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Squad 2

Squad 2 oversees City agencies that provide critical social services to New Yorkers: the City Department of Social Services, which includes the Human Resources Administration (HRA), and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS). Squad 2 also oversees the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), which includes the Division of Youth and Family Justice (DYFJ). The Squad ensures that these agencies fulfill their collective mandate to assist the City’s most vulnerable New Yorkers, including through complex criminal investigations into corruption, financial fraud, and mismanagement, as in the investigation culminating in the federal indictment of five HRA contractors for stealing more than 4,000 HRA rent subsidy checks worth over $2.7 million. Squad 2 also proactively identifies weaknesses and operational failings in the social services agencies' processes and procedures, recommends reforms to fix and prevent weakenesses from recurring, and works with the agencies to address those weaknesses. For instance, Squad 2's report on HRA's Special One-Time Assistance Program (SOTA) identified numerous procedural flaws that led to homeless clients being placed in unsafe housing outside of New York City.


Squad 2 Reports