PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Claire Salant, Lead Budget and Policy Analyst from NYC Independent Budget Office (IBO)
3:03:17
·
6 min
Claire Salant from the NYC Independent Budget Office (IBO) testified on the city's implementation of 30/60 day exit policies for asylum seekers. She discussed the costs associated with new arrivals, the impact of exit policies, and recent changes announced by Mayor Adams to address some of the issues.
- The city has spent about $5.2 billion over the last two years on services for new arrivals, with costs expected to remain high despite declining arrivals.
- Exit policies have led to challenges such as missed mail, increased encampments, and potential negative impacts on student outcomes.
- Recent policy changes include creating a centralized mail location and allowing some families with school-age children to remain in the same facility.
Claire Salant
3:03:17
Good morning, deputy speaker Ayala.
3:03:19
Chair Sorry.
3:03:22
Am I close enough to the mic?
3:03:23
Great.
3:03:25
Good morning, Deputy Speaker Ayala, Chair Abalos, and the Committees of Immigration and General Welfare.
3:03:30
I am Claire Salant, the lead budget and policy analyst for IBO, the New York City Independent Budget Office, which is an independent city agency.
3:03:38
I am joined today by my colleague, Jacob Berman, who's the director of the social and community services team at IBO.
3:03:44
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
3:03:47
I'm only gonna read the highlights of our testimony, so please refer to our written testimony which you should have for more detail.
3:03:54
So I am here to discuss the city's implementation of their 30 60 day exit policies for asylum seekers referred to in this testimony as new arrivals.
3:04:04
The city justified the need for exit policies and historic changes to the city's long standing right to shelter policy on the assumption that they would reduce the population and high costs related to new arrivals.
3:04:16
IBO's May 2024 report noted that these management strategies are not purely money savers, but generate new costs and have potentially negative consequences on a particularly vulnerable population.
3:04:29
Just yesterday, the mayor announced new policies to address some of these consequences, implicitly acknowledging the problems with the strategy that began over a year ago.
3:04:39
Since 2022, more than 220,000 new arrivals have entered the city.
3:04:45
Providing services for these arrivals have cost about $5,200,000,000 over the last 2 years, about a third of which has come from the state.
3:04:54
For context, the total cost in 2024 was 3.75000000000, which represents less than 3% of the city's total budget, including all funding sources.
3:05:07
This actual spending has been much lower than the city's forecasts, and the number of new arrivals entering the city has been rapidly declining in recent months.
3:05:16
Nevertheless, the city continues to budget very high costs for this population moving forward.
3:05:22
For example, the adopted budget assumes costs will be higher this year, fiscal year 2025, and next year, fiscal year 2026, than it was last year even though the population is declining.
3:05:35
According to data IBO obtained from the administration, as of November 1st, approximately 20,600 adults and families with minor children had a first exit notice expire.
3:05:47
Of this group, about 58% have left the system, and the remaining 42% are still in the city's care.
3:05:55
For those who return to the arrival center for a new placement, 89% are in a different facility than our their original shelter location.
3:06:06
For individual adults, including families of related adults without children, approximately 51,000 people have had an exit notice expire for the first time.
3:06:16
For those who apply for an extension to remain in the shelter system, the city has approved 85% for extensions for those who apply based on their state benefit status and only 33% of extensions for those who apply based on extenuating circumstances criteria.
3:06:34
Many of the impacts of exit policies are social potential risk of increased street homelessness, and cost for the new busing request for children.
3:06:53
Since the city's new exit policies began in May, there have been considerable reporting on the challenges of missed mail with individuals missing work authorizations as well as court notices and other crucial information.
3:07:04
There has also been a visible rise in encampments around shelters as individuals are either not given an extension or placed too far from their original shelter location.
3:07:14
Lastly, while IBO has not yet analyzed the specific impacts of the exit policies on students, there is already a robust body of research that documents the negative impacts of both mid year school changes and long commutes on student outcomes.
3:07:29
Yesterday morning, mayor Adams announced that the city will create a centralized mail location to guarantee that new arrivals can continue to get important legal documents even when they have to move facilities or leave the shelter system.
3:07:41
While this will make a significant difference going forward, it will not address the potentially thousands of new arrivals who may have already lost essential documents.
3:07:49
The mayor also announced that families with minor children from kindergarten through 6th grade will be able to stay in the same facility.
3:07:57
This will reduce educational and social disruption as well as associated transportation costs for these families, but it will not do so for families with older students.
3:08:07
Lastly, in terms of spending, 1 year ago in the November 2023 financial plan, the city estimated that costs related to new arrivals would total 4,700,000,000 in 2024 and 6,100,000,000 in 2025.
3:08:21
A year later, actual costs were almost a $1,000,000,000 lower for 2024, and the city has already reduced the 2025 budget by over a $1,000,000,000 compared to last year.
3:08:33
This reduction comes even as the city has continued to use for profit vendors and emergency contracts for much longer than is typical.
3:08:43
IBO expects the 2025 budget estimate to shrink even further in the coming November plan, given that the population entering the city has been falling since January and exits have outpaced entries for most of the last year.
3:08:57
Furthermore, IBO expects the budgeted amounts in the out years, which are currently over $7,000,000,000 to be similarly reduced.
3:09:06
As the new budget comes out, IBO will be looking at the revised budget for 2025 through 2028, as well as updating our estimates based on recent population data, which will reflect the impact of exit policies.
3:09:19
We will also be factoring in the considerable uncertainty arising from the outcome of the federal election earlier this month.
3:09:27
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I will be happy to answer your questions.
