The Jersey City Council inquired about the consequences of major cuts within the Department of Health and Human Services at another budget hearing this afternoon, poised for up to 35 percent cuts in the preliminary municipal spending plan.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
“We have an advanced nurse practitioner who resigned,” Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros noted about the Disease Prevention Division.
“We do currently have an RN (registered nurse). We can fulfill all the obligations. We do not have the city funds,” Disease Prevention Division Director Paul Cate replied, noting it was a grant-funded position.
Ephros asked what additional work the clinic could do, to which Cate said they could have Saturday hours, if they had the proper funds.
“We did have challenges with hiring based on salary allocations. Nurse practitioners typically make significantly more.”
“It doesn’t like this budget has much in the way of resources,” Ward C Councilman Tom Zuppa noted about Veterans Affairs and inquired about the services they provided.
HHS Director Linda Ivory-Green concurred.
“We don’t really have any dollars to do anything for our vets: We will have to be creative and look for sponsorship,” she replied.
“Do we have any state grants we can apply for?” Councilwoman at-Large Mamta Singh asked, to which Ivory-Green said they are actively looking for grants.
Ephros then asked what the day-to-day is like, given their clear lack of resources.
“We’re more of a referrals agency. We have a strong partnership with the county and the state … vets often become lost in the bureaucracy,” HHS Chief of Administrative Services Brooke Hansson said.
“What are the top-line needs you’re hearing based on the calls that are coming in?” Ephros asked.
“Looking at the veteran population, the greatest need is food insecurity, housing insecurity, and mental health support,” Hansson answered.
Councilman at-Large Rolando Lavarro inquired about the Office of Immigrant Affairs, specifically regarding their salary allocations.
“So, there were grant salaries in 2025. It’s unclear whose salary was offset … That means we’re picking up the salaries in 2026. Is that accurate?” Lavarro asked.
“Yes, that was just under $5 million covering salary offsets for three years,” Hansson said, noting it covered costs for veterans, immigrants, and recreation.
Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore asked Immigrant Affairs Director Lee Chang about their printing and advertising budget.
Chang said they printed an immigrant resource guide in 2024, which was released in Spanish, Arabic, and Hindi, calling them “almost like the yellow pages providing the immigrant service providers.”
Lavarro asked if it was really necessary to have a line item for the booklets annually.
“There is no plan to print due to the expenses … Those vendors are still very much active,” Chang replied.
“In-house printing would be able to get this done. I think we need information for our residents, especially those fearful of being detained,” Lavarro added.
“It would have been our hope to update the resource directory this year because with all the current changes, new information needs to be provided. We can also try to do it in-house,” interjected Ivory-Green.
Zuppa then asked how many cases the Office of Immigrant Affairs handled so fair this year.
“We would provide upwards of 50 various sources. Mainly for documented immigrants,” Chang began.
“About 50 individuals a month, right?” Zuppa sough to clarify.
On average in 2026, we see 20 plus individuals a month, and provide over 50 different types of services,” Chang replied.
Additionally, Health Officer Paul Bellan-Boyer, who also oversees the injury prevention division, said the budget document can probably use an update since a lot of those positions are funded by grants.
Gilmore questioned the recreation literature before realizing that line item was being removed.
“Yes, I think that looking at the work, many informational materials are things we can produce essentially with no out-of-pocket cost,” Bellan-Boyer said.
Gilmore noted that apparel and toiletries for the unhoused were cut from $10,000 to $5,000.
“There are coats for winter wear, which are a critical need. Occasionally, we have clients who need basic clothing,” Bellan-Boyer noted.
“Those line items are essential, and I just don’t take it for granted all our unhoused population has the ability to get essentials. While were looking to make cuts … we just need to be very wary of the demographic and the unintended collateral effects of what we’re cutting,” Gilmore added.
Bellan-Boyer said they definitely agree with him about the need.
“Can you please tell us what this department does?” Singh asked about the Social Services and Community Relations division.
Director Stephanie Daniels said it was created for the Partnership for a Healthier JC, which mainly consists of nonprofit coordination.
“Could you give me an example of the work u did in 2025?” Singh asked.
“We had a mini-grant program where children were able to do summer camp… They went to museums. They went to upstate, to parks, forests they had never seen. The grant was something like $400,000,” Daniels explained.
Following a question from Lavarro, she noted her division was managing the opioid settlement grants, which are a separate line item.
Later, Gilmore asked why they spent $50,000 on website maintenance, Daniels said it encapsulated much more than that, noting it included social media and other services that have since been cancelled.
“Printing and advertising, you spent $50,000. Can u guys speak to that?” Gilmore continued.
“We create campaigns for all the divisions of Health and Human Services,” Daniels responded.
“What specific material were printed to the tune of $50,000?” Gilmore pressed on.
Daniels said she would get him that information, to which Gilmore suggested booklets and similar materials should be printed in house.
He also pointed out that the Department of Public Works (DPW) has a print shop the city could use more.
“Can you speak to the grant that we had in 2025? It’s quite a large number and seems to not be available,” Ward B Councilman Joel Brooks asked about the Division of Food and Nutrition.
“That’s the Expanding Local Public Health Infrastructure. Those were COVID dollars. That was the 4.5 million we were expending over three years,” Hansson explained.
Zuppa was curious about how they were hiring senior bus drivers as part of the budget amendment process.
“For every person, for every senior that is engaged … every senior who is socially engaged, we receive funding for. These people who are providing services to seniors, their salaries are more than covered by the revenue,” stated Ivory-Green.
