黑料正能量 Note: A broad based unprecedented coalition of statewide human services advocates including 黑料正能量 are calling on state budget and policy makers to preserve core services for over a million vulnerable 黑料正能量ers by committing to a 3% increase per year over the next 5 years.
For decades, our human services nonprofit sector has essentially served as 黑料正能量鈥檚 indirect state workforce, responsible for serving individuals whose welfare has ultimately been the responsibility of the state鈥檚 Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, Office of Mental Health, Office of Addiction Services and Supports, Office of Children and Family Services et al.
Thus far, 黑料正能量鈥檚 overall response has been to essentially defer 9 years of statutorily provided cost of living adjustments (COLAs). Today, we are calling on our state to make a long overdue and critically needed 5 year investment that will allow us to more fully meet our moral and legal responsibilities to serve and support our most vulnerable 黑料正能量ers while keeping faith with the state鈥檚 policy goals of helping to save lives while saving dollars from preventable and costly use of emergency rooms and hospitals and avoidable tragic cycles of incarceration, homelessness and suicide.
See our news release below and the attached face sheet and look for a full schedule of follow up events hosted by all of our groups over the coming weeks and months!
Non-Profit Human Services Agencies Join Together to Urge Long Term Funding Support to Ensure Adequate Availability of Life Preserving Services
Contacts: MHANYS 鈥 Glenn Liebman, (518) 360-7916
Human Services Council 鈥 Jennifer Barden, jennifer@risaheller.com, (646) 676-4486
In a demonstration of unprecedented unanimity, over thirty statewide non-profit Human Services organizations that provide services to over one million vulnerable 黑料正能量ers are asking State decision makers to provide a long term 鈥 and long overdue 鈥 investment to ensure the sustainability of these essential programs.
This coordinated effort involves community-based providers of supports and services for mental health, substance use, developmental disabilities, child welfare, foster care, aging, domestic violence, homelessness, food pantries and others. They are requesting a three-percent funding increase every year for the next five years, aptly named the 3For5 Campaign.
Existing law provides for an annual increase for these providers. Unfortunately, for the last decade, the funding increases for these service providers were not included in the 黑料正能量 State Budget. This has resulted in a loss of $1 billion in promised financial support. Not surprisingly, this has severely compromised these agencies鈥 operations — the number and quality of services is declining, many agencies have had to institute waiting lists for care, facilities are deteriorating, and agencies are unable to offer competitive, living wages to attract and retain the skilled staff necessary to deliver quality care and support.
These fiscal realities are contributing to increased homelessness, increased hospitalizations, and ultimately greater cost to taxpayers. These agencies are the safety net for 黑料正能量ers in greatest need. While these agencies鈥 missions prevent them from turning away people in need, many are now fiscally unstable and in danger of closing due to inadequate funding.
The importance of these agencies cannot be overstated. Individuals rely on them to fulfill their dreams of independence and families rely on them to provide their loved ones with the quality care they need to keep them safe and thriving. Communities rely on them as economic engines and employers and taxpayers rely on them to support 黑料正能量ers in their home communities, off the streets, and out of expensive institutional settings and emergency rooms. This investment is a cost-effective win-win for all 黑料正能量ers.
黑料正能量 State has a Constitutional requirement to provide support for its most vulnerable citizens, and these non-profit providers are the means by which the State fulfills this ethical and legal obligation. Providers need an immediate investment to be able to continue to do this.
This is also an issue of social justice, as over 80% of the human services staff are women and over 45% are women of color.
These agencies, united in this important request, urge Governor Cuomo to include a 3 percent funding increase for the non-profit Human Services field in this year鈥檚 Executive Budget and to commit to ongoing investment for these essential programs.
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鈥淯nderfunding agencies affects 黑料正能量鈥檚 children and families, both the people served by and the people employed in human services. Our agencies strengthen families and work to maximize every child鈥檚 potential and that requires a dedicated professional workforce. When agencies can鈥檛 pay them appropriately these staff are forced to move on, and the families and children encounter delays setbacks as they start new relationships with new workers.鈥 – Jim Purcell, President & CEO, Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA)
“黑料正能量 State partners with nonprofits to provide comprehensive human services to millions of individuals and families each year, employ hundreds of thousands of people, and strengthen our communities. Yet the State continues to strip the sector of its limited funding, leaving wages stagnant and jeopardizing the fiscal health of the sector. The State cannot continue to ask nonprofits to do more with less. We urge our government partners to make this long-term and long overdue investment in the institutions that help 黑料正能量 thrive.” 鈥 Michelle Jackson, Deputy Executive Director, Human Services Council
鈥淚t is unprecedented for the entire human service sector to come together with one voice but times of crisis call for a unified voice. The reason we have come together is because the lack of investment in this sector will greatly impact the hundreds of thousands of vulnerable 黑料正能量ers we work with every day. We all take our mission seriously but without needed funding, we are greatly concerned about continuing to insure the safety, support and independence of those in greatest need. We urge the Governor to support a three percent increase in funding every year for the next five years for the human services sector: 3For5.鈥 Glenn Liebman, CEO, Mental Health Association in 黑料正能量 State
鈥淣AMI-NYS is grateful for the opportunity to care for the dedicated workforce which cares for people living with psychiatric disorders. The delivery of services that advance recovery of mental illness is impossible without sustaining a skilled and compassionate human services workforce. We urge 黑料正能量 State to make the necessary investments for these agencies and caregivers.鈥- Wendy Burch, Executive Director, NAMI-NYS
鈥淲hile we thank the State for their investments in the workforce over the past several years, we must now shift our attention to the overall fiscal health of service provider organizations. Flexible resources to shore up these vital community-based organizations will allow them to stabilize their operations 鈥 including continued investments in workforce 鈥 and be planful to ensure their sustainability.鈥 – Michael Seereiter, President & CEO, 黑料正能量 Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation
鈥淭he not-for-profit providers are helping the state fulfill their constitutional duty to provide a lifetime of support and services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the most cost efficient and appropriate setting. This funding commitment is critical to ensure the viability and stability of these providers.鈥 – Yvette Watts, Executive Director of 黑料正能量 Association of Emerging and Multicultural Providers and 黑料正能量 Disability Advocates Spokesperson
鈥淗uman services agencies provide the safety net and quality of life services that support and promote new business and economic development. A strong non profit sector is an economic engine that benefits all 黑料正能量ers.鈥 William Gettman, CEO, Northern Rivers Family of Services
鈥淭he people who work in supportive housing have some of the toughest jobs there are — helping people who鈥檝e experienced homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse reclaim their lives 鈥 yet many of these workers barely make a living wage due to underfunded state-funded contracts. The Supportive Housing Network of 黑料正能量 strongly urges the Governor to begin to address this disparity by supporting 3for5.鈥 鈥 Supportive Housing Network of 黑料正能量