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Releases & Statements
October 27, 2005
"Today the Independent
Budget Office (IBO) released a report on the progress of Mayor
Bloomberg’s plan, announced in the spring of 2003, to streamline
a number of social services, including employment programs, after
school care, and senior services. The Mayor claimed the plan would
save the City $75 million in fiscal year 2004, but according to
the IBO, it did not. The IBO’s findings raise a number of
troubling questions about the Mayor’s approach to social
services, which are critical to the well-being of New York’s
most vulnerable populations. It appears we have missed critical
opportunities to put the unemployed to work, deliver federally-funded
services to those in need, and care for our elderly.
"For instance, the IBO notes
that cuts made to Meals on Wheels service in the Bronx—including
a partial switch from daily hot meal deliveries to twice-weekly
frozen meal deliveries—will save the Department for the
Aging (DFTA) only $500,000 a year. The Mayor has yet to explain
why savings that represent such a miniscule proportion of the
City’s $50 billion budget merit a severe downgrade in the
quality and frequency of the service Bronx seniors receive.
"The Mayor has also failed to
explain why the City’s adult employment services are running
budget surpluses at a time when nearly 40 percent of black men
in New York City are out of work. The IBO points out that the
total budget for City employment programs for fiscal year 2004
included about $30 million in federal funds that had been rolled
over from the previous year and that a similar rollover occurred
between 2004 and 2005. In a city with a desperate need for job
training, it is disgraceful that the administration can’t
find a way to put $30 million in federal dollars to good use.
"Finally, I am concerned about
the administration’s failure to make good on its intention
of centralizing the eligibility determination process for a number
of important social services. In 2003, I released a report indicating
that eligible New Yorkers are missing out on an estimated $2.3
billion in state and federal aid to help pay for food, utilities,
prescription drugs, and health care. A centralized process for
determining eligibility could help direct this money into the
pockets of working families and, in turn, into the city's economy.
Mayor Bloomberg needs to roll up his sleeves and commit to real,
substantive reforms that will ensure not only that the City’s
budget is trim but also that New Yorkers in need don’t fall
through the cracks."
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