Executive Action Summary
In this first-ever New York Human Services Scorecard, HSA has decided to provide a narrative of executive actions, and in future years may expand this to include other offices, such as the City and State Comptroller
Mayor Eric Adams
In March of 2023, Mayor Adams announced the largest investment ever for human services workers in a City budget: $741 million to go towards a 9% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for human services workers over the next three years. This announcement came after a series of energizing, successful #JustPay actions – including a rally of over 6,000 supporters and City Council Members at City Hall – and represents a historic commitment to ending poverty wages for a sector that is often overlooked by the City’s administration.
When the Mayor took office, he made an early promise to “Clear the Backlog” of nonprofit contract delays – and did make early strides towards addressing unregistered contracts and unpaid invoices. Unfortunately, that forward momentum has since stalled, and we have seen a huge increase in providers reporting they are owed more money than ever before. With hundreds of millions of dollars currently owed to our organizations, HSA has serious concerns about the health of the sector and its ability to continue to serve New Yorkers.
We know that the relationship between the sector and City government is not sustainable. There must be systemic and permanent change to improve late payments, wages, and contract registration – and there are outlets through which HSA believes we can achieve that change. The Mayor’s Office of Contract Services is a vital partner and resource to the sector, and the Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services is currently convening providers to identify solutions for many systemic issues facing the human services sector.
Unfortunately, the current turmoil in the Mayoral office weighs heavily on the sector, just as it impacts all New Yorkers. This chaos is not a mere distraction from the critical issues facing human services nonprofits – it also has a direct, negative influence on our ability to offer lifesaving services to communities throughout the City. Changes in leadership, open positions, and electeds pulled in many directions leaves the literal bill sitting on the figurative table, with providers wondering when – or if – they will ever be paid for keeping our communities afloat.
Governor Kathy Hochul
Upon taking office, Governor Hochul became the first Governor to fully fund a statutory cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in her first executive budget (FY22), reversing 15 years of stagnant funding to crucial nonprofit human services providers. This was not just a breath of fresh air for the sector, but had a real impact on nonprofits and workers doing more with less while waiting for the State to acknowledge the fact that expenses are on the rise. We applaud the Governor for charting a new course and demonstrating leadership so early on in her tenure.
While this was important progress, the past two years the Governor has only partially funded a COLA in the Executive Budget. Neither year (FY23 or FY24) led to full funding for the COLA as it should have been based on the statute. Without these resources, providers were faced with an unfunded mandate, unable to make up the shortfall due to lack of cash.
In FY24 the final COLA was also splintered, with the legislature and Governor designating a portion of the funding to go towards a “full” COLA and another portion to worker wages. This reflected a lack of understanding – on both sides of the negotiations – on how a COLA functions in the real world and creates confusion and delays. Further, the State COLA, in all three years it has
been funded at some level, uses outdated language that results in crucial human services programs being left out of receiving the COLA, for no reason other than the program didn’t exist when the statute passed back in 2008. Repeated requests for clarity and inclusion have not resulted in changes, or even answers as to how the programs included or disregarded were determined.
While delays in contract registration and payment are not as significant an issue at the State in comparison to New York City, they do still persist. And while NYC has dedicated offices to work through issues like procurement and COLA language, the State has very limited staff dedicated to the human services sector. As a result, there are simply not enough avenues to pursue issues around implementation, language, or technical assistance. These limitations can be just as frustrating during good times, as bad. For example: while Governor Hochul funded a COLA, the sector lacks a place to ask technical questions about implementation or propose solutions to fix administrative barriers.
The nonprofit sector is the largest private employer in the State. It’s time for the State government to begin fully supporting our work with the resources and functionality we need to succeed.