Objectives

To determine whether the New York City Department of Youth & Community Development (Department) effectively oversees its afterschool and summer employment programs operated by the Greater Ridgewood Youth Council, Inc. (Ridgewood); whether program participants were selected based on established criteria; and whether expenditures were program appropriate and adequately supported. Our audit covered the period from July 1, 2017 through December 11, 2018.

About the Program

The Department sponsors a network of community-based programs intended to help alleviate the effects of poverty and to provide opportunities for New York City youth and families. To achieve these goals, the Department contracts with local organizations (providers) to run youth and community development programs, including afterschool and summer employment programs. The Department’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) provides City youth and young adults between the ages of 14 and 24 with paid summer employment for up to six weeks in July and August. Its Comprehensive Afterschool System Program (COMPASS) provides school-age youth with academic support, arts, cultural experiences, and sports/recreation activities when school is not in session. According to Department contracts, Ridgewood, a Queens County-based not-for-profit organization, provides SYEP and COMPASS services.

Key Findings

We determined that the Department does not adequately oversee its afterschool and summer employment contracts with Ridgewood, finding compliance issues with program policies and contracts and identifying at least $87,733 in inappropriate expenditures.

• We found 168 of the participants never reported to the job placements. These openings were never filled.
• We identified at least $19,239 in duplicate costs for 1,344.5 hours of overlapping services provided by individuals in the COMPASS programs at Ridgewood who were also working as SYEP participants. Twenty-eight individuals were paid twice for the same hours worked for two different programs.
• We found insufficient evidence to demonstrate that a fair and appropriate process was used to enroll children in the COMPASS programs at Ridgewood, giving the appearance of favored treatment. Specifically, we found 257 students who applied for the COMPASS programs were enrolled ahead of 50 students who had applied earlier (some had been on a waiting list for months).
• Some parents reported paying a fee that ranged between $100 to $900 to enroll their children in the COMPASS programs – a practice that is prohibited by the contracts between the Department and Ridgewood.
• Ridgewood employed family members of managerial employees in Department-funded programs in violation of contract provisions, including a work site supervisor who approved her own daughter’s time sheets and a Ridgewood executive’s son who held various titles and was telecommuting from North Carolina.

Key Recommendations

We recommend that the Department improve its oversight of the afterschool and summer employment contracts with Ridgewood. Specifically, the Department should:

• Develop a mechanism to match youth with vacant SYEP positions.
• Review and recover duplicate compensation paid for overlapping hours worked by SYEP participants who were also employees in the COMPASS programs at Ridgewood.
• Ensure that the COMPASS selection process is fair and appropriate by creating policies and procedures requiring providers to document their afterschool selection and enrollment processes.
• Ensure that parents are not charged fees for students to participate in afterschool programs.
• Ensure that providers do not employ relatives of managerial employees in Department-funded programs.