Letter Report on The New York City Department of Veterans’ Services’ Compliance with Local Law 44 Of 2019 Regarding Annual Report On The Department’s Services And Performance
Executive Summary
This Letter Report concerns the New York City Comptroller’s audit of the New York City (City) Department of Veterans’ Services’ (DVS) compliance with Local Law 44 of 2019, which requires that DVS (1) submit an annual report to City Council regarding specified aspects of its services and performance, and (2) post a copy of this annual report on its website. The objective of this audit was to determine whether DVS has complied with these requirements of Local Law 44.
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 2016.1 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 New York 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 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 benefits, resources, and care Citywide. 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 provided by the City, State, and federal governments to obtain information and gain access to benefits. Accordingly, in 2019, New York City Council passed Local Law 44, amending the City’s Administrative Code in relation to additional reporting requirements for DVS. Local Law 44 specifically requires that DVS, by December 15 of each year, create an annual report regarding its services and performance for the prior fiscal year, submit the report to the Speaker of the Council, and post the report on its website. The local law specifies that the DVS annual report include, among other metrics, a list and description of the services the agency provides, the number of its employees, a list of their functional titles, the number of employees in each functional title, and the general responsibilities for each title. In addition, the local law mandates that the annual report include the number of veterans who have inquired about DVS’ services, the number who have received services from DVS, and how veterans and their families learned about the services provided by the agency.
Audit Findings and Conclusions
Our audit found that DVS generally complied with Local Law 44. DVS submitted its first annual report regarding its services and performance for Fiscal Year 2019 to the New York City Council on December 15, 2019 and posted the report on its website.2 The report lists and describes the types of services provided by DVS; the total number of employees, a list of all functional titles, the number of employees in each functional title, and a summary of the general responsibilities for each title. Additionally, it includes a monthly summary of the total number of interactions in which DVS provided services to veterans, caretakers, active service members, and their families, and specified the locations where those interactions occurred among DVS’ main office at 1 Centre Street in Manhattan, its five resource centers throughout the five boroughs, or in the field at community events. In addition, as required by Local Law 44, the data is disaggregated by the types of services provided and the borough in which the interaction occurred.
Furthermore, the report includes the types of disaggregated services that veterans have made inquiries about, including calls that were made through 311, by borough and per month, The report also includes the numerous methods that DVS utilizes to provide information to veterans, their families, caretakers, and active service members, and the methods by which veterans and their families learned about DVS. Moreover, it lists the field services provided by DVS in each borough, per month, and the systems utilized by DVS to calculate the performance indicators in the report.
Audit Recommendations
The audit that DVS continue to maintain its compliance with Local Law 44 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.
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 44 so that we can effectively meet the needs of our veterans who seek access to services, resources, and benefits at resource centers, outreach events, or online.” The full text of DVS’ response is included as an addendum to this report.