QUESTION
What steps is NYCHA taking to improve accountability and safety following the DOJ investigation?
1:57:01
·
4 min
Brad Greenberg, NYCHA's Chief Compliance Officer, outlines the implementation and progress of recommendations following a DOJ investigation, including staff training, procedural changes, and new compliance measures.
- Recommendations include an alternative staffing model, compliance advisory alerts, a prequalified list, and IT enhancements.
- Training programs are developed for both NYCHA staff and vendors, emphasizing the importance of compliance.
- A schedule of cost estimates for the top 15 most used services is being established to improve financial transparency.
- Data analytics tools and regular executive meetings are in use to provide oversight and ensure program integrity.
- Completed actions comprise the issuance of compliance advisory alerts, creation of signage to promote ethics, and implementation of system enhancements to prevent corrupt practices.
Carlina Rivera
1:57:01
So I I hear you and I heard some of the reforms that you're making to the no bidding contract process.
1:57:07
You said most of them are implemented or underway within the next year.
1:57:11
So we heard a little bit of of of issuance of prequalified vendor lists enhancing the reporting requirements, I think we would appreciate a more detailed timeline of when these things actually went into effect.
1:57:24
And what is expected in the next year, and maybe you can get the committee that afterwards.
1:57:29
I mean, this is my last question.
1:57:31
Is really in light of the DOJ investigation, what concrete steps will Knight should take to hold employees accountable for the safety of their residents?
UNKNOWN
1:57:41
Thank you for that question.
1:57:42
I'm going to
Lisa Bova Hiatt
1:57:42
turn it over to our Chief Compliance Officer who can answer those questions in detail.
Brad Greenberg
1:57:47
If you'd like, we can go recommendation by recommendation and give you a current status now, or we can defer that.
1:57:52
It's up to you.
Carlina Rivera
1:57:53
Counsel, let's give us something.
Brad Greenberg
1:57:54
Okay.
1:57:56
So for the first recommendation, which is the alternative staffing model, that's obviously as the DUI commissioner alluded to, the most complicated We don't obviously wanna impact service, so we have to roll that static model out.
1:58:07
That's the longer term recommendation that deal I gave us.
1:58:10
As is the second one, which is the longer term procedural changes, So the way they structured their recommendations is that the first two are the longer ones, longer term ones, which will hopefully happen within the year, like we said.
1:58:20
And then 3 through 14 are underway now.
1:58:23
So for number 3, which is a training, that's an item that we're currently working on and we have The training materials with DOE, and we're going back and forth on the materials, and we'll hopefully roll out the training.
1:58:33
Shortly, we've done prior training, so this is an additional training.
1:58:37
Number 4 is complete.
1:58:38
That was the compliance advisory alert that came from my office reminding folks about their duty to report corruption that went out already.
1:58:46
Number 5 is about the creation of a prequalified list, which Sergio can talk to, but that's already being discussed with DOI and they have a plan in place to complete that hopefully soon.
1:58:58
Number 6 is to create a training program for our vendor community, not just for our staff, also something that's currently underway and they're working through the material now using some of the material we used in the prior 2 years.
1:59:10
Number 7 is the establishment of a schedule of cost estimates.
1:59:14
For the top 15 most used services.
1:59:17
For those, we've already been pulling data even prior to the arrest.
1:59:21
We've been working on something similar to this.
1:59:24
We've been pulling data to figure out what the most common types are, so we could try to come up with a better schedule of cost estimates.
1:59:30
And we have the data underway and have been doing that analysis.
1:59:32
So hopefully, that'll happen soon as well.
1:59:35
Number 8 is to have regular meetings between myself, Dan and our quality assurance officer to use a data analytics tool that we've built to try to go through individual properties and individual requisitions and then do reviews of those we've started the we kicked off those monthly meetings ready, so that's complete.
1:59:57
And we've scheduled the rest of them for the rest of the year, and it'll be a good, I think, way for us to have executive oversight over over the program.
2:00:05
Number 9 is related to the staff using the schedule of cost estimates.
2:00:13
And also, if they're not having if they have a statement of sir and sorry.
2:00:16
To that statement of services before and after photos being uploaded, So that's going to require an IT enhancement to Oracle Financial, and so we're working with our staff to put that in place.
2:00:26
It's obviously a little more complicated the code, but we're working on that one.
2:00:31
10 was about the display of signage, which I think we had a couple of developments and needed their signs up yesterday, but I believe is complete.
2:00:39
And those last two have to send photos to us and and they did.
2:00:43
We can follow-up on that one.
2:00:44
Basically everybody has their signage up.
2:00:47
Number 11 was about a pop up window or a set of language going on to the Oracle Financial System.
2:00:54
For each requisition that tells people that they have to acknowledge that offering or giving a bribe is is not permitted.
2:01:01
That went live already in our system, so that one's complete.
2:01:05
And we had communications go out.
2:01:07
Number 12, was about revising the form that we rolled out a couple of years ago to also have that sand acknowledgment.
2:01:15
That one's complete.
2:01:16
We've got that on our website and also in our internal systems to require that language be checked off on our forms.
2:01:23
Number 13 is about the semiannual reporting that we'll do, which obviously will do our first semiannual report in the next couple months.
2:01:30
As we scale it up.
2:01:32
And then number 14 is to continue our ongoing reporting to DLI of suspicious activity, which is obviously ongoing.
2:01:40
So we've made a lot of good progress already.
Lisa Bova Hiatt
2:01:42
And I can confirm that the signage is complete.
2:01:45
Good.
Carlina Rivera
2:01:46
Well, thank you to the chairs that you have a procurement ethics policy, which all the staff must acknowledge.
2:01:52
I hope the repercussions of violating that policy is also clear.