LiveOn NY Holds 29th Annual Aging Advocacy Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: Wednesday, May 16th, 2024

CONTACT: emma@newdealstrategies.com

LIVEON NY JOINED NYC COUNCIL SPEAKER ADRIENNE ADAMS, NYC COUNCILMEMBERS AND OLDER NEW YORKERS TO DEMAND FUNDING FOR AGING SERVICES AND STOP OLDER ADULT CENTER CLOSURES

NEW YORK, NY — Today, LiveOn members, hundreds of older New Yorkers and advocates gathered outside NYC City Hall to demand that the city fund critical resources for aging populations, including essential maintenance of older adult centers, fully funded home delivered meals programs and improved case management services. These cuts unjustly target Older New Yorkers and will cut people off from resources from food to community engagement, in short it’s an ageist attack on our aging population. The aging services network has $82 million in existing needs to repair crumbling centers, fund meals-on-wheels, and end the social services wait list. 

With his recent city budget proposal, Mayor Eric Adams has cut $20 million from NYC aging, which has already faced divestment and is set to cut an additional $80 million. This will close as many as 60 centers as early as January 2025. The program’s lack of funding has created a deep social service need, crumbling infrastructure and burnt out staff. The immediate critical need for our system was estimated at $82 million dollars to keep older adult centers open, homebound older adults fed and critical service support available. 

See photo and video from the event here.

“Mayor Eric Adams’ deeply unpopular, austerity budget has cut essential services from nearly every community. Our city’s aging population is no exception. Programs that older adults rely on to live healthy and fulfilling lives will be cut, including meals-on-wheels programs, transportation and case management services. In addition to that, we’re looking at the closure of 30-60 older adult centers across our city. We have to do better,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director of LiveOn NY.   

“Every ounce of progress we enjoy today was earned because of older New Yorkers. You are the jewels of our communities. You ushered us into a brand new era of equity and justice and for that we owe you a debt of gratitude. We can start by securing a budget that invests in the health and wellbeing of older New Yorkers. That’s why we’re gathered here today. To ensure that you get what you rightfully deserve. That’s why we’re calling on the administration to increase funding to cover the cost of older adult meals, older adults case management and homecare services and older adult centers. ” said NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. 

“We cannot accept indiscriminate budget cuts to the programs that keep our communities afloat; and this is certainly the case for NYC Aging,” said Council Member Crystal Hudson, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Aging.  “It would be irresponsible to underestimate the effects these cuts will have on our already-strained resources and cash-strapped service providers. Yet, this administration seems unconcerned that poverty and food insecurity are becoming more and more commonplace among older New Yorkers; that our older adult population has increased by more than 30% in the last decade and is expected to balloon 40% by 2040. This should be a moment of investment. We should be bolstering and expanding the resources NYC Aging and their contracted providers offer to millions of our neighbors today so that we may guarantee dignified aging for all New Yorkers tomorrow. I look forward to working with Speaker Adams to ensure we deliver the care our older neighbors deserve.”

"All older adults should be alarmed by the Mayor’s proposed cuts to aging services. NYC Aging receives less than 1 percent of the city budget, despite 20 percent of residents being 65 or older. Next year, NYC Aging’s budget will be $73 million less than in fiscal year 2025, even though the city’s Independent Budget Office projects an extra $2.2 billion in available funds. These cuts could close up to 60 older adult centers—vital community hubs providing essential services, like meals, for our rapidly aging population. New Yorkers 50-plus helped build our city but have been ignored for too long. We were proud to stand with LiveOn NY and hundreds of advocates at City Hall to oppose these ageist cuts to critical aging services,” said Beth Finkel, State Director of AARP New York.

“It is asinine that this administration would think to make cuts to our seniors and the services that are provided for you all. We will fight through and through for this budget to make sure that these cuts do not come into fruition because we know that you are the legacy and each and every one of our communities,” said NYC Councilmember Chi Osse. 

“Representation is important. We have to make sure that we vote for the people that support us. A report that came out yesterday from the Independent Budget Office that says the city has taken in more than 2 billion dollars in additional tax revenue, we need to make sure that we spend that on our seniors,” said NYC Councilmember Lynn Schulman. 

“I really want to express my support for all of you, for the work you do. It is unbelievable to think that so many people who did their time, who built our communities up, who raised children — children who weren’t their children, all the kids on the block — are not able to find a place that they can live in that's safe and dignified and healthy. I think that it is a shame that this is even on the chopping block. It shouldn’t even be a discussion point. We have to take care of the people who built this city and took care of us.” said NYC Councilmember Sandy Nurse.

“Let me say this to our older adults: We are obligated to fight and protect you. Thank you to our speaker, Adrienne Adams who's been leading the fight, CM Hudson, and all the electeds who have been making sure we protect our seniors. You paved the way for us, you made it possible. We are going to fight for you, day in and day out. We are not going to give up.” said NYC Councilmember Chris Banks. 

“We refuse these cuts. They are cruel, counterproductive and absolutely egregious. What the Mayor is signaling is that he does not care about you. We demand dignity, we demand justice and we demand a city that says that our older adult communities deserve joy and compassion,” said NYC Councilmember Shahana Hanif. 

“You have made our neighborhoods great. You have made our communities strong. We need to invest in each and every one of you. We’re never going to let this Mayor take funding away from our senior centers or let him cut funds for the home meals that we deliver to our seniors. He’s already cut library services down to 6 days a week. He wants to reduce it further. Our seniors depend on our libraries. The mayor has cut affordable housing in the budget this year. Our seniors need affordable senior housing. We’re going to invest in each and every one of you,” said NYC Councilmember Lincoln Restler. 

“You have all worked for decades and decades. You invested your time, your energy and your soul to make your family and for our city. It’s because of all of you and your investments that we are where we are today. So we’re asking the city budget to take care of you who have built this city. Senior centers support your mental health, they are your support system. During COVID, who was it that took care of our seniors? It was our senior centers, it was groups like LiveOn NY,” said NYC Councilmember Eric Dinowitz.

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LiveOn NY's Response to the Mayor's FY25 Executive Budget Proposal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: Wednesday, May 1st, 2024

CONTACT: emma@newdealstrategies.com

“CUTS TO AGING NEW YORKERS WILL LEAVE THEM STRANDED, HUNGRY AND ABANDONED” 

LIVEON NY CALLS ON GOVERNOR HOCHUL, MAYOR ERIC ADAMS TO END AUSTERITY BUDGETS FOR NEW YORKERS YOUNG AND AGING

NEW YORK, NY — In response to Mayor Eric Adams’ Executive Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2025, LiveOn NY released the following statement:

“This year, we have overwhelmingly seen New York’s city and state budgets cut funding from older adults, leading to long waitlists, crumbling infrastructure, underfunded meals-on-wheels programs for homebound individuals and leaving senior centers understaffed and under-resourced. Our older adult centers are already in crisis, worse yet, under these austerity measures, they are set to face an $80 million fiscal cliff in 2025, which will result in the closure of upwards of 50 centers and cuts to critical programs such as meals on wheels and case management among others.

“Not only are we calling on the Governor and the Mayor to stop cutting support for aging New Yorkers that would leave them stranded, hungry and abandoned, we are demanding an infusion of new funds to simply keep pace with inflation, demographic shifts, and physical infrastructure and basic services needs. NYC Aging’s budget must be significantly more than half of one percent of the City’s budget. 

“More than any specific budget amounts, the most egregious part of these budgets is the disconnect from reality — real people are struggling, older adults and caregivers throughout this State are desperately trying to access services and age in New York. To build a more just society where everyone can access health and well-being, we need to refocus our efforts to address the needs of all groups — including older adults.” 

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LiveOn NY’s Testimony at FY25 Preliminary Budget Aging Hearing

New York City Council

Committee on Aging

Chair Hudson

March 8th, 2024

Preliminary Aging Budget FY25

My name is Kevin Kiprovski, and I am the Director of Public Policy 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 under the NYC Aging portfolio and many other home and community based services in our city. 

Background

Council discretionary funding is foundational to the work our network does, as a disproportionate amount of funding comes from each of you and your colleagues' offices when compared to the administration’s investment. We are so grateful for your support and without it our current system would not be possible, so a heartfelt thank you from us and our members.   

Older Adult Services have huge capital needs due to deteriorating spaces, appliances, and vehicles that have gone without necessary upgrades for the past decade. Case management organizations are serving individuals with more intensive mental health issues with less funding from the city. At the same time the administration is cutting $18 million dollars from OACs with planned cuts of over $50 million dollars in the next 5 fiscal years to a system that they have refused to comprehensively invest in citing administrative hurdles and a lack of need that does not match the reality of older adults across our city. 

• Organizations have broken refrigerators, floors, bathrooms, kitchens, vans, HVAC systems, roofs, elevators, and many other capital items. The administration is penalizing organizations for these issues, but when organizations request funding to repair them they are either juggled through agencies, asked to use their non-existent accruals, or denied for a litany of reasons. 

• Older adult centers in NYCHA spaces have faced the brunt of this, as some have physically collapsed or have such comprehensive mold issues that they cannot open and are not being used. This is part of the “underutilization” argument the administration has been using to justify cuts to the system. The lack of a functional partnership between NYC Aging and NYCHA and confusion arising from RAD conversions has made it difficult for programs operating in these spaces to receive any capital funding. 

• Case management contracts have seen a reduction in resources across the board leading to a loss of administrative staff and increases in the caseloads of case managers from 65 to over 80 in some instances. Clients are also presenting with higher rates of undiagnosed mental health issues and dementia and are being released from rehab and hospitals after extended stays back into their homes which have deteriorated rapidly due to their absence and in some cases are uninhabitable. 

• Home Delivered Meals providers have been operating with a $2.53 average deficit per meal served that will be continued in the new RFP. 

Recommendations

• Maintain the existing council discretionary funding to keep our system whole. 

• ($50 Million) to create a capital funding pot to get centers and resources in a state of good repair. There must be a baselined funding stream that keeps the physical spaces and resources of our system in good repair. Organizations cannot contract with the city on these services if the city cannot commit to paying for the resources needed to do this work.  

• Identify and reform existing obstructions to providing capital funding across the board, but particularly with NYCHA and RAD converted properties. Organizations have been able to secure capital funding through alternative city, state and federal sources for projects that were not approved for capital funding by the administration. Administrative hurdles should not be cited as the reason older adult centers are falling apart and the city has the ability to change its own rules to get the funding where it needs to be.

•  $20 million to expand social work support across the network  to allow for more service to New Yorkers. Organizations on average need 2 more case managers and 1 intake staff to create a program that can keep talent and serve the community well. This will allow higher needs cases to be handled effectively and keep the focus on service instead of admin work.  

• $12 million to increase the per meal rate for HDM programs to $15.31 per meal. HDM providers report an average deficit of $2.53 dollars per meal served, the contract with the city should at least pay for the services that they require. 

• Reverse ALL cuts to the aging system. We have identified acute needs across the system that any currently unspent funds could be used to remedy. Pulling money out of this system will only create a death spiral through physical deterioration of centers and resources, or fiscal insolvency for many smaller providers. 

 Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

_____________________________________________________________________________

For questions, please email Kevin Kiprovski, Director of Public Policy at LiveOn NY, kkiprovski@liveon-ny.org.

LiveOn NY’s members provide the core, community-based services that allow older adults to thrive in their communities. With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations serving at least 300,000 older New Yorkers annually. Our members provide services ranging from senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing with services, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, case management, transportation, and NORCs. LiveOn NY advocates for increased funding for these vital services to improve both the solvency of the system and the overall capacity of community-based service providers.

LiveOn NY also administers a citywide outreach program and staffs a hotline that educates, screens and helps with benefit enrollment including SNAP, SCRIE and others, and also administers the Rights and Information for Senior Empowerment (RISE) program to bring critical information directly to seniors on important topics to help them age well in their communities.

LiveOn NY's Testimony on the Needs of Older Adult Immigrants in NYC

New York City Council

Committee on Aging

Chair Hudson

Committee on Immigration

Chair Avilés

The Needs of Older Adult Immigrants in NYC

My name is Kevin Kiprovski, and I am the Director of Public Policy 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:

Our city has many different populations of aging immigrants across the five boroughs that have different needs than the non-immigrant aging population. Our members and partners in this work have highlighted the following top issues unique to aging immigrant populations across the city:

• Mental health needs differ across many populations, but recent older immigrants who have been here for 10 years or less tend to experience more anxiety, depression, and higher rates of suicidal ideation. Anti-asian hate during the pandemic exacerbated these feelings for many older adults throughout the city and made many feel unsafe in their own communities.

• Language services provided by the city only cover the 10 languages required by existing statute, leaving out many languages used every day by older immigrants and cutting them off from vital services. Our members have identified Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Gujrathi as just 5 languages that need more resources to support from the city, but there are many more.

• Resources provided by the city in the 10 specified languages do not always meet the needs of speakers. Oftentimes the translators who create materials use an academic language framework and do not reflect the lived experience of those who need the resources. The materials created through this process can be unintelligible to the intended audience, and literacy levels are not considered when making exclusively printed materials.

• Many older immigrants who have been in the US for less than 10 years find themselves renting rooms in cramped apartments or basements and do not have the resources to find healthier housing. This contributes to the poor mental health outcomes and lower quality of life.

• Remittance scams have become much more prevalent in older immigrant communities with individuals being targeted for the money they send back to their country of origin. These scams are not covered in existing anti-scam programs or materials and this leaves older immigrants uniquely vulnerable to them.

Recommendations:

• In language and culturally sensitive mental health services should be offered that recognize the unique experiences of older immigrants. People’s immigration experience could be a contributing factor to poor mental health outcomes, from trauma experienced in their country of origin to financial and legal difficulties faced in the US, there are many factors that are unique to the older immigrant population. Additionally linguistic barriers can prevent even the most experienced mental health professional from properly treating someone, so extra care must be paid to build up a multilingual workforce among our providers.

• Embrace new housing models, such as India Home’s Co-living project to meet both the social health and housing needs of older adults. We must explore new and creative ways to solve our housing crisis and to meet the social health needs of older immigrants in our communities.

• Work with local nonprofits that provide services to these communities to provide effective translations, interpretations, and materials. Colloquially translated materials and materials that meet the literacy needs of populations can be made in partnership with local organizations if given the resources. Groups should be funded and included in the production of these materials to ensure their effectiveness.

• Add remittance scams to the existing lists of materials and programs aimed at protecting older adults from bad actors and research other scams that may impact immigrant communities.

• LiveOn NY supports the pre-considered legislation that would provide more information about benefits available to NYC’s older immigrant population.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Testimony provided by Kevin Kiprovski, Director of Public Policy, at LiveOn NY For questions, please email kkiprovski@liveon-ny.org.

LiveOn NY’s members provide the core, community-based services that allow older adults to thrive in their communities. With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations serving at least 300,000 older New Yorkers annually. Our members provide services ranging from senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing with services, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, case management, transportation, and NORCs. LiveOn NY advocates for increased funding for these vital services to improve both the solvency of the system and the overall capacity of community-based service providers.

LiveOn NY also administers a citywide outreach program and staffs a hotline that educates, screens and helps with benefit enrollment including SNAP, SCRIE and others, and also administers the Rights and Information for Senior Empowerment (RISE) program to bring critical information directly to seniors on important topics to help them age well in their communities.

Testimony on New York City Executive Budget

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.