Report on the Potential Duplication, Overlap, and Fragmentation of New York City’s Employment-Related Programs

Executive Summary

The objectives of this study were to: 1) identify employment-related programs administered by New York City (City) agencies, the resources allocated, and the populations served by these programs; 2) determine the degree to which duplication, overlap, or fragmentation exists among such programs; and 3) identify potential opportunities for creating greater efficiencies.  The scope of this study was Fiscal Years (FYs) 2013 and 2014 (July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2014).  In recognition of the fact that there are no standard publications or resources that consistently and comprehensively report on the sources and uses of funds allocated to City-run employment programs, this study was undertaken to identify information about such programs.

To conduct this study, we employed methods similar to those used by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is required to identify and report annually to Congress on federal programs, agencies, offices and initiatives with duplicative goals and activities. ¹  In accordance with this mandate, the GAO has issued a number of reports identifying duplication, overlap, and fragmentation of programs and services across the federal landscape where opportunities exist for cost savings and enhanced revenues.

In this study, we targeted employment-related service programs administered by City agencies and focused on apparent indications of duplication, overlap, and fragmentation.  For the purposes of this report, closely mirroring the definitions employed by the GAO, the following definitions apply:

• Duplication occurs when two or more agencies (or organizational units within an agency) are each independently engaged in the same type of program or activity and/or provide the same service to the same beneficiaries (target population).
• Overlap occurs when multiple agencies (or organizational units within an agency) engage in the provision of similar services and/or target similar beneficiaries.
• Fragmentation exists when more than one agency or organizational unit within an agency administers or is involved in the same program.

Results and Recommendations

During FYs 2013 and 2014, a total of 14 City agencies were involved in the administration of 90 employment-related programs at a cost of more than $1.09 billion over the two-year period.  Collectively, the agencies reported that these programs provided services to more than 440,000 program participants at a cost of $535.3 million in FY 2013, and more than 480,000 participants at a cost of $554.7 million in FY 2014.²   The total number of people who participated in these programs was almost certainly lower than totals reported, however, because individuals may have participated in more than one employment-related program during the period reviewed.

The City requires agencies to allocate and report the costs of their programs so that those costs can be aggregated in the Comptroller’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.  However, we found that there is no standardized framework for allocating and tracking program costs or participant populations.  Consequently, we were unable to perform per participant analysis of program costs and instead focused our analysis on the program data reported by the agencies that could reasonably be compared.

Based on the information provided by 14 agencies, we identified no instances in which it appears that duplication, as defined above, existed.  Conversely, we found that all of the programs had some level of overlap in the category of services provided and all but one had overlap in the populations targeted.  Further, in our review of possible fragmentation, we identified 10 programs that involved the collaboration of two or more agencies; however, none of the agencies identified instances of fragmentation within their respective organizations.

Key study observations include:

• More than 70 percent of overall program funding was allocated to programs administered by the Human Resources Administration (HRA), the Department of Education (DOE), and the Department for Youth and Community Development (DYCD).
• Almost 75 percent of the participants were reportedly served by programs administered by HRA and the Department of Small Business Services (DSBS).
• The Parks Opportunity Program, administered by both HRA and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), was the highest funded fragmented program, accounting for over $147 million.  The second highest funded fragmented program was the Summer Youth Employment Program, administered by DOE and DYCD, accounting for $88.6 million.  Collectively, these two programs accounted for more than two-thirds (69 percent) of the funding allocated for fragmented programs.
• The populations targeted by the City’s employment-related programs fell under 12 demographic groupings.  People who are unemployed workers or employed and low-income workers were as a group targeted the most, with 29 of the City’s 90 programs targeted in whole or in part to that demographic, followed by cash assistance recipients and High School/ College/ GED prep students (13 programs each), general public (10 programs), and jail sentenced individuals (inmates) (8 programs).
• Agencies reported that 90 percent of the City’s employment-related programs provided multiple services (i.e., employment counseling and assessment, development of job opportunities, job readiness and skills training, job referral, job placement, and other non-employment related services).  Specifically, we noted that 18 percent of the programs provided services that fell under all six employment-related service categories and another 46 percent fell under five categories.
• Of the City’s 10 fragmented programs, the Mayor’s Center for Economic Opportunity reported that it collaborated or partnered with other agencies on seven of them.

The identification of overlap and fragmentation in a program does not necessarily mean that inefficiencies and wastefulness exist.  Nonetheless, the existence of duplication, overlap, and/or fragmentation of programs may be an indication that there are opportunities to save taxpayer dollars, maximize budgetary resources, and create greater efficiency of program operations and performance.

However, the ability to conduct a comparative analysis among agencies of participant involvement and the expenditure of resources was limited due to variations in the manner in which agencies reported costs and participant information related to these programs.  Thus, the degree to which the City is able to use a study such as this to identify opportunities to maximize its scarce resources depends on the ability of the City to reconcile these variations and make meaningful comparisons between agencies, programs and populations served.

To address the issues raised in this study and to help achieve greater efficiencies in employment programs, we recommend that:

• The City develop a standard framework and implement guidelines for agencies to use to track and report relevant data (resources expended, participants served, etc.) associated with the City’s employment-related programs.
• The City comprehensively review the areas identified in this study where overlap and fragmentation of programs or services exist to evaluate where savings could be achieved, costs reduced and/or operational efficiencies enhanced.
• The City evaluate its employment-related programs on a periodic basis (e.g., annually or bi-annually) to identify the extent to which non-mandatory overlap, duplication, or fragmentation of services exists.  Where such conditions are identified, the City should consider consolidating employment programs where feasible.

It is our hope that the Mayor’s Office along with agencies and organizations involved in New York City’s workforce development initiatives and systems will view this report as a resource to help them determine whether opportunities exist to reduce duplication, overlap, and/or fragmentation in City employment-related programs and to work toward increasing efficiency in managing scarce budgetary resources allocated to employment-related programs citywide.  The degree to which the City is able to use this and further studies to maximize its scarce resources is dependent in part on the degree to which it is able to satisfactorily address the challenges outlined herein.