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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kevin Kiprovski, Director of Public Policy at LiveOn NY, on DFTA's Preliminary Budget
2:20:22
ยท
3 min
Kevin Kiprovski, representing LiveOn NY, testified on the critical need for increased funding in aging services, highlighting concerns about potential budget cuts and their impact on older adult centers and services. He emphasized the growing needs of New York City's aging population and called for bold new investments.
- Warned against $100 million in cuts, potentially leading to the closure of 60 older adult centers
- Proposed a $2.3 billion investment over five years for nutrition, housing, and community services
- Highlighted recent reports showing rising older adult homelessness and poverty rates in NYC
Kevin Kiprovski
2:20:22
Good morning and thank you so much council member Hudson for holding this hearing.
2:20:26
It is more important now than ever that we make sure that aging is funded in light of data that has come out throughout this year.
2:20:33
First off, my name is Kevin Kaprovsky and I'm the director of public policy at Live On New York.
2:20:37
Thank you so much for this opportunity to testify and for context Live On New York's members include more than a 10 community based nonprofits that provide core services under the New York City aging portfolio and many other home and community based services in our city.
2:20:51
I want to start by saying we cannot do more with less anymore.
2:20:54
Every year we have seen not only inflation eat up the budgets of our members, but we have also seen cuts to those budgets.
2:21:01
Our members have done an incredible job maintaining service levels, but it was troubling to hear that in the face of $100,000,000 of cuts, our members will just be asked to keep services the same.
2:21:12
We cannot take things that are not in the budget as word because if they were they would just put them in the budget.
2:21:18
We are really concerned that long standing underinvestment has led us to a tipping point, our city faces the prospect of 60 older adult centers closing at the next RFP.
2:21:28
We have been ringing this bell around the city and it is it would be catastrophic to cut almost 20% of the centers just for no reason.
2:21:37
Especially in light of three reports that have come out in the last six months.
2:21:41
One is our report that shows that older adult homelessness is rising three times faster than any demographic.
2:21:47
Two is the comptroller report that shows just how many more older adults are in our city this year than were in the past ten years.
2:21:53
And the third one is a recent AARP report with the Center for an Urban Future that shows that older adult, sorry, poverty is growing at a faster rate than anyone could have anticipated.
2:22:04
In light of this, we are asking for bold new investments in the system in addition to restoring the cut.
2:22:10
We have launched our age strong New York City campaign to add $2,300,000,000 in additional funding, 500,000,000 for nutrition, 1,000,000,000 for housing, and 800,000,000 for community services over the next five years.
2:22:23
We recommend in the short term for this year 44,000,000 to increase case management capacity, 57,000,000 to increase OAC meals capacity, and 5,000,000 council discretionary for emergency repairs for centers that as we heard earlier in the commissioner's testimony are not eligible for capital under the current bond agreements.
2:22:44
Many of my colleagues will go through the specifics of the rest as they're the ones who provide the services, but for nutrition, people deserve access to two meals a day every day.
2:22:53
We we're in we back that, and people need more access to SNAP programs and federal programs as long as they're still around.
2:23:00
We're advocating for housing separately.
2:23:02
For community services and spaces, many centers are falling apart and we have not been able to get funding into them.
2:23:08
The current capital rules do not allow it and we need to figure something out because we cannot have centers in places we cannot repair.
2:23:15
To close, anyone who champions these investments will not only avert the closure of 60 older adult centers, but will fundamentally transform the future for millions of New Yorkers as we age, Making this $2,300,000,000 investment in nutrition, housing, and community services is not just the right thing to do.
2:23:29
It is an incredible win that would mark New York City as a truly age friendly metropolis.
2:23:34
It's a bold step that will correct past underfunding and reposition our city as a national leader in how we treat older residents.
2:23:39
Thank you so much.
Crystal Hudson
2:23:40
Thank you.