My name is Jeanine Costley, and I am the SVP of Transitional Services at the Institute for Community Living, or ICL. Thank you to Chair Ayala and members of the Committee on General Welfare for the opportunity to testify.
The city is experiencing concurrent mental health and homelessness crises, and nonprofits like ours are on the front lines, supporting people who count on us. I want to highlight critical issues facing our organization, particularly the challenges we face in retaining qualified staff and providing essential shelter services. The situation at ICL is emblematic of a broader trend within the nonprofit sector.
ICL helps children, adults, and families with behavioral health challenges achieve healthy and fulfilling lives by providing comprehensive housing, health care, and recovery services. We serve 13,000 people annually through our 140 programs across all five boroughs—including clinics, shelters, residences, and community-based programs.
People get better with ICL because our whole health approach addresses all aspects of well-being and reduces health disparities. We are one of the largest supportive housing providers in the city, and we oversee seven shelters.
We cannot begin to address the mental health and homeless crises without a substantial investment in our woefully underpaid workforce. ICL faces exceptionally high staff turnover and vacancy rates. Our turnover rate is 32% across all programs and a massive 70% — more than twice as high — in the shelters we operate. We struggle to hire and retain staff, which hinders our capacity to deliver vital services.
That’s the experience of every provider. We need more funding to achieve pay parity with state-funded programs that cannibalize our city-funded workforce by offering more generous compensation. There must be a cost-of-living adjustment so our workers’ compensation can keep up with inflation, and so they’re fairly compensated for their challenging work..
What’s more, now is the time for a meaningful transformation of the shelter system, and ICL would be proud to be part of that effort. We thank the City Council for your leadership and advocacy in preserving the Right to Shelter law, but that’s not enough. Shelters are often too large, under-resourced, and located in buildings with bad layouts and other unfavorable conditions. There have been no increases or adjustments in funding to reflect the growing costs of essentials such as food, insurance, and operational expenses. This threatens the viability of nonprofit organizations like ours.
The city’s delays in payment also are an existential threat to nonprofits. Nonprofits like ICL must regularly borrow money to provide contracted services, which further strains our financial resources by forcing us to incur unnecessary interest expenses.
The bottom line is that we need broader investment in funding shelter services and the workforce that ensures their operation. We must take a trauma-informed approach and work towards restoring the dignity of individuals who reside in shelters. This Herculean task will require a significant effort from government and nonprofit leaders, along with communities at large, but is a much-needed step toward ensuring that New Yorkers receive the help and support they need.
Thank you.
