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Q&A
Council Member Stevens questions ACS Commissioner on Close To Home program and state budget impact
0:50:52
·
5 min
Council Member Althea Stevens engages in a Q&A session with ACS Commissioner Jess Dannhauser, focusing on the Close To Home program, its capacity, recent growth, and challenges. They also discuss the impact of the state budget on ACS programming and funding, particularly for juvenile justice initiatives.
- Stevens expresses concern about the growth of Close To Home after previous "right-sizing" efforts
- Dannhauser reports a 50% increase in Close To Home placements over the past year
- They discuss the lack of state funding support for programs like Close To Home and Raise the Age in New York City
Althea Stevens
0:50:52
So Close To Home is a critical program that helps young people stay out of secure detention and gives them opportunity to remain in their communities.
0:51:00
How many young people, how many young adults are currently enrolled in Close To Home?
Jess Dannhauser
0:51:04
So we currently have about a 56 slots and about 80% of those are used this morning, 85%.
Althea Stevens
0:51:15
You said 85?
Jess Dannhauser
0:51:16
Mhmm.
0:51:17
So we've grown we started the RP was at 129 slots.
0:51:21
We worked with OMB to increase that to 156 for the current year.
0:51:27
We'll be at 162 next year.
0:51:30
So we're adding girls beds, boys beds, both making sure that we have LSP for girls, and next year we're gonna have an additional six non secure placement beds for boys.
0:51:42
So we're constantly assessing this, and OMB's been very supportive where we need to grow.
0:51:47
You'll recall it was at 300 beds in 2022 and we took many of those down, but we're making sure we have the capacity going forward.
Althea Stevens
0:51:57
But that's why it's kind of frustrating because the whole point of the RFP, it was like we're right sizing and then now we're growing which a lot of providers complained about because they knew they would be in this predicament because it's a lot easier to shrink than to go down than it is to go up because they were saying it's a lot to put those beds on lines and so some people gave up property and finding space and so you know I'm just concerned that like when we said we were right sizing, we're actually did not right size because it seems like it's the wrong size if we're continually growing.
0:52:29
So I'm just trying to understand what is the logic behind that.
Jess Dannhauser
0:52:32
At that time there were about 60 children in close to home when we right sized to the to the 129 we immediately began adding beds back before certain facilities were taken offline.
0:52:44
We do also have capital dollars committed to look for additional sites and see what might be able to be renovated.
0:52:52
It is a challenge to bring those buildings back online, but we've kept many of them including one in Brooklyn online so that we can, even though it's not currently being utilized, so that we can renovate it and make sure we have the capacity that we need.
Althea Stevens
0:53:11
Yeah.
0:53:11
It's just it's it's just kind of frustrating because it's not just the bring the beds online, it's the staffing and training and all the other things that it entails and so now providers are kind of left with figuring that out and so I just want us to be more mindful especially like when RFPs are coming out, how do we make sure that you know we're saying we're right sizing but like we also need to be able to anticipate as well.
0:53:35
I mean obviously we don't want kids insecure or close to home, we want young people to be thriving but what does the balance look like?
Jess Dannhauser
0:53:42
Understood.
Althea Stevens
0:53:43
Has ACS seen an increase in placement in close to home in the past six months?
Jess Dannhauser
0:53:47
Yes, we have.
Althea Stevens
0:53:51
And do you have like a percentage wise of how much
Jess Dannhauser
0:53:53
Yeah, we're up about 50% over the past year.
Althea Stevens
0:54:00
50%?
0:54:02
The enacted state fiscal year 2026 budget was currently enacted.
0:54:06
State funding plays a critical role in ACS programming as well as a large contributor to ACS overall budget.
0:54:11
Has ACS determined if the final state budget may positively or negatively impact the agency?
Jess Dannhauser
0:54:17
The biggest issue there, and I'll note that we continue not to get a lot of support for raise the age or close to home.
0:54:26
These are the kinds of programs that are funded around the state by state dollars but not in the city.
0:54:32
And this has been something we've been concerned about.
0:54:35
There's been some good advocacy around additional upstream investments as well, but we have not seen that either.
0:54:43
The other big challenge is the childcare challenge we've been talking about.
Mistou
0:54:48
Yeah,
Althea Stevens
0:54:52
I definitely want us to just, know, moving forward to be more coordinated around how the city can continue to advocate for for those things alongside ECS when we're talking about like the Close to Home and Raise the Age and and the support that we're not getting.
0:55:08
I think that we're not as coordinated as we should be.
0:55:11
Think we, you know I know myself and other council members went to the state to do some advocacy and we should have definitely been on more court around that, so definitely moving forward I just wanted to make sure that we're on the same page.
0:55:24
And can you share any proposals or policies in the final state budgets that you expected to impact the city and how?
Jess Dannhauser
0:55:34
Beyond childcare and the continued issues that we have around the MSAR rates, the continued issues that we have around some of the juvenile justice funding, there's nothing introduced beyond that that we're concerned about.
Althea Stevens
0:55:49
Thank you.
0:55:51
May have questions.