§ 548-A — Legislative findings and intent

§ 548-a. Legislative findings and intent. Many recent studies have\npointed out that although New York has an array of human services and\nprograms that are spread across numerous state programmatic and\nregulatory agencies, there is no unified strategy for service delivery.\nAlthough problematic statewide, the absence of a service coordination\nand delivery strategy critically impairs the ability of communities\nsuffering from widespread poverty to fully benefit from such services.\n The legislature hereby finds and declares that there is a need to\ndevelop a strategy for distressed neighborhoods to assist them in\nidentifying ways to expand and strengthen the services in their\ncommunities, to improve the delivery of such services, and to help\nidentify and eliminate barriers to the effective delivery of services to\ntheir residents.\n The legislature further finds that the provision of services is only a\npartial solution to the complex problems of economically and socially\ndistressed areas. Neighborhood stabilization and improvement also\nrequire an assessment of the long term housing and economic needs of the\ncommunity and a strategic plan for the stabilization and development of\nthe community. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to\nestablish neighborhood based initiatives to first provide integrated and\ncoordinated services for people in crisis or with a potential for being\nin crisis in selected distressed neighborhoods and then to assist the\nneighborhoods in developing a long range plan so that such neighborhoods\ncan take steps to improve their overall economic and social condition.\n