Final Letter Report On The New York City Department Of Veterans’ Services’ Compliance With Local Law 215 Of 2018 Regarding The Creation Of Veterans Resource Centers
Executive Summary
This Final Letter Report concerns the New York City Comptroller’s audit of the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services’ (DVS’) compliance with Local Law 215 of 2018, which governs the development of veterans resource centers. The objective of this audit was to determine whether DVS has complied with the requirements of Local Law 215. Our audit of DVS is one in a series of audits we are conducting on whether DVS is complying with various local laws requiring it to provide access to services, resources, and benefits for veterans.
New York City, with a population of more than 8.5 million people, is home to approximately 210,808 veterans; 189,808 are active duty veterans and 21,000 are reserves or National Guard veterans. To help veterans, service members, and their families identify and connect to necessary services, DVS was established as a City agency in April 2016. As an agency of the City, DVS works with other City, New York State (State), and federal agencies, as well as regional private and not-for-profit partners, to improve the lives of all City veterans and their families. Among other things, DVS seeks to ensure that homeless veterans have permanent housing and access to the support services they need to find and maintain their homes. In addition, DVS seeks to expand education and career opportunities for veterans and to provide information to them and their families about the availability of Citywide benefits, resources, and care. DVS states that it is committed to supporting veterans’ overall mental health and to specifically helping veterans cope with the full impact of war and their military service. DVS serves service members, veterans, or family members regardless of their era of service, branch of service, or discharge status.
Veterans rely on resources at the City, State, and federal levels to obtain information on and gain access to benefits. Accordingly, in 2018, New York City Council passed Local Law 215, amending the City’s Administrative Code in relation to the creation of veterans resource centers. Local Law 215 requires that DVS establish and operate at least one veterans resource center in each borough to provide veterans with up-to-date information regarding housing, social services, financial assistance, discharge upgrade resources, and federal, state, and local benefits available to veterans. Each borough must have a minimum of 20 hours of combined field and in-office services per week, including at least 10 consistent office hours. Each location is to be in close proximity to public transportation and easily accessible to persons with disabilities. Additionally, each center’s hours of operation should be clearly displayed on the premises and information pertaining to the resource centers should be available on DVS’ website. Furthermore, it requires that DVS submit a report pertaining to the operation of the resource centers beginning January 1, 2020 and every six months thereafter to the Mayor and the New York City Council.
Audit Findings and Conclusions
Our audit found that DVS generally complies with Local Law 215, with one exception discussed below. As the law requires, DVS established and operates a resource center for veterans in each borough. Each resource center is in close proximity to public transportation and accessible to persons with disabilities. The resource centers are normally open at least twice per week from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on select days (in-person services at the resource centers are suspended at present because of the COVID-19 emergency). DVS’ Engagement & Community Services Coordinators at each resource center are equipped with copies of DVS’ Veterans Resource Guide and provide veterans with free counseling and up-to-date information regarding housing, social services, financial assistance, discharge upgrade resources, and federal, state, and local benefits available to veterans. DVS engages in several community outreach and education efforts to inform veterans about the resource centers and the services provided at the resource centers.
Additionally, DVS’ website provides information about the veterans resource centers including the address, contact information, hours of operation, and services provided. Moreover, DVS submitted its first bi-annual report regarding the operation of the resource centers to the Mayor and City Council on December 15, 2019.
DVS provides services to veterans and veteran family members at its five resource centers, which are located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. The Manhattan resource center, currently located in DVS’ main office at 1 Centre Street, Room 2208, had been operating on Monday and Thursday. The Brooklyn resource center is located within the NYC Department of Small Business Services’ Workforce 1 Career Center at 9 Bond Street, 5th Floor, on Monday and Wednesday, where veterans can also find assistance with jobs, training, and small business services. The resource centers in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island are located within their respective Offices of the Borough Presidents (Borough Halls): the Bronx resource center operates at 851 Grand Concourse, Room 209, on Wednesday and Thursday; the resource center in Queens is located at 120-55 Queens Boulevard, Room 222, on Monday and Thursday; and Staten Island’s resource center is located at 10 Richmond Terrace, Room G-15, on Tuesday and Wednesday. (As noted previously, in-person services at these resource centers are suspended at present because of the COVID-19 emergency.)
However, we found that DVS’ hours of operations were not clearly displayed at DVS’ Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and Manhattan resource centers. The resource center in the Bronx displays the general office hours of the Bronx Borough President’s Office, which are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Brooklyn resource center displays the general hours of the Workforce 1 Career Center, which are Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Staten Island resource center displays general office hours of the Staten Island Borough President’s Office, which are Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. The Queens and Manhattan resource centers display general office hours, which are Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The hours that are displayed at each of the resource centers are the buildings’ hours of operation, not when the DVS resource center is available to veterans.
Each resource center is staffed with one of DVS’ Engagement & Community Services Coordinators who is equipped with physical copies of the Veterans Resource Guide and is knowledgeable about the benefits, programs, and resources to which veterans are entitled. The Coordinators are also able to talk with and assist veterans or veteran family members and connect them with employment services, educational benefits, financial services, and business opportunities. As part of their outreach and education efforts, Coordinators also attend community events to connect with veterans and inform them of DVS’ resource center locations, programs, and capacity to connect them to the necessary resources and benefits. DVS also has a podcast named SITREP designed to inform and inspire by telling the stories of New York City veterans, military families, and community supporters. The podcast features guests exchanging information and conversing with DVS staff, constituents, and community partners about their trials and triumphs and their motivations for service. The podcast encourages veterans to engage with the resource centers to obtain up-to-date information. Additionally, DVS’ newsletters contain information about its programs, initiatives, events, and news affecting NYC veterans and their families. DVS also utilizes its social media accounts to communicate with veterans.
Furthermore, DVS’ website provides information on the resource centers including the address, contact information, hours of operation, and services provided at each center. The website also provides direct links that are pertinent to veteran benefits and resources including its Veterans Resource Guide and Resource Map, VetConnectNYC, programs, press releases, newsletters, multimedia, and community events. DVS’ interactive Resource Map displays resources for NYC’s military and their families provided by City agencies and veteran services organizations that partner with DVS. Each site on the map depicts the name, service type, hours, address, building details, city, zip code, walk-in acceptability, phone number, email address, website, and service details of the location. In addition, VetConnectNYC further serves to reduce the complexity of navigating resources and benefits by operating as a hub through which veterans can connect to over 80 vetted service providers and a coordination team dedicated to connecting them to the necessary services. Organizations in the network span the range of life needs, in areas including legal services, housing, mental health assistance, education, and employment.
Audit Recommendations
The audit recommends that DVS continue to maintain its compliance with Local Law 215 to ensure it effectively meets the needs of veterans who seek access to veteran services, resources, and benefits at resource centers, outreach events, or online. The audit also recommends that DVS veterans resource centers clearly display the correct office hours on premises.
Agency Response
In their response, DVS officials agreed with the audit’s findings and recommendation, stating, “DVS will continue to maintain compliance with Local Law 215 so that we can continue to effectively ensure that we meet the needs of Veterans who seek access to veteran services, resources, and benefits at our resource centers. Further, DVS will ensure that our Veterans’ Resource Centers clearly display the correct office hours on premises.”