Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio Appoints Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services

New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio appointed Department for the Aging Commissioner Lilliam Barrios-Paoli as the new Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services today.

In addition to the Department for the Aging, Barrios-Paoli has experience working in numerous city agencies and non-profit organizations throughout her career.  De Blasio says this resume, combined with her passion and integrity, made her an obvious choice for the job.

"Very few people in this city have a stronger understanding of what New York City government is capable of doing for its people"

De Blasio says 46% of New Yorkers are at or near the poverty level, with more than 50,000 living in the city's homeless shelters, both unprecented levels.  Because of this, Barrios-Paoli has made combatting and preventing homelessness one of her main goals as deputy mayor.

"Once you stop preventing the problem, all you do is remediate; and it's ten times more expensive to do, and painful from a human point of view."

Barrios-Paoli will also oversee other social services, like healthcare expansion and youth education.