Statement from NYC Comptroller Brad Lander on Competitive RFPs for Asylum Seeker Services 

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released the following statement:

“After two years, it is good to finally see the Adams Administration move toward replacing expiring emergency contracts for asylum seeker services with vendors selected through a competitive bid process. Competitive bidding leads to better prices, better oversight, and better vendors.

“For many months, my office has called out the overuse of no-bid emergency contracts. Last July, we issued a memo to City agencies regarding cost containment procedures for emergency procurement, noting that even within emergency contracting, agencies are required to utilize as much competition is practicable. In September, we rejected the Administration’s $432 million no-bid contract with DocGo, a for-profit medical staffing company with no experience providing shelter or services for asylum seekers.

“In November, our contracts team comprehensively examined the pitfalls of emergency procurement. When these pitfalls were not addressed, we revoked the blanket prior approval for asylum seeker contracts that we had previously extended in December.

“This February, our auditors compared the top four for-profit staffing contracts being used to provide onsite services to asylum seekers and found that they were not only expensive, but provided inconsistent services across the different shelters.

“When the Adams Administration agreed earlier this spring to end the DocGo contract, we agreed to work with them to expedite the competitive RFP being announced today. While we are encouraged by this step forward, we continue–as we have been doing for over a year–to call on the Administration to prioritize outcomes such as work authorization, employment, and moves to stable housing that it has neglected to date, as we found in our recent investigation of the 60-day shelter eviction rule.

“In Buffalo, a new contract with Jewish Family Services of Western New York is to replace the City’s DocGo contract for far less money than we were paying DocGo. The new contract utilizes a ‘refugee resettlement’ model that provides 9-to-12 months of legal services, support for authorization applications, case management, workforce development and jobs placement, and housing assistance. There is good reason to believe this model will be more cost effective and have better outcomes for helping individuals and families transition to self-sufficiency. We should deploy this model in New York City as well; I hope the Administration will utilize today’s RFP to do so.

“My office will continue to conduct strong oversight of City procurement, to ensure vendor integrity, cost containment, quality services, and effective outcomes, in this and other areas.”

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