N.Y. Social Services Law § 482-a: Legislative findings and purpose

§ 482-a. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds that

public policy experts and state and local agencies have been searching

for a model of service delivery that will insure programmatically

effective and cost-efficient delivery of services to inner-city families

and neighborhoods, and that the emerging consensus is that the best

models provide comprehensive, coordinated, neighborhood-based and

family-focused services. The legislature further finds that New York

state's existing network of fifty-eight settlement houses can contribute

to providing these comprehensive, coordinated, neighborhood-based and

family-focused services in a cost-effective manner, and that the

capacity of these settlement houses to provide and enhance these

services can be increased if the settlement houses are provided with

additional resources to implement greater neighborhood outreach, to

direct individuals and family members to appropriate settlement and

community-based resources, to monitor the progress of these individuals,

and to plan and coordinate intra-agency and community services so that

community residents have easy access to a range of services that respond

to the varied and often multiple needs of individuals and families.

It is the intent of the legislature to increase the funds available to

settlement houses for the purpose of providing a comprehensive range of

services to the residents of the neighborhoods they serve, and that

funds provided pursuant to this article will be complemented by

privately-raised contributions to the settlement-houses for the program

services funded pursuant to this article. The legislature does not

intend that these funds be used as a substitute for any funds currently

available from federal, state or local sources for the provision of

neighborhood-based service delivery programs provided by settlement

houses.