Last month, Mayor Eric Adams announced a 3% budget cut under the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) across most City agencies to close the gap in the City budget for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, and the years ahead. In response, 58 organizations called on Mayor Adams in a recent letter to exempt DFTA from the 3% budget cut. Read LiveOn NY’s statement.
Read the full letter below.
Dear Mayor Adams and Commissioner Jiha,
The undersigned organizations, which represent non-profit service agencies, advocacy organizations, and other entities working to make New York a better place to age, call on you to exempt the Department for the Aging (DFTA) from the 3% budget cut under the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG). Moreover, as the City looks to continue to recover from COVID-19 it should look to bolster all human services, which have been leaned on so heavily over the past two years. Further, we call on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to fulfill its previous commitment to increasing funding for the home-delivered meals program by allocating an additional $2.3 million in FY22 and $9.4 million in FY23 as was promised.
Under the PEG, you have exempted “the Department of Correction, Health + Hospitals, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, due to the unique challenges these agencies currently face.” However, for years, the Department for the Aging (DFTA) has been chronically underfunded and understaffed with the budget remaining at less than ½ of 1% of the overall budget, despite a rapidly increasing older adult population. Further, the continued global pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted and taken the lives of older New Yorkers certainly constitutes a “unique challenge” requiring DFTA be held harmless to remain laser-focused on combating COVID-19.
Through a network of community-based nonprofits DFTA provides critical services to combat isolation, promote mental health, prevent elder abuse, address food insecurity, and ensure all older New Yorkers can safely age in community. A budget cut to DFTA — even a cut to its headcount, which directly correlates to its ability to process contracts, execute payments, and support community-based providers — would further jeopardize the sustainability of providers with already inadequate funding and their ability to continue to provide equitable community-based aging services to all New Yorkers.
Finally, we ask you fulfill the City’s previous commitment to allocate an additional $2.3 million in FY22 and $9.4 million in FY23 to support older adults and providers by increasing funding for home-delivered meals (HDM) for older adults by increasing reimbursement rates. This program is a lifeline for many older adults who rely on the HDM program to access a nutritious meal, and additional funding is critical to addressing historical underfunding as well as rising costs of raw food and labor market changes.
Human services and aging service providers have been the backbone of our City, particularly throughout the pandemic, providing older adults with necessary services and support to safely age in community. We believe every New Yorker deserves a quality of life and the ability to age in community with equitable access to services regardless of one’s zip code. To reach this goal, the City cannot allow the DFTA budget to experience further cuts that will jeopardize the future of aging services.
Respectfully,
LiveOn NY
Allen Community Senior Citizens Center
Alpha Phi Alpha Senior Citizens Center, Inc.
Association of Black Social Workers
Bay Ridge Center, Inc.
Bronx House
Brooklyn Chinese-American Association
Brooklyn Neighborhood Services
CaringKind, the Heart of Alzheimer's Caregiving
Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services
Charles A Walburg Multi-Service Organization, Inc Inc
Chinese-American Planning Council
COHME Inc.
Community Agency for Senior Citizens, Inc. (CASC)
Corona Congregational Church/Florence E. Smith Senior Services
COTHOA Luncheon Club Inc
Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities Inc.
Encore Community Services
Friends of the Lower East Side
Goddard Riverside
Grand St. Settlement
Gray Panthers NYC
Greenwich House
HANAC, Inc.
Hamilton-Madison House
Harlem Advocates for Seniors, Inc.
Heights and Hills
Henry Street Settlement
India Home
JASA
JCCGCI
Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island
KCS Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc
Life Story Club
Long Term Care Ombudsman Program
MidBronx Senior Citizens Council Inc.
Morningside Retirement and Health Services
New York State Alliance for Retired Americans
Older Adults Technology Services
Osborne Association
Project FIND
Project Guardianship
PSS (Presbyterian Senior Services)
Recreation Rooms and Settlement Inc.
Riverdale YM & YWHA
Riverstone Senior Life Services
RSS Riverdale Senior Services, Inc.
SAGE
SC Group
Search and Care
Selfhelp Community Services
Services Now for Adult Persons, Inc.
Sisters of Charity Housing Development Corporation
SKA Marin
The New York Academy of Medicine
Union Settlement
Vision Urbana, Inc.
West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing