Social Services Newsletter

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The Topic

Social Services are all the ways the City, State and community-based groups provide support and assistance to those citizens who lack the means to obtain basic necessities - food, shelter, employment, medical care. This includes the poor, elderly, disabled, abused, homeless and mentally ill.

The Context

Rendering services to NYC citizens is a mammoth undertaking -- requiring time, money and considerable human resources. Huge caseload numbers and understaffed agencies leave the City overburdened and underprepared. Add the occasional scandal or tragedy to the mix, and the ensuing politics bring additional stress to the system. The result? The City is struggling to provide the most basic level of service, even to its neediest clients. And the debate about the best way to remedy these problems continues, perhaps indefinitely...

Reports

Workers Compensation
As many as a million New Yorkers who should be covered by Worker’s Compensation insurance are not, according to this report by the Fiscal Policy Institute, because of employer “non-compliance,” including the maneuver of falsely classifying employees as independent contractors. “New York State’s Workers Compensation: How Big Is The Coverage Shortfall?” argues that this program to pay workers who are injured on the job suffers due to the failure of the state government to enforce its own laws. (January 30, 2007)

Concerns Of The Working Poor
This survey by the Community Service Society looks at what low-income New Yorkers see as the most important policy issues for public officials. The survey is set up to compare and contrast the attitudes of American born New Yorkers to those of immigrants. Both see as the top issues keeping rent down and improving public education, but the U.S.-born are worried most about jobs and crime; immigrants say housing and health care. The report examines the reasons for the differences. (January 25, 2007)

Helping Troubled Teens
Over the past several years, the New York City government has instituted programs aimed at helping troubled teens and their families. While some young people have benefited, the city’s efforts have failed to reach many others, according to this report, “There’s No Such Place,” by the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School. As evidence, the report notes that the number of teenagers under age 16 arrested and the number of foster care placements due to juvenile delinquency have increased sharply. The report includes information on the current programs, some of it compiled from interviews with teens and parents, as well as recommendations. (January 17, 2007)

Protecting Adults
Adult Protective Services, a division of the city’s Human Resources Administration charged with caring for mentally and physically impaired New Yorkers over the age of 18 who cannot care for themselves, does a poor job of it, according to a report by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. A single case worker can be assigned 81 cases (the recommended caseload is 25). Among the report’s recommendations are smaller caseloads, better training, better equipment, and the creation of separate units to provide home care services, one for the mentally ill and another for the elderly. (January 12, 2007)

Nursing Homes and Emergencies
Many nursing homes in New York State do not have adequate emergency evacuation plans, according to this report from the Manhattan Borough president's office. The state is not checking the quality of the facilities' plans, some evacuation plans are incomplete, and some nursing homes do not even make their plans available to the residents themselves. The report details these perceived shortcomings, and offers recommendations about ways to change them. (December 20, 2006)

Sites for Beginners

The New York City Department For The Aging

New York State Office for the Aging

United Way Of New York City

Safe Horizon

Bronx Independent Living Services

Recommended Sites

Suggest Social Services link

Books

Down And Out In New York City: Homelessness: A Dishonorable Poverty
by Tony D. Guzewicz

Hands To Work: The Stories Of Three Families Racing The Welfare Clock
by LynNell Hancock, William Morrow

How The Other Half Lives: Studies Among The Tenements Of New York
by Jacob A. Riis

No Shame In My Game: The Working Poor In The Inner City
by Katherine S. Newman

The Mole People : Life In The Tunnels Beneath New York City
by Jennifer Toth