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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Diana Ramos, Member of Safety Net Activists
4:24:33
ยท
141 sec
Diana Ramos from Safety Net Activists testified about the importance of fully funding city FAPs (Financial Assistance Programs) and addressing staffing issues at DSS (Department of Social Services). She emphasized the potential impact of funding cuts on housing stability and the need for proper staffing to handle increased applications and renewals.
- Highlighted personal experiences with delays in SNAP benefit renewals and difficulties in contacting DSS
- Called for funding to implement expansion laws to mitigate the effects of potential cuts on Section 8 and other benefits
- Stressed the need for more staff and better training at DSS to handle the expected increase in applications and improve customer service
Diana Ramos
4:24:33
Hi, my name is Diana Ramos.
4:24:35
I'm with SafetyNet activists, part of the SafetyNet project, and I'm here to talk about my personal experiences but also to say how important it is that we fully fund city FAPs, including funding for the expansion laws that we're fighting to get implemented because we know these cuts are going to be horrible.
4:25:07
Whether or not they're as bad as we think they are, they're still going to impact all of us, impact people on Section eight and benefits, and people are going to lose their housing.
4:25:17
They're going to lose whatever little safety net that they have managed to encompass, which is going to increase evictions and homelessness.
4:25:26
And we need obviously a lot of funding for city FAPs.
4:25:30
I can't give you numbers.
4:25:31
Everybody else did.
4:25:33
But also, we need to make sure DSS is hiring the staff and training them properly to absolutely cover all these increases in applications.
4:25:50
That will happen.
4:25:51
Not if it happens, it will happen.
4:25:55
Not to mention those of us like myself who are currently getting CitiFebs and SNAP benefits.
4:26:04
We I've had issues.
4:26:05
I've been here before, and I've talked to you about how I was for some reason my SNAP benefits, whatever, wasn't renewed because it was sitting on a supervisor's desk.
4:26:19
Not cool.
4:26:19
I'm a diabetic.
4:26:20
That's not cool.
4:26:21
So obviously, we need more staffing to not only take care of these influx of applications, but those of us who are renewing, we are not getting answers.
4:26:32
I know DSS likes to live in Dulululand and think that their calling in has lessened, it hasn't.
4:26:40
I called in two and a half months ago to ask about my city faps, and I waited five hours and got hung up on.
4:26:49
So they need to start staffing that better, but thank you for giving me a chance to testify.