Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
NYCHA's approach to Section 3 job opportunities and prioritization
2:58:15
·
169 sec
Council Member Chris Banks inquires about NYCHA's prioritization of Section 3 job opportunities for local and low-income residents. NYCHA representatives explain their multi-faceted approach to promoting Section 3 hiring.
- NYCHA prioritizes Section 3 hiring in staff recruitment and vendor contracts
- The agency runs workforce development programs like the NYCHA Resident Training Academy
- Section 3 efforts are ongoing regardless of budgetary constraints, but fewer opportunities may be available if overall funding decreases
Chris Banks
2:58:15
When it comes to section three job opportunities, given the economic impact of government funded housing and infrastructure projects, how will the agency prioritize section three to ensure local residents, especially low income New Yorkers gain access to jobs and career pathways?
2:58:37
And how does the budget prioritize that as well?
Lisa Bova-Hiatt
2:58:42
I'm going to turn it over to Shyam Movani who can answer that question.
Shaan Mavani
2:58:46
Great.
2:58:46
Thank you.
2:58:47
So across the agency we have a number of different efforts we make to prioritize section three hiring which includes, as you highlighted, council member banks, both low income residents from New York as well as specifically NYCHA residents and Section eight voucher holders.
2:59:04
So a couple of those ways that we prioritize that and then we can come to potential if there's any budgetary impacts.
2:59:11
First in our staff hiring.
2:59:12
So a significant portion of our hiring each year into NYCHA as staff both at our properties and central office are Section three workers including targeted Section three residents.
2:59:24
Secondly for our vendor contracts, we have very clear requirements.
2:59:28
All of our vendors have to develop a section three plan during the procurement phase.
2:59:33
And as they're contracted they have to adhere and perform against that section three plan.
2:59:37
That includes meeting the federal benchmarks around 10% of labor hours being completed by residents, 25% by either residents or other low income workers.
2:59:48
And then we manage the contracts through their life cycle to work with vendors to help source resident candidates or low income worker candidates so that they can meet those benchmarks as best as possible.
2:59:59
In addition to that we run a number of our own workforce development programs.
3:00:04
So we have something called the NYCHA Resident Training Academy that trains residents for a range of different types of roles or entry opportunities.
3:00:11
This can include construction work of the type that I oversee.
3:00:14
But it also includes a range of other areas including NYCHA staff opportunities or other types of vendor contract opportunities that may come up.
3:00:22
And we run those programs and then support residents around placement into unions and trade opportunities or into non trade opportunities.
3:00:31
And so the efforts we make at obviously hiring and focusing on Section three priorities as well as vendor contracting are not in my mind directly impacted by budgetary issues in the sense of we would continue to make those efforts with the contracts we put out, with the positions we hire for.
3:00:49
And our workforce development programs may or may not be impacted.
3:00:53
Obviously if we are, as an agency, funded less and spending less, then we have less direct opportunities to link residents or other low income workers to.