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Q&A

Council Member Hudson questions Department for the Aging on budget and programs

4:02:12

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10 min

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Council Member Crystal Hudson engages in a detailed Q&A session with Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez and other officials from the Department for the Aging regarding their budget, federal funding sources, and various programs. The discussion covers topics such as:

Federal funding sources and their allocation to different programs
Implementation of new programs, including a minor home repair grant
Funding for Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs)
Capital requests and prioritization for older adult centers

Additional details:

The department is dealing with uncertainty around some federal funding, particularly for new programs
There's an increase in capital requests for FY2025 compared to FY2024
The department prioritizes capital needs based on health and safety concerns, followed by alignment with kitchen plans

Crystal Hudson

4:02:12

Thank you so much.

4:02:14

The executive plan includes an addition of 157,515 in fiscal twenty twenty five, '6 hundred and '1 thousand '8 hundred '50 '9 dollars in fiscal twenty six and twenty seven, and 450,288 in fiscal twenty twenty eight from federal funding sources.

4:02:34

What is the federal funding source?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:02:38

The federal funding source for us would always be the Older Americans Act, c one, c two, b one, and b three.

4:02:47

Right?

4:02:49

I think I forgot one of the b's, but somewhere it's b one and b two.

Crystal Hudson

4:02:57

Okay.

4:02:57

And what program will this funding be utilized for or programs?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:03:01

Primarily home delivered meals and congregate meals.

4:03:04

Those are the c one and c two.

4:03:09

The b's are case management, elder abuse, and crime.

4:03:14

And then there is

Crystal Hudson

4:03:15

Sorry, case management, elder abuse, and?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:03:18

The crime services, right.

4:03:20

And then there is the I'll tell you in a minute.

4:03:26

I'll ask you in a minute.

4:03:28

Whatever, I forgot.

4:03:29

Then we also have the employment programs under other federal funding, right, through AmeriCorps and foster grandparent also is funded by AmeriCorps or under the same house that that funds that.

Crystal Hudson

4:03:46

And how is NYC Aging planning to, implement this program or these programs?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:03:53

We continue to look at these scenarios.

4:03:55

Once we get a clearer picture of where they're going, we'll be able to address that.

4:04:00

But we're looking at this on a regular basis, and we've come

Crystal Hudson

4:04:03

up with three or four scenarios.

4:04:05

Multiple scenarios.

Jose Mercado

4:04:06

Okay.

4:04:06

Excuse me, Commissioner Hussman.

4:04:09

You're talking about the $157,000 in 'twenty five, correct?

4:04:11

Yes.

4:04:12

Dollars 600,000 in 'twenty six.

4:04:14

So I just want to make it correct.

Crystal Hudson

4:04:15

Yep.

4:04:15

And $450

Jose Mercado

4:04:16

in 'twenty So actually a grant.

4:04:19

It's a it's a minor home repair grant that we just got.

4:04:22

So we basically we're instituting part of it in 'twenty five, the rest of it in 'twenty six.

Crystal Hudson

4:04:28

So this is from HUD?

Jose Mercado

4:04:29

Yes.

4:04:29

And again, so we're still waiting for the actual award to be given to us.

4:04:34

We're negotiating it.

4:04:36

Again, given what's happening in the federal government, it's pretty hard to pinpoint when we basically will get this award.

Crystal Hudson

4:04:43

And sorry, it's specifically for what?

Jose Mercado

4:04:45

Minor home repairs.

4:04:46

Minor home to what the councilwoman was discussing about, the one that we're piloting right now.

4:04:50

This is another one on top of that.

Crystal Hudson

4:04:52

Got So

Jose Mercado

4:04:53

there's the RFP for that one, but then we just got a grant separately for that.

4:04:56

So there are two different two similar programs running at the same time.

Crystal Hudson

4:04:58

Understood.

Jose Mercado

4:04:59

This is 100% federal funds.

4:05:03

Okay.

Crystal Hudson

4:05:06

Your scenario planning for this as okay.

4:05:10

Think I had that one and another one, so we're good.

4:05:15

Your scenario planning for that as well, or would the program just cease to exist or what?

Jose Mercado

4:05:19

Correct.

4:05:20

So right now, for example, it's a million 5 program, million dollar 5.

4:05:24

So we initially had conversations prior to all these different things happening.

4:05:28

So we planned This is actually right now it's planning to hire the individual who would actually go out and do the assessments of the homes before they can actually be then

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:05:36

I know, but what if we don't get the money?

Jose Mercado

4:05:38

Right, so part of that, again, we haven't hired this individual That's a question.

4:05:42

So we're still waiting for this.

4:05:44

So we're planning for the person to be hired or not.

4:05:48

So we're still waiting.

4:05:49

In terms of funding, sorry.

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:05:50

These are 100% funded by federal government.

Crystal Hudson

4:05:52

No, understand.

4:05:54

I'm just thinking, you know, a lot of these decisions come down without any real notification.

Jose Mercado

4:06:01

So So currently based on what we have internally, we can cover this for this year in terms of, for example, if the individual comes

Crystal Hudson

4:06:09

This fiscal year or this

Jose Mercado

4:06:10

'25, yeah.

4:06:11

Okay.

4:06:11

Two months that come in.

4:06:12

Then July, again, everything is we take this going forward and see exactly what's So again, to the commissioner I mentioned earlier, we're looking at different scenarios.

4:06:20

So this is the one that we feel for '25 because of the way we're at.

4:06:24

We can manage this if the person comes on board.

4:06:26

Starting July, where the actual program kicks off, which is really going out there and looking at assessment.

4:06:32

So that is basically we're all playing this month to month to see what happens.

Crystal Hudson

4:06:36

Okay, but when do plan to hire the person?

Jose Mercado

4:06:38

So the person basically is right now there is a par and process for this individual.

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:06:44

Okay.

4:06:45

And it could be anywhere.

4:06:46

Because it's a par and process, it could be anywhere between two weeks and three months before, you know, because we the two for one ratio.

Crystal Hudson

4:06:54

Yeah.

4:06:54

Right.

4:06:55

Okay.

4:06:56

The executive plan includes an additional $203,947 in federal funding for fiscal twenty twenty five only and related to Medicare.

4:07:06

How will this funding be used, and how does it relate to Medicare?

Jose Mercado

4:07:22

So this is, again, this is a grant.

4:07:26

So this is the MITPA grant that came in for '25.

4:07:30

And so this is just adding additional money to cover the existing costs of the program.

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:07:34

What grant is that?

4:07:35

The MiFFA grant.

4:07:36

Oh MiFFA.

Crystal Hudson

4:07:39

And was this funding only added for one year?

Jose Mercado

4:07:43

For this year, yeah.

4:07:44

So part of this is the addition of funding for '25.

4:07:48

So there is part of the grant is also baseline.

4:07:51

So as we get more money, we will then add it for '26.

Crystal Hudson

4:08:01

Okay, great.

4:08:02

Thank you.

4:08:07

The council's fiscal twenty twenty six preliminary budget response called on the administration to add $5,700,000 in baseline funding to NYC Aging's budget for NORCs, increasing the total budget to $14,400,000 to expand the program's reach and improve services throughout the network.

4:08:24

Did NYC Aging advocate for this additional funding during conversations with OMB regarding the executive plan?

4:08:30

And if so, how much was requested?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:08:34

It's part of our larger negotiation.

4:08:36

I can't give you the full dollar amount right now.

4:08:38

I mean, I will share with you later on all of the unmet needs request.

Crystal Hudson

4:08:45

Okay.

4:08:50

So you don't have a specific number that you requested?

4:08:52

No.

4:08:53

Can you confirm the current budget for NORCs in fiscal twenty twenty five and in the out years?

4:08:59

Sure.

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:09:06

For NORCs it's $16600000.0.04 25 and $17,000,004.26.

Crystal Hudson

4:09:21

Thank you.

4:09:23

And is NYC Aging advocating for additional NORC funding?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:09:28

As we do with all of our all of the other services, you know, as we see the need growing.

4:09:34

And as I said to the councilwoman, shortly every community will be a NORC and will be eligible for a NORC in New York City.

4:09:42

It's part of our ongoing conversation with OMB.

Crystal Hudson

4:09:45

Okay.

4:09:47

Going back to capital requests, much of NYC Aging's provider network's infrastructure is in need of renovation.

4:09:55

Many older adult centers and naturally occurring retirement communities are colocated and have large capital needs.

4:10:01

How many capital requests has NYC Aging received so far in fiscal twenty twenty five?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:10:06

With the 19 that we're working on, how many have we

Crystal Hudson

4:10:09

How many requests have you received?

Jose Mercado

4:10:11

So it's part of that May 2.

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:10:13

But how many received?

4:10:15

I know that 19 are being worked 15.

Crystal Hudson

4:10:18

15 projects, dollars 19,000,000.

Jose Mercado

4:10:21

Right.

4:10:23

Give me one minute and I'll it's in the letter that we sent.

Crystal Hudson

4:10:25

You can have two if you'd like.

Jose Mercado

4:10:35

Nine.

Crystal Hudson

4:10:36

Nine.

4:10:37

Okay.

4:10:38

What I have it right here.

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:10:40

Go ahead.

Crystal Hudson

4:10:41

What types of requests have you received?

4:10:44

And can you just give me the comparison to 24?

4:10:48

So 9 and 25.

Jose Mercado

4:10:50

Zero and 24.

Crystal Hudson

4:10:51

Zero and 20 four.

4:10:53

What types of requests are these?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:10:58

Kitchen equipment, some flooring.

4:11:04

Most of it is around kitchen renovations.

Crystal Hudson

4:11:07

Okay.

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:11:08

We've had one or two major ones like an elevator and we had HVAC, which are very costly.

4:11:20

But primarily it's around kitchen management.

Crystal Hudson

4:11:26

Okay.

4:11:27

And how many capital requests have been fulfilled so far this fiscal year of the nine?

4:11:34

Denied?

4:11:35

Sorry, of the nine?

4:11:36

Oh, of the nine.

4:11:37

How many capital requests have been fulfilled so far this fiscal year?

Jose Mercado

4:11:41

So they're still in progress.

Crystal Hudson

4:11:43

All nine are in progress?

Javier Lojan

4:11:44

Yeah.

Crystal Hudson

4:11:45

So none have been Right, they're different they've been fulfilled yet.

Jose Mercado

4:11:48

Yeah, so some of them are in different stages.

4:11:50

So we have some that will be done by June 30 and some will roll over to next year.

Diana I. Ayala

4:11:55

Okay.

Jose Mercado

4:11:57

I can give you a status of them.

Crystal Hudson

4:11:58

How do you prioritize capital need requests from the providers?

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez

4:12:04

It's health and safety first.

4:12:07

Health and safety and then it's alignment with the kitchen plan.

4:12:10

All right?

4:12:11

And those are prioritized already.

4:12:17

But then as with everything else, we get a flood and that becomes the priority.

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