MAYOR DE BLASIO APPOINTS ANNABEL PALMA AS DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Palma to focus on and expand community engagement initiatives and deepen community relationships across the five boroughs

  Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the appointment of Council Member Annabel Palma as Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives at the Department of Social Services (DSS). As a long-time Council Member representing the Bronx and the former Chairwoman of the Council’s General Welfare Committee, Palma brings a proven track record of engaging communities on social service issues. Building on her own personal experience as a young single mother, struggling to build a better life for her family, Palma worked tirelessly in the Council to make government more responsive to the needs of the community.

Palma will start in January 2018 and report to DSS Services Commissioner Steven Banks. Among other strategic initiatives to improve the lives of low-income families and individuals, Palma will work with and support Commissioner Banks, Department of Homeless Services Administrator Joslyn Carter and the entire leadership team at DSS to carry out the Mayor’s plan to transform the shelter system that has built up in a haphazard way over the past 30 years and implement the new borough-based approach to help more homeless New Yorkers get back on their feet, and ultimately transition out of shelter and back into housing in the community. She will also work with and support the Commissioner and Human Resources Administration Administrator Grace Bonilla and her team on other social services initiatives.

“For more than a decade, Annabel has worked day in and day out to help those in need, including those in her own backyard in the Bronx. I am thrilled to welcome Council Member Palma to the team and look forward to working together to ensure that New Yorkers most at risk of becoming homeless are provided the tools and opportunities to get back on their feet,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“Councilmember Palma has spent years working and advocating for New Yorkers, and has dedicated her career towards making sure communities receive services and help in times of need” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Herminia Palacio. “We are thrilled to have Annabel on board to help us build on critical initiatives, including expanding legal services for tenants facing evictions and investing in prevention tools to help more New Yorkers avoid homelessness.”

“For many years, Annabel and I worked together on the front lines to address the needs of low-income children and adults, and I know first-hand her commitment to improving the provision of social services.  She is a perfect addition to our team, as we continue with our reform initiatives and implement the Mayor’s realistic plan to prevent and alleviate homelessness,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks.

“Homelessness exists in every community. I have spent over a decade helping homeless New Yorkers and based on my own experience know that homelessness is not a choice and can happen to anyone,” said Council Member Annabel Palma. “I am proud to join the Mayor and his team, playing an integral role in helping to change the perception of our homeless neighbors, while helping to carry out his plan to turn the tide on homelessness in our beloved city.”

“Council Member Annabel Palma’s personal experiences informed her desire to be a fierce advocate for the most vulnerable New Yorkers, and every day she brings with her that energy and motivation to improve the lives of others around her,” said City CouncilSpeaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “She inspires all of us on the Council, and we have greatly enjoyed working with her to make our City a better place – especially for the homeless, women, and people of color. I wish her well in her next endeavor as Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives at the Department of Social Services.”

Earlier this year, the Mayor announced “Turning the Tide on Homelessness in New York City,” his borough-by-borough plan for addressing the challenge of homelessness, which affects every community across the five boroughs. To address and transform a shelter system that expanded in a haphazard way over the past four decades, the Mayor’s plan will completely end the use of all 360 cluster sites and hotel facilities citywide, while opening a smaller number of 90 new and more effective traditional shelters. This will reduce the number of Department of Homeless Services’ facilities by 45 percent across New York City and allow us to maintain a vacancy rate to ensure the flexibility we need to implement a more equitable, borough-based system that takes into account the individual needs of the children and adults we must shelter. The plan’s guiding principle is community and people first: giving homeless New Yorkers, who come from every community across the five boroughs, the opportunity to be sheltered closer to their home boroughs, support networks and anchors of life, including schools, jobs, healthcare, family, houses of worship, and communities they called home, in order to more quickly stabilize their lives.