New York State’s Environmental Facilities Corporation has provided financing for over 2,000 essential local water infrastructure projects totaling more than $23.7 billion since 1990, but the estimated capital improvement needs for water and sewer projects far exceeds this amount, and tens of billions of dollars in local projects remain in the pipeline.
This report examines the local government role in emergency medical services (EMS) in New York State and particularly the growing role that counties are playing in EMS provision. Declining staffing levels, increasing costs and other challenges have put pressure on the State’s EMS agencies. In many cases, counties are stepping up to help. Their EMS expenditures are growing rapidly and increasingly they are participating directly in providing EMS to their residents, either as primary responders or as back-up providers to their local EMS agencies.
Between 2013 and 2022, there was a 23% increase in the number of individuals served by the State’s public mental health system. The rising need for mental health services coincided with a loss of 990 beds, a 10.5% drop in capacity, in inpatient psychiatric facilities statewide between April 2014 and December 2023. Ensuring the availability of inpatient mental health services is a critical component of the State’s effort to address the ongoing mental health challenges facing the State and improve the lives of vulnerable New Yorkers.
For almost 3 million New Yorkers, housing costs constitute more than 30 percent of household income, with 1 in 5 households experiencing a severe cost burden of more than 50 percent of their income going to pay for housing. This report is the third and final report in the “New Yorkers in Need” series. It examines three categories of housing insecurity: high housing costs; physical inadequacy, including overcrowding and substandard conditions; and housing stress, including evictions and foreclosures, which may result in homelessness.
Since early 2020, enrollees in New York Medicaid have not had to renew their coverage due to COVID-19 public health emergency. With federal legislation ending continuous Medicaid coverage in March 2023, New York State began the process of redetermining eligibility for every enrolled individual. Based on recent trends, this report estimates “unwinding” may not meet projections in the Division of the Budget’s Mid-Year Update to the Enacted Budget Financial Plan, adding costs to the State budget.
The South Bronx has undergone a period of revitalization that has enabled it to thrive as a cultural hotspot within the Bronx and New York City. South Bronx residents continue to face chronic health, economic and environmental challenges, and the City is seeking to address these issues while boosting economic growth. Continued focus on community benefits and active partnership among City departments, community-based organizations, and State and federal leaders, is critical for the long-term success of the South Bronx.
New York has led the nation in reducing the number of homeless veterans – largely driven by success in New York City. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of homeless veterans in the State fell by 83 percent. Robust federal funding has supported the programs to achieve the reductions.
The number of domestic violence victims increased in 2022 by 8.5% in New York City and 8.7% in the rest of New York State when compared to 2019. With nearly 90,000 reported victims of domestic violence statewide in 2022, significant work remains to reduce the number of these destructive incidents and to ensure the availability of resources to assist victims.
This report examines comparative data for 10 rural counties in New York to identify challenges faced by these communities and others like them, as well as opportunities. Population, employment, housing and other trends were considered, and these findings can be used as a baseline from which future trends can be measured. The median age of people living in these 10 rural counties increased at nearly twice the rate of the State between 2011 and 2021 while simultaneously population numbers declined.
From 2010 through 2021, the percentage of New Yorkers without health insurance declined every year to 5.2% in 2021, well below the national average of 8.6%. Rates of uninsured New Yorkers are lower than the nation largely due to the State’s higher rates of enrollment in public health insurance programs, which provided coverage to 4 in 10 New Yorkers in 2021. As the State begins reprocessing eligibility determinations for public health insurance, continued transparency and reporting will be essential for understanding the implications for coverage rates and on the State’s budget.
