MEDIA: Seniors Wait Years for Affordable Housing

By: Jessica Gould
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Publication & Publisher: WNYC 93.9 FM and AM 820

Indira Prasad is just trying to find some peace. She says that's why she volunteers as a yoga teacher at Selfhelp's Innovative Senior Center in Queens, which she calls a refuge from the "dark, dank basement" where she lives. Prasad pays $508 in rent for her apartment, making it one of the few places she can afford from the $776 in income she receives from Social Security each month. But now her landlady wants to sell the house, and Prasad has to move. She's on waiting lists for public housing and subsidized senior housing, but there haven't been any openings, and she doesn't know where she'll end up.

"The waiting game is taking a toll on me," she said. 

Bobbie Sackman with the senior advocacy group LiveOn NY says this is the reality for a lot of city residents: People who struggled to get by when they worked are struggling that much more now. Sackman says one in five New York City seniors are living in poverty, and more than 100,000 pay over 50 percent of their income in rent.

"Decisions have to be made from the viewpoint of somebody who’s 70 or 80," she said. "What is their relationship with time, the time they have or the time they probably don’t have." 

Sackman's group projects there are 200,000 seniors spending an average of seven years onwait lists for affordable housing. It also found that many parking lots next to senior housing are almost totally empty. Her group says simply building more units on those parking lots would accommodate thousands of seniors. 

Mayor de Blasio says a key piece of his affordable housing plan — called Zoning for Quality and Affordability — seeks to address this problem. In order to build more apartments, the plan would make parking optional at senior housing and at other new affordable housing projects near mass transit. For senior housing that isn't as close to mass transit, the parking requirements would be reduced.

It would also allow taller buildings, permitting one or two additional stories in areas scattered throughout the city, including parts of the East Village, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Williamsburg.

The mayor says this is crucial to achieving his goal of building and preserving 200,000 units of affordable housing, including 10,000 specifically for seniors. 

Many senior advocates, including the AARP, have lined up behind the plan. But there are critics. 

Local leaders like City Council Member Donovan Richards are worried about what reducing parking would mean for their constituents.

"We have some of the longest travel times to Manhattan so many Queens residents actually use their cars," he said. 

Meanwhile, preservationists say taller buildings threaten the character of carefully planned communities, and they doubt whether the added heights will actually result in more affordable units.

"We’ve seen this play out in New York City before: You end up making neighborhoods less affordable not more and you end up destroying their character," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

Tenant activists worry new affordable apartments won’t be affordable enough. 

"We are concerned about how the plan will actually get to the people who need it the most," said Maritza Silva-Farrell, coordinator for the Real Affordability for All Coalition. 

Community boards and borough presidents have overwhelmingly opposed the plan. And council members are calling for changes. 

"There’s a huge need for more senior housing in the city." Richards said. "And the biggest task is to ensure that we’re doing it in a responsible fashion."

As for Prasad, she supports the mayor's proposal. She hopes it will get her off the waiting list and into a nice, new, affordable apartment. "And I can finally have a sigh of relief and I can sleep and relax," she said. 

The council is scheduled to vote on Zoning for Quality and Affordability as well as the mayor's major proposal, called Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, this month.

TESTIMONY: FY17 LiveOn NY Aging Budget

FY17 LiveOn NY Aging Budget Budget Priorities Chart note: acrobat format
Salary Parity Sheet note: acrobat format
Housing Waitlist by Council Member District Chart note: acrobat format
Case Management Waitlist and Turnover Chart note: acrobat format

New York City Council

FY17 Aging Committee Budget Hearing

Council Member Margaret Chin, Chair

March 4, 2016

Testimony of Bobbie Sackman, Director of Public Policy, LiveOn NY

LiveOn NY and its members across the city are dedicated to making New York a better place to age. Founded in 1979, with a membership base of more than 100 organizations ranging from individual community‐based centers to large multi‐service organizations, LiveOn NY is recognized as a leader in aging.  LiveOn NY’s membership serves over 300,000 older New Yorkers annually and is comprised of organizations providing an array of community based services including elder abuse prevention and victims’ services, case management for homebound seniors, multi‐service senior centers, congregate and home‐delivered meals, affordable senior housing with services, caregiver support services, mental health, transportation, NORCs and other services intended to support older New Yorkers.  LiveOn NY connects resources, advocates for positive change, and builds, supports and fosters innovation. Our goal is to help all New Yorkers age with confidence, grace and vitality.  LiveOn NY also advocates for meaningful policy that promotes livable communities and allows older adults to safely age in place.

LiveOn NY thanks Council Margaret Chin, Chair, Committee on Aging, and Council Member Paul Vallone, Chair, Subcommittee on Senior Centers for their leadership.

 LiveOn NY appreciates the opportunity to testify today.  Please see our FY17 attached budget priorities totaling $34.3 million for Department for the Aging (DFTA) funded services.  Each of these programs included is a critical piece of the continuum of services needed to allow older adults to remain in their homes and communities and to also support family caregivers. LiveOn NY documented that over 200,000 older New Yorkers are waiting an average of 7 years for an affordable apartment. It is many of these same seniors that are waiting for social services to support them in the community as they age.

 LiveOn NY is grateful for City Council’s FY16 allocation of additional funding last year including case management, home care, elder abuse, NORCs, adult day services, 6th congregate meals, senior center rent and transportation.  

LiveOn NY also appreciates the de Blasio Administration’s allocation of $1.4 million funding for mental health services in senior centers in the FY16 budget and $1.8 million in the FY17 preliminary budget for friendly visiting services as part of ThriveNYC. However, to date, it is our understanding, none of $1.4 million allocated in FY16 for senior centers has been spent. LiveOn NY welcomes the discussion of how to continue to address the mental health needs of older New Yorkers by including older adults in parts of the ThriveNYC plan where they aren’t currently targeted.

 LiveOn NY also applauds the de Blasio Administration for baselining $2.8 million for elder abuse services and for the first time, funding the Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT) model at $1.5 million.

That being said, there is still a rising unmet need for community based services for older New Yorkers.  The Preliminary Budget added little new funding to the Department for the Aging’s budget.  A large amount of funding was not baselined, and funding was not included for case management, home care, congregate and

 home-delivered meal costs, adult day services and other core programs. This will lead to waiting lists for some services.

LiveOn NY’s FAIR SHARE BUDGET CAMPAIGN – City funding for aging services does not reflect a fair share based on the rapidly growing older adult population, supports needed to allow them to age well in their homes and communities, and support for family caregivers. According to Webster, the definition of “progressive” is change, improvement or reform as opposed to maintaining things as they are on a political level, and on the community level, progressing towards better conditions for its residents. Given waiting lists for services and chronically underfunded services and salaries, it is clear that the city’s aging policy has work to do to be more progressive on behalf of older New Yorkers.

The $34.3 million budget priorities for FY17 reflect community supports for all older New Yorkers addressing:

• Senior nutrition/anti-hunger programs
• Affordable senior housing supports
• Economic security - access to benefits
• Elder abuse
• Social isolation
• Supporting family caregivers
• Culturally competent neighborhood based services

FY17 budget priorities

• Case Management - $3 million (new money) – It is troubling that the Mayor’s preliminary budget did not baseline case management and home care funds. Without baselining, it is difficult to hire case management staff. This leads to higher waiting lists and huge staff turnover. Additional funding is needed to ensure that caseloads don’t go higher than 65. Funding is also needed to serve frail, homebound seniors on waiting lists so that a social worker is available to visit them at home, assess their needs and provide ongoing services. MSW compensation level needs to be funded to ensure there is a professionally trained social worker who can work with immigrant and diverse populations and complex situations. Funding should allow agencies to hire supervisors, who both oversee hundreds of cases and carry a partial caseload.  Funding growing need and agency infrastructure are cornerstones to strengthening the case management system citywide.   To that end, LiveOn NY would also like to move forward a campaign on securing compensation parity for the Case Management system.  Please see attached sheet for more details.
• Per meal reimbursement – $3.3 million –would add 25 cents more per meal plus additional funds for kosher home-delivered meals.
• NORCS - $4 million – Thank you for funding NORCs at $2.5 million for NORCs to fund NORC programs that weren’t able to apply for DFTA’s RFP, plus some additional neighborhood NORCs.  Please fund $4.0 million to maintain and grow existing NORCs.
• Elder Abuse Victims Assistance - $3.0 million – Last year, both City Council and the Administration recognized the hidden crisis of elder abuse by allocating funding. City Council continued funding for pilot programs to four organizations that work with domestic violence in immigrant communities. This funding should be renewed to allow these services and the new pilot to continue. Through the DFTA RFP, the administration added $2 million for elder abuse victims assistance, which was baselined. Four organizations were awarded 3-year contracts that began July 1, 2015.
•  Adult Day Services - $2.3 million – Given the demographics of who is aging in NYC, calling for a system of universal adult day care through the neighborhoods of NYC is good public policy. Seniors with Alzheimer’s/dementia or other disabilities would benefit from being in a safe and therapeutic environment during the day. This would allow adult daughters, sons and spouses to remain in the workforce and take care of other parts of their life. While $2.3 million wouldn’t fund a universal system, it would at least get us back to where we were 7-8 years ago. Imagine how far behind the city is. Funding subsidizes the older adults to be able to attend the program on a regular basis. Original funding was at $2.3 million. We appreciate that City Council allocated $950,000, but this money was not baselined. $2.3 million would allow social adult day care to come back to its original funding level and meet growing need.  Access to affordable elder care is the workforce issue of the 21st century, especially for women.
• 6th weekend congregate meal - $600,000 – Thank you to City Council for the funding in FY16 to reinstate this program which was eliminated under the former administration.  Senior centers across the city have opted in to provide one additional takeaway meal on Fridays for the weekend.  Please continue this funding.
• Senior center rent (space) - $1.1 million – This funding is for senior centers paying more than 20% of their budget in rent. Please continue this funding.
• Transportation - $2 million – We are asking for $2 million to bring transportation up to the original $4million level.
• Innovative Senior Centers in Immigrant Communities - $2 million – There are currently 16 funded Innovative Senior Centers (ISCs) citywide serving a variety of communities. About 25% of them operate in communities with heavy immigrant populations. The remainder serve immigrants, but the participants are not predominantly immigrants.  The original ISC proposal developed by LiveOn NY included targeting underserved populations such as immigrants.
• Caregiver supports and respite - $3 million – Establish city funding to support caregivers. Access to affordable elder care and support for caregivers are the workforce issues, especially for women, of the 21st century. Caregivers statewide provide $32 billion of free care to loved ones. Workplace flexibility and caregiver supports go hand in hand. We need to end “secret caregiving” where thousands of women have to juggle work and caregiving responsibilities.
• ESL/Citizenship Classes at senior centers - $1 million – Re-establish the ESL/Citizenship program eliminated in 2003.  Learning in English allows elderly immigrants to engage in their local community and receive services. It brings them out of isolation and into a peer community. This could also include cultural competency training.
• Social workers in senior centers and Section 202/affordable senior buildings - $9 million – Senior centers and senior buildings are on the frontlines of serving thousands of elderly immigrants and other diverse populations citywide. Developing broad access to social work services will help older adults receive benefits, address grief and counseling issues, social isolation, crisis intervention and other issues that is culturally competent. MSW compensation level needs to be funded to ensure there is a professionally trained social worker who can work with immigrant and diverse populations. $8 million could fund half of the neighborhood senior centers. $1 million would fund social workers/service coordinators in Section 202 buildings/affordable senior buildings to pilot the efficacy of having service coordinators. An evaluation would be included to document the cost savings to the city that senior housing with services would bring. In order to hire and retain social workers, these funds must be baselined. This would support Mayor de Blasio’s affordable housing plan by including supportive services as seniors age in place. Mayor de Blasio announced he would provide 10,000 affordable senior housing apartments. LiveOn NY’s waiting list survey has documented over 200,000 low income seniors waiting an average of 7 years for an apartment.

 For more detailed information, please see the following attachments:

• Budget Priorities Chart
• Case Management Waitlist Chart
• Compensation Parity for Case Managers Funding through NYC Department for the Aging document
• Affordable Senior Housing Waitlist Information

 LiveOn NY looks forward to working with City Council and the administration to ensure that older New Yorkers can remain in their homes and communities through a network of support services designed to meet the needs of a diverse and rapidly growing older adult population. Please contact Bobbie Sackman, Director of Public Policy, 212-398-6565 x226, bsackman@liveon-ny.org or Andrea Cianfrani, Deputy Director of Public Policy, x233, acianfrani@liveon-ny.org for further information.

New York State Senior Affordable Housing Proposal

Printable Verison for this Alert note: acrobat format

MEDIA: As de Blasio stumps for senior housing, report outlines wait lists

As de Blasio stumps for senior housing, report outlines wait lists

By: SALLY GOLDENBERG 

Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Publication & Publisher: Capital New York

De Blasio visits the Park Slope Senior Center for Successful Aging. (Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office)

As Mayor Bill de Blasio made his pitch to create more housing for low-income elderly New Yorkers on Tuesday, a new study found that wait lists for senior residences in the city are highest in Astoria and Sunset Park.

"Tell your family. Tell your friends. People need to speak up for affordable housing for seniors," the mayor said during a visit to the Park Slope Center for Successful Aging.

He was trying to corral support for his two-pronged zoning plan ahead of a binding vote of the City Council.

"This vote will happen this month, the month of March. It will happen and it will decide so much of the future," the mayor said.

His plan, which has been met with disapproval throughout the city for a variety of reasons, would create 5,000 new apartments for seniors over the next decade, according to a Department of City Planning report released in February.

"We have outdated laws that keep us from creating the affordable housing that seniors need," the mayor said during his opening remarks before several dozen seniors. "There are places where I'm required to put lots and lots of parking in, when that's not what seniors are telling me they want. They need a place to live. They need an apartment they can afford."

Meanwhile the senior advocacy organization LiveOn NY released an analysis on Tuesday that outlined where wait lists for senior housing are longest.

It was a follow-up to a previous study the organization put out that found 110,912 elderly New Yorkers are waiting an average of seven years for federally subsidized apartments. The group projected that had the response rate been complete, that figure would have exceeded 200,000. (When the study was released, nearly 102,000 had responded.)

Of the latest total, 19,850 people live in Astoria, 11,163 in Sunset Park and 8,570 in Bushwick and Williamsburg.

LiveOn is supporting the mayor's proposed changes, particularly Zoning for Quality and Affordability, or ZQA for short.

Much of the opposition comes from community boards, borough presidents and Council members who do not endorse the elimination of required parking lots for developments within a half-mile of public transportation.

LiveOn, in a separate study, found most senior residence lots are empty, but many residents and politicians say they need the parking because mass transit is inadequate.

Meanwhile members of the Council questioned the mayor's finance commissioner at a budget hearing Tuesday afternoon on the enrollment rate for the city's Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption program, or SCRIE.

A report the Department of Finance released in December of 2014 found only 39 percent of New Yorkers eligible for the break are receiving it.

On Tuesday, commissioner Jacques Jiha said that through a combination of outreach and a rise in the income limit, the city has enrolled an additional 11,289 people in SCRIE, bringing the total to 53,804.

"It's a very effective program and the easiest way to preserve affordable housing is keeping seniors in their apartments," Councilman Corey Johnson, a Manhattan Democrat, said after the hearing. "It's pretty expensive to build new senior housing so the more we can do to get seniors to take advantage of programs like SCRIE, that's a preservation tool that's completely in line with the mayor's goals."

He suggested a required rider attached to leases explaining the program to tenants.

Bobbie Sackman of LiveOn said City Hall has not done enough to inform seniors of the program.

"LiveOn New York remains concerned that the city has never done a broad-based, citywide, sustained public awareness campaign on SCRIE," she said. "The underutilization of SCRIE is due to the fact that most seniors simply do not know about it."

When they do fine out, she added, their rent increases are frozen at rates higher than what they can afford.

Original Capital New York article

ALERT: Affordable Senior Housing Waitlists by Council Member District

Affordable Senior Housing Crisis!

Enactment of ZQA as proposed will allow NYC to move forward to build affordable senior housing.

111,000 LOW INCOME OLDER ADULTS LANGUISHING ON WAITING LISTS FOR SENIOR HOUSING AN AVERAGE OF 7 YEARS!

Responses were received from 43% of the 277 Section 202 buildings in the five boroughs, projecting that waiting lists are over 200,000 low income seniors. Senior Housing Waitlists by Council Member District for Affordable Senior Housing Buildings that responded to the LiveOn NY “Through the Roof” Waitlist Survey

* No response data is available