New York City Council
Finance Committee
Chair Brannan
Committee on Aging
Chair Hudson
May 24, 2023
Executive Budget Hearing - Finance
My name is Brianna Paden-Williams and I am the Communications and Policy Associate at LiveOn NY. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
LiveOn NY’s members include more than 110 community-based nonprofits that provide core services which allow all New Yorkers to thrive in our communities as we age, such as older adult centers, home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing, NORCs, and home care. LiveOn NY is also home to the Reframing Aging NYC Initiative, part of the national Reframing Aging Initiative aimed to counteract ageism and improve the way policymakers, stakeholders, and the public think about aging and older people. With our members, we work to make New York a better place to age.
Background
When LiveOn NY testified last on this budget we were ringing the bell on a catastrophic divestment from older adult services throughout the city with inflation ravaging many of our food providers and waitlists for homecare and case management growing by the day. Somehow the crisis has only worsened with additional cuts to key programs like Home Delivered Meals and Older Adult Centers that would see our capacity for reducing food insecurity diminished and centers threatened with closure. What started as a $64 million dollar hole has been dug deeper now totaling $76 million when the Mayor’s $12 million dollar cuts are factored in, not to mention the lack of funding for all other programs that already have so many New Yorkers waiting for service.
With older adults as the fastest growing population in the city, and a disproportionate growth in older adult poverty, the need for these services will only grow in the coming years. Divestment coupled with increased pressure on the system is a recipe for disaster and potentially the start of a vicious cycle for providers that will further cut our ability to provide community-based services to older New Yorkers trying to stay in their homes and remain independent. This budget must be a turning point in our city’s ageist tendencies to cut costs on the backs of the people who built New York, and instead actively invest in creating a better place to age for us all.
Therefore, LiveOn NY recommends the following investments, many of which were championed in the City Council’s Preliminary Budget Response, and we hope to see continued prioritization of as the City reaches a final budget:
Critical Investments in NYC Aging (also known as the Department for the Aging or DFTA) Services
Combat Hunger
The Mayor must reverse his destructive cuts to aging and make the sector whole with $64 million in additional investments including:
This investment would include an additional $14 million to address the inflation cost for raw foods, gas and other items for home-delivered meals as well as $46 million for inflation cost for congregate meals in Older Adult Centers. LiveOn NY found in a recent study that our member organizations have experienced an average 27% increase in the cost per meal compared to last year due to significant inflationary cost. For some organizations, they have run out of money in their contracts to continue to sustain the capacity of the community-services including home-delivered meals and congregate meals. The inflationary cost to provide meals to older adults has put a financial strain on many providers over the past year forcing many providers to reckon with uncertainty of being able to sustain in the future.
Furthermore, this investment would provide $4 million to support weekend and holiday home-delivered meals which are not provided through current contracts and did not receive the same investment to address reimbursement rate as weekday meals received.
Support the Workforce
The City must just pay all essential human service workers a liveable and equitable wage.
Poverty level government contracts have left human services workers severely underpaid for years. This workforce that is composed mainly of women and people of people have kept New York City afloat throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the wages of these workers have remained stagnant despite the rising cost of living in New York City. While last year’s budget included a $60 million baseline funding for human services workers, this does not fully address the pay and gender inequity that is crippling our City.
As a result organizations are faced with increased staff turnover as underpaid staff leave nonprofits for better paying jobs in other sectors, depriving New Yorkers of services from the most experienced, well-trained staff and jeopardizing high-quality services. It is essential for the human services providers to have sustainable funding to meet the needs of our communities while also having sufficient wages for ourselves and families. To address this crisis, the City must implement changes that address the inequitable pay of human services workers. LiveOn NY recommends the City establish, fund, and enforce a 6.5% automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on all human services contracts.
Promote Community Care
Allocate an additional $29.4 million to address the unmet needs of older adults through Aging NYC funded services including:
● An additional $7.5 million investment to expand digital literacy programming including devices to facilitate virtual programming for older adults as well as expand technology programming accessibility and to support technology expansion
● $1.4 million to support continued growth in demand of the case management program to ensure all clients can be screened and receive this critical service should they be eligible. Exacerbated by the long-term health impacts of isolation and other stressors experienced during COVID, many older adults will require some level of case management to remain independent in their communities. In a recent survey, LiveOn NY estimated that more than 1,300 clients are currently on waiting lists for case management. This comes on top of consistent demand increases for case management that have historically led to waiting lists, requiring additional funding each year, and indicating a need for early and significant investments to avoid the continued cycle of recurring waiting lists.
● $15.4 million to support continued growth in demand of the home care program, including expanding the hours of home care service available to older adults requiring additional support.
● $5 million to support communications and marketing outreach for NYC Aging funded programming for community-based organization outreach to older adults
Address the Housing Crisis
Allocate funding to develop 1,000 units of affordable senior housing with services per year.
LiveOn NY joins the United for Housing Coalition in calling for a $4 billion annual investment to fund a comprehensive affordable housing plan that must include a minimum target of 1,000 new units of affordable senior housing with services per year, as part of a total target to construct no fewer than 8,000 new units of housing dedicated to serving extremely low income and homeless households annually. As waitlists and limited housing stock pose an acute challenge for older New Yorkers, a considerable investment and consistent unit targets per year will be critical to paving a pathway out of this crisis.
This investment would build upon the clear success of the City’s Senior Affordable Rental Assistance (SARA) program, which has created community assets in every borough, including examples such as WSFSSH’s Tres Puentes in the Bronx and HANAC’s Corona Senior Residences in Queens. These two building are examples of what is possible through housing, with Tres Puentes not only offering 175 new units of affordable senior housing, but providing space for a new Older Adult Center, health center and pharmacy on site, and the Corona Residences offering 67 affordable senior units built to the environmentally friendly Passive Housing standards and a new Pre-K on the ground floor.
LiveOn NY also recommends the City increase the per unit reimbursement rate for SARA services from $5,000 per unit, to $7,500 per unit, allowing for increased staff to more adequately address social isolation and significant case assistance needs.
This increased reimbursement rate would make services better available to support an aging and formerly homeless tenant population, in turn enabling more older New Yorkers to age in place and avoid institutionalization.
Support Local Needs
Fund an additional $2.6 Million for Support our Seniors and continued full funding for all discretionary initiatives.
Many programs, particularly smaller, hyper-local nonprofits that serve hard-to-reach senior populations rely on discretionary funding to ensure their communities can be served. Therefore, it is critical that all aging services discretionary are fully funded in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget.
In addition, LiveOn NY is requesting an additional $2.6 million for the Support Our Senior Initiative that would provide an additional $50,00 per district on average to better support older New Yorkers, in particular for services or programs including transportation, social isolation, technology and more.
Conclusion
To truly make New York a better place to age, where we can all thrive in community, we must build a caring economy that supports all older New Yorkers regardless of their background. From a livable and competitive wage for all human services workers to equitable policies and programs that support all New Yorkers, New York can become a more equitable place to age.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.