NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – The city will significantly increase the number of migrant families receiving prepaid debit cards to buy food and baby supplies, a program that drew significant criticism at its launch, according to reports.
Now, debit cards will be handed out to 7,300 more people over the next six months, The New York Times reported. Since its launch, the program has served about 900 families.
The cards, initially launched in February, which will replace city-provided food boxes handed out at hotels. They'll get loaded with $350 a week for a family of four with two children under 5 years old, according to city officials.
It’s been met with some pushback, but city officials have said the debit cards will end up saving the city up to $600,000.
“This is not something extra that we’re doing, this is us trying to think of an innovative way to make sure that we are giving people what we’re required to give them but that we are being efficient and not wasteful,” Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom told PIX11 News in March.
New Jersey-based company MoCaFi is working with the city on the program, and was awarded a $53 million emergency contract to administer the program – around $2 million of which would ultimately go to the company, city officials said.
And, the program has features built in to prevent misuse and fraud, Williams-Isom told PIX11 News.
“We are making sure we are putting in guardrails so people can only buy food and baby supplies,” Williams-Isom said. “So if you try to go to Bloomingdale’s and use it for shoes, it will be rejected. If there are things where we see people abuse it, we can take the card back.”
Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered New York City since 2023. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here.
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