- 1. SPIDER INTERNSHIP FUND SUMMER FELLOWSHIP: HUMAN SERVICES
COUNCIL NEW YORK, NY Laurina Santi
2. What is HSC? 3. Policy and Advocacy Team 4. Womens Equality
Agenda MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT The Womens Equality Agenda The Human
Services Council (HSC)s work to strengthen the not-for-profit human
services sectors ability to improve the lives of New Yorkers in
need is well aligned with the Womens Equality Agenda. HSC
represents over 1,500 not-for-profit human service organizations
through approximately 150 direct members and has assisted New
Yorkers of various backgrounds for over 20 years. Women, in
particular, are a core constituency of the organizations
represented under the HSC umbrella. HSC supports the passage of The
Womens Equality Agenda as it serves as another way to improve the
quality of life for women throughout New York State. The Womens
Equality Agenda, proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, outlines ways
in which women are more likely to be discriminated against in
housing and job markets, and the justice system. The agenda
suggests passing more legislation to eradicate current loopholes
that allow these various forms of gender discrimination and calls
for stricter enforcement of current policies to protect women
against discrimination. As the voice of human services sector in
New York, HSC supports the Womens Equality Agenda because it is a
stepping stone in achieving a goal of central importance to the
work of HSC and our member agencies, the reduction of poverty
throughout New York State. The Womens Equality Agenda aims to help
women in New York gain access to better employment opportunities,
suitable housing, and more protection by the law; strategies proven
to prevent women from falling into poverty. Women now are the
majority of college graduates, and single parent headed households
yet are still only paid $0.55 to $0.80 for every $1.00 made by a
man in New York. The lack of equal pay, as well as discrimination
against women with children and pregnant women for hiring and
promotions, and sexual harassment in the workplace make many womens
experiences in the job market difficult. With households heavily or
entirely dependent on the income generated by women, many women
cannot afford to avoid such barriers by leaving the job market
completely by staying home. With women becoming such a large
portion of the working population, more needs to be done to ensure
that they can continue to be sufficient providers for themselves
and their families. Women more than ever are needed to generate
income and support their families, and with current boundaries that
still exist within various sectors, being able to be a provider for
their families can be very difficult. The New York Womens
Foundation released a publication in March 2013 titled, Economic
Security and Well-being Index for Women in New York City that
examines quality of life issues for women in New York City based on
categories such as citizenship status, race/ethnicity, age, borough
of residence, and neighborhood/district within a borough. It
explores how such factors affect or correlate to outcomes such as
educational attainment, health/safety, and employment
status/income. The overall findings of the report state that women
in New York City specifically, face major obstacles in regards to
economic stability, health, and safety matters across all
categories. 1 1
http://www.nywf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/New-York-Womens-Foundation-Report.pdf
5. Hurricane Sandy Survey 6. Mayoral Forum 7. Social Media 8. HSC
Radio Show on WWRL 1600 9. The HOPE Count Blog Making it Count:
HOPE 2013 Homelessness in New York City continues to be a major
issue, with an alarming 50,700 people in NYC shelters, comprised of
12,100 homeless families with 21,200 homeless children. Nearly 1.7
million City residents officially are classified as poor, with
almost one in four living in poverty. These numbers show widening
disparities of incomes, with some of the wealthiest and poorest
people living in very close proximity. The lack of affordable
housing, coupled with funding cuts to programs that provide paths
to permanent housing has also increased the number of people at
risk of homelessness, and pushed once homeless people back into the
shelter system or on the streets. These numbers, while shocking,
only account for those who are currently living in homeless
shelters. But what about the homeless living on the streets?1 With
a population of more than eight million, 1 in 2,506 people in New
York City live on the streets. The HOPE Count, which stands for the
Homeless Outreach Population Estimate was started in 2005 to
provide a more accurate year-to-year measure of the homeless
population to assist in the evaluation of programs that help
homeless New Yorkers move into permanent housing. Volunteers travel
across New York City in groups during one night in January to
calculate the amount of homeless people living on the streets, as
opposed to in shelters. 2 On the night of the HOPE Count, the Citys
streets, parks, and subway stations are separated into
approximately 7,000 HOPE Areas, each about the size of a few square
blocks.3 In preparation for the HOPE Count, The Department of
Homeless Services (DHS) examines information provided by numerous
nonprofit outreach organizations and past HOPE results to divide
the City into high and low density areas in which populations of
unsheltered individuals are expected to be found. DHS uses this
approach to find concentrations of impoverished people to promote
sufficient use of services and work with community members to
ensure programs are effective and targeted toward high-risk
populations. The HOPE Count 2013 data was released in May with
mixed results, showing some significant changes in non-sheltered
homeless rates since 2005. Compared to 2005, The HOPE Count for
2013 recorded a 62 percent decrease in street homelessness for
surface areas, defined as public areas such as parks, and streets
excluding subway cars and train stations (which are calculated
separately), the city waterfront, areas beneath bridges and other
city infrastructure, as well as private lots or abandoned
buildings. The HOPE Count 2013 also recorded the highest numbers of
subway homeless population ever, at 1,841 people.4 In relation to
2012, the overall number of unsheltered people on the streets
decreased only slightly (down 82 people). These figures demonstrate
that while less people are staying on the streets, more people have
moved to underground shelter. In reaction to this new data, the
City and its partners will need to 1
http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/pages/basic-facts-about-homelessness-new-york-city
2 https://a071-hope.nyc.gov/hope/overview.aspx; DHS began surveying
parts of the City in 2003, and has conducted the count citywide
every year since 2005. 3
https://a071-hope.nyc.gov/hope/statistics.aspx 4
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/downloads/pdf/hope_2013_web_presentation.pdf
10. Income Equality Adjustment Memo The gender wage gap is still a
major issue in the workplace. HSC commends Governor Cuomo for
spearheading the Womens Equality Agenda, a major step forward for
women striving to live more economically stable lives and is
particularly happy to see a focus on pay equity. To further this
goal, HSC urges the governor to support the provision of an income
equity adjustment for nonprofit human services employees, the
majority of whom are women. The very first goal of the 10 point
plan calls for Strengthening laws that require Equal Pay for Equal
Work. But the Governor has the power to move this goal along even
further by including additional funds in nonprofit human service
contracts that can be used to support salaries in this field that
is heavily dominated by women. Over the last several years, there
has not been a Cost of Living Adjustment in the budget for this
critical workforce. This is substantial because Women constitute
80% of the human services nonprofit workforce, with women of color
also being 80% of the workforce. 1 Nonprofit employees make less
money compared to other sectors, with an average of $21.68 per hour
compared to other industries like state government employees who
make $23.77 per hour and local government employees who make an
average of $25.16 per hour.2 These wage differences based on
industry amount to the pay difference between women and men because
higher paid industries tend to be predominately male. 3 Studies
show many women are drawn to the nonprofit sector because they feel
the sector is more accommodating of working mothers, with more
flexibility around childrearing. In addition, many women report
that they feel more at ease working in the nonprofit sector due to
its more nurturing and personal culture. 4 However, a downside to
work in the nonprofit sector is lower salaries compared to other
industries with similar levels of responsibility. Research also
shows that occupations predominately held by women have lower
salaries, such as the human services sector5 , because of existing
gender biases that result from the undervaluing of the work. 6 This
undervaluing of work has been used to justify keeping wages lower,
thus perpetuating the gender wage gap. An income equity adjustment
would help women overcome these biases by placing more value on
industries like human services nonprofits with better pay matched
to the important work they do. Better pay would demonstrate that it
is important to governor that 1
http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/fpi-helping-the-helpers-nonprofits-and-the-nyc-economy.pdf
2 http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20081022ar01p1.htm 3
http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-by-occupation-1
4 http://www.pmranet.org/conferences/OSU2009/papers/Lee,%20Young-
joo.%20%20The%20Determinates%20of%20Sector%20Choice%20-
%20What%20Attracts%20People%20to%20the%20Nonprofit%20Sector%20and%20are%20there%20Gender%20Di
fferences.pdf 5
http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination 6
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CEcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fw
ww.iwpr.org%2Fpublications%2Fpubs%2Fending-sex-and-race-discrimination-in-theworkplace-legal-interventions-
that-push-the-envelope-
1%2Fat_download%2Ffile&ei=IUfxUaP2NJHk8gSi7YDwDg&usg=AFQjCNFfImJJ1kp5ZmDb4VfoB8EID5uykQ&bvm=bv
.49784469,d.eWU 11. Reflections LAURINA M. SANTI
[email protected] 28 Westhampton Way, UR 2006, University of
Richmond, VA 23173 (914) 319-8940 EXPERIENCE The Human Services
Council of New York, New York, NY May 2013 August 2013 Intern,
Policy and Advocacy Department Research and drafting of memos of
HSCs support of legislation affecting human services nonprofits
Social media management of HSCs Twitter and Facebook pages;
increased Twitter followers by over 100 people Organization of
mailings and candidate packets for upcoming citywide elections
Event planning for a mayoral forum co-hosted by HSC Member outreach
to HSCs clients Planning and data collection for a survey
co-conducted by HSC on the human services sectors role in Hurricane
Sandy relief efforts * Drafted, edited, and promoted several of
HSCs more recent blog posts * Marketing and promotion of HSCs radio
show via social media University of Richmonds School of Law Deans
Office, Richmond, VA August 2012 April 2013 Student Assistant Aided
administrative assistants on staff with basic office duties
Delivered receipts and reimbursements to university cashier
Photocopying and paper filing The HOPE Program, Brooklyn, NY June
2012- August 2012 Intern, Employment Department Composed
presentations for students/clients on job training/interview skills
Organized materials for mock interview exercises and activities for
students Created compilations of job listings/leads for clients
Reached out to HOPE Program alums to maintain contact with program
post-employment placement Assisted the employment team with
outreach and guidance to Current and past clients EDUCATION
University Of Richmond, Richmond, VA August 2010 Present Date of
Expected Graduation: May 2014 Major: Education and Public Policy
Prep for Prep, New York, NY June 2004 Present ACTIVITIES Youth Life
Foundation of Richmond, Highland Park Learning Center September
2012- Present Richmond, VA Student Mentor Tutored school aged
children Pathways to a College Experience (PACE), Richmond, VA
September 2010 Present Student Mentor Assisted inner city 11th
grade students in career options after high school, with a focus on
college attendance and the college application process SKILLS
Proficient in Spanish, Portuguese Proficient in MAC, PC, Microsoft
Office Suite, Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar, Social Media, Sales
force, etc. 12. Links, Sources, and Resources
www.humanservicescouncil.org/ www.whocares-ido.org/
https://twitter.com/HSC_NY https://twitter.com/WhoCares_IDo
https://www.facebook.com/HSC.NY
https://www.facebook.com/WhoCaresIDo
http://www.wwrl1600.com/Voices-of-Human-
Services-Debuts-Wednesday-Night- at/16675769
