The latest from CITYFHEPS ... Center for Juvenile Justice Reform ... NYC contracts
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Want a say in how New York City subsidizes housing for homeless families? The Human Resources Administration will hold a public hearing on Aug. 21 at 9:30 a.m. to get public feedback on a new rule concerning CITYFHEPS:
This new program, which would serve both families and individuals, would replace a number of other City rental assistance programs and align City rental assistance more closely with the existing State Family Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement (FHEPS) program, reads a post in the City Record.
Comments can also be submitted here, which also includes some background on the issue. The new rules would do the following, according to a Statement of Basis and Purpose of Rule on the website:
- Define eligibility requirements
- Determine monthly rents and rental assistance payment amounts
- Set forth renewal criteria
- Set up landlord and participant requirements and appeals process
- Allow adjustments to be made to the payment amounts
- Allow HRA to designate “CITYFHEPS qualifying programs”
A late-night Chinese meal was how a nonprofit effort began to reform the bail system in the U.S. That’s where Robin Steinberg first came up with the idea to shake things up after seeing first hand how cash bail hampered the clients she had as a public defender in the Bronx. The rest is quickly becoming history, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
“Last November, Steinberg launched The Bail Project, a five-year, $52 million plan to bail out 160,000 people in more than 40 locations, starting with New York City. It has since set up funds in Tulsa, Okla.; St. Louis; Detroit; and Louisville, Ky., hiring local “bail disrupters” to track and assist low-income defendants,” the magazine writes.
The Bail Project also will receive $24 million over five years after being chosen this year as a TED Audacious Project.
More contracts are coming out of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which has released dozens in recent weeks. This includes an $828,735 contract with Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services to provide mental health services for children and adolescents. East Elmhurst-based Lexington Center for Mental Health Services secured a similar contract for $132,108.
The Long Island Jewish Medical Center will provide $1.8 million worth of alcoholism services for adults, while Providence House has a $1.88 million contract for mental health services for adults, according to the City Record. The biggest contract with the department released on July 26 however went to Weston United Community Renewal, which got a $2.8 million deal for supported housing and mental health services.
Maximus Human Services, a Virginia-based company, is providing consulting services for health and human services agencies, per a $259,459 contract renewal with the city Human Resources Administration, according to the City Record. The Department for the Aging opted to extend contracts with six organizations who deliver meals for the elderly. They are Regional Aid for Interim Needs ($1.3 million) Wayside Out-Reach development ($2.1 million) Henry Street Settlement ($2.9 million) Stanley M Isaacs Neighborhood Center ($2.2 million) Charles A Walburg Multi Service Organization ($2.1 million) and Peter Cardella Senior Citizen Center ($937,461).
Policy wonks can feast on this new study from the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University. The gist of the study is how risk and needs assessment tools and “dispositional matrices” can improve the effectiveness of juvenile diversion programming, based off of ongoing reform efforts in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Send your press releases, photos, and word of your latest happenings to reporter Zach Williams at zwilliams@nynmedia.com.