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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Joe Bello, Veteran Advocate
1:13:18
·
3 min
Joe Bello, a veteran advocate, provided critical testimony on the performance of the Department of Veterans Services (DVS) in New York City. He expressed strong dissatisfaction with the agency's progress over the past five years under Commissioner Hendon's leadership, arguing that DVS is failing to meet the needs of veterans and their families despite its age and experience.
- Bello contended that DVS should receive a grade of D rather than the C given by the City Council or the B suggested by the commissioner.
- He highlighted issues such as lack of public strategic planning, high staff turnover, and a 970% increase in service requests overwhelming the agency.
- Bello criticized the new VetConnect platform's delayed implementation and DVS's failure to fulfill legal reporting obligations under Local Laws 37, 215, and 216.
Joe Bello
1:13:18
Is this on?
1:13:19
Okay.
1:13:19
Alright.
1:13:20
Chairman Holden, members of the Veterans Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
1:13:25
Having taken a deep breath, I listening to the commissioner's testimony, I I want to reiterate on the record that what I said last at the last hearing, that DVS is nine years old.
1:13:40
Commissioner Hendon has been the commissioner now.
1:13:42
He will be the commissioner for five years now, come December.
1:13:49
He's here at every hearing, and he writes in the book consistently.
1:13:54
So, looking at the report, I'm trying to figure out, okay, so he's now talking about all these things that the agency is going to do, but where has it been over the last five years?
1:14:04
We can sit there and say that 21 people took, were surveyed, 41 people, 51.
1:14:11
I'm out in the street and I know many of the people here are too and even people that are listening.
1:14:15
And we hear the same thing, the same thing that the agency is failing.
1:14:23
So the agency report card is an important step towards strengthening the oversight of DVS.
1:14:28
I commend the counsel, particularly the compliance team, this effort.
1:14:32
The findings confirm, and I'll say it again, what many of us in the community are observing, that DVS is failing to meet the needs of veterans and their families.
1:14:41
And I'm going say this as well, while the council assigned a letter grade of c and the commissioner believes there should be a b, I personally, looking at the rating scale, believe it should be a d.
1:14:52
Reviewing, and I want to show you this, reviewing DVS' stand up report from 2019, it is clear that the agency has expanded all its programs and initiatives under the current commissioner while the mayor, the current mayor, has not given any funding into this agency.
1:15:12
So the other problem is there's no publicly available strategic plan.
1:15:16
This leaving this leaves veterans and stakeholders in the dark about the agency's direction, goals, and priorities.
1:15:23
The lack of transparency combined with the high staff turnover and a nine a reported 970% increase in service requests from FY twenty three to twenty four overwhelms the agency and half of them are front facing, which leads to delays and poor follow-up.
1:15:40
The frontline staff, and I said this last month, are under extreme distress and the agency's organizational chart that's in the report even shows individuals who already left the agency.
1:15:54
Additionally, as I testified and the commissioner brought it up again, the $450,000 investment in the new VetConnect platform has yet to deliver any results.
1:16:03
It's being built out.
1:16:06
Veterans are forced to rely on a Microsoft form undermining transparency and data collection.
1:16:12
Meanwhile, DVS continues to fall short in fulfilling its legal reporting obligations.
1:16:18
And this goes to what I said last month as well, Local Law 37, two 15, and two sixteen.
1:16:24
The report praises DVS partnership with non for profits, but it also highlights a very key concern, a heavy reliance on non for profits, many who are facing their own funding and capability challenges without strong sustained collaboration from DVS.
1:16:42
This is creating a serious accountability gap that is count compounded by DVS's lack of regular community engagement.
1:16:50
And I'm not even going to get into the surveys.
1:16:53
He the report didn't list a twenty twenty veterans convening that took place in Brooklyn when the commissioner first came on.
1:17:01
Despite being an agency for nearly nine years, a shocking 58% of veterans remain unaware of DVS' services.
1:17:09
How is that?
1:17:12
I'm I'm not sure how that is because we
Robert F. Holden
1:17:13
all know we've been