Jewish Family Services plans new partnership with NYC to settle asylum seekers

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- More efforts are being made to aid asylum seekers in Erie County.

On Wednesday morning, Jewish Family Services (JFS) announced plans to partner with New York City to help get migrants living in Western New York out of hotels and into more permanent housing.

At no cost to local taxpayers, Jewish Family Services intends to enter into a $22.4 million contract with New York City, with the city footing the bill. The program specifically aims to help 539 asylum seekers in Amherst and Cheektowaga with housing, and also provide support services as they get integrated into the community.

JFS CEO Molly Carr says the organization is "not limited in regards to geographics," but is aiming to get the migrants into housing where public transportation is easily accessible. They hope to get everyone re-settled within nine months, but Carr noted that it could take up to a year.

“It is extremely diverse and these are all individuals who have individual needs,” Carr said.

This new route of assistance for migrants would be a transition away from DocGo, which Ryan says New York City has been paying more to get asylum seekers into hotels.

"As opposed to paying that private company money to put people in hotels, at a cost of $50,000 per year just for the hotel room for one person, they’re going to transition that into a full range of services," he says of the contract with Jewish Family Services.

The transition of services from DocGo to JFS is anticipated to take place over the summer.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been a controversial figure in the effort to house migrants, with the city appearing to have taken on more than it can handle.

"It's clear, New York City was facing a crisis," Ryan said Wednesday morning.

It was this past June when dozens of asylum seekers came from New York's biggest city to Cheektowaga, with hundreds more arriving later in Erie County. Some local leaders, including County Executive Mark Poloncarz, embraced them with open arms.

But the arrival of these migrants was met with controversy. A number of other local leaders critiqued the decision to bring asylum seekers here, especially in light of arrests that took place over the summer.

New York State has pointed fingers at NYC’s handling of the crisis. This past August, legal counsel representing Gov. Kathy Hochul, essentially, said that the city could have done better, citing the help Adams has received from New York State and the strain the city has put on state resources.

“The City has not made timely requests for regulatory changes, has not always promptly shared necessary information with the State, has not implemented programs in a timely manner, and has not consulted the State before taking certain actions,” an excerpt from the counsel’s letter to NYC’s 81st Corporation Counsel reads.

And at the federal level, there have been bipartisan calls for action.

NY-23 Congressman and former New York Republican State Committee Chairman Nick Langworthy said “This crisis is a result of President Biden’s dangerous open border policies and the sanctuary state policies of Albany Democrats."

Hochul, the most powerful voice in New York State, previously said it was “past time” for President Joe Biden to take action on the situation.

“The reality is, we’ve managed thus far without substantive support from Washington, despite the fact that this is a nation and inherently a federal issue,” Hochul said in August, after DocGo said 100,000 migrants had come to NYC.

It's been months since any new asylum seekers have been sent to the Buffalo area by New York City.

"We are not here to solve the migrant crisis," Carr said Wednesday morning. "We are here to help manage and alleviate the crisis."