NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)
*New York City must restore funding for direct services for people with developmental disabilities.
New York City has all but turned its back on its residents with developmental disabilities. Through the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the city used to provide work readiness programs, transitional employment, homemaker services, day training, therapeutic recreation, summer camp, counseling, information and referral, and remedial education for adults. Those days are over.
From its high of over $20 million in 2003, city tax levy funding has now plunged nearly 60% to less than $8 million! Even in good fiscal years, the city relentlessly reduced its contribution so that now many vital programs have been entirely eliminated. While there have been occasional small add-ons from City Council, these were for special projects, such as the much-needed $1 million autism initiative, and were for one year only, subject to annual renewal requirements.
We urge DOHMH to shoulder its responsibility for serving all people with developmental disabilities. DOHMH services were always a safety net for the many people who have developmental disabilities but for various reasons do not qualify for OPWDD services. For these individuals, there are no alternatives to the city-funded programs, and now most of the city programs are gone.
Housing
New York City must collaborate with state and federal government to establish policies to ensure affordable, accessible housing for low-income people with developmental disabilities.
* NYCHA must restore the health priority for people whose present housing constitutes a threat to their lives or a health hardship.
*Government-subsidized housin must waive its minimum-income requirements, and provide additional rent subsidies, if necessary, for people with disabilities with very low incomes.
*All large new government-subsidized developments must include set-asides and rent subsidies, if necessary, for people with disabilities with very low incomes.
* Section 8 voucher housing must be reinstated.
We applaud Mayor de Blasio’s commitment to expand the pool of affordable housing, but we urge the administration to address the particular problems faced by low-income people with developmental disabilities and their families. There is virtually no affordable housing for low-income people with disabilities. People are trapped in intolerable and unsafe living arrangements because they cannot find appropriate housing. A gentleman who uses a wheelchair cannot get to work because his building’s elevator is routinely out of service. A 12-year-old gets no sleep because he must share his bedroom with his brother who has autism and stays up all night banging on the walls and yelling. A young woman with an intellectual disability dares not leave her house because she is terrified of the drug dealers lurking around her building.
Year after year, advocates raise these urgent issues, yet there has been no progress. Now, especially in light of New York State’s insistence on keeping individuals with developmental disabilities home with their families as long as possible, it is critical that government entities partner to meet the specialized housing needs of low-income people with developmental disabilities.