New York City FY17 Budget

June 14, 2016

The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) is pleased that the FY 2017 City budget includes funding for initiatives championed by FPWA and its coalition partners which promote upward mobility and economic equity for all New Yorkers.

With the strong leadership of Council Members Helen Rosenthal and Annabel Palma, the Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative was funded at $2.248 million. Worker cooperative businesses are startups that anchor jobs in local communities across the city and encourage entrepreneurship, and build wealth and civic leadership among low-wage workers. With the investment of the City Council, over the past 1.5 fiscal years, the Worker Cooperative Coalition has achieved significant results including tripling the worker cooperative ecosystem in NYC from 20 cooperatives to 67.  In FY17, the initiative will focus on  expanding of worker cooperatives around the city, ensuring the success of existing cooperatives, and identifying 28 new startup businesses to launch and training 20 new cooperative business developers to grow the coop support network in NYC.

We applaud the City Council for its continued investment in the Access Health NYC Initiative by investing $1.07 million.  More than one in ten New York City residents lack health insurance, and in some neighborhoods, the rate of uninsured New Yorkers is as high as 22%. Access Health NYC  increases the capacity of community-based organizations to provide education and outreach efforts to individuals who experience barriers to accessing health care coverage and information. With a $1 million investment in FY16, the initiative funded 12 organizations across the five boroughs to conduct over 100 trainings and workshops through New York City, as well as conduct individual and digital marketing outreach.  In FY17, funding will further increase the capacity of the 12 organizations to address unmet demand for services, as well as fund additional organizations to reach other underserved communities.

Councilmember Carlos Menchaca’s strong support of the Day Laborer Workforce Initiative, with an investment of $570,000, will allow this initiative to create new centers in the Bronx and Queens, and upgrade centers in Brooklyn and Staten Island. These centers will better serve New York City’s growing day laborer population of approximately 8,000-10,000 workers through job and critical service referrals, wage theft legal clinics, “know your rights” trainings and workforce development. FY16 funding allowed the initiative to establish and support day laborer centers, which provide essential services to day laborers an often forgotten, marginalized and exploited workforce who contributes greatly to the fabric of New York City.

While the Interfaith Leadership Institute Initiative was not funded this fiscal budget year, FPWA is grateful for the support of Council Members Donovan Richards and Mathieu Eugene, who both allocated funding to support the training of faith leaders in their communities through FPWA’s faith advocacy and engagement programs. We look forward to engaging with faith leaders in each New York City district over the next year ensure this essential program will be implemented citywide.

FPWA also thanks Mayor de Blasio and the City Council for their investment in human services that support vulnerable New Yorkers.  The FY17 budget  includes $39 million a year in baselined funding for the Summer Youth Employment program, $17.5 million for 26,000 summer seats for middle school youth and $17.6 million to restore and expand after-school programming for 9,000 children. Summer jobs and afterschool programs are vital to working families across the city. They play a key role in reducing poverty and they offer a safe space for many New York City children and youth during the out-of-school summer months. Summer programming must be a priority in any agenda seeking to promote equal opportunity.

We are, however, disappointed that the FY17 budget includes only $1.8 million in funding for case management for older adults, a funding cut that will ultimately lead to staff layoffs and a disconnect in services. Older adults are the fastest growing population in New York City and are increasingly affected by poverty, yet less than 1% of the City budget is allocated to their care. We remain committed to ensuring that they are provided with access to critical services such as case management and home care, and we look forward to working with the Mayor and the Council to make certain this population receives supportive services.

FPWA thanks the Mayor and the City Council for their commitment to improving opportunities for upward mobility and Building a City of Equal Opportunity.  We look forward to working with them to grow these vital initiatives.

**See below for a complete chart on funding for initiatives in FY16 and FY17.