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**For Immediate Release**
November 25, 2008
Contact: Sarah Krauss
212.669.4193; 917.541.0936
Release #: 042-2008
PA Gotbaum: Long Wait Times, Multiple Visits, Other Problems Create Barriers to Accessing Needed Benefits at City Job Centers
Public Advocate calls on HRA to revise current process
Read the Report
MANHATTAN-- A new survey released by Public Advocate Gotbaum today finds that New Yorkers visiting the Human Resources Administration (HRA) Job Centers are facing unnecessary barriers to accessing public benefits, including excessively long wait times, multiple visits, workflow problems such as misplaced documents and non-working computers, and lack of clear explanation of rules and requirements. On average, clients at Model Job Centers waited longer and spent more hours per visit than clients at non-model centers.
The New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) determines eligibility and provides low-income New Yorkers with public benefits, such as cash assistance, food stamps, and public health insurance. In the late 1990s, a series of state and federal welfare reform laws created a new model for public assistance emphasizing work and personal responsibility and introduced five-year time limits on cash assistance. In March 1998, as part of the new emphasis on “work first,” HRA converted city welfare offices into Job Centers. Job Centers provide both cash and non-cash assistance. Job Center staff help clients find employment and apply or recertify for public benefits.
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said, “Low-income New Yorkers already face enough problems making ends meet – long wait times and missing paperwork shouldn’t be among them. During these challenging economic times, many more New Yorkers rely on public benefits to put food on the table and take care of loved ones. Accessing benefits can be difficult and complicated, especially for people whose primary language isn’t English. This administration needs to do everything in their power to make sure this process runs as smoothly as possible, starting with allowing advocates to set up help desks in benefits offices.”
Joel Berg, Executive Director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger said, “The City has made some progress in increasing access to public benefits, but this important new report by the Public Advocate explains just how much work still needs to be done. At a time of financial crisis, it’s now more important than ever that the City take more aggressive steps to remove barriers that make it difficult for struggling families to access the federal benefits to which they are entitled.”
Bich Ha Pham, Director of Policy, Advocacy and Research at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies said, “This important and timely survey confirms what social service providers working with welfare recipients have consistently experienced in regards to problems with timely accessing of city services. As the economy continues to worsen and families run out of unemployment benefits and need to turn to public assistance, it is vital that we have an efficient, fully functioning and humane safety net program.”
Public Advocate staff interviewed HRA clients who indicated they were currently receiving public benefits and had visited an HRA Job Center more than once in the past year. Surveyors collected a total of 100 surveys, twenty from five randomly selected HRA Job Centers, one in each borough. Survey findings include:
• Eighty-two percent of respondents said long waits were a problem when dealing with public benefit offices. On average, clients spent 20.3 hours per year in Job Centers.
• The majority of respondents (73 percent) returned to a Job Center two or more times in the past year because of problems with their benefits case.
• More than half of clients (52 percent) experienced workflow problems, including no record of a prior visit, HRA misplacing their documents, or computers not working at HRA Job Centers, and 24 percent reported that their eligibility or job opportunity specialist did not clearly explain the rules and requirements for receiving public benefits.
• Despite HRA’s efforts to improve wait times through the Model Office Initiative, clients at Model Centers, on average, spent 7.8 more hours per year in these centers than clients at non-Model Centers.
• For respondents at both Model and non-Model Centers, miscommunication with the eligibility or job opportunity specialist was the second most frequently cited problem, after long waits. The third most frequently cited problem was HRA misplacing their documents.
• Clients at the Richmond Model Job Center in Staten Island reported making the most visits and spending the most time per visit. They spent, on average, 20 more hours in the Job Center per year than Manhattan respondents and 18 more hours than Brooklyn respondents.
• Nearly half of all respondents (46 percent) rated their experience at HRA Job Centers as “bad” or “very bad.” Forty-eight percent of respondents at Model Centers rated their experience as “bad” or “very bad” compared to 43 percent at non-Model Centers.
HRA has made attempts to improve service and reduce barriers to accessing public benefits. In 2003, HRA established its Model Office Initiative in order to reorganize its Job Centers and non-cash food stamp offices. According to HRA, the purpose of the Model Office Initiative is to “streamline workflow, reduce wait time for applicants and recipients, and create greater, more efficient access to services in our centers.” Currently, 13 of the 27 HRA Job Centers are Model Job Centers. Features of Model Centers include the Front Door Reception Information System, the Customer Service and Information Center, and Automated Customer Information Stations.
A 2008 report by Brennan Center Strategic Fund, Inc., Improving New York City’s Public Benefits System: A Key Role for Help Desks, indicates that clients continue to face a range of obstacles at HRA Job Centers. According to the report, both caseworkers (officially known as eligibility or job opportunity specialists) and clients are confused about the rules and regulations associated with public benefits; clients are unaware of what documents to bring with them or how to acquire them; clients with limited proficiency in English face language barriers; and benefits can be incorrectly terminated or reduced due to errors in recording-keeping, computer problems, or miscommunication about requirements.
The Public Advocate recommends that the New York City Human Resources Administration:
• Evaluate and revise the current intake and appointment process to reduce wait times.
• Provide clients with proof of program compliance to avoid erroneous sanctioning of benefits due to computer or record-keeping mistakes.
• Develop clear and concise materials (e.g. pamphlets, frequently asked questions) on public benefits application procedures and compliance requirements.
• Improve customer service.
Public Advocate Gotbaum also urged the New York City Council to enact the Ready Access to Assistance Act (REAACT). This bill, introduced in 2006 by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Bill de Blasio and Eric Gioia, would allow non-profit advocates to set up help desks in New York City public benefits offices. Help desks would provide clients with valuable information that can help minimize confusion about the rules and requirements of applying and recertifying for public benefits and provide LEP individuals with translation/interpretation assistance.
The bill currently has 37 co-sponsors. Other supporters of the bill include Community Service Society, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Legal Information for Families Today, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, New York City Coalition Against Hunger, Partnership for the Homeless, Project FAIR, Urban Justice Center and others.
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