Is New York City's housing plan doing more harm than good?

The Jefferson Awards Foundation has changed its name to Multiplying Good. The move reflects the broadening focus of the organization beyond the awards it gives in recognition of the good deeds it is known for, according to a Feb. 13 press release.

“Many know us as the awards platform founded by Jackie Kennedy, Sen. Bob Taft and Sam Beard, that has for almost 50 years been the country’s most prestigious honor for public service,” Multiplying Good CEO Hillary Schafer said in the press release. “However, we are so much more than that. We know public service offers a powerful pathway for individuals to tap into their own potential. We understand that to do it right, we need to connect them with their own service passions, unleash confidence in their ability to make a difference, deliver the skills to do it well, and then recognize them and tell their stories so others can be inspired.”

HELP Bronx has a new $8.7 million contract with the New York City Department of Homeless Services. The money will fund through June 30 homeless shelters located at 785 Crotona Park North and 285 East 171st Street in the Bronx, according to the City Record. Brooklyn Defender Services has a new $3.3 million contract to fund legal services for immigrant families. The Department of Social Services has given a $150,000 contract to Project Renewal for homeless prevention services for veterans. Two nonprofits have received new contracts from the Administration for Children’s Services for residential care services  – Cardinal McCloskey Community Services ($4.1 million) and Abbott House ($2.2 million).

The Center for NYC Affairs will host a Feb. 19 event in Manhattan focused on legal representation in the child welfare system. Specifically, a panel discussion will focus on how the initial encounter between families and case workers can lead to the removal of children and associated trauma. Learn more about the event here.

A new report examines whether New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s housing plan is doing more harm than good. The plan calls for 120,000 new affordable housing units and the preservation of 180,000 more over 12 years, but it might not be providing enough opportunities to low-income people, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office. An analysis of 78,000 housing units financed from January 2014 to June 2017 compared the average income of neighborhood residents with the income restrictions of the projects. Here are a few takeaways:

• Most of these projects were in poor neighborhoods.
• About half of the projects were in neighborhoods where the average residents makes too much to qualify for the affordable housing there, but poorer residents could qualify.
• A quarter of the projects were in places where the average household made too little to qualify.
• About a quarter of the units financed by the plan were in neighborhood where the average resident would meet the income eligibility requirements, but poorer residents would not.

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