Q&A
Q&A on Older Adult Centers funding and PEG restorations
5:28:58
·
5 min
Council Member Adams questions Director Jiha about the PEGs (Program to Eliminate the Gap) affecting Older Adult Centers (OACs) funding and their potential impacts.
- Adams inquires about the breakdown of the $18.9 million PEG in fiscal year 2024 and whether any OACs will close due to this reduction.
- Jiha assures that there are no plans to close any centers and that the savings come from rightsizing and addressing underspending.
- The administration is working on a plan to minimize service impacts while finding efficiencies.
- Adams expresses concern about the lack of specific information on how services will be affected by the PEGs.
- Jiha commits to providing updates as they develop plans with the agencies, emphasizing that closing centers is 'off the table'.
Adrienne E. Adams
5:28:58
We're gonna continue to be hopeful.
5:29:00
Yeah.
5:29:00
The council has always prioritized, as you know, the cultural community.
5:29:04
And we understand that cultural institutions play an essential role, not only as the foundation of our neighborhoods, but also as a main cog in the engine of the city's economy.
5:29:14
Each year, the council provides 1,000,000 of dollars of additional support to cultural institutions.
5:29:19
And each year it seems the administration somehow decides to cut funding for culturals.
5:29:25
I'm really hoping that we can come to a swift resolution of these rest, restorations.
5:29:31
And one final thing for me for now in looking at our aging population, older adult center, OIC PEG restoration, the November plan included a $13,500,000 peg for older adult centers in fiscal year 2027.
5:29:50
The preliminary plan included an additional peg for OACs of $18,900,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $2,200,000 in fiscal 2025 to 2028.
5:30:06
The council's preliminary budget response called for the restoration of these pegs, which unfortunately was not included in the executive plan.
5:30:14
For the $18,900,000 peg in fiscal year 2021 2024.
5:30:21
Could OMB provide a breakdown of what this reduction relates to and will or have any OACs closed or be closed due to this reduction?
Jacques Jiha
5:30:34
There is no plan to close, any one of the centers.
5:30:38
Okay.
5:30:38
That is off, of the table.
5:30:41
The saving, basically are a combination of rightsizing, if, you know, the plan currently we have on the spending for this fiscal year.
5:30:51
But as you said, this is we're looking at fiscal year 20 6, 20 7.
5:30:55
Okay?
5:30:56
And the goal is to develop a plan working with the agency to try to minimize as much as we can any impact on services because we know we have the one way, okay, to work with the agency, to work with the advocates, and all the stakeholders so that we could come up with a plan that makes sense, where we could right size the centers without impacting services.
5:31:18
So again, as I said, the short term savings that we see in the plan is basically because of under spending, but the long term savings we're discussing here, we have enough time to work with the agency to right size the program and at the same time find inefficiencies without impacting actual services.
Adrienne E. Adams
5:31:35
Okay.
5:31:35
Let let's stretch that out a little bit more.
5:31:37
For the $2,200,000 peg for fiscal 2025 and 2026 and the 15,700,000 baseline peg starting in fiscal 2027, can you provide what groups will be impacted and how much the impact will be for each of the older adult centers then?
5:31:55
If we're saying we're not looking at closing anything, which certainly we don't wanna do that.
5:31:59
No.
5:31:59
But can you give us an idea of the impact that these PEGS will have and how the services will be impacted overall?
Jacques Jiha
5:32:06
As I said, you know, we're in a planning phase.
5:32:08
We're working in the agencies.
5:32:09
At this point in time, I can't give you specifically because as I said, we're talking about fiscal year 26, 27.
5:32:16
So we're in a planning phase, but as we develop our plan working with the agencies, we'll come back to you and give you an update in terms of what we're doing exactly.
Adrienne E. Adams
5:32:25
Alright.
5:32:25
There there will be significant changes, and financial challenges for these older adult centers to operate.
5:32:32
Some that very well could be forced to close and it's it's it's troubling to hear that OMB doesn't seem like OMB has considered this scenario at all, prior to implementing these pegs.
5:32:45
So that's that's difficult to hear.
5:32:48
Do we know yet what metrics would possibly be used to make this decision?
Jacques Jiha
5:32:54
Again, as I said, we we will sit down with the agency and review, but I know for sure, as I said to you, closing the, centers off the table is something that is off the table.
5:33:05
So as we work with the agency to redesign the programs and rightsize the programs and come back we'll come back to you give you an update in terms of what are we doing because, again, the goal is not to try to hurt anyone, because that's not the objective.
5:33:20
But again, that's what we as you get closer, as we in term of implementing the policy, we'll come back to you and give you exactly what we're looking at and exactly what we're trying to do and where we're heading in term of the plan that we intend to put in place with the agencies.
Adrienne E. Adams
5:33:37
Okay.
5:33:37
So, I'm still gonna consider all of this hopeful as we get closer to adoption regardless of the time that's stretched out and the time frames that we are looking at right now.
Louisa Chafee
5:33:47
That should
Adrienne E. Adams
5:33:48
be We are going to be hopeful that OMB, will absolutely consider the restoration of the PEGS in the adopted plan.
5:33:55
Thank you very much.
5:33:56
I turn it back over into the hands of the chair.
