to that time, Mayor Franke said.

“There’s three or four months of unpaid increase, so if we were to stretch that back out over the course of the year, it would technically be a significant percentage reduction, but either way, the approximate amount was budgeted last year,” Franke said during the meeting.

In her letter, Danberg wrote that she requested in August that the city conduct her first formal compensation review — a request that was neither acknowledged nor followed up on. “While I received a raise, the adjustment falls significantly below what is commensurate with my experience, responsibilities, and comparable roles in the region,” she wrote.

Danberg wrote that another police chief in Washington County was paid $2.40 more per hour despite Danberg “having a master’s degree, more years of leadership experience, and managing a department with higher call volume and complexity.”

“This, unfortunately, is not an isolated experience,” Danberg wrote. “It is one of several instances during my time with the City that speak to a larger issue of gender inequity and undervaluation of leadership by women.”

Keep police department or outsource to sheriff’s office?

Council member Tim Conrad, who could not attend the meeting, said Monday that he has asked city officials to explore the possibility of having the Washington County Sheriff’s Office provide public safety services for the city. He said he has talked with officials from the sheriff’s office and believes the city could save $400,000 annually if they were to make that move.

“I have asked questions to find out what it would take to do that,” Conrad said. “The City of Newport has done that, and it does seem to be working for them.”

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office began policing Newport, population 5,300, in 2016, and the city’s five-officer police force was disbanded.

The police department in St. Paul Park, which also has a population of 5,300, has nine full-time officers, according to the city’s website.

The mayor said he does not support giving up the city’s police department and questioned whether the city would save $400,000.

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“I think having a local department gives you that sense of continuity and gives us that identity,” Franke said. “That’s not to dispel any of the great work that the sheriff’s office does, but I believe St. Paul Park is a small community with a small-town feel, and having our own officers gives us that autonomy, and it gives us that identity, just like any other city.”

He said he does not believe that there is an “appetite” on the part of a majority of council members to make a switch. He also said that discussing a move like disbanding the department “honestly makes it hard to give our employees the security and the support that I think they deserve.

Chief has long career in policing

Danberg grew up in Newport and graduated from Woodbury High School in 1993. When she was 3, her father, Wesley Danberg, who was the fire chief in Newport, died in an explosion at the Ashland Oil Refinery in St. Paul Park.

She began her police career in July 1998 as a patrol officer with the Inver Grove Heights Police Department. She worked in the investigations unit from 2001 to 2004 and was promoted to sergeant of the patrol division in 2011.

During a phone interview on Tuesday, Danberg, 49, said she hoped to retire from St. Paul Park.

“It is tough. From Day 1, I’ve always tried to do what is best for the city,” she said. “But maybe my resignation can be a wake-up call to the council about what (they) should be doing with city staff. You should be showing them support and talking about them positively, and if you have any critiques or questions or concerns, those should be addressed with that person behind closed doors, out of public hearing.”

Suggesting that the department should be disbanded hurts morale and is done “with malice, rather than concern for the citizens,” she said. “… We are a busy police department for the population that we have.”

In her letter, Danberg recommended that the council promote Sgt. Craig Elgin to interim police chief after she leaves “to ensure continuity and stability during the transition,” she said.

Danberg said Tuesday that she does not yet have another job lined up. “I am looking forward to decompressing and taking some much-needed and overdue time off,” she said.