58 Organizations Call on Mayor Adams to Exempt DFTA from the 3% Budget Cut

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