A couple of updates from City Council member Margaret Chin. First, she was front-and-center yesterday as Mayor de Blasio signed legislation increasing the income eligibility cap for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption program (SCRIE). Beginning in July, the cap will go up from $29,000 to $50,000.
Chin sponsored the legislation along with fellow Council members Julissa Ferreras and Jumaane Williams. The change was made possible when the State Legislature provided additional funding for the program through 2016. Local Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh championed the funding increase.
In a statement, Chin said, “I have heard from many seniors who have been denied SCRIE for being only a few dollars over the income limit. On July 1, they will finally be able to apply for that coverage. Increasing SCRIE eligibility will mean that tens of thousands more New Yorkers will be able to afford to age independently and in place.”
Also yesterday, Chin and several colleagues introduced a bill that would regulate the rapidly growing adult day care industry. Many privately run centers have opened throughout Chinatown and the Lower East Side in the past few years. “Unfortunately, it is all too easy for unscrupulous social adult daycare programs to take advantage of the elderly with misleading promises and subpar care, at great cost to taxpayers and potential harm to seniors,” Chin said. “This legislation helps ensure that seniors are able to access appropriate care, so that they can thrive in an environment of compassion and community and age in place with independence and dignity.”
The legislation would require privately-funded adult day care centers to register with the city’s Department for the Aging. It would also ask the state to provide the city with a list of social adult day care centers that are publically funded. Fines would be imposed on violators. There would be a social adult care ombudsman to monitor and investigate complaints.
Chin chairs the Council’s committee on aging. She represents District 1, which covers most of Lower Manhattan, including the Lower East Side.
