For Immediate Release
Contact: Leanne Ricchiuti, Overit for Association for Community Living, 518.222.8073
March 12, 2024
STATEMENT
Association For Community Living Executive Director’s Statement on One House Bill Process
ACL Warns of the Danger of a Targeted COLA
| (Albany, N.Y.) – The Association for Community Living (ACL) Executive Director, Sebrina Barrett, has the following statement in response to the Legislature’s progress with the One-House Bills, in preparation for the Enacted Budget: |
| “While it’s crucial that the Legislature build upon the 1.5% COLA proposed in the Executive Budget to support behavioral health services, including mental health housing, the Legislature’s failure to provide a full COLA that is across-the-board is not only inadequate to support these programs, but fails to take into account the purpose of a COLA, which is to both pay a living wage and absorb rising operations costs due to inflation. |
| We appreciate the Legislature’s recognition that funding to help our members pay staff a living wage is important—we agree—but our members still need to cover the rising costs of food, fuel, utilities, health and property insurance, cyber insurance, etc., just to keep the doors open. These mandatory operation costs must be paid before our members can pay salaries. Without an across-the-board COLA that covers these mandated costs, doors close. Programs will close. Residents will lose their homes. Wages won’t matter at that point, because staff will not have jobs. |
| Our members––and their direct care staff who take care of our most vulnerable–are trying to keep pace after decades of underfunding, and a targeted COLA won’t be enough. More funding is needed to not only bring us back to the funding levels these programs saw decades ago, but to ensure we can modernize our housing models to serve the needs of today’s residents. |
| We need an at least 3.2% COLA that covers the rising costs of operations and wages to prevent further erosion of resources needed to support recovery for thousands of New Yorkers. |
| We’re so thankful to the Mental Health Committee Chairs, Senator Samra Brouk and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, for their continued support. |
| We look forward to the passage of the Enacted Budget and the inclusion of a full, across the board, 3.2% COLA.” |
| ACL released a video in which some of the direct care workers who work in mental health housing describe what it is like working with increasing inflation and staffing struggles. That video may be viewed here: https://www.bringithomenys.org/fundingforcare. |
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