Eliminate the Exploitative Nonprofits Profiting from NYC’s Homeless Services
Any sector can prove profitable if one is brazen enough — including the industry of “helping the homeless.”
A scathing Department of Investigations report reveals that leaders of city-funded shelter “charities” have been exploiting the system for years, utilizing taxpayer funds to award themselves exorbitant salaries.
The figures are astounding: $916,000 for the CEO of Acacia Network Housing; over $700,000 for the head of Camba spread over several years; and $1 million for CORE’s CEO, Jack Brown — who in 2021 was found to have inflated the payroll with friends and established for-profit vendors that funneled money back to him. (The city severed ties with CORE shortly thereafter.)
This represents a substantial profit for nonprofit executives.
Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park faced scrutiny during Tuesday’s City Council hearing, yet these issues have persisted for a long time.
Included are instances of executives double-dipping: The report indicated that nonprofit shelter provider SEBCO Development Inc. funneled $11.6 million of taxpayer funds to a security service owned by SEBCO, while senior executives at SEBCO collected nearly $400,000 in salaries from that same security firm.
And these figures only account for the nonprofits that adhered to their agreements and actually reported executive salaries; at least 13 out of 87 contracted shelter providers have failed to do so.
Just think about the extravagance potentially hidden in those records.
It’s hardly surprising: The shelter system has become a playground for self-serving grifters.
Back in October, when the report was initially released, The Post reported that Garner Environmental Services, the organization chosen to replace the scandal-engulfed DocGo, was set to receive a staggering $457 million from the city — $25 million more than its predecessor.
Before that, DocGo expended a total of $1.7 million on nearly 10,000 unused hotel rooms that were supposedly allocated for migrants (which netted DocGo a favorable $408,680 in commissions).
At this rate, the city might do more good and waste less money by simply leaving piles of cash on random street corners.
The DOI report suggests appointing a chief compliance officer at Social Services, capping executive salaries at these nonprofits, and keeping a more watchful eye on shelter expenditures.
This has been an ongoing scandal: The SEBCO skimming dates back to the de Blasio administration, when at least a quarter of shelter contracts were awarded to scandal-ridden “nonprofits.”
That this continues under the new mayor falls not only on him but also on city Comptroller Brad Lander, who appears more focused on running for mayor than on overseeing how Social Services allocates billions in public funds.
Additionally, many nonprofits are connected to a network run by Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette: The entire social-services sector is rife with nepotism.
Moreover, these same nonprofits frequently serve as crucial stepping stones in the careers of future city politicians or the backbone of entire political factions.
While councilmembers may feign “shock” as they did during this week’s exchange with Commissioner Park, most are integral to a political “ecosystem” that, under the guise of charity, treats social services like an all-you-can-eat buffet funded by taxpayers.
