LiveOn NY Testimony on NYCHA Developments and Senior Centers

We’re proud to testify to the New York City Council to ensure older adults can safely aging in NYCHA developments. Below is testimony submitted by LiveOn NY to the New York City Council Committees on Aging and Public Housing.

To learn more about upcoming New York City Council hearings: click here. To register to testify: click here. To watch live and past hearings: view here!

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New York City Council
Committee on Aging
Chair, Council Member Chin
Committee on Public Housing
Chair, Council Member Ampry-Samuel
April 7, 2021
Oversight – Seniors aging in place in NYCHA during a pandemic

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on seniors aging in place in NYCHA during the pandemic.

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.

In New York City, NYCHA represents one of the greatest providers of affordable housing for low-income seniors. Currently, 38% of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) households are headed by an older adult age 62 and over, and an estimated 7,700 units are designated specifically for older adults. Just as the buildings are aging, so are the tenants that occupy them, making the need for quality, safe services in NYCHA paramount to the success of the community. Unfortunately, however, providers of services such as Senior Centers and NORCs that operate in NYCHA community spaces face daily challenges just to keep the doors open.

While an emphasis must be placed on improving the living conditions of residents living in NYCHA developments, it’s also important to acknowledge senior service providers have not been immune to the challenges during the pandemic.

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, and potentially exacerbating the pandemics impacts, inadequate conditions in NYCHA developments including poor ventilation systems, broken elevators, leaking roofs, and recurring mold have long been one of the many challenges providers have worked to alleviate. While working to mitigate these repairs, providers are frequently faced with fines and violations, in addition to lengthy approval processes by NYCHA that exacerbate the timeline for repairs.

The impacts of these fines and conditions are not only monetary: instead of spending critical time providing critical services for NYCHA residents and the surrounding community, providers are forced to become experts in the nuances of repair systems wholly outside of their job description in order to simply stay afloat. This impact cannot be understated as these non-profit providers work tirelessly to provide high quality services to those who need it most and, through these suboptimal systems, are being consistently hamstrung from meeting their city-mandated and personally motivated aims. Now, in the midst of a pandemic, it’s critical that these repairs and conditions are addressed as they pose an even greater risk for residents and staff as we look ahead to resume in-person services and programming.

In response to these difficulties LiveOn NY recommends:

• The City must work to continue to increase capital funding for public housing to support ventilation upgrades and other critical infrastructure improvements that will improve both residential and community space within NYCHA;

• Redirect fines to ensure nonprofits are not penalized for violations that are out of their control.  Nonprofit human service providers, who lack site control and rely on NYCHA to make repairs, should not be subject to citations and fines from DOHMH or FDNY due to NYCHA’s failure to make those repairs. When violations are found during inspections, and if these violations have already been reported to NYCHA by the provider, the provider should not be penalized. At this time, the fine should be automatically negated, and NYCHA should be notified by the fining agency of a need to cure the violation in question;

• Restore and baseline all one-time funds for NYCHA Social Clubs. All funding for senior programming in NYCHA community spaces should not rely on one-shot funding from the Administration, but should be sustainably baselined and incorporated into the full scope of DFTA services;

• Fully fund the Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) Initiative, which is critical to ensuring nonprofits operating in NYCHA remain viable into the future. Recent cuts to the ICR Initiative have threatened the viability of New York City’s nonprofit human service providers, leaving current NYCHA Senior Center, NORC, and other providers scrambling to pay staff and get by. To truly support nonprofits the City must reverse course and fully implement the ICR Initiative;

• Include funding promises made to Senior Centers in the FY22 Executive Budget. Fully allocate the $10 million in Senior Center Model Budget funding and $5 million in Senior Center Kitchen funding to ensure that this workforce -- made up of predominantly women and people of color -- are paid competitively for their work. This funding will support not only Senior Centers located in NYCHA, but the broader Senior Center portfolio.

Additionally, LiveOn NY strongly supports the following bills that would potentially improve operations for providers and transparency in NYCHA developments:

• Intro 1827, introduced by Council Member Ampry-Samuel, is an act to provide a dedicated NYCHA liaison within DFTA. To ensure there is a clear and consistent line of coordination, there should be an individual within the Department for the Aging (DFTA) whose sole focus is to coordinate with NYCHA on matters impacting older adult public housing residents. This individual could support and streamline processes for DFTA funded services that may include establishing a system to receive comments and complaints, delineating roles and responsibilities regarding repairs at Centers located within NYCHA developments and make recommendations to improve programs and facilities that serve older adults public housing residents.

• Intro 415, introduced by Council Member Chin, is an act to require NYCHA to report annually on Senior Centers within NYCHA buildings. As we look to create better solutions for older adults who rely on Senior Centers for critical services, receiving an annual report from NYCHA would provide service providers and community-based organizations with the necessary information and data — such as the number of people served by each center, or the programming provided at each center — to create evidence-based solutions that better support older adults and advocate for investments and legislation on the City and State level. The City Council should work with the Department for the Aging, prior to passage, to confirm if the information that would be mandated reporting under this bill is already being collected, or can be easily collected by providers, so as to not create additional data collection requirements where those don’t already exist. Further, it should be considered if this information is already available through Local Law 140.

As we look ahead to the warmer season when Senior Centers located in NYCHA will act as Cooling Centers for those in need, NYCHA developments and DFTA fiscal must work to accelerate the approval for repairs or replacements of poor HVAC systems. Further, as DFTA moves towards reopening of in-person senior services, funding and flexibility for budget amendments must be prioritized to ensure Senior Centers in NYCHA can proactively address leaks and other issues that are critical to the safety and health of staff and older adults.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify at today’s hearing.

Social Work Month: Celebrating the Essential Workers Who Make New York A Better Place to Age

March is Social Work Month and at LiveOn NY, we celebrate our members who are essential to the work we do in making New York a better to age. Throughout the pandemic, social workers in the human services sector have been on the frontlines working tirelessly to ensure all New Yorkers have the support they need.

Here are quotes from some of our members on what moved them to become social workers and their experience as an essential worker.

LiveOn NY Stands in Solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Community

NEW YORK — March 19, 2021 —  LiveOn NY stands in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community, in light of the recent murders in Atlanta. We mourn and honor the lives tragically taken this week. For too long, Asian American and Pacific Islanders have been the target of violence, harassment, and discrimination in our nation including New York.

Throughout the pandemic, we have seen a rise in egregious acts of violence against the AAPI community. These acts of hate can not be tolerated. We must speak up, take action and stand together in unity as we root out the hate that is deeply entrenched in our nation.

We urge the City and State to show its commitment to the AAPI community by investing in community-based organizations in New York that help move the community forward. At LiveOn NY, our mission has long been to make New York a better place to age for everyone. We stand firm in our support with the Asian American and Pacific Islanders community and our commitment to building a safer, more equitable and inclusive New York for all ages.

About LiveOn NY

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. For more information, please visit our website, https://www.liveon-ny.org/

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Reframing the Way We Think About Aging in New York City

LiveOn NY and the Reframing Aging Initiative launch a new communication strategy in NYC to shift the way New Yorkers understand aging and older people 

For Immediate Release

NEW YORK — March 9, 2021 — As we age, we are presented with new challenges and the need to create solutions that better support older people. Today, the senior advocacy organization LiveOn NY announced a partnership with the Reframing Aging Initiative, which is a multi-year strategy to counteract ageism and improve the way policymakers, stakeholders, and the public think about aging and older people. New York City currently is home to more than 1.8 million people over the age of 60 living across the five boroughs.

We all age yet public perception around aging and older people is often a cycle of negative stereotypes, assumptions and misconceptions. Ageism — discrimination based on age — is a reality that impacts older adults every day with 82 percent of older adults experiencing one form of ageism daily , according to a recent survey by the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging.

The Reframing Aging Initiative takes a holistic approach using an evidence-based communication strategy as the core to create collective change in public discourse, policies and practices. It is led by The Gerontological Society of America on behalf of the Leaders of Aging Organizations collaborative.

In partnership with LiveOn NY, the initiative is training a cohort of 30 facilitators — advocates, aging services professionals, and community leaders who will be the catalysts of change in reframing aging in New York. By the end of the training, the facilitators will be equipped to lead the aging field to create systemic change through community engagement, targeted communications, and advocacy.

“Across the country, we have seen the power of Reframing Aging through research-based solutions to shift the way we think about aging and older people,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director of LiveOn NY. “This initiative in New York City will drive the mission forward to create a more robust age-integrated society that celebrates the contributions of older adults as well as build greater support for community-based aging services and policy solutions that allow older adults to truly thrive and age in their communities.” 

Patricia M. D’Antonio, project director of the Reframing Aging Initiative and vice president for policy and professional affairs at GSA, said she is excited to be embarking on this co-venture.

“With LiveOn NY and other aging organizations tapping into the energy and ingenuity that New Yorkers are known for, this city will be a supportive and dynamic place to age. The Reframing Aging Initiative welcomes the opportunity to work with LiveOn NY to create a model for cities across the country.”

Press Contacts:

LiveOn NY: Brianna Paden-Williams, Communications and Policy Associate, bpaden-williams@liveon-ny.org

The Gerontological Society of America: Todd Kluss, Director of Communications, tkluss@geron.org

About LiveOn NY

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. For more information, please visit our website, https://www.liveon-ny.org/

About the Reframing Aging Initiative

The Reframing Aging Initiative is a long-term social change endeavor designed to improve the public’s understanding of what aging means and the many ways that older people contribute to our society. This greater understanding will counter ageism and guide our nation’s approach to ensuring supportive policies and programs for us all as we move through the life course.  For more information, visit www.reframingaging.org.  

About The Gerontological Society of America (GSA)

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 5,500+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA’s structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society.

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Testimony on the NYC Fiscal Year 2022 Preliminary Budget

We’re proud to testify to the New York City Council to ensure that the strengths, as well as the needs, of older adults are consistently heard and prioritized by New York’s elected officials. Below is testimony submitted by LiveOn NY.

To learn more about upcoming New York City Council hearings: click here.
To register to testify: click here.
To watch live and past hearings: view here.

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New York City Council
Committee on Finance: Chair, Council Member Chin
Committee on Contracts: Chair, Council Member Kallos
Subcommittee on Capital: Chair, Council Member Gibson
March 3, 2021
Preliminary Budget Hearing - Finance

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the Fiscal Year 2022 Preliminary Budget.

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.

For decades, LiveOn NY has come to the City prior to budget adoption to highlight the importance of the aging services network, and to share the fact that, despite providers work in communities across our City, the Department for the Aging (DFTA) budget remains at less than ½ of 1% of the overall budget. Even with a growing, increasingly diverse older adult population, this has yet to be redressed. In fact, in recent years, providers have been promised millions of dollars in funding for Senior Centers that never came to be allocated, while also experiencing significant cuts and uncertainty to the much needed Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) initiative.

Amidst this, providers confronted a pandemic that put older adults at the greatest risk, not only to the virus, but also to the negative health impacts of extended periods of isolation while staying home to avoid infection. In response to these threats, providers worked to change their service models virtually overnight, shifting to reaching clients via phone, setting up zoom classes, enrolling clients in new emergency food systems, navigating new vaccine systems, and continuing to be a resource to older adults across the City. This work has been critical, as isolation is now understood to be a significant health risk and predictor of morbidity.

The workers who provided these services - from home-delivered meals, to Senior Centers, to case management - are, and will always remain, essential. It’s time for the City to enact a more equitable budget that holistically supports these professionals that work tirelessly to ensure that no older New Yorker falls through the cracks. Rather than bolstering their work, for too long the City has created cracks in the foundation of nonprofits by eroding the sustainability of their funding, which puts not only these organizations at risk, but our communities and our neighbors.

Given this, the following investments are critical to turning the tide towards a truly equitable City for all ages.

Critical Investments in the Department for the Aging (DFTA) Services

LiveOn NY requests $16.6 million be added to the funding available for home-delivered meals, in order to increase capacity to meet new demand and increase the per-meal rate to the national average. Even following a recent Request for Proposals, the City continues its inadequate reimbursement for culturally competent home-delivered meals. Today, all home-delivered meals remain funded below at roughly $2 less per meal the national average. Further, COVID-19 has demonstrated significant increases to the demand for home-delivered meals, with providers now serving more older adults than ever, with thousands of new clients being added to the service since March.

The City must fully allocate the promised $10 million in funding for Senior Center staff, and $5 million in funding for Senior Center kitchen staff. These funds, which were not included in the Mayor’s preliminary budget, were promised to organizations prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and reneged in the midst of this pandemic, despite older adults being most vulnerable to the virus. Such funding is particularly critical to serve the older immigrant population, as lack of funds can hinder an organization’s ability to hire or retain bilingual staff necessary to best serve LEP older adults. Studies have found that salary increases expected for bilingual professionals ranges from 5-20%, amounts that may be just out of reach within Senior Centers current shoe-string budget. Further, this funding is particularly important to ensure that wages for senior service professionals, a workforce made up of predominantly women and people of color, are paid competitively for their work, rather than exacerbating existing inequalities. Without resolution, the City will continue to underpay this workforce, heightening the risk of more New Yorkers aging into poverty, and of providers of aging services coming to need the very services they now dedicate their lives to making available.

LiveOn NY recommends that the City increase its investment in the technology infrastructure of Senior Center and other DFTA providers. LiveOn NY and our members have seen the ways that lack of access to technology limits the ability for older adults to remain engaged and connected in our communities. For example, lack of access limits one’s ability to connect to virtual programming, heightening the risk of isolation. Further, lack of access means missing out on real time information, such as best practices in regards to COVID, how to access food or the vaccine, and online job opportunities. One of LiveOn NY’s members, PSS, surveyed their more than 700 older adult participants, and found lowest tech use and comfort among their Senior Center program attendees, with many having no personal means to access the internet. Many clients reported having only a basic cell phone as their technology infrastructure. These findings underscore the need to increase technology access funding targeted to the Department for the Aging network.

Continued discretionary and one-time executive funding. 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 and one-time Executive funding be restored in the Executive, and subsequent Adopted Fiscal Year 2022 budget.

Critical Investments Across Human Services Contracts

The human services sector stepped up to meet the need of New Yorkers in crisis despite the fact we faced a funding crisis long before our City saw its first case of COVID-19. Unfortunately, the New York City government did not step up to support us in the same way. The City is not getting a deal by chronically underfunding and retroactively cutting human services contracts to balance the budget; it is further harming the low wage workers the City relies on to keep these programs running while pushing community-rooted nonprofits towards failure during a time of increased need. Throughout the last calendar year, the City has allowed the COLA for human services workers to expire in the middle of the pandemic by not renewing it in the FY21 budget, failed to provide comprehensive emergency pay for low-wage City-contracted frontline workers, and created fiscal chaos for the sector by retroactively cutting the Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) Funding Initiative. 

In order to address this crisis, the FY22 budget must include the following investments across the human services portfolio, including within Department for the Aging (DFTA) contracts: 

1. Sufficient funding to fully honor the ICR Funding Initiative for FY20, FY21, and going forward. Recent cuts to the ICR Initiative have significantly threatened the viability of New York City’s nonprofit human service providers, leaving current senior service providers scrambling to pay staff and get by. To truly support nonprofits through COVID-19 and beyond, the City must reverse course and fully implement the ICR Initiative, including full funding of ICRs within HDM contracts, and all DFTA and human services contracts;

2. The restoration of the COLA on the personnel services line of all human services contracts at a rate of at least 3%; and

3. Comprehensive emergency pay for human services workers retroactive to March 23, 2020, when non-essential workers in New York were ordered to stay home.

These urgent investments are needed while workers, advocates, providers, and elected officials continue to work together on more comprehensive solutions to ensure that human services workers finally earn fair pay for their essential labor.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and for all support of the investments outlined in the above. We look forward to continuing to share information on the need for broader support of aging and human services, and hope to find resolution to these budgetary shortfalls in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.