The Council identified remaining gaps in the budgets of the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) and Human Resources Administration (HRA) within the Mayor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Executive Budget that leave key initiatives underfunded.
The FY 2026 Executive Budget includes $130.9 million less than the FY 2026 Preliminary Budget and $459.5 million less than the adopted FY 2025 budget for DHS. These changes include savings from re-estimates of asylum seeker response costs and funding transfers from and to other city agencies, as well as $14.4 million for homeless outreach services in subway stations. It includes $63.5 million in additional baselined funding for shelter security prevailing wages and $24.3 million to support cost-of-living adjustments for human service providers, as requested in the Council’s FY 2026 Preliminary Budget Response. However, it fails to invest any funding for non-asylum seeker homeless shelter costs requested in the Council’s budget response and expected for FY 2026.
For HRA, the FY 2026 Executive Budget adds $271.1 million more than the FY 2026 Preliminary Budget and $71.4 million less than the adopted FY 2025 budget. While the Executive Budget includes partial funding for programs identified in the Council’s budget response that require greater investment for FY 2026, this represents less than 10% of the total funding needs outlined. Significant funding added includes $39.6 million for HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) housing, $19 million for human service contracts, and $25.8 million for the Right to Counsel program.
However, funding for several programs falls short of the full funding outlined in the Preliminary Budget Response to meet the needs of New Yorkers or is missing entirely. With a rising city shelter census, longer food pantry lines, and proposed federal funding cuts to Medicaid, food programs, and housing assistance, bolstering the City’s safety net programs is critical.
The following programs and services represent several of those outlined in the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response that were either left out or underfunded in the Mayor’s FY26 Executive Budget:
Underbudgeting of Cash Assistance, CityFHEPS, and Non-Asylum Seeker Shelter Costs
In successive financial plans, mayoral administrations have not adequately budgeted for the true spending costs of vital programs that serve New Yorkers. Instead, the Administration will allocate a minimum amount at the start of the fiscal year and add funding throughout the fiscal year for major programs, such as cash assistance, CityFHEPS, and non-asylum seeker homeless shelters. The Council has called on the Administration to revise its approach and align the actual need for these services at the start of the fiscal year. The Council’s budget response requested the addition of $537.1 million for homeless shelters in the Mayor’s Executive Budget and no funding was added. Over $1.4 billion was requested for Cash Assistance ($920.2 million) and CityFHEPS ($538.4 million), but the Mayor’s Executive Budget only included $17.7 million for CityFHEPS.
CFC Program Restoration and Enhancement
The Community Food Connection (CFC), formerly known as the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP), provides an array of essential food items to emergency food providers across the city, including food pantries and soup kitchens. Given increases in food insecurity in the city, the rising cost of food, and federal cuts, the Council proposed the Administration provide an additional $79.1 million in baselined funding, starting in FY 2026, to restore and enhance CFC’s baseline budget. The Mayor’s Executive Budget included $36.1 million, falling short by $43 million.
Increasing Fair Fares to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)
To date, nearly 366,000 people have enrolled in Fair Fares, but there are many low-income New York City residents who struggle to afford public transit who are still ineligible for the program. Affordable access to the City’s public transit system can help people access economic and educational opportunities. The Council proposed the addition of $60.8 million to the Fair Fares baseline, starting in FY 2026, to maintain eligibility at the current level of 145% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and expand it to those with incomes up to 200 percent of FPL. This expansion would bring the total baseline budget for Fair Fares up to $157.1 million. The Executive Budget allocated $20 million to maintain the current eligibility, leaving a gap of over $40 million for expanded access to the program.
CityFHEPS Administrative Fixes
As of March 2025, nearly 85,000 people reside in shelters operated by the Department of Homeless Services, including more than 18,000 families with children. Record homelessness in the City, coupled with rising eviction rates, underscores the urgent need for the efficient implementation and administration of CityFHEPS benefits. As part of its continued commitment to reducing bureaucratic barriers to accessing CityFHEPS, and ensuring effective administration of the program, Speaker Adams called on the Administration to address administrative barriers to accessing and using CityFHEPS in her 2025 State of the City address. The Council’s budget response requested that the Administration add $25 million in baselined funding, starting in FY 2026, to address administrative hurdles and delays by improving technology, increasing staffing, and adjusting contractual services that are part of voucher processing.
Immigration Legal Services Enhancement
Increased demand and changing federal policies have overwhelmed the existing immigration legal services system, leaving both long-time immigrant New Yorkers and new arrivals struggling to access critical legal representation. To address this urgent need and avoid leaving people without appropriate support, the Council proposed the Administration invest an additional $59 million to ensure continuity of services and to help defend immigrants against ongoing aggressive, anti-immigrant policies; $40 million for the Immigrant Opportunity Initiative (IOI), as well as $10 million for the Rapid Response program. This total funding of $109 million would ensure that immigrant New Yorkers have access to an attorney, while supporting organizations to recruit and retain the staff needed to meet growing demand. The Executive Budget only included $4.4 million in additional funds, leaving a gap of $54.6 million.
Housing and Legal Services Support for Survivors of Domestic Violence
The Mayor’s FY 2026 Executive Budget provided no additional funding requested by the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response to support domestic violence victims.
Housing Stability Microgrants to Domestic Violence Victims
The Housing Stability Support program provides low-barrier microgrants to survivors of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence to help them maintain safe and stable housing. The FY 2025 financial plan includes $1.2 million in baselined funding for this program. This funding supports efforts consistent with Local Law 112 of 2022 and the Mayor’s Housing Blueprint, expanding a pilot by the Mayor’s Office to End Gender-Based Violence. But the existing funding only supports a fraction of domestic violence victims in need of assistance. To meet the actual need for services, the Council proposed increased baselined funding for this program by an additional $4.8 million, raising the baseline budget to $6 million.
Legal Services for Domestic Violence Survivors
Additionally, Local Law 5 of 2022 required the establishment of a working group to make recommendations regarding a pilot program to provide legal services for domestic violence survivors in divorce proceedings, and subject to appropriations, then establish a two-year pilot program. The Council’s budget response proposed the addition of $2 million in funding to the Human Resources Administration and the Mayor’s Office to End Gender-Based Violence to establish a pilot program providing free legal assistance to approximately 800 low-income domestic violence survivors in divorce proceedings.
Home+ ENDGBV Program
HOME+ provides free and confidential security resources to survivors of domestic and gender-based violence who want to stay in their homes instead of entering shelter or leaving. Launched in 2021, it provides survivors with emergency-response systems, as well as personal alarms that clients customize to notify trusted family, friends, service providers, or police when activated. HOME+ operates through partnerships between the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence and local domestic- and gender-based violence services organizations, whose staff work directly with program participants to assess risk, coordinate referrals, and provide related case management services. The Council’s budget response proposed adding a baselined $1.5 million for the HOME+ program.
Council Food, Homelessness, and Social Services Initiatives
The Council’s funding initiatives address citywide gaps for domestic violence and homelessness support, low-income legal services, and access to food pantries and healthy meals. It is critical that this over $37 million, left out of the Mayor’s Executive Budget, is included in the final budget through a continued full commitment towards Council discretionary funding.
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