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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Cristina Abbattista, Policy Analyst at Urban Pathways
4:11:40
ยท
123 sec
Cristina Abbattista, a policy analyst at Urban Pathways, testifies about the urgent need for reforms in city contracting, payments to nonprofits, and the administration of housing vouchers. She emphasizes the financial challenges faced by nonprofits due to delayed payments and calls for streamlined processes to expedite permanent housing placements.
- Urges the city to pay interest on late payments to nonprofits and reform the procurement process
- Calls for increased staffing at DHS, DSS, and MOCS to address contracting and reimbursement delays
- Recommends specific improvements to the CityFHEPS voucher program, including a 15-day maximum turnaround for applications
Cristina Abbattista
4:11:40
Good afternoon deputy speaker Ayala and members of the committee.
4:11:43
My name is Christina Abatista and I'm the policy analyst at Urban Pathways, a nonprofit homeless services and supportive housing provider serving around 2,500 single adults each year.
4:11:54
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
4:11:57
Nonprofits contracted by the city to provide essential services to our residents most in need are not being paid on time.
4:12:04
The fiscal year twenty twenty six budget must take action to resolve payment issues for contracted nonprofits.
4:12:10
The lack of normalcy with payments from the city makes it challenging to pay staff, vendors, and run programs for the people we serve.
4:12:17
Alongside procedural inefficiencies, short staffing within city agencies also contributes to delays in payment.
4:12:24
To remedy this, the city council must require interest be paid on late payments under city contracts with nonprofits through introduction 05/14, drastically reform its procurement and payment process with additional staff, updated technology, and a streamlined process that eliminates burdens and barriers, ensure the fiscal year twenty twenty six budget includes sufficient funding to restore and expand staffing at DHS, DSS, and MOCs to eliminate pervasive contracting and reimbursement delays to nonprofit providers.
4:12:57
We urge the city council to reduce barriers in the administration of city FEPs to expedite placement in permanent housing.
4:13:03
Concrete timelines and guidelines, increased accountability and responsiveness, and streamlined processes are essential in addressing the persistent barriers within the administration of city feps.
4:13:13
To combat these barriers, the city council must expedite CityFepps applications by committing to a fifteen day maximum turnaround from finding an apartment to approval which mirrors the private sector application timeline to ensure that voucher holders can retain permanent housing prospects and require the creation of an accessible voucher holder checklist that clearly communicates all the necessary paperwork to the recipient to decrease the chances of incomplete or incorrect applications.
4:13:40
Thank you for your time and there's more information in my written testimony.