The Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity311Search all NYC.gov websites
Capacity Building & Other Projects
NYC Opportunity takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of low-income New Yorkers, investing in technical assistance and professional development to build the capacity of both City and service provider partners, as well as other projects that do not fit squarely into our primary issue area domains.
NYC Opportunity capacity building initiatives represent a critical investment in our public service system and workforce, providing targeted training and resources to ensure that existing human services programs effectively address the needs of low-income New Yorkers. Strategies include in-person cohort-based training, individualized coaching, e-learning, collaborative service design, and data system enhancement. Other initiatives span several domains, including strategies to help families and children, immigrant New Yorkers, and people experiencing homelessness.
Programs
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Current Portfolio
Academy for Community Behavioral Health
The Academy for Community Behavioral Health (the Academy) at the CUNY School of Professional Studies ( SPS) builds the capacity of community-based organizations, City/State agencies, and other social service providers to proactively address behavioral health. Every day, these providers encounter a range of behavioral health issues and have important opportunities to deliver care. The Academy offers free learning programs that equip social service providers with skills to deliver compassionate and effective behavioral health support, along with tools to manage the emotional demands of their work. The Academy also applies participatory methods to co-design and pilot new care approaches, uplift healing wisdom in communities, and expand our knowledge about what works.
To learn more, visit the Academy website.
Human Services Career Advancement Scholarship
The Human Services Career Advancement Scholarship (HSCAS), a partnership between CUNY, the Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development, and NYC Opportunity, supports the professional growth of New York City's human services workforce. Through HSCAS, human services workers at eligible organizations that hold human services contracts with the City of New York can apply for a scholarship to complete an Associate, Bachelor's, or Master's degree at CUNY. Workers can also apply to participate in a test prep class for individuals with a Master's of Social Work (MSW) who have not yet earned their license. The program aims to create a pipeline of qualified individuals to fill higher-level positions at human services organizations.
To learn more, visit the HSCAS website.
Managing for Innovation
Managing for Innovation is a free leadership development course open to both City and service provider staff that seeks to enhance skills critical to managing effective human services programs and systems change initiatives. The curriculum focuses on core competencies including strategic planning, leading teams, contract and budget management, and performance monitoring.
Managing for Innovation Course Evaluation Report - 2017
Unlocking Employment
"Unlocking Employment: How to Partner with Job Seekers Impacted by the Legal System" is a free 90-minute, online course designed to enhance skills and build capacity for working with job seekers in NYC who have legal-system involvement. The course includes four self-paced modules, featuring interactive exercises and case studies, as well as a resource library. Emphasizing a strengths-based approach, the course is filled with key insights on legal protections for those with criminal convictions, ways to reduce stigma, and proven strategies to support the job search. Registration is free and open to front line staff and leadership at programs that serve NYC job seekers with involvement in the legal system. This includes but is not limited to workforce providers, employment, career, and academic counselors or advisors.
To learn more or to register for the course, visit the Unlocking Employment website.
Select Past Projects
The following list highlights a selection of projects previously supported by NYC Opportunity, some of which continue independently without our funding or oversight.
ActionNYC Capacity Building
ActionNYC Capacity Building is a fellowship program that provides training and technical assistance to support small community-based organizations with established ties to underserved immigrant populations across New York City. The program works to build the capacity of participating organizations to conduct outreach and deliver legal services, and to improve their ability to compete for program funding from other sources.
Family Pathways to Care
Family Pathways to Care is a collaboration between ACS, DOHMH and Public Policy Lab (PPL) to understand how families connect with and experience support services and develop strategies to refine referral pathways, improve families' access to services and impact positive child outcomes. This project will also be responding to new challenges caused by the pandemic to support providers and families experiencing disruptions due to illness and stay-at-home requirements.
Integrated Case Management for Street Homeless Clients
Integrated Case Management for Street Homeless Clients is focused on enhancing the ability of the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) HOME-STAT, the city's comprehensive street homelessness outreach effort, to seamlessly track and manage cases and databases for New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The initiative is expanding the StreetSmart case management system across facilities dedicated to serving unsheltered homeless individuals, including Drop-In Centers (DICs) and Safe Havens. This expansion of StreetSmart for case management purposes will give the agency and its not-for-profit social service and outreach provider partners more integrated and seamless access to data that can be used to improve tracking, engagement and coordination of services for clients throughout the rehousing process, thereby improving outcomes for clients.
Integrated Case Management for Street Homeless Clients Overview
NYCitizenship
NYCitizenship provides free naturalization and financial counseling services at select library branches and HRA locations across New York City. NYC Opportunity has supported the introduction of a "community navigator" model, in which trained community navigators – individuals with linguistic fluency and meaningful ties to the communities that they serve – work with attorneys to conduct comprehensive immigration legal screenings and assist eligible lawful permanent residents in completing and submitting their naturalization applications.