News
&
Updates
$466 Million in Affordable Housing Funding Restored After Advocacy Effort
LiveOn NY was proud to join the New York Housing Conference led advocacy effort calling on the City to restore capital funding for the City’s affordable housing program in the FY21 budget. This #NoCapitalCuts Campaign brought together stakeholders from a broad spectrum of housing providers, including the Supportive Housing Network, NYSAFAH, Enterprise Community Partners, and more. The campaign also included sign ons from a number of LiveOn NY members, including, Ascendant Neighborhood Development Corporation, Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc., and Selfhelp Realty Group.
On October 23rd Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city will restore $466 million in fiscal year 2021 capital cuts to continue to advance New York City’s Housing Plan.
LiveOn NY was proud to join the New York Housing Conference led advocacy effort calling on the City to restore capital funding for the City’s affordable housing program in the FY21 budget. This #NoCapitalCuts Campaign brought together stakeholders from a broad spectrum of housing providers, including the Supportive Housing Network of New York, NYSAFAH, Enterprise Community Partners, and more. The campaign also included sign ons from a number of LiveOn NY member organizations, including, Ascendant Neighborhood Development Corporation, Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc., and Selfhelp Realty Group.
Thank you to City Council for their support of this effort and to our partners in advocacy, particularly the New York Housing Conference, which put together this important policy brief that helped pave the way for this victory for tenants.
LiveOn NY also thanks Mayor Bill de Blasio, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been, and New York City Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Louise Carroll for committing to this restoration of funds to ensure that New York’s important affordable housing efforts can continue in earnest.
Coverage of this Affordable Housing Win
Real Estate Weekly: Funding cut reversal just start of what city needs to create affordable homes
CityLimits: City Restores Some Housing Funds From Pandemic Budget Cuts
Crain’s New York Business: Mayor Bill de Blasio Restores $466M of Housing Cuts
Testimony on the Future of Senior Centers
While much of the future appears uncertain, what’s clear is that these core services—nutrition, health, socialization, recreation, and education—will be more important than ever in the lives of a rapidly growing older adult population, particularly as we emerge from a global pandemic. Whether it be next month, next year, or next decade, we must ensure that these services are robustly available in every community throughout the five boroughs.
New York City Council
Committee on Aging, Chair Chin
September 21, 2020
Oversight - The Future of Senior Centers after COVID-19.
Thank you, Chair Chin, for the opportunity to testify on the future of Senior Centers after COVID-19.
LiveOn NY’s members include more than 100 community-based nonprofits that provide core services which allow all New Yorkers to thrive in our communities as we age, including senior centers, home‐delivered meals, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention, caregiver supports, NORCs and case management. With our members, we work to make New York a better place to age.
First, we wish to thank and applaud the senior center providers across the City that have stepped up during COVID-19, finding new ways to provide critical services in the face of unprecedented demand and a public health crisis. Their services continue to be more important than ever, as older adults face increased risk of food insecurity and social isolation against the backdrop of a crippling economy and historic job loss. These risks, coupled with the painful loss of family and friends, only magnify the importance of Senior Centers and their core services.
Created through the federal Older Americans Act, Senior Centers’ core services are meant to include the “provision of health (including mental and behavioral health), social, nutritional, and educational services and the provision of facilities for recreational activities for older individuals.” While the physical facilities have been temporarily shuttered as a result of COVID, it is a testament to the strength of these programs and our City that all of these core functions have remained available to older adults throughout the pandemic: mental health supports took the form of hundreds of thousands wellness calls; nutrition was provided in-part through GetFood, which required support from Senior Center staff; socialization, education, and recreation went virtual; and a health focus was paramount through it all.
It is with this in mind that we can look to the “future of senior centers after COVID-19.” While much of the future appears uncertain, what’s clear is that these core services—nutrition, health, socialization, recreation, and education—will be more important than ever in the lives of a rapidly growing older adult population, particularly as we emerge from a global pandemic. Whether it be next month, next year, or next decade, we must ensure that these services are robustly available in every community throughout the five boroughs.
As we move through COVID-19 and find a “new normal,” here are some recommendations on next steps for Senior Centers:
Shift meal provision back to Senior Centers. While GetFood served a laudable purpose during the pandemic to address large-scale hunger across the lifespan, the City must elevate beyond its interim meals system and shift senior meal provision back to Senior Centers, because only the senior service sector can provide a service that is far more cost effective, efficient, and importantly, in the best interest of older New Yorkers.
Senior centers know best how to meet the nutritional needs of their older adult clients—it is core to what they have done for decades as a network. These non-profit providers have a proven track record of providing high-quality meals that are both culturally competent and unfailingly nutritious. Further, these providers have deep relationships with their older community members, which will allow the clients’ needs to be more holistically met.
With safety as our guidepost, to make this meal transition a success, the City will need to:
Commit to reimbursing all associated costs, including startup and ongoing cleaning costs, PPE, and any necessary kitchen ventilation improvements, particularly in Centers located in NYCHA or City-owned property where repairs can be made more expediently.
Include $5 million in funding promised for kitchen staff salaries that were left out of the FY21 budget, and the $10 million in promised funding for Senior Center staff, finally making whole the commitments made by the City during the Model Budget Processes.
Pay providers in full for costs of providing meals, including funding for any increase in meals served beyond the Center’s contracted level due to new demand. This may also mean increased funding for new expenses, such as to-go containers.
Provide clear, succinct guidance regarding best safety practices to help mitigate risk for both Senior Center staff and clients, while supporting flexibility in models to accommodate variance in staffing patterns and center-specific characteristics. For example, some centers might already have capacity to safely distribute grab-and-go meals; while others serving more clients or lacking outdoor space for distribution might prefer a grab-and-go by appointment model; and centers with ample volunteers might prefer distributing the meals on foot to the older adult’s home.
Should the number of meals needing to be served to older adults be greater than the capacity that Senior Centers can provide, the City should look to increase funding and capacity of the home-delivered meals system to meet this excess demand, rather than continuing to rely on new, for-profit partners. Finally, following resumed meal provision by centers, the City’s Aging and Health Departments should work with providers to learn from their experiences and to create guidance on how meal provision can continue to safely evolve.
Invest in technology to promote socialization, recreation, and education. COVID has proven that countless seniors are willing to connect to technology and participate in the virtual programming offered by their Senior Center. However, while technology utilization continues to rapidly increase, research has found that less than a third of those over the age of 80 had Internet access at home. To engage older adults, both in the short and long term, the City must invest in the technology infrastructure for providers and older adults. The City’s investment in 10,000 tablets for NYCHA residents is a great start towards this goal, and should be expanded to reach more DFTA participants and Senior Center staff.
Given that we are discussing the future of Senior Centers, LiveOn NY would also like to acknowledge that there is a currently open “Older Adult Center” Concept Paper in preparation for the upcoming RFP.
While recognizing the Concept Paper’s aim to push the senior service system forward, LiveOn NY underscores the need for more specific details that are not currently addressed in the Concept Paper but should be explicitly articulated prior to the upcoming RFP to offer providers the opportunity to fully and collaboratively engage with the City. We are hopeful that, if articulated in advance of the RFP, the City will outline a fiscally responsible path forward that will allow providers to implement some of the new ideas proposed, while continuing to serve New York’s communities responsibly and compassionately. Clarity and details within the Concept Paper are paramount, particularly given the historic uncertainty that providers and New Yorkers continue to grapple with amidst a global pandemic. Ten such examples of outstanding questions requiring clarity in advance of the RFP are below, and a more extensive list of considerations and concerns will be provided in LiveOn NY’s formal Concept Paper response submission.
Conceptually, what is the Department for the Aging’s current plan for:
How many contracts will be awarded under the new procurement?
What method, if any, will be utilized in determining geographic distribution of new contracts?
What are the expectations and details regarding meal provision under future contracts?
How does the Department for the Aging anticipate supporting a smooth transition for clients, particularly during COVID, if any contracts were to change?
What are allowable or expected staffing requirements (including staffing patterns by center model or size, position types that will be funded, minimum staff salary requirements, etc.)?
Will the contracts include a commitment to funding the provider's full Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) and cost escalators?
What is a sample budget that the contract will provide for?
Will capital funding be available?
What funding will be available to support providers in purchasing technology for virtual programming?
How will the Department ensure providers have real time access to their data as it is entered into STARS, particularly given the Concept Paper’s emphasis on data collection?
In responding to these questions, and further elaborating on items that lack clarity within the Concept Paper, the City and the Department for the Aging can work collaboratively with providers and the public at-large to mutually create a more solid foundation for the future of Senior Centers.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
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.
NY Post: Elderly New Yorkers languish on wait lists for critical services amid COVID-19
New data from LiveOn NY, a senior advocacy group, shows that the number of older Big Apple residents waiting to receive everything from personal-care help to a lift to the supermarket has soared 265 percent, to 2,936 people, since February…
“New data from LiveOn NY, a senior advocacy group, shows that the number of older Big Apple residents waiting to receive everything from personal-care help to a lift to the supermarket has soared 265 percent, to 2,936 people, since February.”
More Coverage
“Support provided through case management can make the difference between staying at home or in a nursing home for an elderly New Yorker, providers of senior services say.
The data, provided by the senior advocacy group LiveOn NY, may also be driven by budget cuts to nonprofits”
Follow us on Twitter & Facebook @liveonny for realtime updates on the news we’re following!
Testimony on the impact of COVID-19 on food insecurity in New York State
During COVID-19, food insecurity was deeply exacerbated by issues not only economic, but related to access as well, as seniors were advised to “stay home” to mitigate risk of contracting the virus. For example, Senior Centers, which offer nutritious meals to older adults across the state, were forced to close their doors virtually overnight. Recognizing that many of the individuals that received these daily meals relied on the food for more than half of their daily nutritional intake, localities and non-profits knew that stopping service altogether was not an option…
New York State Assembly
Assembly Standing Committee on Social Services
Assembly Standing Committee on Agriculture
Assembly Task Force on Food, Farm, and Nutrition Policy
Chairs Hevesi, Lupardo, and Solages
September 9, 2020
The impact of COVID-19 on food insecurity in New York State.
Thank you Chairs Hevesi, Lupardo, and Solages for the opportunity to shed light on the increased food insecurity experienced by older New Yorkers, as well as the response from aging services providers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations, LiveOn NY’s members provide core services that allow older adults to thrive in their communities, including senior centers, congregate and home‐delivered meals, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, transportation, NORCs and case management.
Among the millions of New Yorkers who are at risk of food insecurity, older adults — especially older adults of color — are among the most vulnerable populations, just as they are most at-risk during the current pandemic. According to the Brookings Institute, older adults were already food insecure before the onslaught of COVID-19, in part due to fixed incomes and lower utilization of food assistance programs such as SNAP. In New York State alone, 11.1 percent of the State’s population experienced food insecurity from 2015 to 2017, including 7.2 percent of all older New Yorkers. In addition to malnutrition, food insecurity has been linked to greater rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, and congestive heart failure, which is especially concerning given the role pre-existing health conditions play in the severity of COVID-19.
During COVID-19, food insecurity was deeply exacerbated by issues not only economic, but related to access as well, as seniors were advised to “stay home” to mitigate risk of contracting the virus. For example, Senior Centers, which offer nutritious meals to older adults across the state, were forced to close their doors virtually overnight. Recognizing that many of the individuals that received these daily meals relied on the food for more than half of their daily nutritional intake, localities and non-profits knew that stopping service altogether was not an option. Instead, programs began shifting their models of service to grab-and-go meals, and finally home-delivered meals for older adults in need. Providers quickly worked to develop new safety protocols as well, with home-delivered meal providers opting to leave the meal at the door, knock, and stand six feet away from the door to say hello and make sure the meal was received. Throughout it all, the aim was to ensure a continuity of services, while promoting safety for both staff and seniors.
More astonishing than the new ways in which providers pivoted to ensure seniors remain fed, was the number of seniors in need of nutritional support. For example, FeedMore of Western NY witnessed a stunning 57 percent increase during the height of the pandemic, when they were serving nearly 32,000 meals each week. Further, 6.6 million pounds of food have been dispensed from Feedmore’s warehouse, and 1,950 clients have been added to their home delivered meal routes, many of whom would have normally received congregate meals at local senior centers had they been open. In New York City, by the end of July, more than 100 million meals had been delivered through the City’s new GetFood program which was created to meet the nutritional needs of New Yorkers of all ages.
Suffice it to say, the nutritional needs have skyrocketed.
This need did not just exist among former congregate meal recipients, it grew among those who were newly homebound, fearful of leaving their house, and those who became increasingly frail as a result of isolation or health challenges. The economic challenges further increased the need, as more and more jobs disappeared; even in normal economic times, many older adults experience difficulty making ends meet, as many are rent-burdened, weighing housing costs against the ability to buy food or medications.
While the vastness of the need is astonishing, it’s important to go beyond the statistics, as each of the millions of meals served represents someone, with a family, a story, and a uniqueness all their own. We heard from one provider, JASA, located in New York City, early in the pandemic about their rushing to deliver an emergency food box to an older client who reached out with only about “two potatoes” left in the house. Similarly gut wrenching, was the story of an older adult who had been surviving on cat food after fear and fatigue left her unable to get groceries; in this instance, our member, Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center stepped in to ensure she had the food she needed.
Given these incredible and heart wrenching levels of need, we must look to the lessons learned and how New York can come out of this pandemic even stronger and better prepared for the future.
First, the pandemic must act as an ongoing reminder of the need to keep a strong social services network at all times. The reason that non-profits were so adept to meeting the need and averting further nutritional crises was their depth of understanding of their communities and the individuals served; this trust is not built overnight. Due to stigma and other barriers, many older adults are reluctant to seek assistance. To meet the need, New York needs strong, well-funded non-profits at all times to build relationships and create the infrastructure for support that may be necessary in an emergency. While designated as essential during the pandemic, for those that rely on these services, non-profit providers are essential workers every single day.
Unfortunately, this lesson of the need for strong support and commitment to human services providers has yet to be fully reflected in the state’s budget, as currently, providers are not being paid. Though we recognize the current financial challenges for the state, the solution cannot be on the backs of the very non-profits that were deemed essential and kept New Yorkers fed and safe during the pandemic. The uncertainty of retroactive cuts and delays of payments to non-profits is unsustainable for organizations that are simultaneously working to address the needs of the most vulnerable. In particular, the looming threat of a 20% reduction to all state contracts, including those that were essential through COVID, is wrong and will undoubtedly result in layoffs, and could even push non-profit providers towards insolvency.
The threat of insolvency is real, given that the State was already underinvesting in its nutrition programs even prior to our current revenue shortfalls. More specifically, home-delivered meal providers in New York City were already losing money on every meal served, to the tune of 20% lower reimbursements when compared to the national average. The reality is that the State's investment in meals for seniors has stagnated for decades, in spite of growing need and a rapidly increasing older adult population. Continuing this trend will put the entire system at risk during future emergencies. As a state, we must, even in difficult financial times, find ways to invest in the very programs that allow older adults to remain fed and safe in the very communities they have helped to build.
To support the State and localities fiscal outlook, LiveOn NY is committed to advocating on the federal level for COVID relief funds. We know that this is a priority shared by so many of our colleagues in the legislature, and we thank you for your voices in this effort. Briefly, we would like to share a few of our nutrition related federal funding priorities and encourage amplification of these needs to the New York congressional delegation as appropriate:
Expand SNAP. Specifically, we are calling for an increase in the SNAP maximum benefits by 15 percent; a raise of the minimum SNAP benefit from $16 to $30; and the suspension of all administrative rulemaking that would limit SNAP access. This proposal will fight hunger, and also makes good fiscal sense as, according to Hunger Solutions New York, “every $10 increase in monthly SNAP benefits further reduces the odds of additional days in the hospital.”
Enhance Older Americans Act Nutrition programs. Specifically, $100 million specifically for aging services providers, such as those who work at Senior Centers or provide home-delivered meals, to cover additional costs for PPE, cleaning supplies, staffing, and other needs associated with coronavirus.
Aside from budgetary concerns, we would also like to bring attention to a few nutrition related legislative efforts that we support.
First, we thank Chair Hevesi and Senate Sponsor Kaminski for authoring and seeing through the passage of Senate Bill S8247A/ Assembly Bill A10673 which would “authorize the use of supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits to purchase online groceries in accordance with federal laws and regulations and relates to the state supplemental nutrition assistance program outreach program.” We strongly encourage Governor Cuomo to sign this legislation into law.
Second, we wish to thank the sponsors and supporters of Senate Bill 7290A (PERSAUD) / Assembly A8764A (REYES) which would “establish a statewide restaurant meals program as part of the supplemental nutrition assistance program.” We strongly encourage passage by the Senate and Assembly.
These pieces of legislation, coupled with Federal expansion, are critical ways that SNAP can be bolstered to better combat hunger. Further, LiveOn NY is proud to receive State funding to conduct outreach to older adults around SNAP and to assist seniors in applying for this oft underutilized benefit. This is critical as AARP has reported that SNAP enrollment was only around 42% for eligible older adults. We are committed to this work and are deeply grateful to our champions in the legislature for making this work possible, including Assembly Member Joyner who has long supported our work.
In summary, as this pandemic continues to rage on, SNAP, home delivered meals, food pantries and other programs that comprise the food safety net must receive the adequate financial support to continue serve additional clients.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and we look forward to continuing to work with the State to implement a multi-faceted approach to fighting food insecurity.