Senior Center Meals Model Budget Hearing

LiveOn NY testimony provided for the record:

New York City Council
Committee on Aging
Chair, Council Member Margaret Chin
February 27, 2019
Senior Center Meals Model Budget Hearing

LiveOn NY is a nonprofit membership organization representing 100 community-based organizations that serve over 300,000 older New Yorkers annually through senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, NORCs, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, transportation and case management. Thank you Chair Chin and the Aging Committee for the opportunity to testify.

LiveOn NY is encouraged are encouraged the recent initial investments in senior centers, which are the core of strong communities.  We also recognize and are encouraged by the joint work between the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and DFTA examining the senior center meals system. 

That said, as it stands the overall DFTA budget accounts for less than 1% of the total city budget, a point that is only exacerbated by the fact aging New Yorkers are the now fastest growing demographic.  Further, New York City spends 20% below the national average on senior meals – that means they are only paying for 4 out of every 5 needed meals.  This does not reflect fairness for older New Yorkers, senior center kitchen staff or the nonprofits that serve older New Yorkers. In order for New York to truly be the fairest big city, it must be a #FairCity4AllAges.

FY19 “Model Senior Center” Budgets

In FY19 DFTA undertook a model senior center analysis and distributed $10 million for “model senior center” budgets late in the fiscal year.  Providers were not able to allocate this funding for meals or meal staff.  Of note: 

• 249 senior centers were included the “model senior center budget” analysis.

• 26 out of the 249 received no funding because they were deemed at or above the “model” amount.

• For the 223 centers that did get funding, it was to be directed in two areas: direct staffing and consultants. “Direct Staffing” does not include kitchen or meal staff, which has caused salary disparity among programs. The funding could not be used for meal costs either, or other expenses to run a kitchen.

• 38 additional programs were not evaluated in the “model senior center” budget process, and thus received no funding.  In that group are former discretionary funded sites that are now under DFTA (11 centers), former NYCHA (4 centers), “social clubs” (17) and other social service programs (6). Many, if not all, of the sties not evaluated in the “model senior center” budget process are held to the same standards as the sites that were evaluated, yet were not given funding as the others were. The appropriateness of this decision must be evaluated and reconciled moving forward.

• In addition to this baselined $10 million distributed late in FY19, the city has promised an additional $10 million “by 2021” through this “Model Senior Center Budget” process.

The Importance of NYC Senior Center Meals

• Senior centers provided 7.6 million senior center meals in FY17.[i]

• 56% of seniors report that meals eaten at the center make up ½ or more of their daily food intake and nutrients for the day from these meals.[ii]

• 13.6% of New Yorkers over the age of 60 lived in food insecure households and that number is rising.

• Seniors are underenrolled in SNAP - among those living with hunger, the under-enrollment rate of SNAP benefits is around 40%. 

• Meals also offer socialization and improve lives, as isolation has been found to be a greater predictor of morbidity than obesity and provide critical nutrition services for seniors of all backgrounds, language capacities, religions, and socioeconomic status.

The importance of NYC Home Delivered Meals

• This year, providers will distribute over 4.6 million home delivered meals.

• The majority of seniors utilizing the program tend to be women, living alone, receiving meals that on average account for ½ or more of their total food for the day.

• Nationally, 59% of meal recipients live alone – and the person delivering the meal is often the only person they will see that day.[iii]

• Home delivered meals are critical for supporting older adults to age independently.

Challenges for the System

• Inadequate funding for Staffing: Despite congregate meals being core to the spirit of the Older Americans Act, senior center kitchens citywide are far understaffed across the board and often must rely on volunteers to perform core functions to sustain the program.  Further, salaries and funding are not commensurate with the numerous responsibilities required to run a kitchen including food preparation, cooking, serving meals, menu planning and submissions, inventory, ordering, accounting, managing volunteers and numerous other responsibilities required to operate a kitchen. Kitchen staff are critical to the senior center and were excluded in the model budget funding last year.

• Underfunding of Raw Food Costs: Based on data from FY17, NYC paid nonprofits for senior and home delivered meals at a rate 20% below the national average.  Specifically, for congregate meals, DFTA reimbursed providers on the average at $9.06 compared to the 2015 national average rate of $10.69.  For home delivered meals, DFTA reimbursed providers on the average $8.24 compared to the national average rate of about $11.06.  This means the city is paying for only 4 out of every 5 meals.  From 2008-2013 alone, the cost of food increased by 11% according to the Consumer Price Index, however the nonprofits struggle to keep pace with food and service costs and what NYC is below the national average in what it pays to feed hungry seniors.

• Inadequate Funding for Culturally Competent Meals: Further, almost 50% of older New Yorkers are foreign born according to a recent Center for an Urban Future study, reflecting a significant need for meals that are culturally appropriate to an array of backgrounds. Providers are required, not to mention eager, to offer menus that are culturally appropriate and nutritious, but do not have adequate funding to do so as this requirement brings a fiscal implication: in 2015, DFTA stated that, “in DFTA’s HDML network, each catered Kosher [meal] is on average $1.38 more than non-Kosher catered meals.” Similar to Kosher meals, Halaal, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, or other cultural or nutritional needs have an associated cost-increase.

• There is no set funding for upgrades for equipment and other repairs for critical kitchen equipment including overs, refrigerators and HVAC systems. Because of the lack of process, certainty, and funding about whether requests for repairs or upgrades will even be responded to or entertained, centers typically purchase or upgrade equipment only when something breaks.  This is disruptive to service delivery, particularly in the kitchen and is inefficient and preventable.  These costs and needs are heightened in NYCHA senior centers and programs, which have critical additional infrastructure and repair needs.

• There is no baselined funding in contracts to meet minimal health and safety standards for senior centers.  Many inspections and services are required annually or several times a year, including extermination, grease trap cleaning and grease removal, hood cleaning, fire suppression systems, maintenance of HVAC systems and refrigerators and freezers.  Providers have also reported that annual deep power cleanings of kitchens are necessary to prevent against rodent infestations.  Other expenses include sewage back up problems and security alarm service and maintenance.  While there may be some very small amounts in budgets under “Other Occupancy” costs, these routine annual expenses are estimated at well over $10,000 a year, and providers do not have anywhere close to this in their budgets, even though they are required and routine.  

Recommendations

1. Add at least $20 million in baselined funding to DFTA for congregate meals.  This funding will increase meal costs closer to the national average, increase funding for providers to appropriately pay and staff their kitchens and add funding for the costs for equipment and services required to safely operate a kitchen.  This funding is needed immediately since kitchern staff were specifically excluded from the model budget funding for senior centers last year.

2. Add at least $15 million in baselined funding to DFTA for home delivered meals.  This funding will increase meal costs closer to the national average, increase funding for providers to appropriately pay and staff and service needs, as well as address increased need as the population increases.  We recognize that DFTA, thanks to the Council’s support, added $2.84 million in FY 2019 for home delivered meals, however this funding was not baselined and was one time funding.

3. No PEGs for DFTA.  Across the board reductions through the recently announced Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) disproportionally and unfairly affect small agencies, such as DFTA, which receives such a small portion of the city budget to begin with. To avoid cutting direct services to older New Yorkers and the staff that serve them, DFTA should not be subject to PEGs.

4. Expedite the additional $10 million promised for senior centers immediately. Allocating these funds quickly is integral to meeting current need and to ensuring that all programs can compete in the coming RFP, projected to be released in calendar year 2020. Given the decades of underfunding, the need for this increased funding among non-profit providers is both urgent and immediate. We see no reason for the city to hold this funding.  It should be expedited as soon as possible.

5. Evaluate and fund senior center programs that were excluded from the Model Senior Center budget process. If the purpose was to rightsize contracts and provide a more equal playing field for centers in anticipation of the next RFP, all applicable senior center programs should be included in this process and given the opportunity to secure funds needed to run a quality Senior Center. DFTA, OMB and the Council should discuss next steps to address the 38 programs not included in the initial process.  Further, all DFTA programs, including these 38 programs, should be included in any meal funding analysis.

6. Engage Providers in the city’s efforts to address senior hunger.   Both DFTA and OMB have referenced that the city is in the process of conducting a meals study which will advise them on next steps and new funding specifications for senior meal programs.  We recognize DFTA’s initial steps on provider engagement have begun, which are appreciated.  However, there is no clear indication of timing, focus, or provider engagement specifically around home delivered meals. This has understandably caused great angst in the senior service network. We strongly urge the city to engage providers in this process as soon as possible to construct a meaningful and transparent process for both congregate and home delivered meals, as both RFPs are to be released in the near future.

7. Fully fund city contracts. The $10 million allocated to senior centers late last year was greatly appreciated as an important first step. That said, the city needs to fully fund contracts that are representative of the costs to run a center, including meals/meal preparation, meal staff, rent, transportation, OTPS, technology, facility costs or other costs that are required to run a senior center, and allow for innovation to create new programs.

8. Pay Nonprofits on time. The recent Comptroller Report titled Running Late: An Analysis of NYC Agency Contracts clearly relays what our members have been telling us for years: chronic late payments consistently puts strain on nonprofit human service providers throughout the City. Of note, DFTA submitted 98.9% of its contracts retroactively, meaning all but 3 DFTA contracts arrived at the Comptroller’s Office, the final step in the process, for registration after the contract start date. Nonprofits are hamstrung by these problems, often mirroring their clients by living payroll to payroll, uncertain when payment for services will finally arrive. Innovation and strategy is nearly impossible when organizations are essentially loaning the City funds to cover the cost of serving the most vulnerable. Further, because professionals are spending countless hours navigating the contractual bureaucracy, they are unable to use their key skills, strengths and creativity to move this City forward. The city must work with the human service sector to address these issues.

9. Support agency-wide investments in the human services sector. LiveOn NY is a member of the Human Services Advancement Strategy Group (HSASG). The Council and Administration have made important investments in the sector over the past two years, as well as expanded program investments, while also tackling systems issues through the Nonprofit Resiliency Committee. More work needs to be done including increasing indirect expenses, fringe benefits, insurance, and occupancy costs which are all areas that are critical to the fiscal, administrative, and operational integrity of the sector.  We are also calling for trend factor/cost escalation formulas in all new procurements for the duration of the contract.

We look forward to working with City Council, DFTA, all city agencies and the Administration to make New York a better, and fairer, place to age through a strong network of community based services.

[i] New York State Office of the State Comptroller congregate Meal Services for the Elderly study, 2018

[ii] ACL Research Brief Number 8, September 2015 “Older Americans Benefit from Older Americans Nutrition Programs”

[iii] Meals on Wheels of America, Delivering So Much More than Just a Meal Fact Sheet, United States, 2018

LiveOn NY 29th Annual Conference Attracts More than 400 Attendees

From stress-reducing yoga, to better understanding the path of the wanderer, to the Carter Burden dancers, to cake and goodies from Bartlett Dairy and our other vendors, we were thrilled to share our 29th Annual Conference with an estimated 400 professionals in the field!

Thank you to every single person who braved the cold to attend our Annual Conference, we hope you left feeling empowered and reenergized to continue our work to make New York a better place to age. A special thank you to our sponsors and vendors, both new and old, for your steadfast support of New York’s aging community.

Below are a few pictures highlighting the day!

For those who attended workshops and signed up to receive Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) please be on the look out for an email with your confirmation certificate in the coming weeks!

More Pictures!

Women Aging into Poverty in New York City

LiveOn NY Testimony on the record:

New York City Council Joint Hearing
Committee on Aging and Committee on Women
Chairs: Council Member Chin and Council Member Rosenthal
Oversight: Women Aging into Poverty in New York City
January 23, 2019

LiveOn NY would like to first and foremost thank Chairs Chin and Rosenthal for the opportunity to testify on the important topic of women aging into poverty in New York City.

The numbers are staggering. Currently one in five older women are living below the poverty level, a figure higher than their male counterparts. More specifically, the National Institute on Retirement Security reports that women over the age of 65 are 80% more likely than men to be impoverished. To understand just why more and more women are aging into poverty, one must first look to the structural struggles women face throughout their lives, especially for women of earlier generations. Despite progress, women can still expect to make 80% of their male counterparts, according to PEW. Compounding this, years of inferior wages means that women are, by default, less able to save and prepare for old age.

Beyond low wages, women often experience the financial strains of caring for a loved one. In New York, an estimated 80% of those caring for older loved ones are women – a point that becomes worrisome when coupled with the fact that the average caregiver will personally experience an estimated $660,000 in lost wages and benefits over a lifetime, as well as an estimated $5,500 out of pocket expenses annually.

Considering the multitude of other factors that may further lead to or exacerbate poverty among older women, the situation becomes increasingly bleak. These factors include:

• Women often receive less social security than men, yet live longer on average, posing particular challenges of maintaining a fixed income;

• Immigrant women and women of color earn less than Caucasian women, at almost all levels of work;

• 1.6 million Americans do not receive any Social Security benefits, the majority of whom are immigrants;

• Older women seeking to return to the workforce to increase one’s income face difficulties as 3 out of 5 older adults report seeing or experiencing age discrimination; and

• Increasing rents and a lack of affordable housing also works in opposition to the fixed incomes often experienced in later years, an estimated 31% of the nation’s homeless population are 50+

These are the stats; but our team at LiveOn NY sees these needs every day in our work with older adults, as do our members through the programs they provide such as senior centers, case management and home delivered meals, among many others.  Through LiveOn NY’s Benefits Program, the individuals who come to us for application assistance are overwhelmingly women – nearly three times as many woman as men. Many are living on as little as $15,000 a year. Some are displaced workers who relied on their spouse’s income, and others left the workforce early to care for a loved one, causing their Social Security benefits to be lower than it otherwise would have been. And through our RISE program, we see firsthand the lack of information available to older adults in the community. Further, in many instances at LiveOn NY’s Financial Fitness presentations, older women often share with us that due to historical family roles over their lifetimes, many of them were not involved in the management of finances in their families and they lack the information and basic background on many finance principles.

These examples are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to identifying just why older adults, and particularly women, are increasingly aging into poverty.

Now, what can New York do to combat this?

While society at large, as well as all levels of government, must confront the larger systemic constructs that all but continue to ensure poverty among older women of the future, the City can and must do more to support older women who are in many ways a product of this unequal society. Better supporting services funded through the Department for the Aging (DFTA) represents one of the clearest ways to improve the lives of older female New Yorkers.

Below are a few concrete examples of DFTA services that through additional support, the city could directly and positively impact this population:

1. For older women living in poverty, quality nutrition is an incredibly important service that the City can and should fulfill. Within DFTA’s home-delivered meal program, 81% of meal recipients note that home-delivered meals improve their overall health. The majority of seniors utilizing the program tend to be women, living alone, receiving meals that on average account for ½ or more of their total food for the day. To better support the home-delivered and congregate meals programs, the City must increase funding by $20 million to ensure the solvency of the program, the availability of culturally competent options, and increased quality of the meals provided.

2. Further, it is imperative that further recognition be given to the role that the entire network of aging services plays in alleviating the burdens of caregiving for many. By increasing funding for services such as senior centers and NORCs to ensure that quality program can continue in spite of rising costs, the city is investing in an outlet for aging New Yorkers and peace of mind for the thousands of family members who find solace and respite in these program’s existence.

3. The city must continue to expand its Geriatric Mental Health Initiative (GMHI) created through Thrive NYC, as almost half of women over the age of 75 live alone, a point that requires increased mental health services as loneliness has been found to be a greater predictor of morbidity than obesity. The GMHI initiative appears ripe for expansion as only 25 of DFTA’s more than 250 senior centers are able to participate in this life sustaining program.

4. Finally, the city must increase funding for the gamut of human services programs, DFTA and otherwise, as 3 out of 4 human services workers are women, almost half of whom are making less than $15 per hour. By improving the salaries of chefs at senior centers, early childhood educators, and NORC directors, as a few examples, the city can take a powerful step towards supporting the women of today and older women of tomorrow.

LiveOn NY looks forward to working with the City to ensure that all women and all individuals have access to meaningful, quality supports to age with dignity and independence.

News & Press Releases Featuring LiveOn NY

At LiveOn NY, we work hard to make sure that the public hears about the issues affecting older New Yorkers, as well as the incredible momentum that exists as we grow old. To this aim, we are proud of each and every time we are able to share this narrative with our local communities or to comment on a topic effecting older New Yorkers.

Below are a few articles & press releases including our work: 

January 16, 2019 “De Blasio Administration Financed More Than 34,000 Affordable Homes in 2018 – A New Record” press release from NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development

“LiveOn NY is appreciative of the monumental effort that goes into every unit of affordable housing and we are heartened by the impact that these homes will have, particularly on the lives of New York’s older adults.”

— Allison Nickerson, Executive Director

December 6, 2018 “The Housing Crisis Continues for NYC Seniors” article by Maitefa Angaza in Our Time Press

November 27, 2018 "From Rent Regs to Rezonings, 2019 Will Feature Key Housing Policy Fights" article by Sadef Ali Kully in City Limits

November 19, 2018 “Mayor de Blasio Announces Donna Corrado Stepping Down as DFTA Commissioner” press release from the Office of Mayor de Blasio

November 16, 2018 “New York City nonprofits had a big day at the City Council” article by Zach Williams in New York Nonprofit Media

November 13, 2018 “New Coalition of Affordable Housing Industry Leaders, Tenant Advocates and Labor Calls for Crucial Reforms to State Rent Laws” press release from Enterprise Community Partners

November 8, 2018 “NYC approves its first CCRC” article from Advanced Senior Care, also reported in Crain’s New York and the Jewish Voice

We look forward to continuing to weigh in on aging issues throughout New York City, for upcoming press inquiries, please reach out to Katelyn Hosey at khosey@liveon-ny.org or 212-398-6565 x. 244

LiveOn NY Opposes Proposed Public Charge Rule

The following comments were submitted on the record to the Department of Homeland Security in opposition to the proposed public charge rule:

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LiveOn NY Opposition to Proposed Rule in
DHS Docket No. USCIS-2010-0012
December 5, 2018

LiveOn NY is a nonprofit membership organization representing 100 community-based organizations serving 300,000 older New Yorkers annually through senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, NORCs, affordable senior housing and other services.

LiveOn NY strongly opposes the proposed Public Charge Rule.

Public Benefits are Critical to Supporting Health and Independence

Public benefits are for everyone, particularly older adults. In New York City, 50% of the older adult population are immigrants, and we oppose any Rule that would deny or deter access to public benefits based on immigration status to those in need of these supports.

Further, 89% of adults over age 50 say they wish to age in place as long as possible, and the availability of these benefits, coupled with community based services are critical to supporting older New Yorkers to remain healthy and independent in their communities.

That said, we also know that public benefit programs are already disproportionately underutilized by older New Yorkers, in part because of the stigma surrounding them. For example an alarming 56% of eligible older adults in NYC do not receive food stamps. For SCRIE, also known as the Rent Freeze program, according a NYC Department of Finance report, the underutilization rate is even more drastic: only 43 percent of those eligible for SCRIE (approximately 52,000 households out of 121,729) actually are actually enrolled in the program.

The Proposed Public Charge Rule will Have a Drastic Effect on Older Adults

First, the Proposed Rule includes examining usage of critical benefits for older adults such as Medicare Part D, Medicaid home and community based services, the Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) and others. It cannot be understated that these programs keep older New Yorkers in their homes and communities, and further decrease the need for more costly levels of care. According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA):

• 4.5 million households with at least one person over the age of 60 receives SNAP.

• About 12 million older adults are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. This population utilizes Medicaid for long-term care, which includes home and community-based services, as well as other services not covered by Medicare.

Second, being over 61 will be considered a “negative” factor, as well as a person’s health status if it is deemed to interfere with their ability to work. All of the considerations noted above will only exacerbate the aforementioned reality that benefit programs are already disproportionately underutilized by older New Yorkers. Our Benefits Outreach team has already received questions about how an individual could go about canceling their benefits in fear that remaining enrolled in the program would negatively impact the individual or family’s immigration status.

LiveOn NY’s mission is to make New York a better place to age and strongly believes that we all should have the dignity, support and ability to age well in our communities. Therefore, LiveOn NY strongly oppose these Proposed Public Charge Rule, as it will have negative implications for those who rely on these critical supports.