Dear New Yorkers,

Last month—seven months after I first sounded the alarm—the Adams Administration finally announced that it was cutting ties with DocGo, the controversial vendor hired to provide shelter services to asylum seekers. The cancellation of the $432 million no-bid contract was a big win for taxpayers. After all, DocGo is a for-profit company with a questionable track record and no experience providing these services.

So what comes next? I’m relieved that the City is backing away from DocGo—but it’s important that DocGo is replaced by service providers that are actually qualified to support asylum seekers.

On that front, there’s encouraging news... in Buffalo! My office just gave our stamp of approval to Jewish Family Services of Western New York (JFS), the vendor taking over for DocGo in parts of upstate New York.

Unlike DocGo, JFS actually has experience providing services to asylum seekers and their families, including case management and a Refugee & Immigrant Center for Healing.

For far less money than the City was paying DocGo, JFS will provide the legal services, case management, workforce development, and housing assistance that helps immigrants get on their feet, find employment, and move out of shelter into stable housing. Big props to State Senator Sean Ryan from Buffalo, who worked tirelessly to help make this happen!

The Jewish Family Services model is the kind of approach I’ve been calling for, for well over a year, and demonstration that it can work. It is more compassionate AND more cost-effective than City Hall’s current approach of throwing families out of shelter after just 60 days.

My office recently investigated this so-called “60-Day Rule” and found it to be not only cruel and counter-productive, but implemented in a haphazard way without the case management services that families were promised.

And it's not just Jewish Family Services providing better services than DocGo ever could—there are amazing groups doing this kind of work all across the city! This includes ⁠Educational Alliance on the Lower East Side (whose pro-bono work authorization I recently visited); Central Synagogue, which has established partnerships with two shelters; and Malikah, which provides resources to Muslim migrants. This also includes community leaders like Power Malu, Adama Bah, Ruth Messinger, and so many others.

The success of JFS raises questions: What if providing wraparound services for asylum seekers was the norm? And what if we always funded organizations like JFS to provide services, instead of handing out no-bid contracts to unqualified companies like DocGo?

When my office rejected the DocGo contract last fall, this is what we hoped would happen. Jewish Families Services is showing it can be done in Buffalo. It can and should be the reality here in New York City, and all across the state.

That’s the cost-effective and compassionate vision I’ll keep fighting for.

More soon,

Brad