Shelter fix

After reports of an unscrupulous homeless-services provider, Mayor de Blasio’s response was to say there is simply a shortage of qualified homeless-services providers and the city has to take what it can get (“$4.6B shelter shame,” Oct. 12). This is wrong and hides a deeper problem.

Qualified providers can’t afford to take on these programs because they are underfunded and poorly designed. The city only covers 80 percent of the cost of providing services, and reimbursement often comes late, requiring nonprofits to pay poverty-level wages and carry interest-bearing loans.

As someone representing hundreds of these organizations, I can tell you the work our providers do is difficult and complicated. But they are qualified, diligent, creative and dedicated to changing lives and making all of our communities better.

If the mayor really wanted to solve homelessness, he would partner directly with these providers and stop making excuses.

Michelle Jackson, Executive Director, Human Services Council of New York, Manhattan