News and Resources

This opinion piece, by UNH Executive Director Nancy Wackstein and Policy Analyst Carin Tinney, was originally printed in the May 9, 2013 issue of the New York Nonprofit Press. Read the original piece here.

Until very recently, most New Yorkers hadn't heard of something called social adult day care. If they did, perhaps it conjured up images of frail seniors on small plastic chairs, drinking from ½ pint milk cartons while having a story read to them by a teacher.  That is why the attention now being paid to this program - due to the recent scandal involving two Bronx Assembly Members and the resulting articles in the New York Times about alleged abuses by “pop up” social day care providers-  is bittersweet. The unfortunate impression is that this program is at best unnecessary and at worst riddled with fraud, political kickbacks and unscrupulous operators.  But the attention, however negative, does give us a chance to highlight the benefits of this program, which when done the right way by credible and professional providers, has helped thousands of genuinely frail seniors remain independent in their communities and has given their family caregivers essential support and respite.  The social adult day care model has been around for decades. In many cases, there is a dual focus on providing supervised care and support to seniors while allowing family caregivers a few hours of relief. Social adult day care specifically supports seniors who would have a difficult time adapting to a bustling environment of a traditional senior center  because of their frailty or dementia. These seniors are dependent on continuous care and need extra supervision, usually with eating, using the bathroom, or walking.  The benefit of the social adult day care model is that it allows otherwise homebound older adults to get out and socialize with their peers through art, shared meals, exercise and music. The challenge to the model, as it was designed, began about a year ago. Many senior center operators located primarily in immigrant communities began noticing a decrease in daily attendance.  As a general rule, the number of seniors served varies on a daily basis, but this was not normal fluctuation.   Seniors were being lured out of senior centers and into “adult day care programs” with cash and other incentives.  This was alarming on many levels.  First, the seniors leaving for adult day programs were not physically or cognitively frail, which is the main eligibility criterion of social adult day care.  Second, this exodus jeopardized funding for traditional senior centers because reimbursement partially depends on the number of meals served daily.  Third, it was clear that these new “social adult day care” programs were unregulated and were not using precious Medicaid dollars in the way it had been intended:  to help frail seniors remain in their communities.  The new centers called into question the integrity of the entire model and cast a shadow on the longstanding history of many quality-driven programs United Neighborhood Houses, the federation of the city’s settlement houses and community centers, has within our membership some of the finest and most experienced providers of social adult day care.  UNH members helped pioneer the concept and some of their adult day care programs have been operating for over a decade.  It would be a horrible shame for these legitimate and important programs to be swept up in an enforcement reaction meant to shut down the Medicaid cheats. Legitimate social adult day care programs are one of the components of a comprehensive continuum of care for older adults in their neighborhoods. They greatly benefit a population in need of specialized and supervised care, and contribute to a better quality of life for both seniors and their caregivers through constant emotional support. This program deserves not only to continue but to expand in order to accommodate the dramatic increase in the number of older adults who are projected to need this kind of care.  Let’s not allow a vulnerable population to become the victims of a few dishonest program operators. Don’t throw the good out with the bad. Nancy Wackstein in Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses.  Carin Tinney is a Policy Analyst with UNH.

PEG'd Away is a issue brief by United Neighborhood Houses, detailing the impact of PEGs to City agencies that provide core community services, such as Department for the Aging, Department for Youth and Community Development, Administration for Children's Services, Department of Homeless Services, and others. 

Twice a year, in order to close gaps in the City's budget, City agencies face the task of cutting spending; in City-speak, these budget reductions are known as Programs to Eliminate the Gap (PEGs). Over the last several decades in NYC, Peg'd has become the most unlikely of verbs, as in "this program just got Peg'd," meaning the City budget proposal includes a program that will be restructured or eliminated for cost savings.

PEG'd Away also explores the changing role of the City Council. Once, the Council was able to use its discretionary funding to support innovative initiatives and meet emerging community needs. Now, this one-year discretionary funding is used to keep core human services afloat. Learn more by downloading PEG'd Away or viewing it online. 

The Federal sequestration cuts that will cost New York State at least $275 million in this year alone will have a devastating impact on communities throughout New York City and impede our economic recovery, risking another deeper, financial crisis.  These cuts will impact the neediest New Yorkers the most by cutting child care and Head Start for 6,600 children, meals on wheels for 500 homebound seniors and heat and utility subsidies for 3,000 families.  These cuts are not born of fiscal necessity- this is a manufactured crisis that will have real dire, consequences.  As providers of human services know, even temporary disruptions in services can lead to the loss of infrastructure and lasting damage to communities.   Congress must act immediately to prevent this undermining the economy of community life.  

UNH breaks down NYC's Fiscal Year 2014 Preliminary Budget. Find out what is being cut from the following Departments:

Administration for Children’s Services (Child Care and Head Start)
Department of Education 
Department of Youth and Community Development (Services for Youth) 
Department of Youth and Community Development (Literacy and Immigrant Services) 
Department for the Aging 
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 
Department of Homeless Services 
Department of Housing Preservation and Development 
Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator

Download it here. 

"While an increase in the state minimum wage represents welcome progress for the millions of low-wage workers across the state, we want to be certain that the value of the state's investment in [SYEP] is not diminished," said Kevin Douglas, a co-chair of the Campaign for Summer Jobs. "Since the vast majority of SYEP funding goes directly to participant wages, any increase in the minimum wage must be met with a commensurate increase in funding for the program, or ultimately we will be able to serve fewer youth."

Read more>> 

Over 300 young people from across New York City traveled to Albany yesterday for the Campaign for Summer Jobs’ 14th Annual Youth Action Day. Their message to top state lawmakers was straight forward.  The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) has tremendous positive impact the program has on the lives of young people.  However, every year huge numbers of youth are denied access to the program due to inadequate funding.  And, this year, even fewer youth will be able to participate unless new funds are added to Governor Cuomo's budget proposals.

Read more>>

UNH thanks all of those who attended our 5th Annual Advocacy Conference: Maximizing the Unique Opportunity of NYC's 2013 Elections on January 18. The conference took place at Henry Street Settlement's Abrons Art Center. Ocynthia Williams, a parent advocate, opened the day by sharing her campaigning experiences, encouraging all in the room to continue their advocacy efforts. The conference wrapped up with informative workshops on defining advocacy and understanding the City and State Budget processes, and small group discussions on priorities in the upcoming Mayoral campaign. Below, view documents and photos from the conference.

 

70 West 36^th Street, Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10018
tel: 212-967-0322    fax: 212-967-0792
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Statement of Nancy Wackstein

Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses

On Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2013- 2014 Executive Budget

 

January 22^nd, 2013

Contact:  Annetta Seecharran (212) 967-0322 x 329

United Neighborhood Houses is pleased that Governor Cuomo’s SFY 2013-14 budget makes a number of initial investments necessary to implement the progressive agenda set forth in his State of the State address last week. These investments include:

• $20 million to extend learning time by at least 25% for students in participating schools,
• $25 million to fund a competition for full-day pre-kindergarten, a critical component of quality education for children,
• $1 billion over five years to preserve or create 14,300 affordable housing units, and
• $36 million for the implementation of the recently enacted NY Safe Act, designed to reduce gun violence across the State.

In addition, we are encouraged by the Governor’s continued commitment to increase the State minimum wage to $8.75/hour as of July 1, 2013. However, we strongly encourage the Governor to take the extra step of indexing future increases to inflation to ensure workers’ wages keep pace with the inevitable increase in the cost of goods and services over time.

Despite these positive elements in the proposed State budget, the Governor’s decision to again withhold Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for non-profit providers will continue to negatively impact our ability to serve our communities. Further, while an increase in the State minimum wage is certainly overdue and will provide welcome relief to struggling families, it is imperative that the Governor appropriately revise the State’s investments to reflect the commensurate increased costs of meeting state contract obligations. For instance, while we are pleased the Governor has continued his commitment to the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) with a $25 million investment, without an increase to reflect a higher minimum wage, we anticipate NYC providers will be forced to employ approximately 4,300 fewer youth this coming summer.

Finally, we are greatly concerned that the budget includes cumulative reductions of over $1.1 million for the Expanded In Home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP) and the Community Services for the Elderly program (CSE). This funding is central to helping older adults maintain their independence and dignity in their homes as they age. Also missing from the budget is an expanded investment in high school equivalency testing, which will be necessary to meet adult learner demand as NYS phases out the GED and implements a new exam in January 2014.

We look forward to working with the Governor and legislature to ensure that adequate investments are made in key human service programs.

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70 West 36^th Street, Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10018
tel: 212-967-0322    fax: 212-967-0792
www.unhny.org

Statement of Nancy Wackstein

Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses

On Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State Speech

Contact:  Annetta Seecharran (212) 967-0322 x. 329

Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address presented a bold and positive vision for New York.  We applaud the Governor for recognizing the crucial role of communities and the non-profit agencies who serve them.  As we saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, non-profit agencies including settlement houses played a critical role serving the neighborhoods impacted by the storm.

We are particularly pleased that the Governor included the following items in the State of the State:

• A robust program for full-day Pre-Kindergarten in low-income communities that will finally make the proven educational benefits of Pre-Kindergarten accessible to working families.
• Emphasizing the value of expanded learning time which must now be seen as a component of a sound basic education.
• House NY- a plan to address the housing crisis felt across the State through the creation of affordable housing.
• Proposals to improve public safety by closing gun loopholes and strengthening gun safety laws as well as a call to end stop and frisk policing.
• A proposal to increase the minimum wage so that hard working families can afford to live in New York.
• "CORe Neighborhoods"- an initiative to promote the value of neighborhood-based service delivery.

We look forward to working with both Governor Cuomo and the State legislature to realize this vision for New York’s communities.  

A recap by New York Nonprofit Press on the big stories from 2012 that have yet to be resolved. UNH's Policy Analyst Gregory Brender was quoted in the following excerpt:

Inadequate Funding 

And, on the ground, EarlyLearn providers are continuing to express concerns about the inadequacy of funding to support the new program model.  “It is a huge issue,” says Gregory Brender, Early Childhood and Education Policy Analyst at United Neighborhood Houses.  

One aspect of the problem was the need for EarlyLearn provider agencies to pick up the costs of providing health insurance and other benefits for program staff – an expense which had traditionally been paid directly by the City itself.   Even after additional funding was added, providers found the resources to be insufficient to purchase benefit plans that did not require significant increases in employee contributions.  

And, providers continue to anticipate significant operating losses on the programs themselves. “The rate still isn’t adequate to cover the cost of care,” says Brender.  “Providers are having a hard time covering their costs while providing services that meet their own standards and those of the EarlyLearn model.”

Read the whole article here>>