Funding for nonprofit human services organizations is one of the final sticking points in the City Budget
Mayor has given City Council an impossible choice: fund either early childhood workers OR frontline nonprofit groups
CEO Wes Moore calls on City Council to stand its ground
NEW YORK, June 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As negotiations progress over the city’s budget, the mayor has attempted to make the city council choose between pay equity for early childhood providers and critical funds for the human services sector, Robin Hood CEO Wes Moore said in a statement today.
New York City pays over 1,000 frontline nonprofit groups that the city contracts out to do its social services work inadequately and late, creating an annual financial burden of nearly $750 million on those organizations. These are organizations that run homeless shelters, food pantries, mental health clinics and domestic violence survivor programs.
As New York City’s largest poverty fighting organization, Robin Hood has asked the mayor to include a modest $106 million in the budget that human services organizations believe is the bare minimum they need to close the gap in the costs of running their programs and the rates that the city reimburses.
Robin Hood CEO Wes Moore released the following statement today on these budget talks:
“The City Council must stand its ground. Allowing the mayor to pit the pay equity needs of underpaid and overworked early child providers against the broader human services sector is a false choice and a callous bargain. It undermines the vision of an equitable city. The era of forcing these organizations that provide vital services for the most vulnerable New Yorkers to beg and borrow for every dollar they’ve earned must end now.”
About Robin Hood: Founded in 1988, Robin Hood finds, fuels, and creates the most impactful and scalable solutions lifting families out of poverty in New York City, with models that can work across the country. The largest poverty fighting organization in New York City, Robin Hood legal services, housing, meals, workforce development training, education programs, and more to families in poverty in New York City. Robin Hood tracks every program with rigorous metrics. Learn more at www.robinhood.org; and follow Robin Hood on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
Contact: bjones@robinhood.org