DYCD Measures Programs' Appeal: Serving City's Youth Better

DYCD Measures Programs' Appeal
Serving City's Youth Better

If it weren't for after-school programs, Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner Jeanne B. Mullgrav might never have been graduated from college.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James EMPATHY FOR HER CLIENTS: Youth and Community Development Commissioner Jeanne Mullgrav is refining the programs her agency offers for young people in the city's struggling neighborhoods to help ensure that 'every child has the opportunity that I had.' Ms. Mullgrav attended Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. At the time all graduates were required to complete a swimming course, a skill Ms. Mullgrav had learned during an after-school class she attended as a child growing up in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

'Every Kid Deserves It'

Over the past several years, Ms. Mullgrav has worked to ensure that other city children in needy areas receive similar after-school instructional opportunities. "I think every child should be fortunate to have the opportunity that I had," she remarked during an extensive interview in her lower Manhattan office.

Ms. Mullgrav and her staff of roughly 400 city employees have created a far-reaching computer program designed to better monitor where resources are going and how they are being spent.

The system is similar to the Police Department's widely-hailed Compstat program, which tracks where crimes are occurring and how officers and their supervisors are responding to problems.

The DYCD unveiled its Out-of-School Time program last September for youngsters ages 5 to 21 in every borough. The program's main goal is to target high-need areas where there is a high concentration of poverty, dropouts, English learners, and single parents.

What's Offered

Many of the programs are open on the majority of the 29 school holidays to help working parents. They are mainly run by private non-profit companies, which are financed with a combination of city, state and Federal funding. The extra instruction offers children sports and recreational activities, arts and cultural experiences, and leadership development training.

According to the DYCD, close to 50,000 students were served in 2005, a number that is expected to increase by 20,000 next year. DYCD works with a multitude of other city agencies to help keep the programs running efficiently. Those departments include: the Mayor's Office, the Department of Education, and the Administration for Children's Services.

In order to better monitor the private companies, the DYCD has hired more people with auditing experience. "We have drawn from the Contract Specialist list six times," Ms. Mullgrav noted, "which I understand is more than any other city agency."

The department, she added, is working with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to develop a new Associate Contract Specialist exam. The last test for that title was administered over 10 years ago.

Police 3,000 Contracts

Department Contract Specialists currently oversee more than 3,000 contracts, Ms. Mullgrav noted. "We use auditors to make sure that the city's money is well-spent," she said.

Under Ms. Mullgrav's leadership, the DYCD has also expanded and updated its highly competitive Summer Youth Employment program. In 2003, the Bloomberg administration moved oversight of the program from the Department of Employment to the DYCD.

The roughly 40,000 youths who participated last year were paid via city-issued debit cards. "Payroll was a tremendous undertaking in the past," Ms. Mullgrav said. "Imagine trying to get checks out to 40,000 young people dispersed through all the boroughs."

She added, "Eliminating the paper check accomplished a safety goal and exposed young people to traditional banking.

The summer jobs are offered in various fields, and 15 percent of the positions are based in large private-sector companies such as J.P. Morgan Chase. The jobs include staffing day camps, making videos, and pharmacy and nursing work.

The program has proved popular. Youths are "selected by lottery because the city generally has twice as many young people seeking placement in the program as it has slot," Ms. Mullgrav said.

To offset additional costs as a result of the increase in minimum wage, the DYCD is seeking to obtain an additional $5 million in funding. All participants, she pointed out, are required to take 17 hours of courses that highlight financial literacy, health education, and other important areas. "We thought that was critical," she remarked. "If you have 42,000 over the summer, it's a lost opportunity if you don't take the time to explore with them what their secondary opportunities and options are."

The summer program also targets youths with disabilities. "Young people with disabilities are often isolated," she commented. Last year, over 2,000 disabled students participated in the program.

Gauging Popularity

The department used technology it created for the summer plan to help make the after-school expansion more efficient. Private providers are now required to record how many children attend each class.

But some vendors have complained that the added record-keeping has made their difficult jobs even harder. Michael Ognibene, a spokesman for the DYCD, defended the use of new technology. "You can't begin to coordinate an evaluation of the programs' effectiveness unless you have data," he asserted, noting that change is always difficult at first.

The online records have allowed the department to assign staff to better monitor and help structure more productive classes. "It certainly has eased the burden of staff," he said. "Instead of doing administrative work, they are doing program work."

Ms. Mullgrav, who said she visits different programs weekly, echoed that sentiment. "This is a morale booster for the staff: To see that the papers connect to a young person," she said.