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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Joseph Rosenberg, Executive Director of Catholic Community Relations Council
0:54:25
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3 min
Joseph Rosenberg, Executive Director of the Catholic Community Relations Council, testified about the impact of federal funding cuts on their services, particularly in legal assistance for immigrants and food pantry operations. He highlighted the termination of contracts and the increasing demand for food assistance among various groups in New York City.
- Reported loss of $4.3 million in federal funding for legal services to assist unaccompanied minors
- Noted cancellation of a $1.45 million federal contract for immigration court assistance
- Emphasized the crisis in hunger and food insufficiency, exacerbated by proposed cuts to SNAP and the emergency food and shelter program
- Urged for $20 million in emergency food funding to be included in the FY26 New York City budget
- Called for expedited payments on social service contracts to ensure continued service provision
Joseph Rosenberg
0:54:25
Good morning, Chair Brannen, Chair Ressler, members of the City Council.
0:54:28
Thank you for giving us three minutes to testify.
0:54:31
It's much appreciated.
0:54:32
I'm Joseph Rosenberg, the Executive Director of the Catholic Community Relations Council.
0:54:38
Thank you for holding this hearing.
0:54:40
Its focus could not be timelier.
0:54:42
Catholic charities of the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens have been providing shelter, food, and clothing to New Yorkers for more than one century, not just during disasters such as Superstorm Sandy and the COVID nineteen pandemic, but on every day of every year.
0:54:57
We also assist thousands of immigrants in New York with legal services and operate the New York Americans hotline and the Moya immigration legal serve support hotline that serves more than 160,000 people annually.
0:55:08
In late March, we were notified that 80% of our legal services contract with the federal government to assist unaccompanied minors was being terminated resulting in the loss of $4,300,000 We also learned four days ago that our 1,450,000.00 federal dollar contract to provide workshops, legal consultation, well as probesay assistance in New York's three immigration courts has been canceled.
0:55:34
We will try to find ways to continue to represent unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers without having to rely on the federal government, but it will be a daunting and long term challenge.
0:55:43
Both Catholic charities combined operate over 80 food pantries throughout the five boroughs and serve more than 8,000,000 meals annually.
0:55:49
We have faced many challenges assisting New Yorkers over the last century, but we currently face a crisis in hunger and food insufficiency we have not seen before.
0:55:57
This is due to the rising poverty rate of New Yorkers, the dramatic increase of New Yorkers who are rent burdened, and the unprecedented federal attacks on many programs that protect our clients.
0:56:07
Two of these are SNAP and the emergency food and shelter program.
0:56:10
SNAP provides essential funding to address food insecurity for vulnerable Americans.
0:56:14
The proposed congressional reduction of nearly $230,000,000,000 from this program is particularly troubling and will have significant consequences by increasing the number of Americans who face hunger on a daily basis.
0:56:25
The emergency food and shelter program is also a crucial federal resource.
0:56:29
This was placed on hold by the federal government in March and as a result, both Catholic charities and both dioceses have lost over $850,000 each, a challenging blow to our ability to feed clients.
0:56:41
We've seen the number of New Yorkers at food pantries increase significantly.
0:56:44
We're not just assisting more working families, seniors, and children.
0:56:48
Newer clients include college students, recent college grants who are either unemployed or underemployed, youth aging out of foster care, and many new migrants with infants.
0:56:57
The plight of hungry children is particularly heartbreaking with more than one in four children in our city living in poverty.
0:57:03
With so many New Yorkers going hungry and the termination of federal programs, we urge that $20,000,000 in emergency food funding for federal pantries be included in the FY26 New York City budget for both Catholic charities as well as our partners Met Council and Hispanic Federation.
0:57:17
An additional challenge that nonprofit human service providers face is a lack of prompt payment when awarded social service contracts.
0:57:24
With unprecedented federal budget cuts targeted at non profits, it's especially important the city expedite late contract payments.
0:57:31
Otherwise, Yorkers will not receive the services they need.
0:57:34
There is no justification for funds to be provided months or years after a contract has been awarded and to tolerate a business as usual mentality when it comes to paying providers, especially during these unprecedented times.
0:57:45
Thank you.