View Thompson's letter to DFTA and analysis of the pilot program (pdf)

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City and advocates for the elderly today condemned the City’s failure to justify drastic changes to its Meals on Wheels program in the Bronx.

The City’s Department for the Aging (DFTA) plans to start a pilot program on July 1 to reduce the number of deliveries to the homebound elderly in The Bronx by substituting frozen for fresh, hot meals. However, Thompson, Gotbaum, the CSCS and advocates charge that the change may be both fiscally and programmatically irresponsible.

“This clearly is a pattern in which City Hall has made policy changes in the guise of budgetary savings,” Comptroller Thompson said. “However, first, we see no proof of any budgetary savings materializing as a result of altering the Meals on Wheels program. Second, the policy change will have broad and dire implications for the health and well being of our seniors.”

“I am outraged that the City would even consider depriving homebound seniors in the Bronx of their hot meal deliveries,” Gotbaum said. “Slashing the Meals on Wheels budget is not only fiscally unsound, it is socially irresponsible. Our City’s homebound elderly deserve better than to be chips at the budgetary bargaining table. If the City is looking to cut costs, it should look elsewhere.”

“We remain concerned about the potential harm here. Unsustainable funding available for meals coupled with increased isolation will place the health and safety of homebound elderly at risk,” said Bobbie Sackman, Public Policy Director for the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City. “We applaud Comptroller Thompson for his analysis and for standing with the community to stop this from happening July 1st.”

At a news conference at City Hall, Comptroller Thompson released an analysis of the fiscal impact of the pilot program. In a March 22 letter written to DFTA Commissioner Edwin Mendez-Santiago about the “sweeping changes,” Thompson charged that the agency has yet to publicly release a thorough financial analysis on its changes despite requests.

“I asked you to delay implementation of the proposed pilot program until the underlying financial analyses and policy implications could be evaluated and made publicly available,” Thompson wrote. “I n spite of significant alterations in the design of the plan, the financial analyses upon which this reorganization is based have still not been made available to the providers and the public.”

“It appears that there is little data on projected costs or utilization for the pilot project or for the program in subsequent years,” Thompson wrote. “It is important to carefully project these costs so that the City can insure that DFTA’s goal of expanding the Home Delivered Meals program is achieved in the most responsible, efficient and effective way possible. “

Thompson’s analysis raises serious questions about whether the pilot program will generate any meaningful savings. It determined that the estimated cost of the changes would include start-up costs of $238,200 and ongoing costs of $497,200, in addition to the contract amount of $2,750,000. Thompson noted that if these estimates are correct, the City would incur an additional expense of $185,400 over the current contract amount - a 5.6% jump in spending in Fiscal Year 2005.

Thompson additionally raised “serious questions” about whether providers will be able to sustain the program at the proposed allocated rate of $5 per meal. Providers told the Comptroller that costs for preparing and delivering fresh meals - which will continue to comprise up to 70% of the Bronx pilot program - are substantially higher.

“Based on information they provided, we estimate that the frozen meals will cost an average of $4.22 (including food, preparation, delivery, and overhead),” Thompson noted. “In view of the fact that the program will continue to be primarily a hot meals program, the providers believe that the higher hot food costs would not be sufficiently offset by the relatively modest cost savings associated with frozen meals.”

“It is imperative that my office, the City Council, the providers and the public understand DFTA’s estimates of the fiscal implications of the proposed reorganization of the Home Delivered Meals program,” Thompson said.

The Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, Inc., founded in 1979, is a citywide not-for-profit organization. CSCS acts as a social policy advocate and training and technical assistance resource for its 265 community-based senior service organizations serving more than 300,000 elderly New Yorkers. CSCS promotes the quality of life, independent living, productivity and dignity of older adults and their families.