The letters poured into City Hall Tuesday afternoon as a group of about 20 to 30 people gathered to present them to the mayor’s office. Council Member Kim Lappin, who also serves as chairperson to the council’s Aging Committee, announced they were there because “the invisible, frail, homebound elderly cannot come to the steps of City Hall and fight for themselves.”
The program losing the funds, case management, provides social workers for 18,000 elderly across the city. At an average age of 85, many of these people require aid to remain in their own homes. Social workers make sure they are taking their medication properly, that they are in good mental and physical health, and help them to apply for appropriate benefits, among other services. Sometimes they simply provide much-needed company for these often isolated and lonely individuals.
“[My caseworker’s] intelligence, interest, and kindness made me feel I had a friend,” wrote Annette Radford, a homebound elderly senior New Yorker. “It is so important to keep that spark of human kindness available to those of us who need it so desperately.”
The mayor announced the 30 percent funding cut last month. This translates into 8,000 seniors losing their caseworkers and 110 caseworkers losing their jobs, according to Bobbie Sackman, director of public policy for Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC, Inc. (CSCS). Sackman noted that the program already has a waiting list of about 800 elderly.
Including these most recent cuts, the Department for the Ageing (DFTA) has lost a total of $60 million since 2008. This accounts for about 40 percent of its city tax levy dollars.
Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for mayor Bloomberg told the Wall Street Journal that the budget "makes many difficult, painful choices,” but the city faces a $2.4 billion deficit in the coming fiscal year.
"The Department for the Aging will be working with its case management provider agencies to consider alternate ways to restructure the service to minimize the impact on the city's most fragile and isolated seniors,” said Chris Miller, spokesman for the DFTA. “DFTA has not reviewed any agency plans for how they are going to manage the budget reduction. It would be premature to comment on any layoffs."
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