THE FORTUNE SOCIETY ISSUES STATEMENT ON NEW YORK CITY BUDGET

(June 15, 2022 – New York, NY)—The Fortune Society issued the following statement about the $101 billion budget agreed upon by Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council:

“The fiscal year 2023 budget agreement provides some important supports at a time of great need in our city, yet there are still a number of outstanding concerns.

Thankfully, the new budget does not include the previously proposed expenditure of city resources on 578 additional correction officers. The Department of Correction already spends 350% more to incarcerate a single person for a year than the two other largest jail systems in the country, in Cook County, Illinois, and Los Angeles. Yet, as we’ve unfortunately witnessed, violence at Rikers Island is seven times higher than it is in Los Angeles, and to date, six people have died while incarcerated there.

Simply adding more officers to the Department payroll will not fix the systemic problems of staff absenteeism, supervision, and deployment that are fueling the crisis. Until Rikers can finally shut down, the Department must formulate and share a plan to effectively manage staff and ensure that all posts requiring uniformed officers are staffed, to make Rikers safe for both employees and the people who are incarcerated there. Until that point, we fear that the pattern of violence and death will continue unabated.

Additionally, the budget’s establishment of a 4% cost-of-living adjustment on human services contracts is a good step toward just pay for the more than 80,000 workers in the sector. Human services workers, including Fortune Society staff members who provide critical services to justice-involved New Yorkers, are the backbone of our communities. The Fortune Society was proud to stand with hundreds of our fellow nonprofits in advocating for a 5.4% cost-of-living adjustment and we will continue to stand with them until truly just pay is fully achieved for these essential workers.

However, we must note that nonprofits who provide the bulk of human services to the highest need New York City residents and are the front line in responding to crises such as the pandemic need sharp improvement in having their contracts registered and being paid on time. As a key part of having our City benefit from this forward-thinking budget, attention must be paid to setting and enforcing standards and goals for timely reimbursement of nonprofits so that their services and in some cases their very survival are not jeopardized by late payments. We as nonprofit service providers are held accountable for our performance; our City funding agencies need to be held accountable as well.

Further, we applaud the inclusion of $237 million in this budget to expand City FHEPS to fully fund and increase the rental voucher to match Section 8 levels, which will increase access to housing affordability. There is a great need for more supportive housing—without eligibility barriers that exclude people who have been involved in the system. As a provider of supportive housing to justice-involved New Yorkers, we know first-hand that quality affordable housing with wraparound support services is critical to successful reentry to break the cycles of homelessness and instability. To disrupt the prison-to-shelter pipeline and make our communities stronger, New York City needs more housing tailored to support justice-involved New Yorkers to rebuild their lives.

We look forward to working with our elected officials on meaningful, proven solutions. And we will continue to stand with our partners in calling for a more fair and humane criminal legal system.”