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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Shervon Small, Executive Director of Legal Services NYC
4:42:55
ยท
133 sec
Shervon Small, Executive Director of Legal Services NYC, testified about the crucial role of civil legal services in combating poverty, preventing homelessness, and ensuring financial stability for New Yorkers. She emphasized the cost-effectiveness of their services and the need for continued investment and timely payment of contracts.
- Legal Services NYC saved the city over $300 million last year through eviction defense and public benefits practices.
- For every dollar spent on civil legal services, the city sees a return of nearly 10 to 1 in reduced shelter costs and increased economic participation.
- Severe delays in city payments to nonprofits are putting vital services at risk and threatening the stability of the nonprofit sector.
Shervon Small
4:42:55
Good afternoon Chair Ayala, members of the committee.
4:42:58
My name is Siobhan Small and I serve as the executive director of legal services NYC.
4:43:02
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today about the important work that Lisney does every day in keeping families housed, combating poverty, ensuring financial and community stability, and assisting New Yorkers in securing the necessities of life.
4:43:15
Legal Services, NYC, is the largest provider of free civil legal services in the country.
4:43:19
Without our services, and the services of my colleagues on on the podium here today, poverty deepens, homelessness rises, and New York City becomes a more unstable place for everyone.
4:43:29
New York City stands at a crossroads, and we need to choose to stand up for civil society and for our friends and neighbors in need.
4:43:36
Lisney and our partner organizations provide essential services to people in need by, for example, reducing homelessness and increasing economic security.
4:43:44
We saved the city enormous amounts of money, money that will be at the more money that will be all the more necessary should federal funding be threatened more broadly.
4:43:53
Consider this, Lizzie's eviction defense and public benefits practices saved the city over $300,000,000 last year by preventing evictions and keeping families out of shelters, and by ensuring access to benefits that stabilize households.
4:44:06
For every dollar spent on civil legal services, New York City sees a return of nearly 10 to one in reduced shelter shelter costs, preserved housing, and increased economic participation.
4:44:17
Funding is crucial here, but so is a smooth and functioning contract process.
4:44:22
As you've heard many times today, and as the body is well aware, the city remains extremely delayed in paying nonprofits who have provided contracted and crucial services to low income New Yorkers, requiring nonprofits, including Lisney, to regularly borrow just to remain afloat when city agencies fall sometimes ten months or more behind in processing payments.
4:44:41
No nonprofit can survive under these circumstances.
4:44:43
Our staff deserve to be paid and deserve to be paid on time for the work that they do for the city.
4:44:48
These delays also weaken the safety net and put vital services at risk.
4:44:52
The consequences of a failing nonprofit sector would be devastating.
4:44:55
As the city council considers budget and policy decisions, I urge this committee to continue investing in civil legal services.
4:45:01
Think of us not just as an expense, but as a crucial tool for keeping New Yorkers housed, employed, and safe.
4:45:07
Thank you for your time.