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Q&A
Council Member Avilés questions DYCD on Compass program funding gap
3:31:00
·
4 min
Council Member Alexa Avilés engages in a heated discussion with DYCD Commissioner Keith Howard about the funding gap in the Compass after-school program. Avilés expresses frustration over the current underfunding of providers, while Howard emphasizes future investments without directly addressing the present shortfall.
- Avilés presses for information on the current funding gap between allocated funds and actual costs for Compass providers
- Howard repeatedly highlights a future $331 million investment over three years without providing specifics on the current situation
- The exchange highlights tension between celebrating future investments and addressing immediate financial challenges faced by service providers
Alexa Avilés
3:31:00
And then, I guess lastly, to the chair's line of questioning around the increases.
3:31:08
And of course, we are delighted to see further investment in young people across the city and the services that support them and their families.
3:31:20
I just didn't understand the answer that you provided.
3:31:23
So it sounds like to me we it seems to be a fact that the current let's keep it on Compass.
3:31:31
The current Compass cost per student is well below the actual cost that the providers have.
3:31:41
Do you agree that that is actually the case currently?
3:31:44
That the costs that we are paying are below the actual costs for the services rendered?
Keith Howard
3:31:51
I I what I can agree to is the fact of a must needed reboot of the whole after school program.
3:32:01
What I can agree to is the fact that this is a historic investment of 331,000,000 over the three years.
3:32:10
And what makes me feel very much excited about the possibility is the engagement that is happening in real time with providers as they're sharing on multiple levels.
3:32:24
And as both Jeremy and Chris has shared, know the different tier systems in the contracts you know makes it really challenging.
3:32:38
But again, it's nothing that DYCD has not been through before.
3:32:44
And I'm also excited about the fact that we will eventually have a blue ribbon commission that's gonna look at after school for everybody.
Alexa Avilés
3:32:55
Great.
3:32:56
I guess I guess commissioner, I understand you again did not answer the question.
3:33:04
But I guess I guess the thing that I'm struggling with here is we are all excited about the investment, but what we have is a current problem.
3:33:12
Right?
3:33:13
We have providers that are offering a very critical service to our young people that are not being paid the full amount of the cost of those services, which means they end up subsidizing those contracts with all kinds of other resources, mostly private and donations from individual New Yorkers.
3:33:32
So if we agree that they are currently underwater, why is it going to take the agency?
3:33:39
It's a little bit like gaslighting.
3:33:41
We are in the water now, but we're celebrating the future investment.
3:33:46
Where why are we not providing the oxygen and the adequate amount of resources to bring those up to speed today, not next year, not the next three years.
3:33:58
So I guess it's that gap that I'm not understanding your your excitement around.
Keith Howard
3:34:06
Well, I'm sorry.
3:34:07
I'm I'm I'm typically a more excitable person.
3:34:11
But I we we hear the pain with our providers.
3:34:16
We sit down and we talk with them as well.
3:34:17
I understand and my team understands what the providers are going through.
3:34:25
Again, I have, you know when we look at exactly how we right size in our typical process, and where we were in the past ten plus years of not having a robust program model, and where we're going, again, I can't help to control my enthusiasm about it.
Alexa Avilés
3:34:44
You should be enthused.
3:34:45
Do you do you know what the gap is between the current funded services and what they actually cost?
3:34:52
Do you know what the delta is?
3:34:55
I I'm curious.
3:34:57
I'm sure you do, commissioner.
Keith Howard
3:35:00
I'm excited about $331,000,000 that are happening across the program area.
Alexa Avilés
3:35:06
Fair point.
3:35:06
We're we're not allowed we're not allowed to be realistic in this room.
Christopher Lewis
3:35:11
I appreciate you.
Alexa Avilés
3:35:12
We understand.
3:35:13
There's a real delta there, commissioner.
3:35:15
And it's it's unfair and a little bit gaslighting to the community of providers who who really are trying their best in this circumstance.
3:35:26
I'm excited about how how excited you are in the future when they're not getting paid today.
3:35:31
Excited about sitting down
Keith Howard
3:35:33
with you and working with you through those through those gaps.