Committee on General Welfare, Food Insecurity in NYC

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We are hearing for the Committee on General Welfare. At this time I would like to remind everyone to please silence all devices and at no point during the hearing may you approach the dais. If you want to testify at today's hearing please see a sergeant at the back to fill out a testimony slip. Chair, we are ready to begin. Thank you so much.

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Good morning everyone and welcome to today's hearing. I am Crystal Hudson, General Welfare Committee Chair, and my pronouns are she her. Today we are holding our annual hearing on hunger and Food Insecurity in New York City. We will also be hearing four pieces of legislation. The first, Int 0790-2026, sponsored by CM Joseph, relates to the city's response to extreme weather circumstances such as Code Blue and would require reporting around warming centers. The second, a preconsidered bill by CM Susan Zhuang, would create the role of SNAP anti-fraud officer and fraud awareness campaign at the Department of Social Services. The third is Res 0021-2026 by CM Avilés. This bill would call on the New York State Legislature to pass and the Governor to sign A03578 and S00403 to establish a SNAP and cash assistance fraud victims compensation fund. And finally, CM Salaam's preconsidered resolution calls on Congress to pass and the President to sign S.1202 H.R.2512, the Hot Foods Act of 2025 to permit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to be used to purchase hot foods or hot food products ready for immediate consumption.

Moving on to our oversight topic for today. Every year, the Committee on General Welfare holds a hearing on hunger and food insecurity, recognizing the growing challenges around these issues for too many New Yorkers. We know that poverty and food insecurity intersect deeply. While we live in a city that is so often defined by its wealth, it is unacceptable that thousands of families are struggling to put food on the table. Day after day, New Yorkers are experiencing rising costs of living, wage gaps, and increased barriers to accessing benefits. Working families, seniors, people of color, and immigrants are forced into making impossible choices to make ends meet.

In March 2026, the Mayor's Office of Equity and Racial Justice released their inaugural New York City True Cost of Living Measure report. The TCL is a framework that calculates what New York City families need to spend to live comfortably and participate in the economy across eight categories: housing, food, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, savings, and other necessities. This measure is more precise than the federal poverty line. According to the report, 62% of New Yorkers do not meet the TCL threshold. Families not meeting the TCL threshold vary by borough with the Bronx having the highest number of families not meeting the threshold. There are racial disparities also across the City. 77.6% of Hispanic families, 65.6% of black families, 63.3% of Asian-American and Pacific Islander families, and 43.7% of white families do not meet the TCL threshold.

Certain populations are more vulnerable to food insecurity. Across the country, food insecurity rates are highest among single mother households and households with incomes below the poverty line. Additionally, low income and food insecure households often have no choice but to purchase lower nutritional quality foods such as prepackaged foods or meals because they are less expensive than whole foods and can be prepared quickly. For these households, a strong social safety net is critical. However, we are facing serious and growing threats to the social safety net at the federal level. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP remains to be a lifeline for nearly 1.8 million New Yorkers, including over 500,000 children. Yet, this program is under unprecedented pressure from proposed cuts, stricter work requirements, and cost shifting policies that could force states to absorb billions of dollars of new expenses. This is unsustainable and would put more than 1 million New Yorkers at risk of losing their benefits.

Food insecurity is not an isolated problem. It is a symptom of more wide sweeping inequities. To address it, we must strengthen and expand access to programs like SNAP, not roll that access back. We must invest in food providers and ensure that culturally competent and healthy food is available in every neighborhood. This conversation also warrants addressing the root issue of food insecurity, economic stability. I would like to acknowledge that we are joined here by CM Joseph and Morano. We hope that today's hearing will result in a conversation around solutions to prioritize food justice and ensure that no New Yorker goes hungry. This is a matter of human dignity.

I want to conclude by thanking the committee staff for their work on this hearing. Amen Panina Rosenberg, Justin Campos, Julia Heramis, Faria Raman, and Elizabeth Childers Garcia. I would also like to thank my staff, Andrew Wright and Elica Ruentan. I will now pass the mic to the other sponsors of bills on today's agenda. CM Joseph, do you have a statement? Yes. Thank you, Chair.

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Good morning. Int 0790-2026 is a critical step forward ensuring that New York City is fully prepared to protect our most vulnerable residents during extreme cold weather. Far too often, warming centers serve as a lifeline for older adults, families, and individuals experiencing homelessness. But without consistent data and transparency, we cannot effectively measure whether these resources are reaching the communities that need them the most. By requiring Department of Social Services in collaboration with Office of Emergency Management to produce annual publicly available reports, this bill brings much needed accountability and clarity to how our warming centers operate. These reports will go beyond basic information. They will provide insight into locations, hours of operations, staffing levels, accessibility, and usage trends across neighborhoods and age groups. Just as importantly, they will assess whether warming centers are equitably distributed and accessible to vulnerable populations while offering concrete recommendations to close any gaps. As we continue to experience more unpredictable severe weather patterns, this legislation ensures that our City is not only responsive but proactive. It gives us the tools to make informed decisions, allocate resources more effectively, and ultimately save lives. Every New Yorker deserves a safe, warm place to turn during extreme weather. This bill helps us move closer to that promise. Thank you, Chair.

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Thank you so much, CM Joseph. And now, the committee counsel, Amen Kilawan, will administer the oath to the administration.

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Good morning. My name is Scott French and I serve as administrator of the Human Resources Administration HRA within the Department of Social Services DSS. I would like to thank Chair Hudson and the members of the Committee on General Welfare for convening today's hearing on food insecurity. I am joined today by DSS Chief Operating Officer Matthew Brunie, Department of Homeless Services Chief of Shelter Operations Iris Rodriguez, Deputy Commissioner Street Homeless Solutions Division within DHS Cassandra White, and Administrative Nutritionist in the DSS Health Service Office Diana Serno.

Food security is an integral part of our work at DSS and DHS and we appreciate the opportunity to highlight the important programs, benefits and collaborations underway to make for a more food secure New York City. I would like to begin by shining a spotlight on critical resources for anyone who is facing food insecurity. Help is available. You can call 311 or visit foodhelp.nyc.gov to find nearby food pantries and community kitchens. Access HRA, our mobile app, and our benefit access centers serve as further resources where clients can apply for benefits. For those clients already receiving SNAP, the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene DOH food access initiatives serve as additional resources, including Health Bucks, Get the Good Stuff and Groceries to Go.

In addition to the work of DSS and DHS, I want to recognize the work of our partners in government, including DOH and the Mayor's Office of Food Policy, and our partners in serving New Yorkers, including food banks, community kitchens, community fridges and mutual aid groups. From our community-based organizations to our houses of worship, an array of sectors and volunteers is engaged in tackling this significant challenge. In addition, advocates and policy makers across government and across our shared communities play critical roles in uplifting food security, raising awareness about where to receive assistance, and tackling the challenges food insecure households face with dignity and respect.

Meeting New Yorkers where they are, providing culturally competent services, and treating applicants and clients with dignity and respect are all touchstones of DSS's outreach strategy to advance food security. The Office of Community Outreach OCO conducts targeted outreach campaigns to connect with communities and organizations serving specific populations like older adults, immigrant communities, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA plus community. OCO hosts presentations, attends resource fairs, farmers markets and other community events to increase SNAP awareness and engagement. OCO also provides SNAP trainings and presentations, pre-screens potentially eligible applicants and assists with the SNAP application process. New Yorkers can also be connected to a community-based organization to help with SNAP enrollment as well as other benefits by calling 311 or visiting the HRA website and using the find a partner organization tool.

In addition, DSS participates in monthly SNAP task force meetings chaired by the Food Bank for New York City to provide updates and answer questions from participating CBOs. In 2025, DSS conducted a total of 76 trainings in using these tools to submit SNAP and other benefit applications and provided benefit case management via Access HRA. 1,920 participants attended these trainings. Attendees include staff from other municipal agencies and community partner organizations. These trainings also served as a forum for questions and concerns from providers and advocates working directly with HRA and DHS clients.

DSS HRA serves as the administrator of vital programs to combat food insecurity. As of February 2026, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP served 1.7 million New Yorkers. The US Department of Agriculture's SNAP Program Access Index PI serves as one key metric for assessing SNAP's reach in states and municipalities and one indicator of the work undertaken to connect communities to SNAP. The 2024 PI data is the most recent available due to the fact that the 2025 census data used in the calculation will not be released until the fall of 2026. The 2024 SNAP PI for New York City was 95.7%, meaning HRA administered SNAP benefits to more than 1.79 million New Yorkers out of the 1.87 million New Yorkers below 125% of the federal poverty line.

Thanks to the hard work of HRA and our community partners, New York City's PI has historically outpaced those of the state and the US overall. In 2023, the state's PI was 85.3% and the nationwide PI was 80% compared to the City's PI of 94.9%. For New York City, the difference between serving 95.7% and 80% of people below 125% of the FPL is more than 250,000 New Yorkers. What do these numbers and percentages mean? That means fewer heads of household facing sleepless nights worrying about the next meal. That means more of our families, friends and neighbors having the food security they deserve. Those numbers are also a positive reflection of our past efforts to leverage technology, our outreach efforts, and our connections with sister agencies and community partners. HRA remains committed to building on that success in connecting eligible New Yorkers to SNAP.

The present-day challenge to SNAP we are tackling is the new federally imposed able-bodied adults without dependents ABAWD rules. The first month of the new ABAWD work rules was March 2026. Concisely, these rules expanded the work requirements for SNAP clients and mandated sanctions for non-compliant SNAP participants. Prior to the rules going into effect, we mobilized. We worked to notify SNAP clients about what the rules mean for them and connect with community partners about how they can help. We are keeping a keen eye on what additional measures we can take to ensure people remain connected to this critical benefit.

In terms of notifying clients, that has meant direct client communications, including texts, emails and push notifications. In terms of connecting clients to resources, that has meant connecting clients to HRA's Pathways for Access to Careers and Employment, known as PACE program, hosting community meetings and webinars so community organizations know that qualifying community service, volunteer work, work experience and job skills training programs may be part of meeting a SNAP client's work requirements and stepping up efforts to ensure that clients who are eligible for exemptions understand what documentation we need to properly register their exemption. Our work managing this federally imposed transition and work requirements is not complete. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the experience of SNAP clients and make the adjustments we can to connect SNAP clients with the information and resources they need to comply with the new rules.

The Community Food Connection CFC, formerly known as the Emergency Food Assistance Program, serves another key tool in our toolbox for combating food insecurity in New York City. CFC funds a network of more than 700 food pantries and community kitchens across the City. Published in January, the Mayor's Office of Food Policy's CFC fiscal year 2025 impact report goes into far greater detail about CFC's critical accomplishments. I will share the most important highlights. In fiscal year 2025, CFC helped those providers supply more than 47.1 million pounds of food across 170 neighborhoods in our City. That was about 4 million more pounds of food than was supplied in FY24. And FY25 CFC providers recorded 1.9 million more visits than in FY24, with the visit count for FY25 being 37.1 million. Across FY24 and 25, the breakdown of the ages of the people served remained the same. Approximately 49% adults, 30% children and 21% older adults.

Our FY27 plans for CFC build on our FY25 and 26 successes. We recognize the critical role CFC and our provider partners play in advancing food security. This is precisely why the administration proposed increasing the baseline of CFC funding to 69.4 million in FY27, further investing in the network of provider partners and our shared capacity to uplift food security in our communities.

In addition, DSS recently released a challenge-based procurement inviting qualified vendors to design and implement a scalable participant-centered solution likely to be voucher-based or credit-based to enhance the City's emergency food assistance system. Through this pilot and augmenting the work of the Community Food Connection funded pantries and community kitchens, DSS seeks to expand food access, increase participant choice and reduce some operational inefficiencies within the emergency food network. In the initial phase of the pilot, the agency will enroll 400 to 600 households. DSS expects to make a contract award shortly and envisions that the pilot will start in FY27. We want to be sure to meet the challenges of affordability shocks around energy and their knock-on consequences, including consequences for inflation estimates. As always, we will continue to closely monitor the situation our providers face and work with the Mayor's Office of Management and Budget.

Introduction 790 sponsored by CM Joseph would require DOH and the Office of Emergency Management OEM to annually report on warming centers including an assessment of the geographic availability of warming centers and recommendations on the distribution and utilization of warming centers across the City. We support transparency and data-informed public policymaking. We would want to have further conversations with the sponsor and the Council about what the agency or team of agencies is best placed to produce the most effective report. The provision of different kinds of warming centers is a function that cuts across multiple agencies and partners. We would want to be sure the legislation takes due consideration of that fact in crafting the reporting requirement.

The preconsidered introduction, we understand, is focused on combating SNAP electronic benefit transfer card skimming, creating an office within DSS to focus on proactive measures to prevent SNAP EBT skimming, and requiring annual reporting on SNAP EBT skimming in New York City. We wholeheartedly agree that SNAP EBT skimming is a heinous crime, literally stealing food from the most vulnerable in our communities. It is important that SNAP clients know that the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance advises EBT card holders to take advantage of EBT card freeze, permitting clients to freeze or unfreeze their card to protect their benefits. Card holders can visit EBTedge.com to learn more.

DSS works with federal, state and local law enforcement to combat skimming through participation in outreach and joint investigations and partnerships. With respect to outreach and raising awareness, DSS has conducted numerous presentations about skimming risks at community centers and senior centers in collaboration with the district attorney's offices, the Department for the Aging and the Department of Investigation. With respect to joint investigations and partnerships with law enforcement to combat skimming, DSS makes appropriate referrals to law enforcement and has supported skimming investigations. For instance, DSS supported Operation Flagship where the US Secret Service, NYPD, US Department of Agriculture, the Kings County District Attorney Office and DOI seized and removed more than 100 skimming devices.

At the direction of the federal government, the authority for restoring skimmed benefits expired on February 21st, 2024, and the US Department of Agriculture directed our state oversight body OTDA that states must cease accepting applications for the replacement of stolen benefits. Households are still able to submit applications for the replacement of stolen cash assistance benefits. The federal direction to cease collecting applications to replace stolen SNAP benefits relates to the preconsidered introduction in that HRA does not have the facility to act here. State authorities may have the facility to monitor and act as they are responsible for issuing replacement EBT cards. This is a transaction that can happen independent of DSS HRA and without DSS HRA facilitating.

We are deeply appreciative to see Governor Hochul's New York State budget proposed funding for the long-term solution to these crimes against our clients, putting the chip technology used in debit and credit cards into EBT cards, EMV chips. We strongly urge the state authorities to implement that solution as quickly as practicable. New York State has authority over the cards and the transition to more secure technology to the use of chips to stop EBT card skimming. We would like further discussion with the Council about this preconsidered introduction and the limits federal and state authorities' mandates have created in this area. Given the various concerns, we do not believe it is feasible to proceed with this legislation at this time.

Advancing food security is a critical goal and as with almost any goal worth achieving, we face significant hurdles. Affordability challenges, current energy shocks reverberating through the economy to our food system, and longstanding challenges like ensuring that our neighbors who may

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not be as literate with technology or who may speak another language connect with the culturally competent outreach that meets them where they are. We remain committed to overcoming these hurdles and with the help of our hardworking staff, our outstanding partners across government and the array of community organizations, institutions and advocates who are dedicated to making food security for every New Yorker a reality. Thank you, Chair Hudson, members of the Committee on General Welfare, and your colleagues on the Council for your ongoing contributions to this important work. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with you on this issue. We appreciate the opportunity to testify and welcome your questions. Thank you.

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Thank you so much. I would like to also note for the record that we have been joined by council members and I am going to turn it over to council member to deliver remarks about her bill.

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Thank you, Chair. I want to thank everyone for coming today and I am introducing the bill to establish a SNAP fraud officer and the fraud awareness program. As many of you know, SNAP benefits are stolen at an alarming rate. Stolen benefits cost the family the ability to feed themselves and cost the government millions of dollars. According to state report data collected by USDA in the first quarter of FY 2025, New York State approved more than 25,000 stolen benefit claims out of 33,000 received. New York State determined more than 61,000 fraudulent transactions within those claims. At the rate of 25,000 approved claims equals 9.4 million in stolen SNAP benefits in a single fiscal quarter. Many of those who are vulnerable to this theft are seniors and immigrants who struggle to use the internet to find nearby food pantries or use EBT apps. I actually had a lot of seniors sitting in my office. We just teach them how to use the app. And those seniors do not speak English at all. Very hard for them to use the app.

This bill will create a role of SNAP anti-fraud officer within the Department of Social Services. The SNAP anti-fraud officer could be required to identify locations with the highest instances of fraud. Determine proactive measures to notify SNAP recipients of fraud. Identify procedures to prevent fraud. Coordinate with nonprofits and organizations on fraud cases and provide the annual report on SNAP fraud in New York City. The annual report could include details on the areas where the highest instances of SNAP fraud cases occurred in the prior year. Responses of DSS to address SNAP fraud cases and many best practices and procedures DSS identified to respond to SNAP fraud. I urge my colleagues and also the administration to support this bill to protect vulnerable New Yorkers in this critical circumstance. Thank you.

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Thank you, council member. And before I get into my questions, I do just want to commend you all for the work that you do. It is not easy work and you know, we hold these hearings to make sure we can get as much information out to the public as possible. But I think you know the numbers that you reported in your opening remarks are significant and I think it is important to acknowledge the good work that you all are doing. So, thank you. I do want to ask in your opening remarks you mentioned the pilot program. And I am wondering if you have engaged service providers in designing that pilot.

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Thank you chair for the question. I think as administrator French testified, the city released a challenge-based procurement to solicit qualified vendors to create under the pilot program. We envision because we are currently reviewing the proposals now likely a credit based or voucher system that will serve as a pilot and inform the practices of the emergency food pantry system in New York City. We think as a small pilot augment the fantastic work of the 700 community based food pantries. So as we determine a vendor, yes, we are going to bring in and we will welcome community input. We need to see what the model looks like first.

We do have some eligibility criteria that we will employ that we will want to work with community-based pantries to get their input on. But principally it will be focused on families, families with children, families with seniors. So we can get some insight into what their purchasing practices are if they have discretionary income above and beyond what they might have currently and above and beyond what they are getting from the food pantries. That is an important point. As participants in the pilot, they still have the ability and are more than welcome to go to any of the pantries around New York City. I think that will help inform some of the practices that we want to look at as we continue to involve the food pantry system.

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Thank you. So it sounds like they have not necessarily been engaged yet, but that you plan to engage the service providers throughout the pilot.

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That is right, Chair. Another point to be made too is I think we are all mindful that there are parts of New York City that have less access to nourishing food than others. So we would envision that a component of the pilot would seek to focus on those areas as well in consultation with our community based partners.

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Okay. I mean it sounds like a good and necessary pilot. I would just encourage you all to engage with the service providers at the front end of the pilot. You know, they are the ones that are in the communities and doing the work. I think it is always beneficial to launch a pilot program that has their input at the very beginning to make it the strongest pilot program possible.

Okay. How many providers are currently in the CFC network? I think you mentioned that in the testimony. Chair it is a little over 700 at this point in time because we are bringing in pantries and community kitchens periodically. So the number hovers a little above 700 about 90 of which are community kitchens.

Okay. Thank you. Are CFC providers given a preset food grant allowance per month or per quarter or year? Yes they are chair. Broadly speaking CFC community food connection works with its 700 or so CFC partners on an allocation basis. So working on a fiscal year basis. There are two primary allocations. One is July 1 to December 31st January 1st to June 30th to align with the fiscal year. So we will take what the final adopted budget number is for CFC and essentially split that in half. So for example the base number from the adopted budget in FY26 was 49 million. So we split that into roughly 24 plus million across the two allocations. As well as any additional funding we might receive in the course of the year.

As administrator French noted in his testimony, we are extremely pleased and gratified that the administration in its preliminary budget is seeking to baseline funding for CFC to $69.4 million, which would be an effective tripling of where the baseline has been for a number of years. If CFC providers need more food than they have been allocated, what is the process and time frame for them to get approval to order more food?

Well, we are constantly CFC is constantly interacting with the pantries and generally the first allocation is based on looking at the supply gap to see where dollars could be most effectively targeted in the first allocation. The second allocation, we will look at spending patterns and requests from community based pantries that might request more funding. We will see how they did in the first half. If essentially did you spend all your funds and when did you spend all your funds by is a pretty good barometer as a pantry might be eligible to receive increased funding. So that is something we look at in the second allocation and do as a matter of practice will give more funds to more pantries than they got in the first allocation based on their spending patterns. It is important to note too we work on a fiscal year basis. So it is essential that any funds that we receive are spent and all the pantries of 700 plus take receipt of that food from our contracted vendor by June 30th.

Okay. Sorry, just to clarify that the actual time frame, so once a provider says that they need more food, how long might it be until they are able to get approval and additional food, right? Thank you. We work, as I said, on two six-month allocations. So, for instance, midway through the first allocation as a

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pantry, you might register that you are coming close to spending your allocation. It is important to note too and we will take that into consideration for the second allocation. I do want to note too that for the last couple fiscal years we have above and beyond the adopted figure we have received some additional funding. So, we have been able to do a few supplemental allocations which also would be the point at which if a pantry has registered the need for more funding, we can typically accommodate that at that point.

Okay. Thank you. What is CFC doing to

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connect with and support smaller and newer providers? Thank you for the question. We are always interested in receiving applications from interested pantries from around the city. We have an application online that I think is pretty streamlined and user friendly. An interested pantry or community kitchen would see that they would need to have been established for at least four months, have another primary source of funding. You will need a DOHMH food permit and you also will need to show evidence of a 501c3 tax exempt status. So assuming that those conditions are satisfied and you apply to us, we have a pretty speedy turnaround to review and make a determination.

What is that turnaround? I think

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within a matter of weeks we have to sometimes gather information which will include a site visit to inspect the physical infrastructure of the proposed pantry. But another important part above and beyond the food budget that we have for CFC is the capacity grants program. This is a program that has been in existence for a few years and we are happy that we can make up to $2 million each year available for current CFC members to apply. So for example in the Bronx where there might be an existing food pantry that is seeing growing demand and is consistently spending up its allocation. If in that example, if it could just enlarge its storage space by a factor of 50%. It could intake more food and more effectively serve the community in conjunction with its other funding sources. So in the capacity grant program through CFC, that pantry could make an application and submit quotes from contractors to say if I could get $50,000 we could really further build out our storage. Those are the kind of applications we welcome and assuming the paperwork is in order generally approve.

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Okay, great. Thank you. Then you sort of answered my next question in that. So I appreciate that. There are currently over 500 listed CFC locations. However, many of these are concentrated in certain boroughs and zip codes. How does DSS ensure that CFC locations are funded in areas with the highest need? Thank you for the question. So as part of the allocation model there are a number of components. So a big driver of the allocation methodology is the supply gap which we look at neighborhood by neighborhood by using what is called the NTA the neighborhood tabulation area which is a sort of hyper local mapping of areas across New York City. So the emergency supply gap is essentially the difference between emergency food need in an area and what the calculated emergency food supply going into that area which then creates a ranking of NTAs that have the biggest need and that is a big influencer along with some other elements such as the number of SNAP recipients in an area that will help the agency prioritize the funds it has each year from the

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adopted budget in conjunction with the CFC team's institutional knowledge of the program and their capacity. That is what gets us to the first allocation of each fiscal year.

And then how does DSS incentivize or otherwise support CFC providers in locations where there may be a mismatch between food access and need? We again have the application online. It is an open application. We strongly encourage any interested pantry to apply. Capacity grants, as I mentioned a moment ago, is another big driver. It is a quiet program, but a highly effective program that has helped any number of awardees basically grow their program over time. I think that is one of the most effective ways of helping address underserved areas.

But that sounds like folks would have to know to go to the website and then apply. So I am wondering if there is any work that goes sort of above and beyond in matching some providers to areas with greater need where there is... Sure. Absolutely. I mean, as part of the ongoing dialogue with community leaders and our partners at Food Bank, City Harvest and United Way these are the conversations we are having and of course the conversations that we are having with city council where individual members are flagging areas that they think would benefit from pantries. Then over the last year, we have actually been helpful, I think, in helping some programs that some existing programs grow to meet the needs that the individual city council members have identified.

Okay. And how many agencies requested

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more food in fiscal year 26? Well, that is a number that I do not have. I can get to you, but that contemplates the allocation process where we are looking across the spectrum to see how you did with spending and can you take on more funds in the next allocation cycle.

Okay. So, we will wait on those numbers,

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but were you able to fulfill all of those requests? So, of the folks who requested more food, were you able to give them all? I think and again we can follow up with that in the word but I think by and large the answer would be yes. We need as part of a request to not only look what your spending pattern is but also because we do site visits to determine based on their institutional experience if we were to increase your allocation by a quarter 50%. Do you have the capacity of the storage to intake that food? Because it is essential. I mean, not surprisingly, food is moving quickly out of the pantries to the people coming to the pantries, but we do not want particularly fresh produce to linger very long. So, that is part of the decision-making, but we will follow up with you.

Okay. Thank you. And then the CFC

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fiscal 2025 impact report noted that non CFC providers supply more fresh produce and meat when compared to CFC. Non CFC providers make up 19% more of the fresh produce supply and 4% more of the meat supply when compared to CFC. What is the current vendor that CFC works with? We use a contracted vendor it is called H Shrier and they have over I think 150 items many of which are fresh produce that are available to pantries to order along with dry goods and meat and poultry. So we think that they are effectively meeting the need, but we also in funding food pantries, we obviously are aware that each pantry is going to have an understanding of the local needs of its community and that is going to be reflected in what is ordered.

Thank you. Can you walk us through how CFC procures their food supply through this vendor and how the program

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determines which food items to make available to providers? Sure. Thank you for the question. So H Shrier essentially sources its food from around the United States. The majority of items are sourced within the United States which I think is an important point because they have been able by and large despite all the inflationary pressures and more recent events have by and large been able to keep prices in line and sometimes if a price for a specific item let us say an apple a specific kind of apple is getting too high they are able then to look at other apples that might have more favorable prices and swap them in. So they literally source all over the United States. For example, rice is the number one most requested item by pantries. Most of that comes from Arkansas. So of the 150 or so items, as I said, about 75% are sourced from within the United States and about 35% come from...

Sorry, what was the percentage sourced by the United States? It is a little over 75%. Okay. And the remainder about 35 or so items, a little less than a quarter is from outside the United States.

Thank you. And what are the fresh produce and meat options provided to CFC providers? And what is the percentage of halal and kosher options? The majority of items including chicken we have halal and kosher options but it is important point to note too that many of the items are compliant so which would include rice, applesauce, spinach, black beans there is a lot of work that takes place to be obviously to have the all CFC providers be reflective of the needs of their community. I am sorry, I may have missed part of your question.

What is the percentage of halal and kosher options? But you are saying basically almost all or... Setting aside fresh produce yes, the majority are kosher or halal acceptable.

Okay, thank you. The restaurant meals program allows some SNAP households to purchase prepared meals at participating restaurants. Clients can use their EBT card to make purchases. Do you know how many New Yorkers are enrolled in the restaurant meals program? I do not have those specifics, so we will get back to you on usage of that.

Okay. And how is information about the restaurant meals program, including eligibility and how to apply, disseminated? Much of this program I think is coordinated with the office of temporary and disability assistance who identify qualifying restaurants for this. So we can get additional information from them and share with you as well. We make it known that there is the program but they do generate a lot of the so we will get back I will get back to you with specifics on that.

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Okay. So my understanding is that a lot of the qualified restaurants are fast food restaurants and so you are saying that is all determined at the state level. Correct. Yes. I will get back to you with very specifics as to how those determinations are made, but I know that is a concern that has been raised before as well.

Okay, great. Thank you. All right. I am going to turn it over to some of my colleagues to ask questions. And we have also been joined by CM Brewer. So, we will start with council member, followed by Morano.

Thank you and good morning. I just have a follow-up question on your testimony regarding the nullification for the new federally imposed able body adults dependent rules. You testified that you are ensuring that

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people remain connected to this critical benefit and that it means that direct client communication including texts, emails and push notifications. What languages are all three done in? Those would be done let me confirm but I believe they are being done in the local languages. I will confirm that we are just starting those right so that has just begun. So I will confirm with you exactly. I do not want to misspeak but I believe we are communicating in the local languages.

Great. Thank you. Because you know in many communities it is important to communicate in the different languages. So definitely if you could get back to us about that that would be great.

And then about the SNAP benefit

(00:55:57)

legislation. So EBT skimming has been an issue that has been affecting all communities. I really do applaud the effort to work with the you know different local authorities especially DOI district attorneys because I think I do get a lot of questions about why is it not stopping you know they know like there is only so much the government can do on this

(00:56:19)

end but why is this continue to happen why are people getting away with this so I think I get a lot of those questions so I think it is important to really like you know bring on home that we are trying to do something from the top end. But moreover to the legislation you said like there are some various concerns. Is there can you go more into that and I am sorry I know it is

(00:56:41)

but this is such a huge issue in my community and also you know in terms of getting data since DSS does not have the ability to you know deal with this issue directly. Is it important to gather data gather information about EBT skimming?

(00:56:55)

Sure. So yes, first off, as much information we can get around skimming and how people can protect themselves is very important. It is why we are encouraging also the state to fast track the implementation of the EBT chip cards because that is the securest way to ensure someone's benefits do not get stolen. I think our concerns with the bill are there are limitations placed on us in regards to what information we can and cannot access around SNAP in particular. When talking about SNAP almost everything around data needs to be approved by the USDA. So they were the ones who also instructed us that we were no longer able to actually even accept SNAP skimming applications anymore. So at this point there is not an incoming system and a tracking system to be able to do that. I think one of the limiting concerns as well is because we are not able to reimburse these benefits anymore. Any information we do get would actually not be representative of probably what the actual issue is in the community or where there might actually be pockets of real concern. And so that is why we want to sort of discuss the legislation a bit more with the council around collectively what might be an approach we might be able to take with the state as well who may have a bit more ability to access some of that through like people requesting replacement cards because they are saying someone stole my benefits and I want a new card which is not something the city would have access to.

So I ask one follow up question. At one point did the USDA

(00:58:36)

share that information?

(00:58:38)

I mean at one point we were allowed to freely... at one point people could apply directly to us during the skimming period that we had which was very successful. The council member mentioned some data from 2025. But I would say during the whole period where we were allowed to replace both SNAP and cash skimmed benefits, we replaced over $50 million to people and the majority of that about 43.7 million were SNAP benefits because that is where benefits were being stolen the most. I do want to just for anybody who is watching note that if you do get your cash assistance benefits skimmed, you can still get those replaced. So please apply to us for those. But effectively the federal government has sort of turned off the sort of inflow of information to us for us to be able to better understand what is still going on in the community.

(00:59:29)

Understood. Thank you. Yeah.

(00:59:31)

Thank you, CM. CM Morano.

(00:59:33)

Thank you. And thank you, chair, for this specific oversight topic. I have really come to learn since serving in the council that food insecurity is really something that affects every neighborhood, every district in the city, including mine. Which I did not have a full appreciation of prior to getting elected. And thank you for your testimony today, Mr. French. You have said EBT skimming is a heinous crime and you support moving to chip cards, but then you say creating a SNAP anti-fraud officer is not feasible. So, what is the city's solution right now for someone who gets their benefits stolen tomorrow?

(01:00:19)

So I will say I also want to clarify we have a very robust office of accountability at the department of social services which actually does a lot of our fraud investigation work. So I would say we do have an infrastructure where when we are provided information we can respond to it and we do report that information to the authorities such as DOI, district attorneys or other folks. So I think that is part of why we also want to have a further discussion about the bill as I think our structure does speak to sort of the request for a specific position. But if the city does not control the cards and the federal government stop replacing stolen benefits. Who exactly is responsible when a low-income family loses their food money? Who do they call that can actually fix it? Well, at this point, unfortunately, no one can fix that and replace those benefits. In regards to if someone's SNAP benefits are stolen, if their cash assistance benefits are stolen, the state and us can replace those. But nobody has any legal authority at this point to replace SNAP benefits. And so there are also I think some challenges around creating funds or such that would replace benefits in that way that could actually impact someone's ongoing SNAP because it would in theory be seen as additional income.

So, there are some real challenges around what we are able to do with SNAP right now because the federal government has cut off what I think everyone here agrees should be an ongoing process, especially until chip cards are put into place, which is a much more secure way to ensure people's benefits do not get stolen. You mentioned dozens of trainings and outreach events, but how many people who lost benefits to fraud actually had their money restored? Is not that the real metric? So there were I can say that in for the totality of the period of time where we could replace benefits there were 131,810 total claims that we verified and paid which equaled about the $50 million that I had talked about. Additionally individuals were only able to submit a claim once every federal fiscal year. So that is not going to reflect someone who potentially had their benefits skimmed more than once, which unfortunately we had heard about. But based upon all of the applications we had, that is what we have. The need is probably much... the need was likely higher than that in the community given some of the limitations that were placed upon us and then definitely recently our inability to replace anything.

(01:02:58)

Thanks very much.

(01:02:59)

Thank you, CM. And I do want to just sort of reiterate that it is the federal government that has placed us in the circumstance that we are in where vulnerable families who are not able to receive their public assistance are not able to then recoup what has been stolen from them. And that is because of decisions that have been made by those who are in power. CM Brewer,

(01:03:26)

thank you very much for your great testimony. Many of these pantries, I guess, at least Westside Campaign Against Hunger, also have the ability to help people get benefits when they are there at the pantry. How many do that? And is it possible to have more do that? In other words, you are looking at the whole person, the whole family, and trying to get them situated. So, how many and is that something that should be expanded? I will get back to you on the number because I do not have that on me, but I know that there are pantries that also assist people as well as we have other organizations that also help assist people in the community. And so I will get back to you with the specifics on that and also what we might be looking at to see how we can expand it. I know we try to do as much as we can. Again, there are times limitations put on us by the federal government in regards to how much we are or not able to do in the community, but we will get back to you with detailed specifics. The federal government is not happy with us having the ability while you are there for a pantry to also help you get on SNAP to help you get health services and all the other benefits that you are entitled to. I do not want to say... How bad can it get? I will put that one... I do not want to misspeak on that.

So we will get back to you with the detailed specifics because I know the health department for their credit is trying to as you go to a health center help with that again getting all benefits so that you are there

(01:05:01)

etc. All right, next question is urban agriculture. I know it is a small number. We have a wonderful office here in the city. So, is that something that you also rely on? In other words, do you find ways to connect some of the pantries to urban agriculture? Well, urban agriculture are farms in New York City, in case you did not know what I am talking about. Yeah, the like rooftop farms. Yeah, but I am just saying we are trying everything at this point. Yeah. We will look into that further. It is not something we have current active. There is an office here in case you did not know in the city. All right. Next is the on the issue of getting SNAP, you also if you get cut off, you get cut off from broadband at the same time. If you cut off SNAP, you also lose your broadband free account. Is that something that I mean then you really you are doubly not benefiting? Is that something that you are aware of? Is that something that we can also working with OTI get them back on broadband even though they do not have SNAP or is that not even in the discussion?

(01:05:57)

That is something we are looking into. Folks brought that to me recently as well some concerns

(01:06:03)

around what might be happening... we might be able to... and then in terms of the issue of you get cut off sometimes because you are not volunteering you are not in school you do not have a job all those reasons and I know you are doing outreach but specifically what are we doing for here is a volunteer job here is a... I mean the whole thing is so ridiculous but you have to work at it so how do you involve other agencies SBS blah blah blah. How are you going about trying to get those ridiculous assignments met? Certainly. So, I am very happy to say that I believe this has been an all of city response. Whether it has been elected officials and the council, our sister agencies, SBS, the mayor's office of talent, as well as hundreds of community-based organizations have stepped forward. So, for individuals who are not sort of handling this on their own, and some people are just taking care of this on their own, they are working enough for other things. But for individuals who need assistance, we connect them to our PACE providers who are our career services, workforce development providers who have been serving individuals on public assistants who have work requirements. And they have a vast array of partnerships with organizations that can connect people to someone who wants to volunteer do community service or if they are like actually I would like to explore education or other workforce development.

We also created a separate pathway for CBOs to just step forward directly to HRA to register basically to say that they want to provide community service volunteer activities. Over a hundred CBOs have stepped forward so far. And it is an open process. So someone can visit our website and fill out a partnership form that we have there. And we will continue to add people and connect people to those organizations and let them know who in their neighborhood may be doing that. We also are trying to find partner with organizations that we know where we are sharing clients that a SNAP client is probably also attending some of your programming or receiving services from an organization and you are probably more likely to comply with at a place that you already are engaged with and that you trust. So we are trying to make that as broad as possible. March was the first month of compliance. So I can say that... March to June June is the end of the grace period, right? Yeah. Well, the first month where someone's benefits may be impacted if they do not comply would be June because they would have not complied for March, April, and May. And you are allowed three months of non-compliance before we unfortunately would have to take an action against your SNAP case, either reducing it if it is a multi-person case or closing it if you are a single adult. So we just finished March. We are still finalizing the data to understand how many people complied and how many people did not.

And we are going to really target our outreach efforts on those who we know did not comply to further try to engage and make sure that they understand the impact of this and what they need to do and how we can connect them to help to do it. Okay. And then I know my time is up the chip. What is the timing on that? I know that you mentioned it. I listened on my cell phone so I know what you said. That is really under the purview of OTDA. I am going to guess often times large. Should we be pushing for that as a city council? I mean any support is welcome. I think we just we need the we need I think all parties together to come together and release a budget hopefully soon that includes the funding to do that. But projects like that can usually take maybe 12 months or a little bit more because it is a large-scale technological shift that also is going to have to like they are going to have to mail people replacement cards. So, there is stuff that you are going to want to make sure you have done enough outreach to make sure you have like everyone's appropriate address and other types of things that I am sure we will do in collaboration.

(01:10:05)

Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, CM. I would

(01:10:07)

like to acknowledge that we have been joined by CM and we will go to CM for questions.

(01:10:13)

Thank you chair and I just see on the statement you guys said accountability officer. Can you tell me more information about accountability officer? Sure. So it is actually an accountability office. So it is very it is a large number of individuals with specific units that look at fraud as sort of fraud being reported to us. Sometimes it is about individuals defrauding a benefits program, but we also have done active work around the skimming and the SNAP and cash assistance benefits stealing where our accountability office actually are the ones who set up the process. They created sort of the online submission form and created an relatively automated process so that we could process that large number of 131,000 requests and then reimburse people with their funds. So we are happy to set up a separate time to talk with you about the bill and that office so that you can understand all that it does and how I think it supports much of what is in the bill but also acknowledges somewhat the limitations of the lack of data insight that we currently have. So if it is accountability office already doing the work. So for the fraud officer basically should just be part of the accountability office. Right.

(01:11:47)

Well I believe there are probably positions in that that meet the description as you are saying for the SNAP fraud officer who looks at maybe a larger number of benefits. So I am not sure we think it has to be a SNAP only position given what we are looking at around across benefits of trying to... How many of you guys actually look at the SNAP fraud like the case individual case what happening? I did personally. I see a lot of in my office same location same store in my district is in southern Brooklyn always has a Bronx store bodega store in Bronx always scamming there. It is months there. We reported multiple times and no one did anything and we say this is a state issue. This is a federal issue. Is that right for our city to say hey this is not my issue?

Well, I would say we never say it is not our issue. We do not necessarily have the legal authority to take action on certain things. But I will say our accountability office when stuff is reported to us or we notice trends as they were looking at the different submissions we were getting, we have reported where we potentially think there may be clusters or there are certain stores that repeatedly we keep seeing those were reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities who would be the ones to do those investigations. And then we have partnered with them on things that we have highlighted to them. So it is something we still track if it is reported to us but just we do not have the same level of information coming in that we used to but we always make sure that we pass the information on to the appropriate legal authority who could take next steps and hopefully bring justice for people.

You said that you guys track how much the successful rate how many case you actually identify and are able to resolve. Do you have that data? So yes, I can say we can talk about how many we were able to verify that were submitted to us. So again, it is not the full scope necessarily, but there were 131,000 claims submitted to us that we were able to pay on. We had more claims than that where we were not able to verify for a variety of reasons or someone may have been submitting a second claim within the same fiscal year, federal fiscal year which we were not able to reimburse at that time due to federal limitations.

I mean how much you actually caught not how much you paid how much you actually caught the case say this is a fraud this is a store have the scam there did you have a officer go there to take the machine down? Right so again we do not have the authority to do that type of thing but we work in partnership with the other authorities. I had mentioned in our testimony that we were part of an operation that was across multiple legal authorities that did seize 100 skimmers right in the community. So when folks report stuff to us right we are able to look into it and follow up but we do not have the ability really to look we do not have the ability to look at just SNAP purchases and identify what we believe would or would not be fraud. We really need someone to report into us which unfortunately the federal government has said we are not able to do moving forward right now.

(01:15:18)

Okay. Thank you. And I

(01:15:22)

just want to clarify the number you gave 131,810 was that from this current fiscal year or last fiscal year? This was in... sorry... that is in total from the very beginning of when we were able to reimburse claims. So it is in theory an ongoing number. Claim reimbursement began in 2023.

Okay. Thank you. And you might have addressed this a little bit but what kind of outreach does HRA undertake related to EBT card skimming? So we have done a variety of things right we have definitely tried to highlight in a variety of different modes whether it is social media direct communications training of CBOs in particular the ability to freeze your card which right now is the one way for individuals to try to protect themselves. Though it is not a foolproof way to protect themselves. So that is what we have tried to do as well as putting out materials and information on what to look for around skimming and what a skimming device might look like. But again right that is something that I think in the moment when someone is purchasing something right these are very sophisticated operations right it is not sort of individuals just working on their own what we have found so they are sophisticated networks so again why we are pushing for the chip cards to be implemented as soon as possible.

Understood and you all like you said do not have the ability or authority to do criminal investigations or prosecutions or anything like that. And you know, I just want to state for the record that I do think this bill has the potential to make the SNAP program even more vulnerable to cuts here in New York City. And then I want to acknowledge that we have been joined by CM Stevens and then get into some questions about the changes to or changes under HR1.

So, does DSS know how many New Yorkers have lost access to SNAP since the changes to work requirements under HR1 took effect? And do you expect this number to increase in the coming months? Sure. Thank you. So as of today, no one should have no one will have lost their SNAP benefits due to the new work requirements. As March was the first month of compliance. But June if someone does not comply in March, April and May would be the first month where we would see benefit reduction or closure due to non-compliance with the work requirements. Now, I cannot say that individuals have not potentially self-selected themselves out of SNAP due to fear of these changes, right? Or lack of information or lack of information, right? Which we definitely try to make sure that there is a lot out there, but to date right now, there are approximately 122,000 SNAP recipients who are identified as ABODs. So, that is 122,000 of the total 1.7 million that number will continue to evolve based on both new applicants coming to SNAP who are approved and identified as ABOD as well as the way ABOD has been rolled out for existing SNAP clients.

We did not just flip people on like November 1st when the new eligibility went into place. We cannot actually find someone ABOD eligible until we do an assessment. So we are assessing people as they recertify and that will go through the end of October basically for the current existing SNAP population when the eligibility criteria changed on November 1st. So it is fluid but I think we are focused very much so especially in the front end on making sure that anybody who is eligible for an exemption receives an exemption so they just get taken off the list. And so there is ongoing work doing there, but happy to keep you updated over the months as we sort of see what happens with that total number.

(01:19:43)

Okay, that sounds good. And thank you. HR1 increases the able-bodied adults without dependents or ABOD work requirement age from 54 to 64. How is HRA specifically supporting older adults in regard to meeting the new work requirements?

(01:19:58)

Certainly. So, we have been doing a lot of outreach through our community-based organization network. I know many of the organizations that have stepped forward to be organizations that provide community service and volunteer opportunities provide robust older adult programming. And that is one of the reasons why they have stepped forward. And one of the ways we also wanted to open up this opportunity because I know I worked in aging prior to coming to the city government and every older adult center relies on volunteering. So again, if we can provide the opportunity for someone to do their hours in a place where they also go and get a meal or attend a class, we would like to encourage that as much as possible as well as working with our colleagues at the office of aging to make sure that we can provide informational seminars and trainings to organizations that serve that population so that they know exactly what is happening and how they can support individuals.

Thank you. The changes to SNAP policies towards ABODs affect approximately 123,000 New Yorkers or you said 122,000... between 122 and 123,000 according to data provided to the city by HRA. How many people out of that number have been reached out to by the agency? So we have been reaching out to everybody who is an ABOD. So for individuals that were ABODs prior to November 1st, we had a series of communications to those individuals to tell them what was happening as well as to connect individuals who needed it to appointments at our PACE providers and then ongoing as someone is identified as an ABOD, there is a series of notices that will go out, individuals can receive those electronically through their access HRA account or in the mail or both. And then we are continuing to do follow-up communications, especially with individuals we note do not seem to have complied to consistently remind them in both mail and electronic communications about the requirements and what that means for them and how they can get help.

(01:22:15)

Thank you. And HR1 shifts a significant amount of SNAP costs onto individual states. States with a higher error rate are expected to have a higher cost burden. According to the PMMR, the SNAP error rate in FY23 was 14.46% and in FY24 was 16.63%. The administration target is a 6% error rate for this year. What steps are you taking to reach this target error rate?

(01:22:44)

Certainly. So we are taking a variety of steps to be able to reduce the error rate. We are focusing on where we know many of our worker based errors may come from and working on ways to provide tools to individuals and to our workers to help them in particular around earned and unearned income to do that. But it is important to note that the error rate comprises multiple different factors. Some of it is worker-caused error. Some of it is client-caused error where the client is supposed to report to us a change in income and they fail to do so which is not something we are able to catch at all times. And then there are some errors that are due to inadvertent technical issues and mailer issues that actually can sort of have stay with you for a long time because the way the error rate is compiled is it is not looking at like a recent action to show a representation of like this is currently what is happening in the program.

It looks at the last action and so depending on an individual case that last action could be six months ago, could have been a year ago, for some cases it could have been a couple of years ago because certain cases do not have to like recertify every two years. So there is a variety of factors but where we can control and take efforts we have enhanced our training for staff. We have enhanced our technology by including sort of more checks and balances that request workers look at one thing again before they move forward. And then there is a tool we are developing as well that will utilize AI to just cross reference the information we have received from an individual and the information that has been entered into the system to flag any discrepancies before a worker proceeded. So it does not replace a worker job. It is just a tool to help flag you should go look at this one piece again because maybe their paycheck is every two weeks but inadvertently it got entered that it was every week. That would be a wrong calculation which we would want to catch before we transmitted a budget to avoid a payment error.

(01:25:03)

Yes imminent. It is imminent. It is imminently coming. We are about to start piloting it.

(01:25:12)

Okay. But in our... you are using AI though already in other ways. We are not. I know people thought we were using AI in other ways at that point. This will be the first thing we are using

(01:25:25)

that utilizes AI but again it does not do any it does not do a worker job. It does not replace a worker taking action. This AI will basically cross reference submitted materials and data matches versus what was manually entered into the budget fields in the system. And it is a step that will happen right

(01:25:50)

before someone transmits the budget. And it will basically flag, hey, here are two places where the numbers appear off. You should go and double check them first so that we can resolve this in

(01:26:02)

case an error has been made. Understood. But so has the staff been trained on this AI tool already? No, they but everyone will be trained before they utilize it. The pilot is expected to happen at the end of April. Okay. I am asking because at our preliminary budget hearing, we had testimony from some of the union employees who were speaking specifically

(01:26:27)

about the use of AI. Yes. So, I am just trying to... I think that was a misunderstanding in

(01:26:33)

regards to what was and was not happening. There have been we have included certain staff in the development of this tool. So, we have

(01:26:41)

not done this on our own. We have utilized staff who are frontline staff as well as supervisor staff and others to develop the tool but the

(01:26:49)

development of the tool was not being we were not using the tool on any active cases at that point. The tool was developed. That is why I was asking if folks have

(01:26:58)

been involved in the training because then that is how perhaps a misunderstanding they have been involved come about... development and then everyone will be

(01:27:07)

trained before anyone uses the tool in like real time on an actual live case that has come forward. Okay. I am just trying to sort their testimony with your testimony and sort of figure out... what

(01:27:23)

I think it was a misunderstanding of what was what was happening at that moment. But we have not rolled out active use of AI in our programs yet. We have been developing it and we will be starting a pilot in the next two weeks.

(01:27:42)

Okay. Well, perhaps I will do a hearing specifically on the integration of AI then when it is when it is up and running in collaboration with our committee on technology. Okay. HR1

(01:27:55)

completely eliminates funding for the SNAPED program which provides free nutrition education workshops and cooking classes to SNAP recipients. How will DSS ensure that SNAP recipients are still able to receive nutrition education and other benefits that SNAPED provides? So the SNAPED funds were actually not utilized at HRA. They were utilized at I believe it was DOHMH were the ones who receive those funds and manage those funds. Okay. Thank you.

(01:28:26)

The city reported that HRA has held training sessions with its community partners and trained over 400 people on the new SNAP policy changes. How is DSS communicating the SNAP cuts and new work requirements for current recipients? But I think you have sort of addressed that. So, I am going to

(01:28:46)

move into food in shelters. What type of food items are available in drop-in centers and who is the supplier?

(01:29:02)

So, drop in centers. Sorry, I am hoarse. Drop in centers receive food through the regular vendor process through DHS and it is food that is in compliance with the nutrition standards. Okay. Is there a specific supplier?

(01:29:20)

I believe that they do a bidding process

(01:29:22)

to select the vendor for the food. We can look into which vendors have been selected. Okay. Maybe your colleague has information. Okay. Yeah, she is confirming that they have different vendors. Okay.

(01:29:36)

So, it would be similar to DHS shelters who also contract out for food provision. Similarly, the drop-in centers would do the same thing where they have to do a competitively bid process. Okay. And do all drop in centers

(01:29:53)

provide food? Yes, this a requirement.

(01:29:57)

Okay. And you just mentioned that food distributed at drop in centers is part of the provider contracts. Is that is that it is a separate contract though or is it directly

(01:30:09)

administered through DHS? So they have the right to contract out for food that is then delivered and distributed. Who is they? The drop in centers.

(01:30:20)

Yes, the drop in center. That is the provider. Okay. The provider. It would be within the overall provider budget.

(01:30:27)

Okay. Thank you. And what was the actual

(01:30:29)

spending on food and drop in centers in fiscal 2025?

(01:30:33)

We do not have those numbers, but we can get them to you. Okay. In addition to that, I would love to know what it is so far in fiscal 26 and then what is the budget for fiscal 27?

(01:30:45)

Got it. Thank you.

(01:30:48)

Does DHS conduct benefits screening and enrollment at drop-in centers?

(01:30:53)

Yes, that is part of the requirements. And can you walk us through how this works and how DHS connects these clients to benefits?

(01:31:02)

So, every client who enters the drop-in center is engaged in an application where we assess what current benefits they have and what benefits they would be eligible for. And then do you help them to enroll or are you just notifying them? They no they go through the entire process of doing the application with them helping them to get the documents that are necessary and submitting the documents to respective offices.

(01:31:28)

Okay, great. And what do outreach efforts look like for individuals who are street homeless? How does DSS... sorry... no it is okay. How does DSS let people know what food options are available to them such as where to find pantries and soup kitchens or how to apply for SNAP

(01:31:43)

benefits? So every contracted outreach provider is responsible for ensuring that they are offering the ability for clients to start the application for SNAP benefits from the streets which includes helping them to get the necessary identification. Also they are provided with a list of pantries and food centers within the area as well as the local soup kitchens in the respective areas.

(01:32:14)

Sorry. The person who is street homeless is provided with a list of those food pantries. Yes. And they can be escorted to these pantries as well by the outreach provider. Okay. And at the February 25th, 2025 committee on economic development hearing on food quality in New York City shelters, DHS testified that there are three methods by which shelters procure foods. DHS operated shelter direct service contracts with food providers, providers subcontracting with a food vendor or providers preparing their own food on site. Do you know in fiscal year 25 how many quality control inspections have resulted in corrective action plans?

(01:33:02)

The question was for 26. So in April of 2025, we initiated the food vendor quality improvement policy and because it was the first... Sorry, can you speak up a little bit? Because it was the first year of the policy, we focused on the process, the testing, revising the policy based on our lessons learned and conducting DHS meal quality tests. So providers should check and DHS will do meal quality tests. The shelter providers are responsible for initiating the increased monitoring if something is not acceptable. DHS has yet to receive reports of increased monitoring from providers. But in fiscal year 2025,

(01:33:51)

I believe there was one in 2026 fiscal year, there was one vendor that... there is one in fiscal year 2025 or

(01:33:59)

one so far in fiscal 26. One from 2025.

(01:34:03)

Okay. And do you know how many so far in fiscal year 26? One.

(01:34:09)

Is it the same one? No,

(01:34:10)

different one. Okay.

(01:34:13)

And so the one from fiscal 25 has a corrective action plan was that fulfilled? Yes. The vendor showed improvement in services continued. Okay, great. And how many of the corrective action plans were directed at DHS food providers, providers, subcontractors, and providers preparing food on site? So, do you know if that one was a DHS food provider, a subcontractor, or a provider that was preparing food on site? It was a subcontractor in 2025. So it is subcontract. Most of our shelters have a sub provider contracted and they subcontract for food. So in 25 and 26 it was a subcontract from the primary contract.

(01:34:57)

Okay. So for each of those in 25 and 26. Okay. And are all vendors able to provide halal and kosher certified food? That is part of the requirement when you are entering into a subcontract. They have to be able to provide these meals.

(01:35:11)

Okay, great. And what does the certification process look like? How does DHS verify those certifications? The certification for halal and kosher. So DHS is working with the mayor's office of food policy. DHS is working with the mayor's office of food policy who is releasing guidance to clarify the halal and kosher certification requirements and ensure all contractors and subcontractors are compliant with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets halal and kosher registration programs. Okay. And what is the difference between nutrition requirements for single adult shelters and family shelters which also feed children? So the difference for overall they follow the same food standards and they have to report on the same requirements. So they would have to all have calorie needs in July of 2026 the calorie will increase for the adults in shelters. The minimum will be 2200. So that will go into effect in July. Okay. Can you just talk a little bit about how the nutrition requirements for children in shelters compared to the nutrition requirements for DOE school meals? The same.

(01:36:38)

Is there any difference? No, because they all follow the New York City food standards. Okay. So, I want to know I know that the written food standards are what we should be following. We ask our vendors and providers to provide age appropriate meals and we use the ages the oldest age category in the food standards which is age 9 to 13 for the which you said sorry age 13

(01:37:04)

9 to 13 the age range in the food standards. So they broke down the calories. So if you have a toddler in a shelter so they should have age appropriate meals for baby food and transitional food. And if you have a toddler in the shelter, they would be able to eat the older child's meal, assuming they eat less of it. Like children just monitor their own hunger cues.

(01:37:25)

Okay. And what was the calorie requirement for adults? Or what is the current calorie requirement before it takes effect in July for 2,000 plus or minus 10%. So, it is a range of 1,800 to 2200. Sorry, 18... 1,800 calories to 2200 calories is the... Oh, okay.

(01:37:55)

current range. So, about 2,000. Okay. We have heard I mean you know this is obviously just anecdotal but we have heard from a lot of shelter residents and you know service providers and you know even teachers who you know have serious concerns and I will say I do too about the types of food that children specifically are receiving or have access to in the shelter system. So, I understand that on paper they are supposed to provide a certain type of meal and hit certain calories and all of that, but I think the reality is that the food is not particularly adequate, I would say. So, essentially, children can eat the adult meal and we want our children to expand their pallets and be exposed to new food. So having an adult meal you would as any family would eat at the table the same meal but we do understand that children sometimes have preferences and then if a children does not want to eat a meal then they are not eating a meal right so our first approach was make sure that we had different options like other agencies that are feeding children but expanding different flavor profiles.

Now, we have made an active approach to tell all our vendors to increase those child favorite entrees on your menu because if it is just a less stressful meal process, that is what we are looking for.

(01:39:13)

Yeah, I appreciate that because I think the you know, while I recognize that the requirements are the same for food in shelters as they are for food in schools, I think the quality of the meals perhaps might differ between food provided in shelters and food provided in schools. I have heard complaints about school food, too. So, but that is not my area, so I am not going to get into that. But I will say broadly, I think the food that is provided for children in schools is of higher quality and perhaps more

(01:39:54)

desirable than the food that is provided to children in shelters. But I recognize that, you know, kids eat what adults eat generally speaking. But I think when the quality overall is substandard, then you are getting kids who are living in shelter who have access only to or you know presumably only to inadequate food options let us say so whatever we can do to address that I think particularly for shelters with children would be great. I agree. Okay. But I also want to acknowledge that in our families with children facilities the majority of our families children facilities prep the family prepares their own meals. Currently we have approximately I was getting the numbers for you 270 facilities that are servicing families with children where about approximately 100 the providers providing the meals versus 170 where the families actually preparing the meal. So, I want to put those numbers in context because we are also working on ensuring that more families are in tier 2 facilities versus hotels where we provide the meal. But in those facilities, we have been working very closely with our nutritionists to ensure that as she said, there are meals that are preferable for our children because we understand and acknowledge that they are not going to like and some of them may be picky eaters.

(01:41:28)

Yeah, I get that. I have a two and a half year old so I can relate. So for the 170 families that are providing their own meals, 170 facilities, the families in 170 facilities, thank you for the correction, that are providing their own meals, do they also have access to meals in the shelter or the only option is for them to provide their own meals in those facilities? So in these 170 facilities, the facilities have kitchens. They have their own kitchen. So they cook and they prepare. What we do in the shelter is work very closely with our colleagues at HRA to ensure that families are enrolling public assistance. And for those families that may not have public assistance in a short period that there are pantries and food on site that would provide transition while they are waiting for their public assistance case to open.

(01:42:24)

Okay. Just like in drop ins, we work very closely with the families to ensure they are applying and follow the process and assist them with submitting documents and things. Our current rate is almost 85% of all eligible families

(01:42:36)

that are currently on public assistance at the DHS.

(01:42:39)

Okay. What are you doing to get them to 100%.

(01:42:42)

They may not qualify for 100%. It is all based on income. And if it is a family has a high income, they may not qualify. So, but for those that do qualify, our goal is to ensure that they are eligible for that because it is about how we train them and educate them that they are eligible for this benefit and ensuring that the case managers are working with the families to apply and get that service.

(01:43:05)

Okay. Okay. So, I just want to make sure I have this the statistics correct in the of the eligible families or let me say of the total families in the pool or 85% of the families in your pool are qualified for public assistance, which is to say that every family that is eligible for public assistance is receiving public assistance. I just want to make sure I am

(01:43:35)

No, I think it is 85% of who we believe would be eligible are on public assistance,

(01:43:42)

which is why I was asking what are we doing to get them to 100% because if they are not eligible, then

(01:43:47)

so we I think DHS and their providers continue to work with and encourage families to apply, but we need partnership in the family actually doing the application process. So that is the issue. That is what the providers are consistently doing. It is not something that we just are like 85 is good. 85 is good but we are trying to you know encourage other folks but it is you know a limiting factor is if the family is resistant for some reason and so the provider just continues to try to explain why it would be beneficial for them to avail themselves of that benefit.

(01:44:25)

Okay. I just wanted to clarify the eligibility and who is actually receiving the benefits. That is correct. Okay.

(01:44:33)

From my side. Okay. Thank you. What was DHS actual spending on food provided in shelters in fiscal 2025?

(01:45:00)

So, the three DHS contracts, all of which are a three year renewal, Witson was 93 million. Doll was 23,527,857.50. Sorry. 23 million or 93 million?

(01:45:27)

1. 23 million.

(01:45:30)

Okay. And the so far in fiscal 26. Do you have that number?

(01:45:36)

This is the number that they provided for the three year renewals. So this is... Oh, we will get back to you with the spec. We will follow up. We will confirm it with our final

(01:45:44)

and then also for 27.

(01:45:46)

Yeah. And but just to clarify, are you asking because there are DHS contracts, but then there is also the amount of food funding that would be done through subcontracts. Just want to clarify. You can give us both. Okay, that would be great. Thank you.

(01:46:01)

And then City Limits recently released a report about the difficulties homeless families face in accessing sufficient and appropriate food and shelters. The report noted that families receive food insufficient to meet their nutritional needs and that many families who request reasonable accommodations... Can you explain how the reasonable accommodation process works for clients with medical needs related to nutrition and diets and whether what other kinds of accommodations might be available for someone who requires a specialized diet?

(01:46:34)

So, every family that needs or puts in a request, we have a unit within DSS that reviews those and it is based on medical documentation. We have a office of health that collaborates and ensures that the documents are provided and can call the doctors if we do not have if they do not have enough documents to substantiate the need for a kitchen. Overall if it is about having certain type of meals whether we discussed halal or kosher those are not reasonable accommodations. Those are automatically granted because all our subcontracts have to have the ability to provide those meals. Now, if it is for a kitchen in specific, like I said, there has to be medical documentation which is reviewed and then a decision is determined. If the kitchen is not what is warranted, then we work with the provider to ensure the meals that the child or the adult may need is part of the process that is granted and given to the family.

(01:47:30)

Okay. And are families in shelters allowed to bring their own food items into the shelter assuming they are in the 100 that provide meals? Yeah,

(01:47:39)

the answer is recently we put in a memo that we are allowing them to provide bring in meals that they could eat in the cafeteria or in their room. So the answer to your question is yes.

(01:47:50)

Okay. Are there limitations on the types of food that is permitted?

(01:47:55)

What we are encouraging is that they provide a meal for a day just because of the setting that they are in. Sorry, a meal for what?

(01:48:02)

For like the day. Oh, not not like not to cook inside these

(01:48:07)

Yeah. hotel rooms because that brings other issues and concerns. So they can bring in meals that they are going to consume on that day and that they could do that every single day if they wish. Okay.

(01:48:21)

Okay. SNAP processing and enrollment. According to the annual report of SNAP enrollment and recertification for seniors for 2024, SNAP enrollment for older adults has increased by over 120,000 since 2017. What does HRA attribute this increase to?

(01:48:40)

I think it is attributable to the overall increase we have also been seeing in SNAP, right? I think as well as I think the aging of the New York City population, right? We are a city that is aging and so I think that that is sort of those are the types of things we account for it as well as I think our expanded outreach and the ways in which we have tried to make it easier for individuals to apply for SNAP especially through Access HRA allowing for on demand phone interviews so individuals do not have to come into our centers as well as you know working closely with aging providers so that they also understand how to assist someone and have the ability to track someone's benefit case through our provider portal given the individual gives them consent. So I think those are a variety of ways we would see an increase in the older adult population as well as you know overall

(01:49:41)

and what types of outreach activities have you found to be most effective?

(01:49:46)

I mean in general I think really going into the community and training right I think our community outreach trainings that they provide are extremely effective and extremely well received by providers in the community because I think that is where an individual might be more receptive to actually applying right if it is a trusted messenger which often might be your local community organization rather than sort of an official notice from HRA or a city worker. So, we find that to be particularly effective as well as, right, we highlight older adults in many of our social media campaigns and other activities that we do around general SNAP, you know, awareness.

(01:50:28)

I think if there are opportunities, to engage Council members, local Council member offices, I would love to work with you on trying to work with my colleagues and doing that. And then, are there any new outreach activities you are planning to undertake in the coming year? I mean we are going to continue to sort of you know enhance our existing SNAP outreach campaign. I think you know many of the things we are also going to be focusing on are more ABOD specific. So we are working we are currently working collaboratively with City Hall and the office of mass engagement to do more targeted community based outreach around ABOD. But within that we will also be doing SNAP general outreach with those groups. So that is something we expect to roll out in the next few weeks.

(01:51:15)

Okay. And then HRA set up a volunteering program for CBOs to support cash assistance and SNAP recipients compliance with work requirements. Can you walk us through step by step how this volunteer program actually works in practice?

(01:51:29)

Sure. So there are two pathways to it actually. There is a more formalized pathway and then a more self-structured pathway. But to start, every organization interested would submit a web-based form we have created that gives us general outlines of the organization. What is the organization's mission? And then in particular what type of activities do they have available so that we can ensure they comply with what would be considered an allowable activity. Then organizations can choose one of two pathways. One is a more formalized pathway where the organization will take referrals and assignments from us and from our PACE providers for folks who need activities. That organization would also then track someone's attendance. They would report that person's attendance to the PACE provider. So there are more administrative requirements to that one. The second avenue which is more of a self-enrolled is for organizations to say we provide community service volunteer opportunities. We are open to providing these opportunities to individuals who might want to avail themselves of it and then individuals who have to comply can reach out to an organization of their choice, do their activities. That organization has agreed to sign the very simple monthly form that has to get submitted to us and then the SNAP recipient would submit that documentation. So that one has less of an administrative burden for a nonprofit organization. So we wanted to provide both avenues for folks.

And then we will be sharing that information, especially folks who are open to self-enrolled. We will be providing that information to individuals, especially like a list of organizations in your community that have said they are open to doing this. So that would be great. And I know

(01:53:21)

CM Brewer, not everybody has the mailing list that CM Brewer has, but I know she has a very extensive mailing list that if all of us can send out that information, we would love to receive that. Certainly 100,000 people. And just in keeping in the same vein with the PACE providers, are the jobs being offered paying more than minimum wage as far as you know?

(01:53:50)

There are a variety of pay scales

(01:53:53)

that happen, right? We definitely try to primarily focus on jobs that pay a good wage which is more than the minimum wage. But depending on also people's interest skill sets where they may be at that point in time, we definitely have minimum wage jobs available for people who are interested in that or maybe that is the job that they are starting at but it aligns with an overall plan for them to develop more educational training or get certifications that can proceed them on. We then have other programs that definitely connect folks to better paying jobs through apprenticeships and other participation. So we have a wide range of what we are offering, but we want to ensure that we have more than just minimum wage jobs available for folks.

(01:54:40)

Good news. And then is there any funding or specific support that HRA is providing to CBOs to manage and sustain this work and sort of both routes or paths that you mentioned? So at the moment we do not have additional funding which is why we created both paths so that for organizations that maybe have the administrative capability to do this they can but for folks who do not we have created as sort of low touch as possible where we are just trying to be incorporated in your already existing structures and not asking you to do additional information. It is something that we will continue to look at. I think we will see the volume of uptake and I get a lot of feedback from these organizations that we sort of take into account as we continue to sort of look at ongoing planning and I think as a city think about the Medicaid work requirements that are coming that are I think even more concerning than the SNAP. They are both very bad but the Medicaid requirements will impact an even larger number of people.

(01:55:47)

Very concerning. The FY26 preliminary mayor's management report shows a decrease of over 100,000 New Yorkers receiving SNAP as compared to fiscal year 25, whereas the number of SNAP recipients has historically risen year-on-year. Do you have any ideas as to what may have caused this decrease?

(01:56:10)

We do not have specifics, but I think there are probably a combination of things that could have taken into account. I think the rolling out of HR1 definitely I think had a chilling effect on individuals for a variety of reasons where they may have self-selected unfortunately out of the SNAP program whether they were concerned about the impending work requirements whether they were concerned about what was meant by the change in eligibility for certain immigrant populations as well as I think overall talk of other limitations the federal government was going to be bringing on this. So we continue to try to emphasize to the community, if you believe you are eligible, apply. Just apply, right? That is the most important thing to do. It is what we do with CBOs. It is why we have really done ongoing and we will continue to do community briefings which reach 800 to a thousand individuals each time right to really reiterate these messages and make sure that in the community they understand what is fact and what is rumor and I think starting in July and then ongoing of last year there were lots of rumors and concerns as to what was going to happen and I think that impacted things right and got even worse when you saw the announcement that they were going to fast track ABOD roll out and then the government shutdown and then people were not going to be getting their SNAP benefits.

So I think a variety of things probably potentially led to a chilling effect of individuals maybe self-selecting themselves out.

(01:57:50)

Thank you. According to the PMMR, the SNAP timeliness rate for the first four months of FY26 is 89.8%. This is an improvement to the timeliness rate of 65.1% in fiscal year 24. What steps did DSS take to improve the timeliness rate so dramatically? A variety of things that we started when we were experiencing the backlogs right of several years ago. We kept those ongoing. So since

(01:58:27)

we onboarded about 1500 new staff in about two years. In addition to that we really doubled down on training with individuals which I think given new staff these are not easy simple processes to work through and so I think some of our timeliness was kept lower than we would have liked it to because of the difficulties of the process. But I think this is a reflection of our focus and commitment to ensuring that we were providing the appropriate training to staff. As well as implementing technological advancements and utilizing waivers. So that for things that maybe did not need to be done by a staff person, those were automatically being done based upon criteria that we worked on with the state to get waivers. So I would say a variety of those things and then really keeping a very focused eye on daily management of the processes so that if we need to shift staff to ensure that we are keeping up with the demand say we have a very high call volume on one day we shift more staff on the phones less staff on processing and then you sort of shift it back to make sure that you are keeping it balanced but and lastly I think it is because of the really hard work and dedication of the frontline staff who have really committed themselves to being able to sort of improve our timeliness and get people connected to benefits as soon as we can.

(01:59:55)

And that is all great news and I am happy to hear that. And I am confident that that good work will continue. But what will you do in order to bring the timeliness rate up to the target of 85% and beyond?

(02:00:13)

More of the same. More of the same. I think 90 95% is our goal. And so more of the same in regards to that on the cash assistance side as well. We are implementing some other automation that I think is causing that rate to sort of artificially be lower than it really is just because in the process on the cash side there are certain cases that require an extra step to officially close it out. And in those instances we would have given a person the benefit but the case would technically still be open in our system. So we are looking to address that issue so that we can automatically have those cases closed so it is a much truer representation of the timeliness rate and that should happen later this month.

(02:01:02)

Excellent. While DHS's MMR includes data on the percentage of families with children who receive public benefits, this data is not available on single adults and adult families. Can you tell me what percentage of single adults and adult families received public benefits in fiscal 2025 and so far in fiscal 2026? And specifically, what percentage received SNAP benefits?

(02:01:29)

The 85% I reported is on families with children. I will have to get back to you on the single adults. Okay. Yeah, that is we have the families with children, but we do not have single adults and adult families. Okay.

(02:01:44)

Okay. And then actually one question on going back to our discussion on AI, will you conduct a pre-deployment assessment with the newly established office of algorithmic data accountability which the Council passed legislation to create that. I know we are getting all of the approvals with the organizations we are supposed to be. I am not sure about that

(02:02:17)

in particular, but we are working through OTI's process. We also had to work we are working through a process with the office of temporary and disability assistance as well as working through our own internal controls to ensure that we have the appropriate parameters and guardrails on the utilization of the technology. So we have been working very closely with a variety of different oversights to ensure that we are complying with what is intended and also being very clear about what our tool is and more importantly is not actually doing. Okay. Thank you. And then I want to

(02:02:54)

ask a couple of questions around the preliminary racial equity plan. The New York City preliminary racial equity plan was released last month in March. DSS's medium-term goals include reducing food insecurity for participating families in the food pantry plus pilot in targeted critical neighborhoods. Strategies include testing the efficacy of a novel voucher program for families who are food insecure and not receiving SNAP. Can you tell us more about the food pantry plus pilot and how long will the pilot last and when do you expect the program to begin?

(02:03:33)

Thanks for the question. So that is the program we spoke about a little bit earlier, the pilot that we will be undertaking. So for the first year, it will be funded at a million dollars of direct food assistance with I think 25% above and beyond that for administrative costs. And our office of evaluation and research is going to be undertaking a study of the pilot and if we are pleased with the pilot results in year one we have the ability to extend it and double the population of families served in years two and three. Okay. And so it is for three years initially potentially. Yes.

(02:04:16)

Three-year pilot. Okay. And sorry, did you say the start date? We are in the process right now of

(02:04:24)

reviewing the proposals that were submitted. So we have to select someone go into contract. So we are anticipating FY27 to initiate but perhaps calendar year 2026. It is possible, but we need to get to a contract. Okay.

(02:04:41)

Yes. And then did you I do not think you shared the specific targeted critical neighborhoods that the pilot will take place in. Do you have those yet or is that still part of the contracting process?

(02:04:52)

Those will be determined by the response that we receive and approve and as we discussed in discussing with our community partners. Okay. And

(02:05:05)

how will the efficacy of the pilot be evaluated? Yeah, thank you for the question. It is

(02:05:11)

as part of enrolling and again I cannot prejudge the outcome because the proposals are still being reviewed but one of the components regardless of what the approach is settled on will be the collection of aggregated not individual purchasing data to give us insight into what people are most interested in purchasing which will I will note too it will also include obviously food pantries are providing food but we are not unmindful that low-income families need other things such as hygiene products which are not typically SNAP eligible. So part of the pilot too will provide the ability to buy hygiene products such as

(02:06:00)

diapers, adult diapers, similar products to that in conjunction with food. So we will get aggregate data on what people are buying and in what quantities which ideally will help inform what we are also doing in our brick and mortar pantry system the 700 plus community providers

(02:06:20)

and what will the voucher amount be?

(02:06:23)

That will range we would anticipate that obviously families families of three and four will get a higher amount than singles. So we likely will take a look at DOH's program that has currently where its vendor has been Mercato has been its online vendor and they have levels so we have not settled on the final levels but we are going to take a look at what they were doing and I apologize for not remembering them off the top of my head.

(02:06:56)

That is okay. You could send them to us later. Sure. Thank you. And then you said it sounds like the vouchers are going to be available for use of various purchases, right? Food and other approved items. Yeah.

(02:07:10)

Yeah. Okay, great. Okay, I would like to get into a couple of questions about the legislation, the proposed legislation. I know we addressed a lot of questions already about CM Jang's bill. But intro 790 from CM Joseph. How many warming centers are there in the city at present?

(02:07:34)

So currently DHS has two warming centers that we are operating or contracted to have operated. Okay. And sorry that is DHS. Yes. So we have a process, a small purchase process where folks could bid to provide warming center services during cold blue season. We had two that

(02:07:57)

open for this cold blue season. And do you know how many operated by any other agencies?

(02:08:03)

So these are operated by nonprofit organizations. And in addition to the warming centers, we operate warming buses. And we operate those during the cold blue season. And then when it gets warm, we turn them into cooling buses. And how many of those do you have currently? I believe we have 16 in total.

(02:08:23)

Okay. But I think one of the things raised in the legislation is that there are other agencies also can go into this space and we do not necessarily have the full insight into that which is why I think we want to talk about the reporting bill and sort of what makes the most sense to make sure all of the areas where this is being done are being reflected. Right. Okay. Thank you. And do you know how many individuals used warming centers during the most recent cold spell? So we have is this a cumulative number or your two warming centers? That is what I was about to say. So DHS does have the data on how many folks use our services. We do not have the data for the bigger project that include the warming centers through the office of emergency management. But we can provide you with data around who use our warming buses and the DHS warming centers. Yes. You now or later?

(02:09:19)

Oh no, we can provide it to you. We can data. Yes. Okay.

(02:09:23)

And how does DSS collaborate with DOH and OEM during a code blue to mobilize warming centers?

(02:09:35)

I think that is oftentimes taken within an overall administrative response, right? So I think in the winter what happened there? I think oftentimes NISA may take an overall coordinating activity with other agencies involved. But then there is an overall administrative decision if there are additional if additional services are needed it would be done through that process leveraging each of our right expertise or what we have available to us. And to administrator Scott's point, also one of the things that took place with this recent roll out is that DHS was responsible for providing the Office of Emergency Management with a list of locations that we thought would be most beneficial to place the warming centers in order to support our street homeless individuals.

(02:10:30)

Okay. Excellent. I am just confirming, CM Stevens, that you do not have any questions. All righty. That is it for me. Thank you all so very much. I appreciate your time.

(02:10:41)

Great. Thank you so much.