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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Agnes Kim, Program Officer of Policy & Communications at Enterprise Community Partners, on Family Homelessness
6:15:45
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116 sec
Agnes Kim, representing the Family Homelessness Coalition, testifies on the urgent need to address the growing crisis of family homelessness in New York City. She highlights the dramatic increase in children experiencing homelessness and calls for increased funding and support for homeless prevention and services.
- Requests an increase in the Home Base budget to $100 million and establishment of dedicated funding for aftercare services
- Advocates for expedited payments to homeless and social service providers to help them withstand funding threats
- Calls for enforcement of source of income discrimination, a capital needs assessment of shelters, and increased pay for shelter staff
Agnes Kim
6:15:45
No.
6:15:46
Oh, oh hello.
6:15:48
Hello, my name is Agnes Kim and I'm a program officer at Enterprise Community Partners.
6:15:52
I'm here today on behalf of the Family Homelessness Coalition.
6:15:55
We are a group of over 20 organizations including service and housing providers, children's advocacy organizations, and people with lived experience with family homelessness.
6:16:04
Thank you to the chair and the committee for holding this hearing and for the opportunity to deliver testimony.
6:16:08
Family Homelessness Coalition, or FHC, works to prevent family homelessness, improve the well-being of children and families in shelter, and support the long term stability of families with children who leave shelter.
6:16:19
In New York, the number of children experiencing homelessness has more than doubled since 2022, translating to nearly one in three of New York's homeless population being children.
6:16:28
This humanitarian emergency is also coming at a time when federal support to fight homelessness is under threat, making it more important than ever that this year's adopted budget urgently addressed this crisis with resources.
6:16:39
The current landscape impacts both people experiencing homelessness and the organizations that work to help them, including the members of the Family Homelessness Coalition.
6:16:46
Our organizations are directly impacted by real and proposed federal funding cuts to their programs.
6:16:51
In addition to support and resources, we call for greatly increased efforts to expedite owed payments to homeless and social service providers.
6:16:58
If funds can be delivered expeditiously, providers can better withstand this existential threat that they're facing.
6:17:05
FHC strongly urges the following in the upcoming budget.
6:17:08
Increase the budget for home base by 37,900,000 to a total of $100,000,000 Establish a dedicated funding stream strictly for aftercare services.
6:17:17
Release an RFP and dedicated funding for organizations beyond home based providers to process city VEPS.
6:17:23
We also ask to adequately fund the City Commission on Human Rights to enforce source of income discrimination.
6:17:28
The city should also commit to a capital needs assessment of the entire shelter portfolio.
6:17:32
And finally, ask to increase the pay of shelter staff to establish parity with comparable settings.
6:17:37
Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify, and we have also submitted written testimony.
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Testimony by Alice Mo, Public Affairs and Advocacy Associate at Homecrest Community Services, on Funding for Older Adult Services and AAPI Community Support
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Testimony by Nikita Boyce, Budget Policy Coordinator at Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF)