Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Wednesday, August 30, 2000

Release #326-00

 
Contact: Sunny Mindel/Curt Ritter (212) 788-2958
  Debra Sproles (HRA) (212) 331-6200


MAYOR GIULIANI HAILS HRA'S JOBSTAT INITIATIVE FOR INCREASING THE CITY'S WELFARE-TO-WORK PERFORMANCE

Innovative Management Tool for HRA Offices and Vendors Brings Added Accountability
and Jobs For Individuals Moving From Welfare-To-Work

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani-joined by Deputy Mayor Anthony Coles and Human Resources Administration (HRA) Commissioner Jason Turner-today hailed HRA's JobStat initiative for increasing accountability for the agency's performance in reducing the City's welfare caseload and finding people jobs. Launched in 1998, JobStat is modeled after "Compstat," which the New York Police Department (NYPD) uses to monitor crime rates in local precincts and hold precinct commanders accountable.

"HRA's adaptation of the NYPD's highly effective Compstat management technique, which won the Kennedy School's Award for Innovations in Government, allows the City to continue our aggressive efforts in moving thousands of New Yorkers from welfare to work," Mayor Giuliani said. "As the NYPD and other City agencies have shown, the strategic use of key performance data is a powerful tool for helping local managers achieve their goals. It also allows senior management to monitor progress and hold staff accountable for results.

The Human Resources Administration currently operates 28 local offices managed by Center Directors, which are neighborhood-based and serve distinct geographic areas of the city. HRA established performance goals for the centers and uses standardized measures to track and compare performance. JobStat requires local managers to regularly examine and defend their performance, based on a series of indicators that judge their success at reducing caseload, finding people jobs, promoting self-sufficiency, and administering their offices.

Through JobStat, HRA has successfully achieved Mayor Giuliani's goal of ending welfare by engaging all able-bodied public assistance participants in work and work-related activities. As a continued effort to help families gain their self-sufficiency, HRA has also established a new goal of concluding 100,000 job placements this year, which requires specific outcomes from the agency's welfare-to-work vendors. As a result, HRA recently developed a new management technique called "Vendor Stat" for welfare-to-work vendors, which measures their performance and helps them achieve specific goals identified by HRA.

"JobStat and Vendor Stat are important tools in realizing HRA's goal of 100,000 jobs in year 2000," said HRA Commissioner Jason Turner. "Both initiatives help to improve the management skills of our staff and promote a healthy results-driven competition which will ultimately benefit the participants we serve. As a result, we have almost as many job placements now as we did in all of last year."

Vendors are hired on a pay-for-performance basis consistent with the agency's overall welfare-to-work goals. The vendors are paid for initial placements and retention first after 90 days' work, and later after 180 days. The vendors are also given incentives to find clients higher paying jobs. Vendors' performance is monitored by their Center director and regional manager, as well as by senior level management to ensure that they are meeting the expected outcomes.

"Under JobStat, local managers must translate their management efforts into results," said Deputy Mayor Anthony Coles. "HRA is able to focus its programs on the right goals, strengthen local management, and improve performance. This effort has increased HRA's ability to fulfill the Mayor's goal of helping New Yorkers on public assistance regain their independence and self-sufficiency through work."

New York City's welfare rolls have fallen to their lowest level since December 1966. The total number of persons who received cash assistance in July 2000 was 560,942. This is a net reduction of 599,651, or 51.7%, from the 1,160,593 people who were on the rolls in March 1995 when the City began its welfare reform program. Between 1995 and 1998, the City made remarkable progress building the nation's largest local work experience program, involving over 30,000 participants at any given time.

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