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Q&A
Examination of DFTA staffing levels and vacancies
1:48:08
·
3 min
Council Member Crystal Hudson questions DFTA about current staffing levels, vacancies, and efforts to fill open positions. Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez discusses the agency's staffing situation and ongoing conversations with the Office of Management and Budget.
- DFTA reports 28 current vacancies across various departments
- Positions include community associates and program associates
- The agency is actively working to fill vacancies
- Discussions with OMB focus on appropriate staffing ratios for program monitoring
Crystal Hudson
1:48:08
Yeah.
1:48:08
Okay.
1:48:10
Alright.
1:48:10
The preliminary plan includes three twenty eight budgeted positions in your agency for fiscal twenty twenty five dropping to three twenty four positions in fiscal twenty twenty six and in the out years.
1:48:23
As of January 2025, '3 zero '7 positions were filled at NYC Aging leaving 21 vacancies.
1:48:30
What positions are currently vacant and which programs and areas are the positions in?
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:48:38
I have that here.
1:48:40
Thank you.
1:48:43
So we have 28 vacancies.
Crystal Hudson
1:48:51
You have 28 vacancies?
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:48:54
We have 28 vacancies.
1:48:56
Eight are under review.
1:48:58
What's the question?
1:48:59
The kind of positions?
1:49:00
Yeah.
1:49:01
Runs the gamut across the agency.
Crystal Hudson
1:49:06
Can you give me like the sort of programs or areas or divisions?
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:49:15
Most of them are in Jose's shop.
1:49:20
And there's some that are, most of them are in the, the balance of them are in the program service areas.
1:49:27
Mental health, program officers under, you know for the Bureau of Community Programs.
1:49:33
So they all have titles like community associate, what's the highest title?
1:49:41
Community associate, program associate, that's the category.
Crystal Hudson
1:49:45
All right.
1:49:46
Jose are you hiring actively?
Jose Mercado
1:49:48
Yes I am.
Crystal Hudson
1:49:49
Okay.
1:49:50
Does the agency have adequate headcount to effectively operate all the programs and initiatives?
Darlene Mealy
1:49:57
Say that again.
Crystal Hudson
1:49:57
Do you have headcount to effectively operate all the programs and initiatives?
Barbara Baer
1:50:05
Sorry.
1:50:06
It
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:50:07
is a conversation that we have with OMB on a regular basis because of the number of program officers assigned per program.
1:50:15
So we're in conversations with OMB about that.
Crystal Hudson
1:50:19
Okay.
1:50:21
Sorry.
1:50:28
I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it sounds like a no.
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:50:34
It's a conversation that we
Crystal Hudson
1:50:36
have right away.
1:50:37
You're having a lot of conversations.
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:50:38
Yes, we do.
1:50:39
It's a regular booming relationship.
1:50:43
Okay.
Crystal Hudson
1:50:45
How are you actively working to fill these vacancies is perhaps a better question.
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
1:50:49
You know what, we talk to them about the ratio of program officer to program in terms of monitoring.
1:50:59
We use other agencies as a model.
1:51:02
Those are the We look at other agency ratios that do comparable work.
1:51:09
And those are the levels of conversation that we have.
1:51:13
We also have conversations with them on the vacancy rate, you know, and the impact of the two per one allocation, you know, that we have with the city.
1:51:25
So for us when you are an agency this small it would take us 36 vacancies to fill x number of positions.
1:51:36
You know, it's like the two for one.
1:51:37
So those are the kind of conversations that we're constantly having.
Crystal Hudson
1:51:40
Okay.