COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS - CONTINUED - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, 2/16/00 9:40 p.m. - - - BILL 000005 - An ordinance adopting the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2001. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA, Chair COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE L. BLACKWELL COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILMAN FRANK J. DICICCO COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 561-2220 842 I N D E X Department of Human Services Commissioner Alba Martinez. . . . . . . . . . 844 Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. . . . . . 853 Joyce Burrell, Deputy Commissioner. . . . . . 856 Russell Cardamone, Deputy Commissioner. . . . 884 Estelle Richman, Director of Social Services 892 Jean Hunt, Executive Director . . . . . . . . 896 Children and Families Cabinet John Zanier, Fiscal Officer . . . . . . . . . 912 Margaret Holtzman, Superintendent, Riverview 929 Department of Public Health John Domzalski, Acting Commissioner . . . . . 951 Mike Lucas, Assistant Health Commissioner . . 961 Mark Bencivengo, Assistant Health Commissioner 972 Ellen Steiker, Deputy Health Commissioner . . 979 Richard Tobin, Director . . . . . . . . . . . 985 Mike Covone, Deputy Health Commissioner . . . 995 Sue Lieberman, Maternity Care Coalition . . . 1010 Department of Emergency Shelter and Services Michael Nardone, Deputy Managing Director . . 1039 Sally Fisher, Director. . . . . . . . . . . . 1047 Richard Shaeffer, Admin. Services Director. . 1066 Department of Recreation William Carapucci, Acting Commissioner. . . . 1068 Thomas Fox, Maintenance Director. . . . . . . 1092 Jo Ann Mangano, Admin. Services Director. . . 1102 Jane Golden, Mural Arts Program . . . . . . . 1106 Warren Haskins, Dell East Manager . . . . . . 1201 Finance Department Robert Dubow, Acting Budget Director. . . . . 1171 Camp William Penn Roland Chandler, Director . . . . . . . . . . 1180 William Carapucci, Acting Commissioner. . . . 1200 Atwater Kent Museum David Rasner, President, Board of Trustees. . 1219 Nancy Moses, Executive Director . . . . . . . 1226 843 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 (Index, cont'd.) Fairmount Park Commission William Mifflin, Executive Director . . . . . 1231 James Donaghy, Director of Operations . . . . 1270 Art Museum Anne D'Harnoncourt, Director, CEO . . . . . . 1317 844 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 P R O C E E D I N G S
Good morning, everyone. This is the continued public hearing of the Operating Budget, Bill No. 005. Our first witness this morning will be the Department of Human Services. (Witnesses come forward.)
Good morning, Commissioner. Congratulations. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Thank you very much. Good morning, Madam President and Members of City Council. My name is Alba Martinez, and I am the new commissioner for the Department of Human Services. With me today to present our Fiscal Year 2001 Operating Budget are: Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner for Children and Youth; Joyce Burrell, Deputy Commissioner for Juvenile Justice Services; Margaret Holtzman, Superintendent of Aging Services; and Russell Cardamone, Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Management. Since this is my first time before you as commissioner, allow me to briefly share my 845 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 background with you. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and moved to Philadelphia in 1985, after graduating from Georgetown Law School. I practiced law with Community Legal Services for seven years, specializing in welfare employment, domestic violence, and child welfare issues. For sometime, I managed the domestic violence and dependency units at CLS. In 1992, I was appointed executive director of Congreso de Latinos Unidos, a human services nonprofit dedicated to meeting the wide range of social and economic needs of low-income children and families in North Philadelphia. By appointing me commissioner of the Department of Human Services, Mayor Street has offered me a wonderful opportunity to apply my skills and experience on behalf of all Philadelphia's children and families who are at risk. It is a privilege and an honor to lead this department and I am looking forward to working with you as we move this critically important work forward. DHS's budget request for Fiscal Year 2001 is $448,574,802, which represents an increase 846 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of percent over last year's appropriation. The Department expects that $396,425,963 of the appropriation will be offset by federal and state revenues, and that the City's share of the 2001 General Fund expenditures will be $52,148,839, which is percent of the total and the same 8 percentage as for Fiscal Year 2000. The divisional allocation of this appropriation is the following: Children and Youth, $319,204,000 -- and I'm rounding the numbers off. Juvenile Justice Services, $112,999,000. Ages Services, or Riverview Home, $5,368,000. And Administration and Management, $11,003,000. DHS is making significant progress towards achieving the strategic goals it has articulated and in strengthening and preserving families in the communities in which they live. For example, we are reducing the growth rate in the number of children entering our system, we are increasing the number of delinquents served in 847 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 their own homes, and we are receiving and maintaining full licenses from the Department of Public Welfare for Children and Youth, Juvenile Justice, and Riverview Home. DHS has listed its major accomplishments in the Five-Year Financial Plan and in our written testimony. I would, however, like to highlight a few of these here. The Children and Youth Division has increased the number of finalized adoptions by 318 percent, from 122 adoptions in Fiscal Year '92 to 510 in Fiscal Year '99. The Department projects that it will reach 700 adoptions in Fiscal Year 2000, and 750 in Fiscal Year 2001. The Children and Youth Division provided intensive family preservation services to 1,428 children and 526 in Fiscal Year '99. 5 percent of these children, required placement after services were concluded. This is approximately half the percentage of placements the Department would normally find in a similar population of at-risk children served through less intensive services. Children and Youth has established a 848 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Truancy Unit to provide comprehensive assessment and planning services for children and families referred to us from family and truancy courts.
This initiative complements our Juvenile Justice Division's truancy prevention efforts in collaboration with the School District and community organizations which focus on preventing elementary school truancy in the northwest and Allegheny west areas. In addition, a major truancy reduction program was launched through the community family centers, which have provided case-management services and support for students and families referred to seven new cluster-based truancy courts. From August '93 to December '99, the Mayor's Children and Families Cabinet, under the leadership of DHS, coordinated the work of City agencies, departments, and quasi-governmental agencies serving Philadelphia's families and children. It established a network of 19 community- and school-based family centers. It also initiated a wide range of comprehensive programs involving health care, educational 849 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 readiness and achievement, child safety, and family economic security, among many other initiatives. Mayor Street has now established an Office of Social Services, directed by Estelle Richman, and he has created the Philadelphia Commission on Children. Through these vehicles, our city will continue to advance an agenda of system reform, which is child- and family- centered. Cabinet efforts are currently being assessed, and a plan will be developed to continue this important work under the new City structure. In the interim, oversight for certain Cabinet activities will continue to be provided by DHS. For DHS, strengthening our role in neighborhood and family development will continue to be a high priority. The Department has already launched or is developing plans for a number of structural, operational, and programmatic changes that will further strengthen our service delivery capacity. Examples of these initiatives include the following: Children and Youth is actively involved in an outcome measurements project that will 850 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 ultimately make both CYD and its private and public providers of services more accountable for demonstrable improvements in the lives of children and families. Since Fiscal Year '97, outcomes have helped Children and Youth to better understand which programmatic interventions work best for clients at a given point in time. Philadelphia is the first major metropolitan area in the country to undertake this challenge. The American Humane Association, a leader in national outcomes movement in child welfare, was selected by the Children and Youth Division to guide this process, which brings together the division, its agencies, families, and the community. Specific outcomes or results that are anticipated in this project include: decreases in subsequent child abuse and placement after SCOH has been provided, reduce duration of SCOH services, more focused assessments and evaluations, development of outcome data for specific interventions and providers that will eventually better inform contracting decision-making, and improved communication between all project participants. 851 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 DHS will make some physical improvements to the Youth Study Center, including the installation of a video conferencing system, which will increase the amount of contact between the residents and their probation officers, parents, and distant juvenile placement facilities. We will also make building renovations and equipment overhauls, security enhancements, and the programmatic changes needed to ensure full compliance with recently updated State regs. The Department will ensure that the current Youth Study Center meets health and safety standards for the protection of the youth, staff, and visitors. DHS will reconvene a collaborative work group to discuss the feasibility and development of a new Youth Study Center, a project which clearly must be given priority by all of us.
In closing, the challenges DHS confronts are great, but so are our opportunities. We are clear that our department's work is critically important to the lives and futures of thousands of our most vulnerable City residents. At its essence, DHS is Philadelphia's public 852 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 agency, committed to advocating and pursuing better opportunities for children, their families, and the elderly. As commissioner, my vision for DHS can be summarized simply: The Department must be a model government agency. We cannot settle for a lesser goal, because thousands of children are counting on us at one of those vulnerable times in their life. We must help them have a healthy, safe, and nurturing childhood, which will pave the way for a promising future. I thank Council for its support and commitment to our department's work over the years, and we welcome your questions and comments.
Thank you, Commissioner. On of your testimony, in the second bullet point, you stated that your department has "requested State needs-based funding for certain new initiatives," and that "these initiatives will serve approximately 560 children." Does your department have any contingencies in place if the funding is not 853 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 approved by the State? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ I will ask my colleagues to help me answer that question.
By and large, these positions and these services have been in our needs base budget and, usually, the budget for our services are based on what the State is willing to participate in funding. Which means that without the State funding, this would purely General Fund funding. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I would like to add to that answer that my vision as commissioner is that the Department of Human Services will aggressively pursue other streams of funding that may be available to us, whether it's the federal government or private foundations and corporations. And in addition to that, under the new Department of Human Services structure, going after money like this will be a coordinated approach, and Director Estelle Richman will be a 854 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 part of coming up with the strategy to do that. At this point, though, we are hoping that the State will support us in our request.
Thank you. On of your testimony, you stated that a courtroom will be open at 1515 Arch in order to save travel and waiting time. What is the scheduled opening for the courtroom? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Well, as I've already made many mistakes on my two weeks on the job, but one mistake was that I indicated that it will be opened, and what we should really say -- and thank you for asking the question -- is that it may be opened. The Department of Human Services has set aside some space for this, but obviously, it is a joint decision between the Family Court and the Department of Human Services, and so the Family Court, I believe, is reviewing the feasibility of this and whether it's something that fits within their agenda. Maybe Deputy Commissioner Tucker would like to add to that question.
Maxine Tucker, Deputy 855 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Commissioner. The discussion with Judge Panepinto and Judge -- --
I'm sorry, I'm having difficulty hearing you. Thank you.
The discussion with Judge Panepinto and Judge Ransom have been looking at those particular cases which simply are status review hearings as opposed to hearings that are contested or involved. And what looking they're looking at is if they could put a master instead of a judge to just hear those, what they call, "routine cases," it would safe a lot of time in terms of the scheduling and also in terms of families, as well as social workers have to sit over at 1801 for long period of time. And they're looking if it's a go, it would probably be in the fall of this year.
Thank you. Commissioner, on of your testimony, you have a paragraph entitled "Maintaining Appropriate Population Levels at the Youth Study Center." What programs are now in 856 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 place to control the population, and do thee programs result in violent offenders being released that should have otherwise remained in custody? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I will ask Deputy Commissioner Burrell to address this question.
Good morning. I'm Joyce Burrell, Deputy Commissioner of Human Services.
Currently, we use a review process every Tuesday morning to look at children who are appropriate and have orders for other than the Youth Study Center. We also assure that youngsters who are violent offenders are not released to the community or to cause risk by having the participation of the Defender Association. The DA's Office, as well as Human Services and Family Court, is a part of a stakeholder group to talk about who is appropriate for the Center and who is not. We are also meeting with and talking to our out-of-state and southern county providers to make sure that youngsters are being taken in a 857 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 timely way to court-ordered placements, and Judge Panepinto and I have come to an agreement that financial sanctions need to be put in place for those providers who do not take children in a timely way and who insist that they have space. We have come to the conclusion that the biggest problem is bed space in those private facilities, and even though providers say they don't have space -- that they do have space, the waiting time backs up the Youth Study Center because they actually do not have beds. So we are looking to develop additional placements for our young people.
Thank you. On , Commissioner, of your testimony, in the second paragraph, you talk about hiring 34 new positions for Juvenile Justice Services in order to maintain compliance with State-mandated staffing ratios. Is your department currently in compliance with these staffing requirements? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: We are currently in compliance with the State-mandated staffing ratios. However, we are doing this 858 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 through an extraordinarily high use of overtime; and so, therefore, this will allow us to do it in a way that is more cost-efficient to all of us and also that will improve the quality of service. And I'd like to ask Deputy Commissioner Burrell to help us in answering this question.
Yes. Joyce Burrell, Deputy Commissioner of Human Services. In the new 3800 regulation, there's a requirement that there not be more than 12 children on any living unit at any one time, which causes us to have to reconfigure how we house children in the Youth Study Center. We have a year to do some structural things and initially, DPW had said there would be absolutely no waivers for those structural changes. Last Thursday, Sylvia Wright, who does the inspection of the Youth Study Center was in and said there had been so many complaints about this new requirement that DPW is now going to consider waiver requests for that restructuring. At this point, though, there are two other things that drive our numbers. The Operation Sunrise initiative, as well as the Youth 859 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Violence Reduction Initiative, which are very important to the City, arrests are up about percent, which means that those held overnight 5 for the 8 to 14 days in the Youth Study Center are 6 also up considerably. So even with the changing 7 of the 3800 regulation, we will have increased 8 population in the Youth Study Center, that 9 staffing would still be required, and I wanted to talk about the fact that every day, three shifts a day, we have 11 children who are on one-on-one coverage, and that is a court order that says that this child's mental health or this child's risk factor is so high that he or she needs one person with them hours a day every day, and the cost 16 of that coverage is about $6,000 a day, which is a 17 cost of about 42,000 a week, which is a 18 $2.4 million cost in a year. 19
Does that 20 include the overtime that you're talking about? 21
That is part of what 22 really drives - it is the biggest driver in the 23 overtime right now, the coverage for those 24 children.
Well, what is 860 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the figure of the overtime?
It's about $5 million. We projected $5 million. With the additional staffing, we still think we would have overtime for increases and decreases in this one-on-one coverage, increases in escort and travel, of about $2 million, under the best circumstances. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: In our proposed 2001 budget, however, we are proposing a decrease in overtime of a total of $2 million.
Okay, I don't want to dominate this hearing. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, you are spending approximately -- and correct me if this number isn't right. You plan to spend $315,000-plus meals, for resident meals and other meals. Do you have a program -- are you involved in the Recreation Department's program in providing the meals at Recreation centers? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Could you clarify what division you're asking about? Is it 861 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Children and Youth, Juvenile Justice, which is it?
Whatever meals you provide. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Okay. I think that the meal budget is divided among the different divisions, so why don't the different folks talk about it.
Let's talk about the one that would be provided at a recreation facility. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Okay, well, my understanding is we do not provide meals at recreation facilities. We provide meals at Riverview for the seniors that reside there, we provide meals at the Youth Study Center for the young people that are detained there, and that is the extent of the meals that the Department of Human Services has responsibility for providing, so they're both provided within facilities. The meals that would provided with DHS funding, however, recreation centers would fall 862 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 within the $300 million of the DHS -- that DHS lets out in contracts annually, or the $300 million plus.
So DHS money is funding a lunch program at recreation centers? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Well, I. . .
You're going to have to identify yourself for the record.
My name is Russell Cardamone, I'm Deputy Commissioner for Administrative and Management. We find a number of providers, but in fact, those providers do not provide lunch services with DHS funds. There are other separate programs out there that might avail themselves of to provide meals but they don't use City dollars or DHS funds to provide meals -- other than children, of course, that are in facilities that 863 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 we're responsible for on a hour/7 basis. 3
So there's no DHS 4 funds to -- so I understand the answer to my 5 question, there are no DHS funds used for meals 6 for recreation facilities? 7
Maxine Tucker, Deputy 11 Commissioner. 12 We are also providing for MANA (ph.) 13 some dollars to provide meals for children who are 14 living in their own homes with their parents who 15 are either HIV-involved or the parents are 16 HIV-involved, but this is basically the only way 17 in which they are going to get nutritional meals 18 during the day, so some of that is also reflected 19 in there. 20
Sounds like a good 21 program. 22 You've hired 456 social workers -- at 23 least this the information I have and, again, if 24 this not correct, please tell me, I know you will. What exactly are these 456 social workers doing? 864 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 And that seems like a significant increase in personnel, 456 people.
I'm quoting from information -- I don't -- I cannot refer right at the moment to any page. This is from some research that was done and provided me. Then I'll ask the question. How many social workers do you presently have? And how many have you increased? What's the increase from the last fiscal budget?
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. As of December, we had on staff 463.9 social workers who are responsible for 10,043 cases. The average number of cases per social worker range from 15 in intake to 26 in the ongoing service regions.
So that number of social workers provide the service to those cases, to that number of cases that you just described.
Has there been a 865 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 significant increase in that number? I could look back and see a number, but how many have you increased in the last fiscal budget, how many social workers?
Just a moment. Councilman, that's about a 50-staff increase. It includes social workers, which represent about 35, and then the support services for the supervision and clerical supports for those staff.
Okay. The number that I'm looking at, Human Services - Fiscal Year 1999, it's 1567, and for proposed Fiscal Year 2001, it's 1,896. So it doesn't add up.
My name is Russell Cardamone, Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Management. The numbers, Councilman, refer to the total personnel allocation for the Department of Human Services -- all of the divisions, Riverview, Youth Study Center, Children and Youth, Administration and Management, and the Family Centers. So those increases are correct, but 866 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 they're for the entire Department of Human Services.
I understand, so you're telling me that there's 50 new social workers? Is that the number that you gave?
Mrs. Tucker mentioned about 35 social workers, but each 5 social workers require 1 social work supervisor to each 5 supervisor and 1 administrator, and then appropriate support staff.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you. Good morning. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Good morning.
Congratulations and all that good stuff. We wish you well. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Thank you. 867 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
And relative to the staffing, we notice that there has not been a full complement of staff in the last two budgets. Why aren't those positions filled? Have you had problems recruiting social workers or what's -- COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I'm going to defer part of this answer to the deputies who have been in the Department longer than me, but I will say this, Councilwoman: It is definitely an issue of grave concern --
Mm-hmm. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: -- to this administration and certainly to me, as the commissioner, that we have such a high number of vacancies in the Department of Human Services. And we have already discussed that it will be a priority for this year, and we're going to start very quickly engaging in an aggressive campaign to recruit people because the City provides wonderful employment opportunities. These are incredibly essential jobs to City government, because many of them are State- mandated. And as we discussed earlier, there are some ratios that could lead to the agency, and 868 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 therefore the City, being in noncompliance. So I am very aware of the gravity of the issue. And ultimately, it affects quality, it affects quality of service. So I understand that there have been some efforts to improve recruitment with the Personnel Department and also, you know, with other partners, but that will be a very, very high priority issue for the future in any event. And now I'd like to ask my colleagues to address what we have been doing in the situation as it actually exists.
Yes, Russell Cardamone, Deputy Commissioner, Administration and Management. Just to echo Commissioner Martinez's comments, this is a high priority for the Department. We have been working for a number of years with our Central Personnel Department and have been somewhat successful in prioritizing our hires. We have, with Central Personnel, established continuous testing for our social work series, clearly a high priority for the Department. 869 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 But we have had some difficulty in hiring other classifications. Part of it's recruitment and part of it is available tests and part of it is competition among other City departments and among private industry for critical support kinds of staff -- clerical and administrative staff. But we made this a high priority with the Department and with Central Personnel, and we have been successful in hiring social workers, almost as many as we need. And we're going to continue those efforts with Commissioner Martinez in Central Personnel.
Well, you said that so quickly. Did you say that you haven't had a good track record or a -- I couldn't hear --
-- in hiring social workers? That's what I'm really interested in.
We have prioritized, and we've worked with Central Personnel over the last couple of years to make sure that we can hire social workers. 870 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Okay. Could you tell me what methods Central Personnel, at your request, have used to recruit staff.
One of the things that we have done is, we have been successful in developing what we call "continuous testing," so that we don't have to wait for a test to be given when there's eligible candidates. We also have developed a number of mechanisms where our staff go over and interview the candidates right after they've taken the test to speed up the process. We've also rewritten, with the Central Personnel's support, the social worker trainee specification, which the Department did not find valuable prior to its revisions. And with those revisions, we now have two civil services titles to draw upon for entry-level positions -- Social Worker Trainee and Social Worker I. And there are a number of other initiatives, but those are the main ones we've worked with in terms of making sure we can hire more social workers.
Has anyone from 871 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 your department ever been asked to go to colleges and universities with the Personnel Department to recruit social worker staff?
Yes. In fact, we have in final draft form a new recruitment policy with which we've worked with the Central Personnel Department. And one of the initiatives is that we will be more aggressive in reaching out to the local-area colleges and universities. We've even asked for waiver of residency requests so that people who go to school in surrounding colleges outside of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania would be eligible to take these tests as well.
I believe they can take the test; they just have to move within the City within a year.
Yes, but that wasn't always the case. You used to have to be a Philadelphia resident, but we have now waiver requests in place for these positions so that people can take the test and, in fact, have six months after they're hired to move into the City. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Some of the issues that we -- or strategies that we are 872 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 discussing and hopefully will be able to implement with Personnel is to advertise on the radio, especially in communities like the Latino community, radio is the most powerful vehicle to get people's attention, and the Department definitely needs diversity in terms of language ability. And so it will not only be recruitment in the Latino community; it will be in every community where we have candidates that could come and enhance our, you know, language diversity. So radio advertising is something that I believe could really lead us to where we need to go. Second of all, I think we need to improve our marketing materials. I think that -- we want to work with City personnel to see how much creativity and how many leeway we can have to develop our own marketing materials. And, thirdly, I think that the Department of Human Services needs to be very aggressive at communicating its message and its vision and what we are about to motivate people to want to join the Department of Human Services, because the employment market is so hot that people have a lot of options. 873 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 And unless we can convince people that this is the place to be, given the legitimate delays that exist in hiring people because of the civil-service system, which, you know, I support, we're not going to get employees because they get picked up by our providers much more quickly than we can pick them up. So we are actually not competitive. The City of Philadelphia right now really needs to be more competitive, but I can speak only for the Department of Human Services, and we hope to have Council's support in coming up with creative ideas like the ones you're mentioning, Councilwoman Tasco, and we want to do anything -- we got to fill these positions. This is critical.
Are your salaries competitive with your providers and other agencies that might hire social workers? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I believe they are. And salaries, as we know, in the City, get determined through a, you know, market-driven process, but Commissioner Tucker may have some other --
Maxine Tucker, Deputy 874 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Commissioner. The salaries are certainly competitive. I think that it is the work that's required: it's much easier to work with the aged, it's much easier to work with other populations than the work with, as folks see it at times, with children and families who are in trouble. And the other point I wanted to make -- and it's good news -- is that as of I think about two weeks ago, we have a new class of 28 social workers who are in training, so we're very excited about that.
Good. The next question I have is maybe the lack of staff, adequate staff would have an impact on the this case Neil versus Casey, Baby Neil versus Casey, and the report of the Monitoring Committee and some of the items that they pointed out in that report. I know you haven't had a lot of time to review this, but they make a number of points in their report relative -- as to what the Department needs to do. Have you read the case, and what are you doing to address the issues that have been 875 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 pointed out in the monitoring report? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Well, I have certainly read up on Baby Neil and have been briefed -- on many other issues begun to be briefed by the staff and leadership of the Department of Human Services on the issues, and there is a scheduled meeting with the parties this week as a matter of fact. I think that Baby Neil raises some very important issues. There is a settlement agreement that was entered into by the Department and the plaintiff's lawyers. And essentially to me, the case -- to summarize it in layperson's terms -- is about best practices. It's about, you know, are we following the procedures and the standards and delivering the kinds of services that we need to deliver to protect the most vulnerable people in the City, and we will work with the community advocates that have brought this lawsuit, because we have the same interests at heart, and I think that the question is how we get there. I am finding a department, Councilwoman, that is doing a lot of things really, really well. It doesn't mean that we 876 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 don't have room for improvement, and I think that we will work closely with the advocates and be open to their strategies. They may think about things or point us to models elsewhere in the country that we might be willing to try. So going back to your point about hiring, if we want to reduce caseload, we must have the staff to assign cases to. If we want to accelerate adoptions, we must have the staff to move this forward. We also need to work more collaboratively with other systems that control some of the pieces of the action, like Family Court, like the School District, like, you know, all of our other partners, like the Police Commissioner, like the District Attorney's Office. And I have met with all of the leaders of those departments already and expressed to them that we want to work together, we want to develop one system on behalf of kids and families, and I know that this doesn't answer directly the points in the Baby Neil case because I'm not prepared to deal with the one-on-one.
Oh, no. 877 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: But I will tell you that that is a high priority, and it simply raises issues that all of us are concerned about.
Thank you very much. My time may be up so I may need to come back.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Mariano.
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Good morning.
This is the first time I've ever called you "Commissioner." The 34 new positions that are going to be at the Juvenile Justice Center that's going to allow you to hire 17 additional youth detentions, you said that you're hiring those people because the people that are working there are working a lot of overtime. And knowing you like I know you from Congreso, you probably got it all figured out math-wise. 878 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 What's the average, without any overtime, the average salary for a starting position there?
And how much is a person that's been there for a little bit with this overtime making?
And then have you factored in -- you probably factored in the health and welfare.
And all the benefits they get for working for this great city, so it's actually cheaper to hire 17 new people.
Now commissioner, have we thought about hiring some of the problems that Councilwoman Tasco talked about, getting 879 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 competent people and qualified for these entry-level positions? Have you checked with any of the agencies like Congreso? Because I know you've done that with me with the building trades, and we've got electricians and plumbers and steam fitter jobs. I'm sure there's some people up there that may be on the road to be social workers. Have you looked into that yet?
We have looked into it. We have also created a trainee position to the Youth Detention Counselor so that they could have a year to get any additional skills they need to move into the Youth Detention Counselor I and then up to Youth Detention Counselor II. We've also looked at incentivizing (sic) joining us in Juvenile Justice Services, as opposed to going to a private provider or going to somewhere else in the private sector.
Now, my other question is, in order to be as competitive with some of the private providers for these same positions, especially the Councilwoman talked about the actual social worker positions, but the support services. If we're looking to interview a 880 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 secretary being bilingual, you know, someone who speaks Spanish or Vietnamese or Cambodian, is definitely a plus. Is there anything that can be done with the Civil Service Commission that could actually help us recruit people that are bicultural or bilingual, you know, maybe a thousand dollars extra? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I want to preface every question -- every answer by saying that I've been here two weeks so I do not know all the rules.
Right. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: But my limited understanding of the civil service system is that if we can demonstrate that there is a need for language diversity, that they will work with us to set up, you know, categories that are related to the category like Bilingual Youth Detention Counselor.
Mm-hmm. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Already -- I don't need to look at data to know that in the Department of Human Services, we need to do more 881 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 in terms of adding language diversity from all communities in this city. This city has a very large Russian population, multiple Asian populations. We are not going to be able to serve these families and these children unless we are able to communicate with them. Now, the Department has made progress on this but, Councilman, you're right absolutely right, you know, we have to -- we will find a way. And the point you made about reaching into providers, we got to be careful 'cause the providers won't be happy if we try to raid their staff. What I'm thinking about is just becoming competitive. You know, it's a free world economy, let people choose where they want to work. The City of Philadelphia is an incredible place to work, and our materials and our campaigns must begin to reflect that.
And my final question is, with these support service jobs, that $26,000 to start was for a social worker? What do we start with, say, is receptionist or a secretary with light-typing skills? 882 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
18? So that's 4 pretty competitive with the market, right? 5
Yes, it's competitive. 6 COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: And the Youth 7 Detention Counselor positions do not require a 8 bachelor's degree. I mean we -- there are 9 tremendous opportunities, and they're really good 10 jobs, and the training is intensive because we're 11 required by state law to provide continuous 12 training to our workers. 13 So people can grow. I mean, one thing 14 that I'm seeing at DHS is people grow and move up 15 the ranks pretty rapidly if they're, you know, 16 motivated. 17
And I think it was 18 the Council President that asked this question or maybe it was Councilwoman Tasco. Are we doing anything with like Community College? I'm sure there's people in Community that would be working on an associate's degree. Are we doing anything with that, where they can come in and maybe intern and then go right into that?
We currently don't have a 883 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 program with Community College. We have a proposal with them to work on a specific Juvenile Justice training program that would be open to all staff who might have interest in becoming a Juvenile Detention counselor.
'Cause I could see Commissioner Martinez teaching a class in her spare time, 'cause I know she has a lot of spare time. (Laughter.)
Thank you. Thank you for your answers. Just kidding about that. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: No, I'm going to do it.
I know you have no 18 spare time. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Anything you say, I'm going to do.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller. 884 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, DHS. Let me see where I want to start. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: And I'm also a constituent of Councilwoman Miller, I' proud to say.
Yes, an 8th District constituent. Okay. On of your testimony, Paragraph 1, you mentioned that Mayor Street has established an Office of Social Services and has created the Philadelphia Commission on Children. Question: Will the Philadelphia Commission on Children take the place and serve the same or similar function as did the Mayor's Children and Families Cabinet? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I would like to ask Director Estelle Richman to answer this question. (Estelle Richman comes forward.)
Hi. I'm Estelle Richman, Director of Social Services for the Managing Director's Office. 885 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 No, the Commission for Children will be very different from the Cabinet. The Cabinet primarily was composed of all the commissioners and directors within City government. The Commission, by and large, will have people from the private sector, the commercial sector, the religious sector, plus some people from City government. But what we're really trying to do is a much broader, much more inclusive process than the Cabinet had been, although the activities of the Cabinet will all be included in the activities that we will be doing.
Okay. So then technically, there will be no more Children's and Family Cabinet.
Right, will be included in the Commission. Okay, will family centers be funded at the same level in FY 2000 or will there be an 886 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 increase or a decrease in funding levels for the upcoming year?
At this point in time, we will be maintaining the funding of the family centers the same. We may be looking at the services, the scope, the activities with those family centers. The direction and operations of the family centers will stay within the Department of Human Services at this point in time and be operated by them. We see the concept as one we want to continue. And from our child policy directive, we'll be looking at how do we get them to be more effective, what additional neighborhoods should they be in, and how we in general can have a just more effective child policy.
Okay. You know, for a few years now, we keep hearing the term "system reform" as being one of the goals of DHS, or of the Cabinet, Family and Youth Cabinet. Can you explain what systems need to be reformed, or what systems are you looking at for reform? Is it a collaboration?
I think this is one that 887 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 all of the departments that I will be working with will be looking at, but "system reform" means that we're going to move from crisis operation to prevention and looking at how we can be more effective in prevention. It looks at how we can work with neighborhoods a little bit more closely to be able find out what that neighborhood and the families in that neighborhood need to remain intact. It means looking at more population-based services as opposed to looking at services after the fact and plugging holes. It means that we're going to actually begin to look at what happens to this child in the long run. Do they get an education, are they able to work effectively and live in the community as opposed to being out of their homes, in treatment facilities, or in jail? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: And I would like to add that my vision of system reform includes having government agencies that are willing to innovate, to take risks, to toss out the old and begin trying new things, to be more business-oriented in the sense that if we are clear about the results that we want to achieve, 888 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that we align our systems and rework our systems to meeting those results, as opposed to, you know, having a vision over here and antiquated operating models over there. And it's painful sometimes and it's hard and, you know, there's resistance to it, but we have to have the courage to keep moving in that direction.
Right. And now that you're coming to outcome-based measurements initiative, can you give an example of the old versus the new in terms of -- and I would imagine you're assessing providers around the outcome of the specific contract. Is it more defined, is it more quantitative? For example, let's use issues in the family reunification department. What would be their outcome system? This is just a hypothetical question.
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. In developing an outcome system, what we're trying to determine is, how do we measure the results of the effectiveness of the programs 889 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 we offer? For example, in the first phase of the outcomes project, we are now able to collect data with regard to the services to children in their own home, known as "SCOH." Right now, we've been able to take a look at, for example, how many children do we get additional abuse reports on? How many children, for example, reenter the system? So we're beginning to believe -- and what agencies they are coming from, what kinds of services are they having? Which gives us an opportunity to begin to say, are these the right services for these children? Because, by and large, X-percentage of children are coming back into the system, or X-percentage of children are staying out of the system and don't come back to the system in the first year. So those are the kinds of specific things we're looking at is, how do we get a sense of the qualitative nature of the programs. And with that information, informed decision-makings about which agencies provide service and the right service and whether or not we have the right mix of service to be able to sustain families in their 890 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 own homes and make sure children are safe.
So it wouldn't have to be -- a social worker wouldn't have to be sort of like a parking enforcement officer who how has a certain amount of quota that they have to meet because each family situation would be totally different and just might not be able to happen within a certain timeframe.
Okay, that's good. I have another question I have to just remember. Oh, just in terms of keeping children within the home. You know, we've had constituents who have actually tried to have their children placed outside of the home because of a variety of issues. And it's good, I think, that you have an effort to try and keep the family together. However, when that effort to keep them there does not work, what would be the next step for those parents? Would you then go through the procedures of trying to place that child outside of the home?
Maxine Tucker, Deputy 891 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Commissioner. Children come to us in a number of ways. They come to us because we have determined, based on our investigation and assessment, that the child is at risk and unsafe to be able to live at home. That's how most of our children come to us. Children also come to us through Family Court, where, by and large, either truancy, incorrigibility, and there's been a real effort for that parent, through some of the services that the court provides and we fund, to be able to keep this child at home. If that all fails, then we do work out with the parents a voluntary arrangement to bring the children into placement. But we just don't automatically -- with the exception of when there's a risk factor with the child -- just say, Everybody just bring your children on down here, we'll take 'em. What we try to do is to provide the services to support them, to stabilize the family. If it does not work and the family's unable to use those services, or the services are just not being effective because either the child 892 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 won't cooperate or either the parent won't cooperate, then, yes, that child is removed from the home through a sanctioning by the court.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Good morning, Commissioner. I have a series of questions. If we could first start with a follow-up to President Verna's question regarding State funding. Is there anything this body could or should do to assist you in ensuring that State funding continues to be a reality? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Definitely. And I'm going to ask some of the deputies to help answer that question.
Well, obviously, State funding is a very complicated issue, but in terms of the Department of Human Services specifically, this department developed what is called "a 893 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 needs-based budget," which we submit to the State about months before the beginning of the Fiscal 4 Year. So last August, we submitted our 5 needs-based budget to the State for the year that 6 begins this coming July 1st. So this budget that 7 we've submitted to Council essentially mirrors 8 that needs-based budgeting submission. 9 So perhaps one of the most important 10 things is that the City shows its willingness to 11 parallel the needs-based budget submission of last August.
We don't normally hear about our final allocation until perhaps April, this coming April. So we'll here in about April about what our final numbers are for the year beginning July 1st. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: But we did read in the newspapers, at least, you know, very generally, that the Governor's budget does include a modest increase for child welfare services for the State.
So is there a 894 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 favorable history with regards to support from the State?
I would say that overall, there has been a favorable history in terms of the State supporting the Department's efforts, but not necessarily a smooth history. So we've been very vigilant in working with the State and we've been very careful in analyzing the information that comes down the pike, and we've been very thorough in assuring ourselves that we claim all the money possibly. So overall, I think the history has been positive. It's difficult to predict into the future whether it will stay that way, and I believe that it's been positive because of the vigilant efforts of the Department and other agencies in the City working very closely and making sure that we keep each other on our toes about this. It's a very complicated process. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: And I would like to emphasize that recognizing that the Department of Public Welfare in the State is a major supporter of these services, I have reached out to Secretary Feather Houstoun, Deputy 895 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Secretary Joanne Lauer (ph.) and our local connection and Schimberger (ph.) and have had a number of conversations with them, and I'm pleased to say that I've had a working relationship with Secretary Houstoun from the past. We've done great things together, and they are very interested in supporting the Department of Human Services as it continues to move our work forward.
Okay. The only group I would add to that, when you anticipate a bumpy road, is to factor in the Philadelphia delegation. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Absolutely.
So that they, too, are informed directly and don't read it in the paper when the crisis happens. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: That's a very good recommendation. Thank you.
Okay, sure. Moving now to the Truancy Unit, I learned from the Police Commissioner's testimony yesterday that their primary role is to pick up and drop off. And I'm trying to get a better sense and understanding of the way the Truancy 896 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Unit works. Right now, two sections of Philadelphia are a part of that, so I'm curious to know when and if that might become citywide. And secondly, describe for me the level of success that you've experienced already. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I'd like to ask the Executive Director of the Children and Families Cabinet, Jean Hunt, to begin answering this question.
My name is Jean Hunt. The primary responsibility that we've had within the Mayor's Children and Families Cabinet was for the community-based truancy courts, which are based in community settings, primarily in schools. We now have 19 out of the clusters in the City reporting to Truancy 22 Court.
This effort is an effort to get intervention with children much earlier in 897 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 their truant history. Previous to this, kids would go up to 180 days before there was an effective intervention. We're now calling children into Truancy Court at days, and our 6 goal is to get it down to less than 10. 7
We're working on an 9 evaluation of the first three months of Truancy 10 Court, which were the first three months of -- it 11 will be almost a year ago so that we will have 12 some operating data that will tell you whether 13 these interventions are as effective as we believe 14 they are anecdotally. 15 But our experience with working with 16 the schools and the courts is that this 17 intervention is making a real difference in 18 returning kids to school and reattaching them to 19 their schools. 20
And the role of 21 parents in this equation is . . . ? 22
Parents are required to come 23 to court with their children, and they're part of 24 the process of defining a contract between -- the 25 master from the Family Court works out a contract. 898 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 There may be support from a family center, there may be referrals for deeper problems, such as drug and alcohol problems, problems of food in the home or inadequate income to get the child to school, whatever. Parents are asked to -- or guardians are an integral part of the solution to the problem.
My follow-up question is related to , the last paragraph, around parents. We know that the reality for many of our parents is that they simply don't have the skills to be good parents, and that's relative. So within the Department, what kind -- and you speak to it generally, but I'm interested in some specifics. What kinds of programmatic preventive initiatives are in place specifically to aid parents?
Let me start with what is happening within the family centers, and there are other programs within the Department as well. There are 19 community-based family centers, and they're in 14 of the clusters now 899 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 existing. And each of these family centers represent an effort to help build capacity in neighborhoods, both within families and within neighborhoods to support children and families in a better way. They do a variety of programs. They vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, depending on the concerns and interests and strengths of that neighborhood. But all of them do programs which are aimed at helping families achieve the goals they have for themselves and their children. Many of them do early-childhood work, they do parents as teachers, they do parent training and parent support. Many of them do after-school programs, many of them do case- management and outreach. Many of them do all kinds of workshops. They've done a lot of very creative welfare-to-work initiatives in West Philadelphia. There's a very interesting welfare-to-work collaboration that is operating out of the family centers in that area and other provider agencies. They're really designed to try to help families to get to the goals families want to get 900 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 to and to see families as having strengths and then having needs where they need additional support.
So the involvement or the participation, is that optional or is it required by those parents of truants?
Family centers are not mandated services; family centers are voluntary.
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. I just want to also share the additional pieces that are within the Children and Youth Division. And that is, we support programs at court called "Reasonable Efforts at Assessment and Placement Prevention," in which we fund several programs that work directly with parents and children in terms of trying to help them deal with those issues and negotiate the systems that they must negotiate. The other piece of it also is at the 901 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 point at which parents may simply choose not to support or be involved, sometimes we have to ask court to intervene and order cooperation, as opposed to just yanking the kids out and putting them into placement, because that doesn't solve the problem.
But there are a number of programs in terms of trying to support parents a way that they can better parent their children.
You mentioned that there are community-based centers in 14 of the 14 clusters. 15
Is it funding that 17 drives that, or is there some strategic plan that 18 drives that where now there are 19 -- well, there 19 14 versus the 22. How did those 14 become so lucky?
Well, they developed -- a lot of them developed out of an emerging movement in neighborhoods in order to create family centers, and I think that the task going forward is to figure out a way to -- how to help support 902 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the remaining clusters so that they have centers. But the ones that have been developed thus far, by and large, came up out of activity at the neighborhood level, where people reached out and asked for the assistance.
Was it suggested that there has to be some level of cooperation amongst the various worlds in that particular neighborhood?
It's required. I mean, you can't do a family center if there's not a strong collaborative interest in the neighborhood.
Can you provide a list of the participating clusters to the Chair, if you would.
We would like to get a read on where they are. Should I assume that they're in high-need areas?
Okay. Girls, young women, the population is increasing. And Councilwoman Miller spoke about quote, system reform, and Secretary Estelle Richman responded to 903 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that, citing a number of preventive measures. What kind of preventive measures are in place specifically for young women so that we -- so that there is a leveling off, if you will, of that population just growing and growing through the roof?
Under the Juvenile Justice budget, you will see SCOP support.
SCOP (ph.) provides prevention services particularly for girls, as well as other children. But with the increases in Juvenile Justice in the numbers of girls, we have last year funded three just talking groups for girls at Miller, Boone, and Shallcross so that those young women could have opportunities to be together with other young women and with adult females who are healthy and functioning well in society, so that they could learn some different behaviors about how to respond to just what we consider girls' issues or female issues. All of the providers are receiving some training through the advisory committee at SCOP to work with girls and help to identify early the 904 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 issues which they present that are different from boys.
Right. In Juvenile Justice, many of our programs were originally designed for boys because our court system had for many, many years kept girls out, but as the numbers increase, what we're learning and what many have known for some time is that they don't fit in normal boys' programs. You have some very specific program components. Nationally, a group was charged last year to develop guidelines for girls' programs through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. We have circulated those guidelines to all of our providers and staff who have reason to serve girls, so that we are fine-tuning what we are offering and can better measure the outcomes based on the needs of this particular population.
The three sites that you mentioned, how did they become so lucky? What I'm getting to is how you arrived at the decision that "X" gets the opportunity and "B" 905 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 does not.
Okay. In Shallcross, Miller, and Boone, we found that in those alternative sites were girls who were not making it all the way into the Youth Study Center or into residential placement, but they were girls with high probability of penetrating the system further. It was critical to get to those young women and begin to develop some options for them to help them to explore some other options and ways of dealing with their problems so that they did not penetrate the system further.
So the mentors you talked about are actually employees of the --
We have two groups who are developing mentors PAAN, which is the Anti-Crime, Anti-Violence Network, which has developed some 100-and-some mentors, some of which are for girls. PAAN has a program where they have developed mentors through a program called UGIMA (ph.). 906 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
And they have a program that's called "UGIMA" that develops mentors for youngsters who have hit the detention center but are going home; they're not going to placement, they're not going to a community-based placement, but certainly, they need some hand-holding and someone to set some -- to model some appropriate behaviors and provide support for them.
Sure, sure. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I also wanted to add to the answer that the vision of the Department of Human Services, under the new City structure of social services as an umbrella, assumes that we will be a part of the solution, but not the entire solution. And so I wanted to speak to after-school programs as a incredible strategy that this city has to, you know, continue to push as a preventive mechanism for girls, because in my 907 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 experience as Executive Director of Congreso, girls took advantage of after-school programs much more readily than boys at a certain age, after a certain age point.
Sure, sure. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: And so that is a tool, it is a vehicle. Mayor Street is committed to moving that forward, and the Department of Human Services will contribute to the pot for after-school programs. But really, it has to be with Recreation, Health, you know, Director Estelle Richman, the School District.
The District. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: We have a lot of resources in this city -- not enough, but we need to align them and use them more strategically. And ultimately, we need to make these decisions based on data and based on needs. Just like Commissioner Timoney moves resources where the risk is at, our social services and human services departments must move resources to where the risk is the highest.
I couldn't agree with you more. 908 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Let me suggest this, as well, when you're thinking about mentors and volunteers. There are a number of active committed women organizations here in the city who look for opportunities to connect with government-driven initiatives, and they are a valuable resource that, if asked, would respond. So consider them and factor them into it when you're looking to volunteers who want to help be a part of the solution. On of your testimony, with regard --- I believe that's under "Enhancements" -- no, "Major Challenges," , third paragraph. Could you please forward to the Chair a copy of this report after March 2000 that speaks to the model court you're talking about here? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Absolutely. Is it on track? March 2000, we'll have the evaluation of model court?
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. The evaluation is on target at this particular point, in terms of trying to look at the effectiveness, because what the future vision 909 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 is, it's to increase the number of model courts as a way of doing business in terms of reviewing cases in the court system. So we are right on target about now.
Do you mind holding some of your questions so that we can have another go-round.
Actually, Madam President, I have concluded my questioning.
Do you have another one? Do you have another question?
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Madam 910 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Chair. Good morning. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Good morning.
I have a couple questions about the budget in detail. On 42-55 and 42-57 and 42-64, there are three items which indicate an increase in Class 200 for, I think, on 42-64, what's listed as "Professional Services." On the 42-55, the increase is 35 million; on 42-57 indicates an increase of 30 million; and 42-64 indicates an increase of million in professional services. 15 Could you give me a description as to 16 what it is those particular items are being 17 increased at that level, what they are, what we 18 hope to accomplish? Do you have the items there? Do you see which one I'm talking about? It's 42-55, at the top of the page.
Okay. Councilman, 911 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Russell Cardamone, Deputy Commissioner of Administration.
When you say an increase, it's the last -- it's like Line 4. It says "Purchase of Services," and it's $35,877,000.
Right. We're looking at this division summary for one of the divisions, the Children and Youth Division of the Department of Human Services. And that increase falls into the 200 classification, as you can tell. And the vast majority of that money goes into what we call "290 contracts," which are per diem services. They are out-of-home placement services and in-home SCOH services.
And we, of course, could give you a detailed breakdown on how that $35 million is allocated over a variety of contracts.
I guess the question I have is not the detailed breakdown or it's how it's allocated, but what the policy is on what seems to be a substantial increase over last year's allocation, both -- I mean -- again, as I 912 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 go down this increase and decrease column, the stuff that pops out is either a major decrease in something or what seems to be a reasonably major increase in something, and that's a $35 million, almost a $36 million increase in services on 42-57. On the same line -- I guess it's the same type of services -- there's an increase of $30.2 million. And then on 42-64, there is a professional service line, Line 250, which indicates an $18.5 million increase. And, again, I'm not looking for a breakdown of what's spent or what's attached; I just want to know what the policy shift is that we're increasing substantially in those three areas.
We have our Fiscal Officer John Zanier, but the $36 million is cumulative, and John can --
Some of the numbers you mentioned are subcategories of that 36 million.
Hi. I'm John Zanier of 913 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 DHS Fiscal --
Before you start, I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you, but am I misreading the fact that there's an increase of that amount?
Yes. I'm John Zanier, Fiscal Officer. The $35 million that you're seeing on -55 includes the $30 million increase on . The 55 pages are -- increases all funds.
Okay, fine. How about the 18 million in the "Professional Services" line on 42-64? What professional services are being increased to that level?
Is that the -- 914 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Most of the -- there's two categories that are increased in that column. One is an artificial increase of the Children and Families Cabinet that's being included in the Children and Youth Division now.
In the Children and Families Cabinet. You'll see that further in the budget, under the Children and Families Cabinet.
Yes. There's the actual increase that John mentioned. And, of 915 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 course, there are some regular rate increases that are a result of rate studies that caused that number to go up as well.
Okay. So some of it has to do with just the increase in the services that are being charged. People are charging for those services, having general increases in the industry.
And those increases are things that we determine based on rate studies.
All right. And going back now to 42-55 and 57, so that I understand the explanation, it is not a cumulative $65 million increase, it a -- probably a -- could you tell me what the increase is? I mean, you can imagine how difficult this is for us. This is my ninth budget, and I still have a little difficulty understanding it, so I mean, the average person who gets this on line is totally lost. It would seem to me to be a $65 million increase that obviously isn't, so how much of an increase is it?
The total in all funds is 916 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 35 million.
It's made up of a combination of what we said earlier. There's the shift from the Children and Families Cabinet to the Children and Youth Division, and that's around million. There's an increase in adoption 9 services in our Class 250. 10
There's an increase in adoption subsidies. There's a 2 percent COLA increase, there's an increase in our service to children in their own homes, and there is some dollars in there for targeted rate increases for services.
Okay. On 42-67 and 42-68, there is a two-page list of organizations and contracts that amount to about $39.5 million that deal with various types of services. Some of them are clear in what it is that they're doing. I mean, second -- on 42-67, Line 2, is $286,000 for outpatient evaluation and treatment of sexually abused victims. I mean, to me, that's a pretty clear 917 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 explanation of what it is those services are that are being provided. But there are others, for example, that for -- like the $510,000 down at the bottom, there's an "Outcomes Project." And underneath that, I'll have a "Transition Housing for Youths," $514,000. On the next page, we'll have an item for a half a million dollars for "Youth Violence Reduction," and then another half million dollars for "School Readiness," a $900,000 item for "School Performance Improvement." Now, they all sound great, but what are they, who determines the level that they're funded? What are the criteria that we judge them on annually, how do we judge this particular program spending almost a million dollars, whether it's accomplishing what it is we're intending them to accomplish? And how do we judge their performance. Because, again, my concern is that we're spending, 39, almost $40 million in various contracts that the average person, and even the average Councilperson, would have a difficult time understanding their purpose, which, I'm sure, is 918 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 well intentioned and what it is they're accomplishing.
This is Estelle Richman, Director of Social Services. The primary reason to integrate both budget and policy for social services is to answer that specific question is, are we getting money's worth, are the programs doing what we need to do, and are we getting the outcomes that we thought we were going to get when we went into these programs? Under Social Services, we will have someone dedicated to both quality management and quality improvement that will go across budgets and across departments, because I'm not sure I could answer today that, one, we're getting our money's worth -- in other words, we know what the outcomes are -- and is the money working for us, and if any of that is being duplicated by any other department. So one of the things that will be very clearly delineated as we move forward is the quality piece of this, the outcomes piece, and the integration piece across the seven departments 919 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that are now falling within Social Services. So we should be able, hopefully, by next year, when you ask that question, to be able to tell you, yes, we increased that budget because we were getting the outcomes that we needed and it's different than it has been before, and we aren't engaged in what I always call "historical funding," where we do it just because we've done it before.
I moved -- I moved -- I mean, when I first came here, when I looked at numbers like this, I would kind of just rub my eyes and shake my head and say, God, we're just overwhelmed with the amount of money it costs for Social Services, Children and Youth.
And one of the concerns I have is the amount of money -- and I'm not doubting that we have a responsibility to deal with these problems 'cause if we don't deal with them in one way, we're going to deal with them in another, and I recognize that. But at the same time, what I have to do is translate to those taxpayers who are 920 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 increasingly leaving the City at a rate that's far above what any of us want, is that what is it that they're getting out of their tax dollars?
This Social Services portion of our budget is a huge portion of our budget, and I mean everything. Juvenile Justice, the Courts, Children and Youth, the Health Department, it's just a large Titanic of the section of our budget.
And I'm always trying to understand what we're trying to accomplish and whether or not we're exactly getting our money's worth. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Well, in terms of the fundamental question of what results we're getting for our investment, that's a very basic business question that sometimes government asks itself, but our systems are not set up in order to hold, you know, ourselves accountable once we find out the answer. So that is one issue that I think we're all going to struggle with. That being said, however, that's a 921 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 fundamental issue and is central to systems reform. I did want to give briefly an opportunity for the deputy commissioners to speak about work that is actually happening in the Department right now, which is quite cutting-edge. It's not the entire answer, but just so that Council is assured that this is not a new question for DHS. And I'd like to --
I'd just like to make a -- before the deputy commissioners begin, I'd just like to make a request. At least on these two particular pages 42-67 and 68, at sometime in the future -- not next week or -- at sometime in the reasonable future, if I could get just kind of like a short paragraph explanation of what "School Readiness" means, what their mission is, who does it, where the money goes, just so that at this time next year, when we have this same conversation, I'll have something at least that I'll know what I'm talking about when it comes to those services.
Councilman, we will be able to do that. That is clearly part of where we're going. 922 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
They had previously been a part of the Cabinet, and integrating them as we reorganize at this point. So we will be able to answer and give you the update on that.
As you may be aware or not, ProDES, Program Development and Evaluation System, has been a big investment from Juvenile Justice Services over the last five years. And the intention was to look at several sets of scales that would measure what was happening in programs for Philadelphia children -- which programs worked best for them, what kinds of services existed in some programs that were effective with kids and may have been absent in other programs that were not yielding as effective outcomes. ProDES was recognized by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government as one of the 22 innovative programs in government this year. It 23 did not make the top-ten finalists, but what it 24 tells us is whether or not our programs are 25 working. What it provides for our providers and 923 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 our monitors of services is information for fine-tuning their operations. In some cases, it has resulted in the closing of programs because folks are not meeting the outcomes that they clearly said they could deliver if we awarded them contracts for certain kinds of services. Children and Youth is going to that model in their performance-based contract. It's expensive to evaluate programs, but it is critical if we want to achieve outcomes that keep kids from penetrating the systems further.
Could I just move to one other issue, and I know I'll have to come around again, 'cause I have a few more questions. It seems that -- and this may be saying it simply -- a lot of the problems that we deal with as the result of juvenile delinquency and truancy and family dysfunction and sexual abuse and all the things that come about from that is the fact that people are having children when they're not capable of having or raising them or they're too young and are having children, and we're dealing right now probably with the second 924 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 generation of children having children, and we're moving towards the third generation of children having children. What do we do overall, in all of our programs, as it relates to family planning, birth control, abstinence, or other types of issues that would reduce the numbers of teenage pregnancies, the number of single-mother pregnancies? I mean, do we have a -- do we have a comprehensive to try to reduce the number of children coming into our city, into the world that have parents that aren't prepared?
Abstinence and pregnancy prevention, fathering skills, parenting skills are a part of every program in the Juvenile Justice contracted services program and in the Youth Study Center that we run ourselves, and I would think that Maxine Tucker would respond for the CYD Program.
And I know it's a very sensitive issue from a social, religious, other types. I mean, I have two children primarily because I can't afford three, and that's a part of what my discussion process is within our 925 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 family when it comes to how many kids you're going to have, what you're going to do, how you pay for education. And that's in a stable family with skills. How do we -- how do we translate that into the reduction of the number of kids that are coming here that aren't with parents that aren't prepared?
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. One of the ways on the Children and Youth side is, we have a program called "the Adolescent Initiative Independent Living Program," and we subcontract with Family Planning to also do some counseling to young people, both male and female, with regard to that. We also, through our private agencies, there are counseling services going on through our purchase of service arrangement in terms of trying to work with young people in terms of our preventing planned or unplanned pregnancies.
But you believe that this is a continuous thread that goes through all of our programs and all of our approach? 926 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Because it seems to be the crux of the problem in many ways -- in addition to the drug-abuse issues and unemployment and poverty. But that thread of children unwanted, wanted, not capable, all that seems to be the common denominator. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Well, I mean, I think that, obviously, it's an issue that is critical to the future of this city and to the future of the people that live here and are committed to staying in this city. And I will say that the City of Philadelphia, from my experience even as a provider and prior to that, as a legal services lawyer, has been addressing this issue, but I can't say that we should be satisfied with what we're getting. And so I think that it goes back to the discussion of results. You know, are we getting what we paid for, who is in charge? I believe that, you know, by having Estelle Richman being Director of Social Services, it means that this city is going to be better organized to deliver a unified message. And I think that it is critical people must have information to make informed decisions about, you know, when they want to have 927 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 kids and if they want to have kids, and the message has to be effective, because we have multiple audiences that we need to reach. This is very complex work. So I will say that I believe that we are doing things, and it's an issue that's recognized. I am not satisfied with the results we're getting, and I don't think any of us should be.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll come around again. I'm sorry.
I just wanted to add to what my colleagues have already said, and it sort of touches on your previous question as well. We have a sophisticated contracting process in the Department of Human Services, which includes a set of performance standards. So all of our services have expectations -- explicit -- which are monitored against in terms of the very issues you just mentioned, not just the special programs we've talked about, but all of our services address the various issues you just talked about, Councilperson, and we'd be happy to talk to you more. 928 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Yeah. I just think part of the problem is from an individual who's responsible for voting on the budget and for citizens who may be interested in understanding what's going on, that type of explanation -- granted, the space constraints -- really just doesn't tell you anything. And, again, it doesn't tell you whether or not the program's effective. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Mm-hmm.
So I'll be looking forward to talking to you guys next year on what's going on. Thank you. I'd like to come around again when you're done, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to get back to the discussion that I had early about meals and food. With Mayor Street's initiative in trying to have a better lifestyle, better nutrition for the residents of Philadelphia, what does DHS do in that area? Do we have some quality control, a dietary program 929 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that when you feed people with DHS funds, that it's a good quality, that it's of the right nutrition for the children and adults? And now that the Mayor is really focussing on a better diet for Philadelphians, are you going to coordinate your programs with that office to assure that we in government are doing what the Mayor wants the residents of the City to do? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Well, I will answer your last question first, which is, we will definitely coordinate, and we are the healthiest agency in the whole city already, for the record. But we will be healthier. Anyway, I would like Peggy Holtzman the Superintendent of Riverview, to answer the question about our standards in relation to our services to the elderly, to begin there.
Good morning. My name is Margaret Holtzman. I'm Superintendent at Riverview. We recently revised the menu under which we serve our residents. It was done by a registered dietitian whose experience is in 930 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 designing menus for nursing homes all up and down the East Coast. We're required, under State regulations, to meet U.S. nutritional guidelines for residents, and I must say that our food is really delicious. Every staff member at Riverview eats at Riverview every day also, which is a pretty good sign if people who can choose to eat elsewhere choose to eat there. It's a pretty good sign that the menu is what it's intended to be. We also, sometimes when very elderly residents are declining and deteriorating to the point where -- it's fairly predictable as people decline toward a natural passing, if they are still at Riverview rather having been transferred to a nursing home at that point, they begin to lose their appetite. And so what we do is learn what their preferences are so that if it is something -- for example, an unusual kind of food that isn't normally on our menu, we will just go to the Superfresh and buy it for them, for example.
So what you're telling me is that a certain culture would require a certain diet that you, on occasion, can 931 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 accommodate that request?
Now, what about -- I'll guess we'll leave Riverview now, and I'm glad to hear that. But what about children, what about the kids? The Frosted Flakes and all that, are --
At the Youth Study Center, a registered dietitian also reviews our cycle menus, and those cycle menus are based on the guidelines for adolescent population. There are special menus for those youngsters who have medical needs -- diabetes, those few who have hypertension, or other medical conditions that require special diets. The Medical Unit reviews them for every child coming into the Youth Study Center and updates that in their chart and works with Dietary to make sure that those needs are met.
It's good to hear and it sounds as though there will be even more coordination in an effort to have the elderly and our young people eat healthier, more -- do they get fruit and vegetables, like bananas and apples? 932 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Just a couple of questions. Councilwoman Miller asked about family preservation and permanent placement. Are we finding more and more families not being able to maintain the family preservation atmosphere? Are you finding that more and more children have to go into placement?
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. Actually, our placements, our overall placements, are substantially down, probably at minus 1.9 percent. Family preservation, I might add, which I think is a good thing and has produced great results, is a part of a continuum of services. For example, after that 12-13-week of 933 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 very intensive services, as opposed to just turning families loose, saying, "Okay, we've done this emergency shot and you can go on your way," we step them down into a less intensive SCOH services, and we do that until we are able to either step them out of the system through levels of services, or if they are not working in the circumstances which brought them to our attention and are not ameliorated, then we may have to remove them. But the continuum of services really gives families an opportunity to be weaned away from us, as opposed to just suddenly we leave them.
Thank you very much. You know I care a lot about family preservation.
And we talk a lot about that here in Council, and I'm really concerned that we try and keep families together, and I appreciate the services that you all do provide. My other interest is the Kinship Care. 934 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
And the Grand Central Program that's working to support families who are taking care of other's children. Are the numbers increasing where you find family members taking care of children that are not their children?
Yes. Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. We are seeing a slow rise in terms of the number of children who are in Kinship Care families. I think we're probably about at 1300 children at this particular point. It is still a viable alternative to removing children from their family system. So if I looked at what I would do with those children if they were not with Kinship Care, they would be in out-of-home placement because they absolutely cannot remain with parent and remain safely. So we are seeing some slow growth. It's not a phenomenal growth but it is some slow growth.
Just for the record, would you let me know how some of the 935 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 problems we discussed earlier about Kinship Care families having problems with the schools, physicians, and services that we found early on, how are they improving access to service?
We are improving them in two ways. One, some of the support services, like Grand Central, Kids in (unintelligible), we are looking at in terms of not only continuing to support those kinds of services, but even looking at where the expansion needs to be as a part of our assessment of what services we need to buy and at what level for the coming Fiscal Year. We are also looking at the population of Kinship families and the services in the right neighborhoods together. So what we're looking at is where our children are coming from and are there services that need to support them at a level that can sufficiently do that. So we definitely believe that we need to, and will, expand those support services.
One of the areas cited in this monitoring report was the absence of -- and, again, this is subject to discussion, I 936 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 understand that -- the lack of medical services once a child is initially given a medical exam, ongoing medical services for these children.
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. There are some areas in which the report that has been put out in which we dispute some of the findings, and we are in the process of trying to look at where those differences are and what have you. Basically, children are getting the medical services that they need. Children are covered under HealthChoices. There are times that there may be a delay in a service, child-specific, not life-threatening, or affect their health. When a child moves from one health-care provider to another, in other words, where he lived prior to going with his grandmother, for example, may have been with another primary-care physician in another health maintenance organization. What we're trying to do, through work with our managed care unit as well as with the administration and management's medical eligibility unit, is as quickly as possible try to 937 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 make sure that, at a minimum, if a child needs an evaluation, to be able to get that evaluation and let the payment and the transfer to a more appropriate HMO catch up with them. So sometimes, there is a delay in getting perhaps a routine evaluation, but I want to stress that no child is ever at risk of a health problem or an existing health problem is not treated because there has been a change in HMO or a primary-care physician. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: And I want to emphasize on behalf of the Department that the children that are under our supervision and in our care should get the best health care that's available to them, both in terms of life- threatening situations, as well as preventive health care, and to the extent that we can find new ways and better ways to make sure that they get what they need, and we're going to have to work very closely with the agencies we contract with as well, because there are limits to what the Department staff can do when a lot of the services that are provided to these children are provided by other, you know, other entities. 938 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 And so we're talking about what, 300 agencies? I mean, we -- there's a lot to coordinate here. But I guess I just want to speak to the principle of the issue that you're raising, which is, it's definitely a priority, and we will continue to make sure that, you know, we move to the ultimate goal of everybody getting what they need.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Yes, thank you. I have a follow-up to Councilman Kenney's inquiries, one with regards to the tremendous increase in adoptions, which is encouraging -- putting young people in a permanent home versus tossing them around in foster care. Why that significant jump? What are the 939 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 contributing factors? In terms of the detail, it's on -69, but it's also spoken in the narrative, , top paragraph.
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. Certainly the significant increase in the number of children who have been adopted as a permanent plan, and I want to stress that adoption is just one permanent plan.
That by and large, other permanent plans, like children going back to their parents, children going with relatives.
But in relation to your question about adoption, I think a number of things have occurred. One, in terms of staffing at a level that has been sufficient, I believe just the funding of the program by the State, and certainly there's been a reorganization at the State level and in the Department. The reorganization at the State level is that they developed a statewide adoption network system, which, by and large, allowed agencies to purchase 940 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 out but purchase through the State contract and manage by the State contract, as opposed to the Department and the agency trying to do adoptions directly themselves, and did not have the ability to do recruitment, home studies, post-adoption services. It was kind of like they were trying to do everything.
As opposed to how they're doing now. So I think some organizational changes, some staffing increases, certainly some sufficient dollars to bear, have all resulted in the adoptions. As a matter of fact, we anticipate this fiscal year that we're in now completing 700, and 750 in the 2001. We're right on target for this year -- we are at 310 adoptions so far this year, and we expect by June 30th to hit the 700 mark.
That's wonderful. Another follow-up to Councilman Kenney's inquiries with regard to teenage pregnancy. Commissioner, you indicated that we're never pleased or satisfied, and we shouldn't be. Has there been a decrease as a result of the 941 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 programs that you have in place that specifically address that?
Jean Hunt, Mayor's Children and Families Cabinet. There's been a national decrease in teen pregnancy, which has been mirrored by a local decrease in the City of Philadelphia, but I think it would be a mistake to be able to say that we could directly attribute our efforts to that decrease. There are a number of factors that are involved, probably one of which is a strong economy.
It's a very good thing, but in the presence of a weaker economy, I don't know that we could guarantee you that our efforts could stem the tide. And I think that Alba's commitment and Estelle Richman's commitment to measuring outcomes of programs is really going to be required. Teen pregnancy is a very knotty problem and an extremely difficult problem. It has many, many, many causes. It is not a single-bullet 942 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 theory. And the effort to change the behavior of young women is extremely complex -- and young men.
And because it is a knotty problem, is there a layering of the message? meaning, is there a coordination with the School District, activity in the rec. centers, so that young people here are not just one entity, in addition to hopefully getting the message at home, but in the various worlds that they travel, a layering of the message, 'cause we know young people got to hear it over and over and over again before it's --
The message to young people is to "have hope for your future and to go for your goals." That's the message that makes the most difference. Young women, for instance, who are engaged in athletics postpone pregnancy and sexual activity at a much higher rate than young women that are not. So that it's a very complex piece, it has lots of parts to it.
Estelle Richman, Director of Social Services. This is another good example where it's more than one department. The Health Department 943 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 also has major initiatives for teenage pregnancy through the Office of Early Childhood and the activities that have been in place for many years in maternal and child health. So the School District has to be resolved, the recreation center has to be involved.
Again, this is some of the reasoning behind the Mayor's creation of the position of Director of Social Services, so that we can get all of these initiatives working together. It can't lie in one place. They all have to -- the policy has to apply across the board. So we will be working -- I will be working with the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health, Recreation -- and including homelessness services 'cause we have many teenage girls within those programs -- all to be able to focus on what we want as our outcome and to be able to do it together.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair. 944 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
You're welcome. Councilman Cohen? You have no 5 questions?
No. They've been answered in the process of other Councilmembers' questions.
I just have a couple other questions. It's good to read, and we're all talking about outcomes and performances that the family initiative is working so well, as you state on the second page, at the bottom of your testimony. I used to be a member of one of the first family-to-family initiative groups up in 945 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Germantown, and the base of information that I can remember, that program was put together because there was a very high incidence of children going into foster care in zip code 19144. So it's really refreshing to read that five years later, it's working, in terms of foster care, decreasing the number of homes that children have to go into foster care. So when you assign your social workers geographically, I guess what I'd really like to know, because it really feels good for me to read the results of something that's been happening and something good that's been happening. Could you give us data -- not today, but in the future, give us data on, for example, foster care -- extra foster care was needed in 19144, what else is needed, according to the sections of the City or by zip code? 'Cause sometimes that can help us. When I go out and when I was a part of family-to-family, everywhere I went, I tied to recruit people to become those mentors in those neighborhoods. If we have that information and we know that there's the problem and we're out all 946 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the time all over, we could actually be a part of trying to help with the success. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Mm-hmm.
And one other question I have. When you described the young person that needed someone to be with them, I guess, during their working hours, is that the wrap-around service? Is that what it's called? 'Cause the School District says they have something called "wrap-around," and I was wondering if that was the same thing.
No. I described youngsters in the Youth Study Center who need one-on-one services hours a day. But 16 wrap-around services are services that extend into 17 the community to support a youngster's needs, 18 whatever they are, once he or she returns home and 19 is living at home but may still have needs that 20 were being met by a residential placement or an 21 institutional setting. But it doesn't stop the 22 services. They are often at a lesser degree but 23 they are available all of the time with that 24 youngster. It's based on need. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: I would say 947 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- that the one-on-one that we're talking about is more of a security measure and to prevent, you know, harm to themselves or others, and wrap-around is about treatment and rehabilitation.
Okay. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: So, I mean, that's just the harsh reality of what we do at the Youth Study Center.
Thank you very much. Are there any further questions from DHS from members of the Council?
To the new commissioner, I just think this field is such an important field that it needs thorough new examinations from time to time just to review things. The Department seems to be much more stabilized than it has been over many years. 948 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 We heard stories of impossible caseloads. That does not seem to be a problem at this time? COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: We will continue to work on that issue. It's better, but we have more work to do.
Yes, they are. Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner the caseloads are lower. The caseloads are large. In intake, they are probably around per social worker, as 15 a maximum. In the ongoing services calls, the family service regents, they are around 26. And we are requesting dollars in our needs-based budget as well to further reduce those caseloads. But they are, considering how we have sat here a couple of years ago, they are quite different.
All right thank you very much. We hope the progress continues -- in fact, intensifies. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. 949 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Certainly. In fact, they were double that, if I'm not mistaken, if my memory serves me right.
And then that didn't necessarily mean in individual, it could be -- you have to treat the family, so that number could be multiplied many, many times over, which is part of the issue. And it makes it very, very difficult to deal with maybe a family of six, and that's one case, and that still exists. Is that still a part of it?
Maxine Tucker, Deputy Commissioner. Absolutely. When we talk about a caseload, we talk about two things. When you look at workload, you look at the actual number of families, so that that I identified, for 20 example, is the number of families. Conceivably, 21 the number of children in that particular caseload 22 for that social worker could be anywhere from 45 23 to 60 children. And each of the children's 24 service needs have to be addressed as a child in 25 the context of a family. 950 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Yes, and I wanted our colleagues to be aware of that. That's still quite a big caseload. And even though it's 100 percent better than it was, it's still a tremendous caseload to deal with. And, certainly, we look forward to the days when we won't have to hear horror stories because there are not enough people to really deal with the preventive and supportive services that our children need. Are there any other questions? (No further questions.)
Thank you very much. COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ: Thank you for your time. Thank you.
And, again, congratulations to our new commissioner. And thank you, all the others, for all of that you've done over the years. Thank you. We're now going to ask the Health Department, if you will come forward. 951 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
We're only an hour behind. We just ask that you be quiet as you leave in the back for us, please. (Health Department witnesses come forward.)
Thank you very much. We certainly greet you. We want to say good morning, Commissioner Domzalski, and let me personally thank you for all that you have done -- not only with the School District issues that we've worked on in the past from McMichael School and up, but on any issue where we've called, you've been very, very supportive, and we thank you.
Certainly. All right, now we'll ask you to identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Chairwoman Blackwell and Members of Council. I am John Domzalski, acting Commissioner for the 952 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Department of Public Health, and I'm pleased to be here this morning to present the Department of Public Health's Fiscal Year 2001 Operating Budget. With me is Ellen Steiker, the Deputy Commissioner for Finance and Administration. The full text of my testimony has been provided, and I will summarize that testimony.
The Fiscal Year 2001 Budget contains a total request of $995.2 million, of which 6 percent, or 58.5 million, comes from City-tax supported funds. To accomplish its mission, the Department administers a range of programs and services. These include: Disease (unintelligible) system, which enables us to identify and respond to the occurrence of communicable diseases in the city; The provision of personal and public health services in our health centers; Services directed to combatting HIV and AIDS; And services targeted to the special needs of women and children. Environmental regulatory and direct 953 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 services are also provided within the Department. In addition, the Department operates the Medical Examiner's Office, maintains oversight of the Philadelphia Nursing Home, monitors health services at the Riverview Home for the Aged, and performs quality oversight of the health services provided within the Philadelphia prison system, the Youth Study Center, and the Main Offender Processing Unit at the Police Administration Building. The investments in our public health programs have borne measurable results. For example, there has been a continued decline in AIDS-related deaths and in the prevalence of elevated blood lead in children.
Could I ask you to please speak more directly into the microphone.
Very good. Thank you. 954 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Thank you, Councilman. And the prevalence of elevated blood lead in children has also declined. There's been an increase in number of the women receiving prenatal care and in the number of children who are immunized. And our capacity to provide regulatory and direct environmental services has improved. Mayor Street has declared this "The Year of the Child," with a goal of coordinating and more effectively directing resources and attention to the needs of Philadelphia's most promising and vulnerable asset -- its children. We know from a number of studies that many of the factors that interfere with a child's ability to succeed in school are health-related. In furtherance of the Mayor's goal and to promote school-readiness, the Department has created an Office of Early Childhood. The intent of this action is to bring health-related programs and services for children together, under one organizational umbrella. Lead poisoning causes brain damage and is the most preventable environmental risk to 955 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 children. As a result of aggressive screening, education, and prevention activities, we expect the number of children with confirmed elevated blood lead levels to be fewer than 1,000 in Fiscal Year 2001. Now, this is 1,000 too many, but it's a significant improvement over numbers as high as 3,000 a few years ago. With regard to childhood immunizations, Philadelphia was found to be one of only nine cities nationwide with immunization rates over 80 percent. Our rate now is 82 percent, a significant improvement over the 68 percent level reported in Fiscal Year '96. In recent years, there have also been improvements in our infant mortality rate and in the number of women receiving prenatal care, and the number of women who do not smoke during pregnancy. We must work to make additional improvements in these important indicators. With regard to HIV AIDS programs, Philadelphia continues to experience a decline in AIDS-related deaths, and the number of newly reported AIDS cases dropped by 11 percent between Fiscal Year 1997 and Fiscal Year 1999. To support 956 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 these efforts, Philadelphia continues to successfully compete for AIDS funding. 2 million for Fiscal Year 2001. Because this epidemic impacts minority communities most severely, the Department will continue to target more resources for service provision in the minority communities. The City Health Care Centers continue to make a major contribution to the Department's capacity to deliver public health services throughout the city. In Fiscal Year 1999, the health centers provided care to more than 86,000 individuals, who made over 320,000 visits. Sixty-three percent of those visits were made by individuals who are uninsured. In Fiscal Year 2000, the centers expect total visits to remain unchanged, and a percentage of those visits, which are unreimbursed by health insurance to increase slightly, to 64 percent. This percentage of unreimbursed visits is up from 49 percent in 1996. 957 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 We face the challenge of a growing fiscal imbalance resulting from the increase in number of uninsured patient visits. Compounding the pressure on our health center budget is the steady increase in pharmacy costs, an increase of percent per year since 1996, while the number 8 of prescriptions filled at the centers has 9 increased by 30 percent during the same period. 10 These increases have driven up City funding of the 11 pharmacy program for the past three years. 4 million in Fiscal Year 2001. The Department of Public Health also provides a number of services that have a direct impact on the quality of life of those who reside in, work in, or visit our city. These consist of regulatory and directly provided services, which range from monitoring the safety of food sold at local establishments to monitoring businesses and 958 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D.
- BILL 05 - 2/16/00 industries that release pollutants into the air. Our objective in carrying out these wide-ranging responsibilities is to ensure that the public health purpose of the applicable laws and regulations is achieved, while conducting these activities in a way that is clear, understandable, and as business-friendly as possible. The creation in 1997 of an integrated mechanism for the management of all publicly funded substance-abuse prevention and treatment and mental-health treatment programs in Philadelphia has brought about significant improvement in the accessibility, responsiveness, accountability, and cost-effectiveness of those programs and services. In addition, the significant amount of medical assistance funds for behavioral-health services, which previously went into profit for the private sector, are now available for reinvestment in related public-health services. 2 million. The improved coordination and integration achieved through the creation of a unified behavioral- 959 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 health system has enabled the Department to work with other City agencies and with the private sector to better address previously unmet needs, such as enhanced behavioral-health services for children in the City's public schools and expanded outreach and residential services for homeless persons who also have mental illness and/or substance addictions. In concluding the summary, it's appropriate to recognize that the new organizational structure put in place by Mayor Street offers exciting opportunity for improved coordination, integration, and efficiency among City health and social services. Within this new structure, the Department of Public Health will be a major contributor to a more responsive social service delivery system. Eliminating neighborhood blight, improving the lives of Philadelphia's children, helping to make our regulatory environment more business-friendly all are initiatives to which the Department can make a considerable contribution. The people who make this department work are optimistic and committed to work aggressively to meet the challenges that 960 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 lie ahead. I thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony, and I will be pleased to respond to your questions now.
Thank you very much. Before we do, let us pause to recognize the student council 4th and 5th graders from Daroff School and certainly my friend and a teacher when I was in elementary school. Thank you. Welcome. (Applause.)
All right. Mr. Commissioner, as always, there are always concerns about the health centers. For a while, we had to focus on lowering the wait time, and then we heard there were issues of individuals with toothaches, for example, who had to wait four or five weeks to get treated, and that sort of thing. Where are we with that? And are we focusing on that? Given the explosion and the need, where are we with that? And is that a focus of yours? 961 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
That continues to be a focus of concern for us in terms of ensuring that our health center services are delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible. We do continually look at waiting times and attempt to find areas where there are inefficiencies in that and try to remove those barriers. One of the things that has helped us somewhat in that area has been the ability to provide some child-care services in the centers, which has helped make the visit to the health center a better experience for the parents who are trying to concentrate either on their own care or on the care of siblings that are brought to health centers.
Do you know what the average length of time is now?
I think I can help with that. I invite Mike Lucas, our Assistant Commissioner for Ambulatory Health Services, to maybe help with us that information.
Certainly. Good morning. I'm Mike Lucas, Assistant Health Commissioner in the Department of Public Health. 962 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
The waiting time varies by program, if you look at adult care versus pediatrics versus family planning, prenatal and dental. Generally speaking, about 70 percent of all patients can get an appointment within a three-week period. But as I said, it does vary by program.
What if you have an emergency toothache, what happens then?
If it's any type of urgent type of situation, you can walk into the health center and access care that day. You'll be triaged by a professional staff member, who will make the determination as to whether or not you need to be seen that day by a health center person, go to a hospital, or be seen the next day or at a later time.
Okay. Councilman Cohen, do you want to follow up before I continue?
I'm missing the tail-end of all of your statements. Your voice lowers, drops.
All right. Well, that's a good answer. If emergency care can be accessed immediately, that's a good answer. In terms of lead paint, do we have a handle on the groups that complain? I see Mr. Vernard Johnson -- that's always his issue and I know that's why he's here, one of them, lead paint. Do we have a handle on focussing on the need for a program in communities where you get complaints and where you see the need to do that level of investigation, and in schools?
Yes, Councilwoman. We can also share with you some maps that we've made about where lead poisoning is occurring most frequently across the City. Essentially, the hot spots for lead continue to be North and West 964 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Philadelphia, with some extension into South Philadelphia. We think that the efforts around education, educating parents and families about how to live in a lead environment have paid dividends in terms of being able to get our lead levels, the prevalence of children with elevated lead levels down in Philadelphia. As you know, Philadelphia has a very old housing stock, and it's those houses that are occupied that were built prior to 1978, when lead paint was prohibited from being used after that date, that are most at risk. So those community education programs, particularly the programs that we were able to get assistance from community- based organization with, are extraordinarily important.
Absolutely. Where are we with immunizations as you see it in terms of these new young mothers making sure when children start school that they're fully immunized?
Well, there are a couple pieces with that, Councilwoman Blackwell. 965 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 I think one of the things that is the main factor that has helped us the immunization rates that we have in Philadelphia, 82 percent, being only one of only cities that has a rate of over 80 6 percent, is our immunization database, where we 7 can track the immunization status of children. 8 And we focus on children 19 to 35 months, and that 9 is a continuing issue with educating new mothers. One of the things, in terms of coordination of services across the board, as we look at service coordination, we look not only at our immunization program but also at some of the outreach services that are being done through the Office of Early Childhood and the wisdom of brining immunization into that office, is to be able to capitalize on programs such as the one we do have in maternal and child health of "Welcome New Baby," where every new mother in Philadelphia will be getting a packet of information about care for the newborn, including the all-important immunization piece.
Very good. And finally, my last question. Virginia Brown always been excellent in working 966 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 with our community out there in West Philadelphia. In terms of infant mortality, you know, Mantua in my area, has always broken records. And do we continue to focus programs? You know, I know some funding programs start and stop, and then we've got to come at it another way. Do we continue to focus on programs in that area to deal with those terrible records?
Yes, we do, Councilwoman Blackwell. And the infant mortality rate does vary across the city. And while we've noted our progress of being able to go from 13.4 per 1,000 live births to 12.2 in Fiscal Year 2001, that's still far too high. And it just focuses on the need to redouble our efforts about improving the health care of women, improving the health care and services that are available to women who are pregnant. I think one of the most astounding figures that I saw was in a recent survey in one of our health centers that the Office of Early Childhood conducted, which identified that a whopping 80 percent of the women in that center in that survey were smokers -- either were smoking or 967 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 were in a household or in an environment in which they were taking on board environmental smoke, which is one of the most serious matters affecting women. But it's a constellation of services, ranging from community-based organization support to services that occur in our health centers. So we've got to continue to focus on that. And while 12.2 is an improvement, it is nowhere near where we need to be.
Absolutely. Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Councilwoman, would you begin again. Your mike wasn't on.
Good morning. 968 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Okay, I'd like to follow up on Councilwoman Blackwell's inquiry around lead in the schools, a few specifics, if we could. First of all, are all children getting screening for lead?
Our recommendation is that every child in Philadelphia be screened for lead. There is no acceptable level for lead, so that is the standard of care across the community, that every child get screened for lead. And we focus on not only the screening that the Health Department does but the screening that can take place in organized systems of care delivery from our EPSDT system to the health centers to the private practitioner.
Okay, well, you answered the follow-up question then. Procedurally what does that mean? So at whatever point young people are being touched, that becomes a part of the itinerary of services that focus should be given.
Absolutely. 969 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Okay. You say in your testimony that there will be fewer than 1,000 children confirmed for this fiscal year, correct?
What kind of treatment is done once that happens, once you identify a young person or a child who how has that? Procedurally, in terms of the system, what happens?
What I'd like to do, first of all, as I'm answering the piece of this, I'll ask Dick Tobin, our Director of Lead Poisoning, to come up and join us. But just in general, the level of intervention, it escalates from, say, 0 to 9. The way it's measured is in micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. And the action level in Philadelphia at this point is -- we're using the 15 microgram-per-deciliter level. But even at the or microgram-per-deciliter of blood, our recommendation is that there be anticipatory guidance being provided by either the nurse or the 970 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 pediatrician in relation to the kinds and the sources of lead that may be in the household and in the community for people to look at. As the level increases, there is more significant medical intervention that's sometimes required.
You mentioned West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia as hot areas, if you will?
Should we assume from that that the other areas of the City are pretty much covered, rescued?
No. Some of it has to do with the age of the housing there and the sources of lead.
Okay, let's move on. Again, a follow-up to Councilwoman Blackwell's question regarding the immunization.
And hats off to the dramatic improvement that you have experienced there. On of your testimony about health centers being what we would like to think 971 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 as customer-friendly?
Most parents work. You have families where both parents work, so getting to health centers before 6 o'clock is virtually impossible 'cause they have to make difficult decisions -- putting food on the table and/or taking care of the needs of their children. And currently, there is one half day on Saturday in one center. What kind of consideration, if any, has been or should be given to evening hours and expanding that to all the centers across the city?
It is, it is, but our ambulatory health services have been fairly creative in doing some shift modification and other interventions that are not necessarily budget-impacting, and we now do have evening hours in all of our centers. 972 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
And it's not across the week, but each center has one evening session per week.
On of your testimony, young people who have parents who are involved with the community behavioral health, specifically drug and alcohol addiction.
Please touch on the kinds of things you're for doing that, those type of youngsters who are in such an unforgivable circumstance.
Yeah, I think this is an area that -- just in terms of getting you accurate information and complete, I'd like to ask Mark Bencivengo, our Assistant Commissioner for the Coordinating Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs, to help me out with this. (Mark Bencivengo comes forward.)
Mark Bencivengo, Assistant Health Commissioner. There are a number of activities that target young people -- those who are at risk for 973 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 drugs and those who are already using drugs and have demonstrated, through their actions, that they're using drugs. Prior to actually showing drug abuse, there is a portion of monies that the Health Department receives in the Coordinating Office for Drug and Alcohol Abuse, which is for prevention of substance abuse, so that there are drug and alcohol prevention programs in the majority of public and parochial schools in Philadelphia and also something that the Department calls "The Youth Risk Reduction Project."
It's called "The Youth Risk Reduction Project." It involves approximately nine community-based organizations that perform after-school prevention activities and do prevention work during the summertime. We have monies that come that we must spend on prevention, and that's the way that we elect to spend the prevention money, both school- and community-based. On the treatment end of things, it 974 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 becomes actually considerably more problematic, and we're having discussions about it within the Department now that we know that large numbers of people appear and attempt to access treatment in their early 20s and in their 30s. Invariably, when we ask them when they began to use drugs, they report they began to use drugs at 11, 12, 13, 14. However, they don't access treatment at that age in the kinds of numbers that they do when they're older. Nevertheless, we have residential opportunities in place for young people and something that we call "the Juvenile Intensive Program," which offers outpatient treatment services for youngsters who have a substance abuse problem and are looking to attempt to do something about that substance abuse problem. So there are treatment opportunities, but one of the issues that we're facing is that the youngsters don't avail themselves of those treatment opportunities at the same rate that adults do.
In your reply, I heard you mention -- well, first of all, the 975 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 public schools are somewhere in this equation, but I heard you say "the majority of the Philadelphia public schools." So I'm curious to know, A, why not all? And, B, what kind of assurances do you have in place that these drug and alcohol abuse programs for kids are working?
Well, the answer to why not all schools? is an issue of money.
We have prevention specialists, as I said, in a number of schools. We do not have prevention specialists in all of the schools, and it is a funding issue. As far as the efficacy of the programs, we look at this in two ways. We have groups that talk with the young people, both on the street and in programs, those who are in programs, to ask them what it is they like about the program, what aspects of the program they find most acceptable to them. And also, we provide both pre- and post-test instruments to the young people about their attitudes towards drug use prior to the time they start treatment and then when they're ready to leave. 976 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Now, there's a real gap between attitudes and behavior.
And we know that, and I think everybody who's looked at knowledge, attitudes in behavior studies point to the fact that attitudes and behavior, there's a real variance there.
Nevertheless, we are able -- if a youngster has gained some information and some different views regarding drug abuse as a result of participating in a program, we think that that youngster has a better chance of staying away from drugs on into the future. So that we're trying to measure the effectiveness of the programs by doing knowledge, attitude, and behavior studies.
A couple follow-up questions. How do you arrive at the list of schools that participate? Do schools say, "Yes, I want to participate?" or the Health Department has a strategy that says, We will deal with X- schools? I'm always curious to how the agencies 977 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 arrive at the decision on which schools, which constituency gets the benefit of the service.
Actually, our participation of schools goes back a number of years, when we selected some schools that we worked with to see how accepting they would be to having prevention specialists.
Did they want folks in there, were they going to work with them, were they going to allow them classroom time?
And because the dollars haven't increased significantly over a number of years, we haven't gone into new schools to ask about that. I would say that I do frequently get letters from principals asking, could they have a prevention specialist? but because of the shortfall in our revenues, we're not able to supply that.
That's understandable. I would like, if you would, to present or submit a list of the participating 978 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 schools to the Chair.
And is it middle schools, high school, or a combination of both?
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Commissioner, you have a modest increase of eight employees planned? You have eight employees planned for the next fiscal year to hire, eight additional people?
And then you're asking in your Personnel Services Budget increase $1,200,000. Can you explain 8 new people and a 979 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 request for 1.2 million.
This is Ellen Steiker, Deputy Health Commissioner for Finance and Administration. The budget contains a $1.1 million increase for the wage increases that are in the contractual agreement, so that's one major source. The other thing is, even though when looked at the exhibit and you saw just a small increase, there actually are vacancies. And when there are vacancies in the current year going to a more fully-funded level in the budget, you also have an increase for that.
I believe -- I will double-check this, but I believe it's 39 vacancies in the General Fund from the time that the budget was developed.
Is that an unusually high number of vacancies or is that about a norm that you deal with, 39 vacancies?
That's a rather normal number for us. 980 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Okay, good. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Some time ago during budget hearings, we talked about the Health Department billing -- collecting money from clients who have insurance, or billing the State for Medicare.
How is that coming along? Could we get a little status report on that? Are we up, are we down, are we keeping in step with the number of clients, are we billing in a timely fashion to capture the reimbursement?
We -- I'll get you some specific detail on that, Councilwoman Tasco. But in general, we have an aggressive program to 981 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 capture all third-party revenue that might be available to us. We're particularly focused on that with the -- given the fact that the number of uninsured who are turning to the health centers for care is going up so substantially.
How is the welfare reform impacting on our health centers? Is that what where you're getting the increase of uninsured?
Yeah. I think all of the aspects of welfare reform help to contribute that. Clearly, we have fewer -- about 50,000 fewer people in Philadelphia now on assistance than we had some years ago. And in addition to that, there's been the confusion around the issue of insurance and who has it and who doesn't, and the issue that the State had about a year ago, where they inadvertently -- some people who were eligible for assistance were dropped and then they were placed back on, that created a huge amount of confusion. So under the direction -- with the support of the Director of Social Services, we've been able to deploy some benefit counselors in our 982 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 centers to help people turn to us for care and navigate the confusing terrain of medical assistance and health insurance in general. They've been successful. Right now, we've got 1,000 more people back on assistance, back on health insurance that we didn't have before, and we've got about another 2500 that are just about to be returned to the rolls because of that intervention.
Mm-hmm. We talked earlier about the pharmacy and the increase in costs of medication. Has that had an impact on the Health Department's pharmacies to provide medicine? Is there a backlog in ordering medication that we probably didn't have this problem before?
We don't have a backlog in ordering medication. We've got a good procurement system, we're able to get the medications, which is a dramatic improvement over the situations, say, about eight or nine years ago.
But the impact is 983 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 substantial in the number of people who turn to us for care. For example, this year, we expect to fill about 465,000 prescriptions in the health centers.
How much of the money for the Sidewalk Behavior Bill is coming from CBH?
In FY 2000, the current year, there's about $4 million going into the Sidewalk Ordinance, and that's all coming from the reinvestment dollars from the behavioral health system. In the FY 2001 budget, we have about million coming from the behavioral health system and about 2 million in the General Fund. So we have 4 million ongoing budget for this project.
Do you think that you will continue to appropriate money from CBH to the Sidewalk Behavior Bill in the future? Or will it come from the General Fund, or you don't know?
We will look at our options on that as we go forward, I would say.
Okay. One other 984 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 question about the lead paint. How are we -- are we getting cooperation from our landlords in treating their properties when they -- when a family moves out and a new family moves in? Is there any (unintelligible) in treating the properties for lead paint?
Yes, with some guidance and nudging from us. When we do find a child with an elevated blood lead and it's sufficiently elevated to require remediation of the property, we issue orders for that property to be remediated by certified a contractor to do that, and then we go in and clear the property afterward.
You know, on rental properties, you mentioned that the highest level of lead -- of incidence of lead in children is in North Philadelphia and West Philadelphia, where you have the oldest properties. A lot of these properties are rental properties, and in order to rent those properties, the homeowner has to apply to L&I for a license. Is there any coordination between the request application for a license and prior to that license being issued, the Health Department 985 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 does an inspection, or L&I does an inspection for lead?
Okay, I need to have Mr. Tobin join me here on that issue, but while he's arriving, we have increased our coordination with L&I in relation to the permitting and licenses of many establishments in Philadelphia. And it's because of our close working relationship there on other issues that we've been able to identify new businesses coming in that require both an L&I license as well as a Health Department license and/or permit with regard to the lead. Dick? (Richard Tobin comes forward.)
Thank you, John. Richard Tobin, I'm Director of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Program.
There is no requirement that a homeowner or the property owner get that inspected prior to licensing. However, under the Disclosure Act, which was passed by Council several years ago, a renter does have a right to get an inspection of the property prior to 986 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 finalizing the lease. I frequently tell people working in old neighborhood that you can almost assume there's lead and you need to take the precautions that will protect your child from lead poisoning, because lead paint, in many of our older neighborhoods, was the rule and not the exception.
What would be your -- is there anything wrong with us passing an ordinance to require an inspection prior to issuance of the rental license?
I see problems in that. Mainly because of the cost of the inspection and the cost of remediation, it could cause some problems with housing. But I think it would be doable, I think there are private inspection companies around the city sufficient to make those inspections available, and there are certified contractors by the State now that would enable homeowners to have that work safely done.
Do you see a decline in the number of rentals to families with children because of the lead paint issue? 987 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Not really. And, in fact, when we look at properties that are in the enforcement process, we find that probably more than 50 percent of those properties that are backlogged in that process are owner-occupied properties, not tenant-occupied, and only about 30 percent are owner-occupied when we go out and do the inspection. So we probably get better compliance from owner-renters than from owner-occupants across the city. We haven't seen it because when we go out, there already is a child in the property, but we're running about the same percentage of our caseload in tenant-occupied as in owner-occupied that we've had for the last ten years.
Thank you, Councilwoman. I see that Councilman Cohen is out of the room. Councilwoman Reynolds Brown, would you like to follow up?
Yes, yes, yes, I would, on the lead poisoning question. 988 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Councilwoman Tasco raised the question on whether or not this body has an opportunity or a responsibility to speak to homeowners -- rental -- landlords having lead inspections done, and you spoke about the cost. What are you referring to, the cost of. . .?
I was referring, I think, to the overall cost of doing such a program. There are actually thousands and thousands of rental properties across the city, and there would be, I think, a great deal of probably difficulty right at the beginning trying to get them all inspected.
I think in terms of -- if I may, Councilwoman, in terms of when we're dealing with lead poisoning and we're dealing with issues that can help prevent a child from becoming lead-poisoned in the first place or for the disease to progress, you know, the costs that we're talking about really are, while they're important from a budget standpoint, they wouldn't be the basis on whether we would decide to do or not to do something as important as that. 989 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 I mean, a larger issue is how we most effectively interface, from a regulatory standpoint, with the landlord-tenant unit so that we don't end up taking -- creating -- so we do it in a way that doesn't reduce the availability of housing, you know, for people in the city. I think it's an area that we need to look at a little bit more closely and maybe get back to you with a more analytic and thoughtful analysis on this.
Okay, my follow-up rhetorical answer or reply is: What costs more, getting landlords to do the right thing or saving young people from lead poisoning? And that's a rhetorical statement. What are we doing to educate landlords about their responsibility with regard to lead?
We've had an active outreach program for landlords across the city, and we've sent out mailings over the past year to every licensed landlord in Philadelphia, advising them of what their responsibilities are in terms of housing upkeep and in terms of disclosure to 990 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 their tenants of potential hazards. And we have offered, and continue to offer, a monthly course to landlords on safe lead hazard remediation.
So measures are in place to help them understand that they've got a role in this?
An additional follow-up question again around the health centers. Again, there are eight, if my memory serves me correctly from reading the testimony, eight health centers?
Yes. We have eight health centers and an additional center located at Broad and Lombard that is a specialized center that provides sexually-transmissible disease services on a specialty clinic basis.
And by this time next year, all of them will have play areas for children?
No, forgive me, I'm misreading the testimony here. 991 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 By this time next year, all of them will have expanded hours?
Okay. On the play areas, what's the status of play areas in the health centers, 100 percent? Where are we with that?
Well, if I can just refer to a note on this in terms of where we have the supervised play areas. In Health Centers 2, 4, 5, 6, and 10 in Strawberry Mansion, we do have play areas that are supervised. These are not full-day sessions. However, in Health Center 6, we do have full-day supervised play areas in that facility, at Third and Girard.
Okay, I'm just trying to make sense of what you just said. So, one, can we draw the conclusion that there's no 21 uniformity yet amongst all the health centers getting the same kind of treatment when it comes to supervised play areas?
Okay, all right, 992 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 then. Thank you very much.
You're welcome. Councilwoman Tasco, you had a follow-up?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to follow up about the lead so I think I need the. . . The Delaware River Port Authority has just announced that they are going to repaint the Ben Franklin Bridge, and there's going to be a big lead abatement project going on on that bridge. I'm fairly confident that the contractors that do that contain that and what the airborne consequences are, but has there been any critique with them on what effect that possibly could have on nearby residents in the summer recreational activity that goes on in river? Is there any kind 993 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of interaction to critique exactly what that project's going to entail and what effects it could have?
You're correct that a project of that magnitude does require extensive environmental controls for that very reason.
I haven't heard from the Port Authority in terms of the bridge, and this is the first I've heard that the project was going on. But we have been involved in bridge projects in the past and we have done sampling in the neighborhoods while they're being worked on. We haven't found a major problem. The protections, at least that they've put up, have been sufficient to keep a very large percentage at least of the blow-by and thing off the area, but we will be more than glad to work with them on this.
I'd appreciate your reaching out to them 'cause this is going to be the biggest project that they've ever undertaken, and this is the first time, I believe, that all of the lead-based paint is going to be removed from 994 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the structure and primed and repainted, and I'm confident that there's going to be some effect on Philadelphia and also on New Jersey. So it would be good that we do make contact with them to find out what exactly they plan to do and how we're planning to deal with it. And that monitoring is very important, especially with the recreation that goes on beneath that bridge in the summer.
Absolutely, and we'll in touch with them this afternoon, Councilman.
Thank you very much. Councilman Cohen, did you have your light on, sir?
Thank you, Madam 995 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Chair.
First, with respect to a specific budgetary item, I just don't understand it and I'd just like clarification. Apparently, in the Grants Revenue Fund, for mental retardation, there seems to be an increase of $40 million this coming year. Could you tell us what that's about? (Witness comes forward.)
Mike Covone, Deputy Health Commissioner for Mental Health and Mental Retardation. Part of the Governor's budget that was announced last week included a major expansion in the mental retardation field to begin to address what has been called "the waiting list."
The waiting list initiative, so that a large portion of that $40 million increase is the portion that Philadelphia would anticipate receiving since, obviously, Philadelphia has the largest waiting 996 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 list of any of the counties throughout the state.
Waiting list, individuals who are living at home with their families, who heretofore haven't received services.
Waiting for services, that's correct. So we anticipate major expansion occurring not only next year, but over the course of the next five years.
Is it expected that those services would involve any change in the status of the individual that's living at home now?
Would it be expanded services to the person living at home?
Does it provide for greater opportunities for working --
It should provide not only for some in-home supports but also for some day 997 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 activities, including employment activities, and for those individuals who would require it, out-of-home placements.
What is the current budget for those kinds of services?
Has the money been 18 appropriated by the federal government? 19
No. It was included in 20 the Governor's budget so we should hear by -- when 21 the Governor's budget is approved, we'll get some 22 sense of what portion Philadelphia will receive 23 for this initiative by late spring. 24
And this 40 million 25 in the current figures that I see, that's our 998 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 approximate estimate of what will come.
That's very good. While you're on, I'll go on to my third question and I'll hold the second for later. A third. I'm interested -- as you know, we've had many discussions on community health, particularly with reference to the Warren E. Smith Community Health Center, but not just limit to do that in concept. Has there been a change away from community board thinking in the professional field? When did the concepts begin developing about the advantage of having community boards and the importance of having them? Instead of, you know, just having mental health treatment centers like, you know, doctor's offices.
I think in origin, that dates back to late '60s early '70s, the issue of community mental health and mental retardation organizations. And that was originally established with a variety of federal grants that were available back in the '70s. I think that's evolved over time as the 999 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 funding of these services has evolved to both a -- to more of a managed care environment, but the organizations have had to change as they've moved forward through the '80s and into the '90s as well.
And so to what extent does the concept of community boards remain an acceptable and sort of a forward-looking concept in the professional field, among professionals?
I think the concept of community involvement in both the mental retardation field and in mental health field, many of the organizations, since organizational structures have changed over the years, still maintain family advisory committees or consumer advisory committees, even though, you know, it may not be in the same format that it existed in 10 and 15 and 20 years ago. But family and consumer involvement is in all the services, I think, throughout the Health Department, has continued to be an important health aspect.
It's still felt that 1000 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 community involvement is important.
And that the involvement of different groupings in the community, in addition, I assume, in addition to the family? Or is that merely a technique for getting families involved?
Well, clearly, the initial outreach are to families who may be receiving services, who may be on waiting lists. Many families have been involved for years that weren't receiving services but knew at some point in time they may need services, so they had been involved in a number of the advisory committees in our planning efforts at the county office as well.
Now, has -- whatever has happened over the last 30 years, how has that changed the focus of the City's mental health office with respect to the question of community involvement? Has it meant more attention, less attention, or about the same amount of attention? 1001 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
I think clearly from the City's perspective, there's been more involvement with both consumers and family members being involved both with the county office and also with the agencies we contract with in a variety of feedback loops. For example, within the office, we have planning advisory committees that aren't only represented by professional staff, but do include family and consumer involvement. There's a variety of both children and adult organizations who provide feedback on everything from the mental health service that is we operate to our mental retardation plan that was submitted that may yield that $40 million that you requested previously.
Mm-hmm. And does the City still play some role in how the centers operate? Does the City accept any kind of a financial oversight role.
The City has a financial oversight role for all of the agencies with whom we contract, yes. And they're required to submit annual audits to us for the services that are we're purchasing. 1002 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
There's been no 3 change in that responsibility of the City? I'm raising that because I had raised a question with respect to certain financial matters in a mental health center and got a reply back saying that it's not the City's responsibility.
Well, there are two pieces. These organizations will have contracts with the City's Department of Health, and some of them may also have contracts with community behavioral health who are performing the services previously done by the Medical Assistance Office at the State, and perhaps that's what you're referencing. There is a contractual relationship that's changed over the years relative to the medical assistance funding.
Well, I don't believe it involves the medical assistance fund, but I brought to the attention of the Health Department what I regard as a financial irregularity of a conflict of interest of a principal sort of dealing with his own family in a contractual arrangement and received back a letter which seemed to indicate that the City said, 1003 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 That's not our responsibility, that's the responsibility of the mental health center. And so I just wondered because I've never seen that before in any other kind of financial situation. And I was wondering whether there were changes.
I would be happy to look again into the specific of that situation.
I will just say, Councilman, that in our other services in relation to community involvement and consumer involvement, oftentimes, some of the most valuable information we get is from the consumer's point of view of people who commonly use some of our services who have either not had a good experience or could have had a better one, and that helps us to look at our services clearly from their perspective and then make adjustments accordingly.
Well, I would have thought so but it seemed to me that the Health Department was moving away from that concept and, 1004 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 instead, was moving in the direction of, We make a contract with an agency to operate this mental health center, and then that's the mental health center's -- you know, the people with whom we've contracted, everything is their responsibility, and if they choose on their own to expel the community from involvement and just take over its own involvement, that's okay, and the health center -- the Health Department has no interest in it. And I've just been very concerned and have hoped that it was only a short-term aberration from a long-standing policy, but I've actually been involved about a year and a half or two years, and that policy seems very firmly entrenched.
And I think the situation you're referring to is that of a debate between a community advisory board and part of a community operating board.
Well, there clearly is through a community advisory board, Councilman, in 1005 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the situation that you're referencing with Warren Smith.
Because maybe I missed it, but I don't know how one misses the existence of a community involvement. I find no 10 community involvement -- in the sense that I know community involvement to be, I see none whatever. And then on top of that, I saw the City seemingly taking a hands-off position in what seemed clearly to me to be a financial impropriety, and I just couldn't understand it. It seemed so foreign to the usual way in which the City looks at these things. All right, you will look at it?
All right, that's the only question I wanted to raise with you. Since you were here, I raised it at that time 1006 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 instead of later. With you, sir, if you were asked, is there anybody in the City of Philadelphia who cannot get medical care without respect to whether they have health insurance or not? what would your answer be?
I think that there is a lot of care available. I think, clearly, our health centers, having served 86,000 individuals, making some 320,000 visits, makes significant contributions.
I said there's no 17 question about that. And I think it's a wonderful system.
And I think that it's getting increasingly challenging with regard to the services available for the uninsured, and I think that there does need to be a coordinated planning approach as to how we address the needs of the uninsured, and I think that one of the activities that we may be able to engage in is if 1007 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the Governor gets his plan through with regard to the tobacco money, he's earmarked 40 percent of that to do some planning around providing insurance for those people who are now presently uninsured. And I know the Director of Social Services has been very focused on this issue and trying to address it through an envisioning process in Philadelphia in terms of looking at all of the agencies as to how we might collaborate together, understand what each other's doing, and seeing what the gaps are and how we might creatively respond to them.
What would you think of the application of the phrase "world-class city" to dealing with issues of, say, child care, adult care, health care in general? Wouldn't you think that a world-class city, or some city that wanted to be considered a world-class city, would want to take special pride in seeing that the health care needs of its residents are met?
Yeah, and I think that what we've done in Philadelphia, which pretty much separates us from a lot of other cities, world-class and domestic-class, is pretty 1008 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 commendable in relation to the extensive amount of health care that we do deliver, particularly to the uninsured.
All right. Now, having led you along this path, let me say, why do we have such difficulty in getting basic services like mom-mobiles all throughout the city? Why is there such a struggle to get them? And then when we get them in an area where we don't have them and we finally get it, and I sit back feeling good, then I learn that two other districts that had them before didn't get them, then it makes me feel sad again that we really haven't accomplished anything.
Yeah, the mom-mobiles are an important part of our ability to do community outreach. In terms of just trying to get myself up to speed as to the mom-mobiles and the contribution that they make, a couple of weeks ago, I spent a Friday afternoon with the people who operate the mom-mobiles, and I've learned a lot about them, I've learned about where they're deployed, I know we have a fleet of six of them, I have a better understanding about some of the 1009 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 services that we provide, particularly those services that are neither, you know, health-specific or social services-specific, but a combination of all of them -- everything from helping people to get an appointment, to helping with child care, to unbelievably helping with home repair. So they're a very important piece of our community outreach and we're going to continue to try to make the best use of the resources that we have in terms of doing that community outreach. They're important.
Well, what additional funding would be involved in it if every health district were able to have a mom-mobile available?
Well, I think if I can ask Sue Lieberman to join me with this. I think part of the answer to that is to, you know, just look at the organizations that we now work with to see, you know, how much of the services that we can generalize, that we can work in a coordinated way to support what we've been doing with the mom-mobiles. 1010 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 (Sue Lieberman comes forward.)
Or good afternoon. The average cost of the mom-mobile is about $210,000 a year to run. So if we were to increase from 6 to 10 mom-mobiles, it would be about 4 times $210,000 or, I guess, over $800,000.
And isn't it true that the City is asked to only contribute about a third of that?
I was just going to add that one of the things that the Maternity Care Coalition who runs the mom-mobile has done an excellent job in is leverage additional money so that, for example, at compression Health Center 10, the City provided $70,000, and the Health Center 10 Board was able to work with the Maternity Care Coalition and leverage another $70,000 from Parkview Hospital and another $70,000 from Einstein Hospital. 1011 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 So that MCC does an excellent job in taking money and really leveraging it and using it to expand services.
Well, in discussions we've had from time to time with the folks from the outside that seem to work with them very actively in the mom-mobile field, they seem to feel they can leverage that money just about everywhere.
Because they get often citywide agencies to be supportive. I would just strongly urge -- I think that that's just a wonderful program from every aspect and so important to the health of pregnant women and often of single mothers, and reaches people and does in an outreach way what I don't see any other group matching in the scope. I know there are other groups that are trying and are working very hard, but they seem to be very outstanding in the outreach. Is there any outreach for ordinary adults? Suppose there's an old person, say, somebody like me sitting around in a little house, 1012 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 having maybe outlived, maybe lived too long so that most people known to me might not be there? Is there anybody going around checking on those folks? Is this any --
Well, there are a variety of things we do in term of checking. As you know, our Environmental Heat Program and the buddy system in the summer, where, you know, we've worked with the news media, we've worked with community groups work, we work with Philadelphia Corporation of the Aging on their help line to get the word out about protecting our senior citizens from the ill effects of extreme environmental heat. That's been effective. The other ways in which do this is, we get called in perhaps on an environmental investigation of an unsanitary condition in a living arrangement, and we'll find that it may be occupied by an older person who just lacks the ability, the physical strength maybe just to do, you know, do the necessary cleaning and those kinds of things, and our environmental health staff are service-integrated focus so that they can make appropriate referrals either to the 1013 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Philadelphia Corporation of Aging or other agencies to help with that. In our health centers, the health center staff has been creative to design some programs specifically focused on our older consumers. For example, our Star 65 Program at Health Center 5, has been -- not only do we believe that its been successful from the standpoint of a care delivery system, but the overwhelming proof of it, in my view, is the fact that it's almost an oversubscribed program by senior that participate in it. So we're constantly looking at that -- as well we should, because of the increasing percentage that senior citizens occupy in our society.
Well, but there's also a whole bulk of people, say, in the range of maybe 50 to 65 who need care of various kinds and often don't get it. I'm wondering, is there any kind of service like a mom-mobile for the adult population generally, you know, some vehicle going out, capable of administering medical service, just checking on people in the area, or being 1014 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 available in the same kind of way with the same kind of outreach?
And maybe some of my colleagues know, but what I would say about that in general is that there's -- there is a need to provide more services in communities and to be supportive of people who are older and to be able to keep them in their homes. We have a waiver program where we're able to bring some services through Philadelphia Corporation of the Aging to bring some attendant care and some assisted-living services into the community. As far as whether we have a van and outreach, maybe that does exist. I'm not aware of it, but clearly the need to relate to the specific social and health needs of senior citizens is very evident. And for a lot of reasons, I find them a pretty strong advocate of that.
One last question. Is there any emergency health center that's open, say, at night? Or do we depend on the general hospital system? Suppose somebody gets very ill at 9, 9:30, 10:30, 11 o'clock at night, somebody in a 1015 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 poor neighbor in the City of Philadelphia, no 3 insurance at all, maybe somebody just passed by and hears moaning outside or something, what do we do then?
For our health centers, we do have an ability for people to call and speak to patient-care provider for people who are enrolled in our health centers hours a day, 7 10 days a week. Other than that, our health centers 11 are not open beyond regular hours. 12 (Estelle Richman comes forward.) 13
I knew I was going 14 to make the -- I don't know how to refer to you 15 because you're not a commissioner anymore, right? 16
Let me just comment on 22 the aging. There has been an aging transition 23 plan. We are interested in looking at how the 24 aging services are going to work in the city. We have aging services that exist in the Department 1016 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of Human Services and in the Department of Health. We have seen an increasing amount of people aging in a variety of different environments, including homeless and in prisons that are in that age range that you're speaking about. We will be doing -- just as we're beginning to look at policy for children and how to effect that going into the future on an integrated basis, we will also be looking at policies around aging. And I'm saying "aging" very generously. In other words, we're not looking at just people who are 65 and older; we're looking at people who are beginning to age and need that level of support of services. So I think as we move forward in social services and begin to look at more integrated services, we will certainly include people who are aging as well as children.
And I think that age group of sort of maybe 45 to 65 is becoming increasingly needy because of the mergers and being forced out of jobs. (Laughter.) 1017 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Councilman, I think 45 is a little young for aging, especially to some of us who are significantly older than that.
I see Councilman Rizzo's getting very sensitive over there.
There's a whole group of us who still believe that 45 still young. In fact, I believe 55 is very young. (Laughter.)
Yes. Do you have a feel for how many very senior citizens we either have, husbands and wives that live alone? Or do we know that there's Mrs. Murphy that's 90 and still living in Kensington all by herself? Do we have a feel for a population that -- What motivated that question was this terrible epidemic we had with the flu, a perfect example. My God, if someone came down with the flu and they lived alone, to me it would be very troubling to see a person not have -- if they didn't have a neighbor that cared or a family 1018 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 member, would the Health Department be able to provide some level of services just to make sure that they're not in dire need?
Councilman, at this point in time, the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging does provide some of those services, and we try to work very closely with them. And there is a Mayor's Commission on Aging at this point that we will beginning to try to work with. Many of these services aren't coordinated well. The Health Department, of course, welcomes anyone into the health centers who doesn't have insurance or needs a collaborative process. But the follow-up of that is often left to PCA, and the relationship between City services and PCA is often undefined and needs to be better defined. So I think as this new administration begins to reorganize and look at integration of services in a different way and in a more effective way, I would expect to be able to answer that question in the future in a more cohesive manner.
As you can imagine, 1019 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 I get calls and we get the various letters from our seniors that are 92, 95 and are still living alone, and sometimes I wonder what we can do to make sure that they're okay, other than a personal phone call occasionally to check on them, but that's great to hear that those services will get better coordinated to look at after those folks. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Councilman Cohen, it's my understanding that the next level above commissioner is actually empress. (Laughter.)
So "Empress Richman" is the appropriate way to address the former health commissioner. Councilman, I also wanted to let you know that Councilman Clarke and I have agreed that we will jointly and periodically check up on you 1020 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 from time to time. (Laughter.)
And just see how you're doing up there in the 17th Ward. I don't think we'll be making many trips up there.
Councilman Longstreth, okay. No, we'll get a different team for Councilman Longstreth because Councilman Clarke and I have to stay focussed.
You got it, okay. All right, very good. Mr. Domzalski, I wanted to raise an issue with you. It's somewhat of a sensitive topic. It involves the community living arrangements and those kinds of issues. And I've supported many of those developments, the few that I've been made aware of. It's really more of a, I guess, a process procedure and protocol issue where, first and foremost, people have a right to live wherever they want to live, and to the extent 1021 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that agencies contract with the City and purchase property. I mean, I've had discussions with people that go something like, Well, they should tell us when they are coming and who they are and who's going to live here; to which my usual somewhat sarcastic response is, Did you ever have to tell anybody who you were or what you were about when you bought your house to live on whatever block you live on? Notwithstanding that, because the City ends up oftentimes in a contractual relationship with organizations and they go out often on the market and buy product in certain neighborhoods because of style of property or maybe it's a rancher where everybody can be on one floor as opposed to some of the other properties in the other neighborhoods, which are two-story, three-story, we see often a kind of a congregating, if not a saturation, in some neighborhoods of these particular home-living kinds of arrangements. The question is, how do we both respect the rights of the people in need of service and 1022 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 their ability to live where they want to live and. In every case that I know of, with more than adequate supervision, while at the same time, not creating a sense of panic and scare in the neighborhood, but respecting, I guess, the general inquiring mind that people have of what's going on on the block? The system is such that we don't have to tell the neighbors that somebody wants to be here, and if we tell them somebody's going to be here potentially, I have massive opposition to it and then it ends up in a fight. So then in an effort to avoid a fight, we just don't tell anyone, and then we end up with a block that has really kind of a bad attitude about what has happened. I naturally get the calls subsequent to this activity taking place, and people are asking, Why can't you do something about it? Well, they're not in violation of the zoning code and they have what they need to live where they want to live. Somewhere between all of that, a mechanism allows some level of rational discussion among people who want to have rational decisions 1023 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 and get a better sense from the Health Department of what the game plan is going forward. So my question is, how many of these do we anticipate having? I'm not trying to hold you to anything today, but how do we make it a more positive experience for everyone at every level?
That communication is not a request of permission, but prior to moving in, our expectation is that the agencies are at least notifying the immediate neighbors and are providing phone numbers where a person in responsibility can be reached. But in the vast majority of cases, it's the stupid things that folks miss that set off the neighborhood more than the big things -- things like leaving the trash cans out, parking in someone else's parking space. So we're trying to move them to be sensitive to that.
I'm primarily talking about the period before the move-in. A lot happens from the day the house either goes on the market, or maybe the previous owner has died, and so maybe it's vacant for some period of time, the Realtor's around, sign up, no sign up, 1024 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 whatever. But people on the block know that something has changed in that particular household. And then when they hear that there's a potential sale to an agency to have certain individuals in the home, again, who they may not know, the rumor mill on that stuff takes off. And so it's not maybe a couple people who are either older or maybe have some mental-health issues. It's, you know, they're moving three recently released ax murderers from upstate Pennsylvania, and they're going to live right in that house.
Now -- I mean, of course, that's absurd, but after all of the whisper down the lane, you know, it's hard to put all of that back in the bottle.
And I think it becomes that dilemma of, do you ask for permission on the front end, or generally what we've advised agencies and what we've been advised to do is that there needs to be discussion with the neighbors after an agreement of sale but prior to anyone moving into that house or any work beginning on 1025 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that home.
Well, what would be helpful to me, though, to be honest with you -- and I mean, all of us, I mean, we actually ran for these jobs -- is if I get some pre-notification that this may be in the works, then at some level -- I mean, I have to -- I mean, I'm going to get the calls anyway, and I generally would always rather be on the front end than on the back end, when I actually can't do anything.
And someone, I guess, could take a chance based on both some level of confidentiality as well as sensitivity to say, Councilman, we're taking a look at that particular property for this use. Do you know the people up there, do you know what the mood and attitude of the folks are? Is there a civic organization, a block group, anything? Do you know a sane, rational person that we could talk to about this particular issue and see if we can work through the steps that get us to, again, the more positive experience? I mean, I need a certain level of 1026 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 information before the moving van pulls up, and then, you know, it's kind of over at that point.
And I think that's the process that "the Empress" will be implementing on this. (Laughter.)
Oh, boy. Now, you know, I have to live with Estelle, so don't start a new (unintelligible). This will be the new thing back at the shop today.
Within the previous administration, the policy was to notify the Chief of Staff's Office of any requests for housing coming in the neighborhood. That's being modified at this point in time. I will be notifying personally all Councilpeople at that point to do just what you said -- not asking for permission but to give you a heads-up that there is an agency that will be looking in your neighborhood. This 1027 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 will apply to all of the seven departments that work with me and primarily will include Health, DHS, and OESS, that are the primary folks that go into the neighborhoods.
And within those agencies, is there any level of a strategic plan that says, We have a certain population to serve, these are some of, these are many of, these are all of the areas where we -- you know, in a perfect world if properties were available and the size and the space and the other needed things to make it work, this is what we plan to do this year or next year or over the next few years, if we have to place, you know, pick a number. Five hundred people need to be placed across those seven agencies, and this is where we would look to try to make that happen.
That's one of the things we're going to be working on. I think you heard the question earlier about the $40 million going into the mental retardation system. A lot of that will be for community living arrangements and the like, so we will be trying to put together a plan. As we continue to expand and work within 1028 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the Sidewalk Ordinance, one of the basics of that is housing, so we'll be looking for that. So, indeed, part of what we need to move to now is a much better coordinated way of looking at housing and at neighborhoods. One, so that we don't violate people's rights, but also so we don't saturate neighborhoods and continue to have the rumor mill be out there before we are in beginning to make sure that people who live in Philadelphia can live in safe, affordable housing in neighborhoods.
Thank you very much. Is Councilman Clarke in the room?
Councilman Cohen, I 1029 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 may subcontract out some of my work so on some of those days, there may not be me appearing, so I'll notify you ahead of time of who it's going to be. (Laughter.)
All right, thank you. I kind of want to follow up on Councilman Nutter's questioning with respect to the community living arrangements. And one of the things I needed to get a sense of is, when we enter into these agreements with various organizations to provide these services, I need to get a sense of who monitors the actual living arrangement from the City. Too often, I go to a lot of these facilities and you see varying degrees of conditions. I mean, sometimes you have some very nice facilities, and sometimes, frankly speaking, you just have a bed thrown in a corner. I know with the Housing Authority, there are certain Section 8 regulations associated to have a person that comes out and reviews it and inspects the facility. What do we have with the arrangements that we have in this? 1030 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
There are three different layers, at least three different layers of monitoring that exists. The first is from a licensing perspective. The State Department of Public Welfare licenses all of the community living arrangements prior to any individuals moving into them. So that's the first piece. Each of the individuals living in the home has an assigned case manager, and while the case management responsibilities may vary somewhat, the case managers are responsible to visit the home monthly and visit the individuals and make some assessment of what's going on there on a monthly base. And in addition to that, there's a program analyst who's a monitor responsible for the agency providing those services as well. If there are incidents which occur within that home, they are investigated independently. We have a separate investigation unit so that if there's allegations of abuse or neglect that come about with these particular individuals, we will actually do an investigation on that. 1031 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
What about the physical conditions; is that the responsibilities of the licensing?
That's the licensing end of things, but it also can be raised by the case manager.
And that's community living arrangements, being the small three-person residences. They are similar, although larger facilities that are operated on the mental-health side, called "community residential facilities," which also have similar licensing requirements, which the State Department of Public welfare is also required for licensing.
All right, and what are the -- I mean, are there certain guidelines associated with that?
I mean, I've seen some instances where 20 people live in a 3-bedroom house.
Mm, I hope not. There would be no one under contract with us -- there 1032 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 shouldn't be anyone under contract with us with individuals. What you may be referring to are some boarding homes, that aren't contracted or licensed.
I mean, I'm not 10 saying they're legally doing this. 11
But my concern is 13 -- I mean, who's checking the store? 14
This is Estelle Richman, 15 Director of Social Services. 16 They have a variety of different ways. 17 I think people use community living arrangements 18 very generically, and I think you're talking about 19 where people with special needs are living in the 20 community. Probably -- CLA, I think, to Mike and other people, means a very specialized living arrangement, just for people with mental retardation.
There are also very 1033 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 specific monitored living arrangements for people who have mental illness. There is recovery housing, which is a group-living situation for people who have drug and alcohol addictions. And then there is a whole range of housing for people who are homeless, who may have mental illness or drug and alcohol problems. That's also monitored.
All the rules and regulations for all of those kinds of City-funded housing have rules. They may not all have case managers and they may not all be inspected by DPW, but they are all under contract with the City, and in any of those situations, the City monitors what's going on. In addition to that, however --
Frequently, they may be under the Department of Health. There are group homes that are set up under the Department of Human Services, there are living arrangements in 1034 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 group-home setup under the Office of Emergency Shelter, there are group homes that are operated by the State for people who are released from prison. So there's a whole variety of those. All of those right now will be funneled through the Managing Director's Office to be able tell the Councilmatic District person that there's a group home that will be coming somewhere within your area. In addition to that, all of those that we tried to contract with or control, there are personal-care boarding homes. In the personal- care boarding home, there's a license that comes through L&I for safety, but otherwise, there's no 16 contractual relationship with the City. And those are the ones we hear about most frequently that are problematic to communities.
So are there different guidelines for every individual department in terms of the living arrangements, the physical characteristics of the buildings? I mean --
Because there are 1035 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 different types of clientele? I mean --
There are different kinds of clientele and different rules that may apply from the State licensing agency. In other words, when we say CLA with mental retardation, those rules are frankly different than the ones for community CRRs, which are community residential programs that are funded and licensed through the Department of Mental Health at the State. The rules there are somewhat different. The monitoring from the City may be very similar, but the rulings around a 3-person site versus is a 16-person site can be very different. What we have to do for homeless is still different between the Office of Emergency Shelter and Services than it would be for Mental Health, and the rules followed by recovery housing is still another definition in there. What we're going to try to do is set up some guidelines and some benchmarks around what that monitoring has to be so that we can reduce significantly complaints from the community. But that's on the housing that the City subcontracts for. 1036 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 So for personal-care boarding homes where the City is not a funder directly or indirectly, it presents another range of problems.
Let me say, Councilmen, that in my district, we have formed a Group Homes Task Force, so if there's somebody from your community -- about three years ago now -- who wants to talk with people who have done some research on that, I'm sure that the group head would be available for that. We did some research and found out, and we have about 100, at least 100 in my district. And, you know, the same problems exist for all of us. Some blocks feel "Why do I have ten and somebody else has none?" So I'm sure we all have the same common issues.
Thank you. Are there any other questions for the Health Department? (No response.)
The Council 1037 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 President, Commissioner, is interested in knowing how many beds are filled at the Philadelphia Nursing Home, as well as the status of your contract with the Episcopal Long-Term Care for the running of the nursing home. When is it up, and do you plan on bidding this out again anytime soon?
The census today is 436, and we presently have an agreement with Episcopal Long-Term Care that runs through June 30th. And in terms of the planning for the facility, it's an area that we continue to discuss as to what is the best way of providing that service. And, presently, the facility has been making good progress. We've had an unprecedented State survey in October, in which, for the first time in the history of the facility, we had a completely deficiency-free survey. So we're very happy with that progress, but we know that it's an area that we need to continue to pay attention to.
Yes, Councilwoman. 1038 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
The -- our budget, I think, approved the rate. At this point, it's 451. So with the 436, we're about at 95 percent occupancy.
Okay, thank you very much. Are there any other questions? (No further questions.)
You're welcome, our pleasure. We will now move on to of the Office of Emergency Shelter and Services. (Office of Emergency Shelter and Services witnesses come forward. )
Thank you very much. Could you please, those of you who are leaving, keep your conversations low so that we can continue on with our hearing. Thank you very 1039 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 much. We're glad to have you, Mr. Nardone and Miss Fisher. Would you identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon, Chairwoman Blackwell and members of City Council. My name is Michael Nardone, and I am Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing. I am joined today by Sally Fisher, the Director of OESS. Other representatives from OESS are also present, as is Estelle Richman, "the Empress of Social Services." (Laughter.)
3 represents Grant Revenue Funds. I would like to begin my testimony by summarizing some of the progress we have made in the development of the City services for homeless individuals and families over the past year. Thanks to resources made available to support the 1040 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Sidewalk Behavior Ordinance, we have made great strides implementing a plan to enhance behavioral health services for chronically homeless individuals. We have more than doubled the number of contracted staff dedicated to providing outreach and case management on the street and have expanded the hours outreach is available, including a new overnight shift. These outreach efforts are being supported by a new computerized management information system that is now being implemented. The City is also well on its way to developing more than 160 new residential placements for chronically homeless individuals with mental-health and substance-abuse problems. This includes the development of entry-level facilities of approximately 50 beds, 2 additional 25-bed Safe Haven sites, and 50 additional placements in supported independent-living situations for people ready for the transition to permanent housing. Additional behavioral-health services have also been added to the OESS system as part of the Sidewalk Behavior implementation 1041 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 plan. While there is clearly much work to being done -- in particular seeing to completion the planned Safe Haven sites -- censuses performed independently by the police and by Project HOMES Outreach Coordination Center indicated a decline in the number of people living on Center City streets. We hope to build on this positive momentum in the year ahead as we bring the remaining residential services on line. We have also begun over the past year implementing initiatives to increase employment and training-related services for individuals and families in emergency shelter and transitional housing. 3 million to support employment and training initiative targeted at homeless individuals and eligible for Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), primarily single men and women. OESS began implementation of this program this year and hopes to enroll approximately 475 people in Fiscal Year 2001. This initiative complements services developed by Greater Philadelphia Works for 1042 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 homeless families on TANF employment, including specialized employment advisors and life-skills classes with a job-readiness focus. The programs available through GPW as well as the OESS initiative for non-TANF homeless clients provides an employment and training infrastructure to assist homeless individuals and families in emergency shelter and transitional housing. 9 million in federal McKinney Homeless Assistance Funds to Philadelphia this fiscal year, an increase of 1 million grant funds over the last year's level. This award will support development of 111 units of new housing as well as continued funding for more than 300 units for homeless individuals and families. Finally, consistent with the Mayor's recent announcement proclaiming the year 2000 "The Year of the Child," OESS is implementing several initiatives related to children, including establishment of an Office of Children's Programs within OESS and renovations to the family intake area, which were completed in collaboration with 1043 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the Please Touch Museum, to provide a more child-friendly environment. With respect to the FY 2000 budget, it represents a carry-forward of the spending plan for the current fiscal year. It will support services at the heart of the OESS mission and provide for continued implementation of the important priorities initiatives outlined earlier in my testimony. The budget assumes funding for 2450 shelter beds, an assumption comparable to the one made for this budget for FY 2000.
2 million in State Supplemental Homeless Assistance Funds provided in prior fiscal years. Reduced levels of State assistance could impact the ability of OESS to meet shelter demand within budgeted resources in the upcoming fiscal year. In addition to emergency shelter, the FY 2001 budget continues investment and other important components of the homeless services system, including case-management, employment and training, homeless prevention, as well as the 1044 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 continued development of transitional and permanent housing needed to break the cycle of homelessness. As demonstrated by this mayor's leadership in development of the City Sidewalk Ordinance Plan, the Administration is deeply committed to the development of a continuum of services for homeless individuals and families designed to help people move from the streets to self-sufficiency. As the Mayor's transition team continues its work, we will have an opportunity to fully evaluate the homeless services continuum and recommend changes to move the existing system forward. In the interim, the budget before you today continues the programmatic direction, building on the progress made on homelessness issues during the previous administration, with the strong support of City Council. Of course, the federal and State governments will have to continue to step up to the plate if we are to continue to make progress. 2 million in State Homeless Assistance Funds would be a very positive step. 1045 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 The Sidewalk Ordinance Task Force established by Mayor Street and cochaired by Chamber of Commerce head Charles Pizzi and Sister Mary Scullion have made this a top priority of theirs in Harrisburg, and I would respectfully that Council may likewise wish to support this effort to restore these funds. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to testify before you today, and I would be happy to answer any questions that you have.
Thank you, Mr. Nardone. Certainly, we are happy to support in any way we can any initiatives for more funding. We support and look forward to working with you and Joan Kromer for more transitional housing. We do have groups who are interested. And, finally, a few years ago, we had a program for all of the children in the shelters, where we had dinner and gave certificates to all of those kids who are on the honor roll, and it worked out real well. We brought them all here to the caucus room, and they were very pleased and 1046 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 they got all dressed up and all of that. So certainly, in working with you and in the Mayor's new Children and Youth Program, we're happy to list that as a program that we're willing to try to sponsor to help the youngsters who are in the shelter system.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
I have a few questions. I made note in your testimony that there's no discussion of interaction with the Philadelphia public schools while children are in 1047 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 homeless care, and I'm sure there's very legitimate reasons for that. But what kinds of consideration are given to the gap that happens during that place in their lives?
Well, we work very closely with the School District, and there is a liaison for homeless children that's employed by the School District. And one of the things that we hope to be able to do is, with the establishment of the children's services coordinator, to kind of look at the gaps that there may be in terms of services provided so that the School District and OESS can work together in terms of the services that we provide.
Good afternoon. This is Sally Fisher, Director of OESS. Good afternoon, Councilwoman. 1048 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
We do have -- there are a number of things that are happening with the school-aged children and with the School District. Mike had mentioned the liaison with the School District, that we work very closely with around the homeless initiatives. There is currently a full-time school teacher in our intake office that has a class every day during the school year. When the school is open, he runs a classroom for the school-aged children that are in the waiting room that particular day with the families who are waiting to get an assigned shelter placement. In addition to that, the School District is also coordinating a Head Start Program for one of our larger shelters at Stenton. So for the families at Stenton, they could go to Martin Luther King High School, the three- to five-year-olds, Head Start Programs. These are a few of the initiatives that we're currently in process, and we still want to develop more, and we want to develop more for all 1049 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of the children. But there is the liaison with the School District, and the School District of Philadelphia is required to provide special assistance to children, school-aged children living in shelter, in that they can have access to tokens if they wish to continue to go to their school of origin while they're in shelter placement and other services such as that.
Okay, thank you. It's clear in your testimony that you recognize that homeless children have different added special needs. And in addition to the computer labs that are currently in place, what other kinds of things are you doing for children in homeless shelters? Let me be more specific. What is the relationship with the Department of Recreation? And anecdotal calls tell me that children in homeless shelters are not treated with the same level of dignity than children who are not in 1050 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 homeless shelters. And the same question will be posed to the Department of Recreation.
I think the what the establishment of the children's services coordinator position allows us to do is to begin to do that full-scale assessment of what are the services available currently in the system, and she's been on board for about two months, and she's beginning to put that together in terms of what are the services that are presently available and what are the gaps. The whole rationale for developing this position was to be able to identify what those gaps were and then work with the existing systems and make better linkages. I think you're pointing to something that we definitely need to do, and what my hope is, is that the children's services coordinator will be the catalyst to help us do that because, absolutely, one of the things she needs to do is make sure that in terms of the Rec. Department, that the children in our shelters are maximizing the use of the resources that are currently available. 1051 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 We don't -- we didn't think there was a need to necessarily establish a parallel system of children's programs within the Office of Emergency Shelter and Services, but I think what we did feel is that we needed to provide a position for a person who would provide leadership in terms of making those linkages.
And I think that this would not be -- this would not be in a vacuum with the other initiatives that are going on that Director Richman mentioned in terms of children's services across all the agencies.
A request, and you may already be on your way to doing this, but I would be curious to know or see if you're looking at a map, the homeless shelters and where they're 1052 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 located, with dots, and then how close they are to rec. centers, so that we can see the big view, the potential for those relationships. So could you honor that, please, and forward it to the Chair?
On the end of the last paragraph, of your testimony, top of , you indicate that there has been a loss in State funding. What was that attributed to? And recognizing how the funding process goes and works, knowing all the kind of variables that you have no control over that impact into a loss of funding, what were the causes here?
This is funding that's provided by the State. The Commonwealth provided a supplemental appropriation of 2.2 million. I believe it was in State Fiscal Year '95 and '96. It was eliminated in '97 and '98. It was restored fully in '99, and in this fiscal year, it was reduced to million.
What reason were you given for that by the State? 1053 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Well, what the State has historically said is that that was a one-time appropriation of funds and that the original 2.2 million was to cover the added costs of welfare reform changes made that primarily impacted single adults. And what we've made the case and tried to make the case is that with the welfare reforms being enacted, that that's a funding source that should be continued in the current fiscal year, in FY 2000. And then rather than restoring the full 2.2 million, the legislature chose -- I should say that the Governor had not provided any additional support for that particular supplemental appropriation in this fiscal year, but then the legislature provided $1 million in supplemental funds.
On the last of your testimony, , the middle paragraph, quote, it says, "Although some have been lulled into a false sense of complacency on the issue, as you are well aware, welfare reform still looms on the horizon, threatening much of the good that has already been achieved." 1054 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 So given that reality, what proactive measures are you considering, given that eventual reality?
Well, I think it's -- I think that what we've tried to do is put in place, using the resources that are available with respect to Greater Philadelphia Works, the specialized employment advisors as well as the life skills that are funded through Greater Philadelphia Works. I think that's our primary mechanism. But I think that, you know, we -- at this point, it's difficult to really predict what will happen in terms of the shelter population. I mean, in a way, what happened -- and a lot of that is how aggressively will the State implement sanctions related to welfare reform. We don't necessarily feel the -- when sanctions are implemented, we might not feel the impact immediately. It's more of something that over time, people will come into the shelter system after they've exhausted all other resources. So it might not be something that happens immediately. At least at this point in 1055 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 time, we are not seeing that impact in terms of shelter population. And the thing that we're trying to do proactively is to get the $2.2 million restored so that if there is some impact, we as a city are in a better position to at least respond in terms of having the shelter beds available.
Very well. 3, middle paragraph, you speak about enrolling 450 people by the end of the Fiscal Year 2000, and 475 people in FY 2000. And I'd just like to mention that enrollment is one thing, that's good, it's a first step. But graduation and successful completion is another.
Absolutely. We are following -- with this initiative, we will be following people not only at placement but also for intervals up to a year after placement. We -- we hope that there's a lot we can learn from this. We're contracting with nine different providers at this point to provide employment and training services, and it's really our intent to really stay on top of the providers and make sure that they are achieving the goals 1056 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that we've set out for them and making funding decisions accordingly in terms of as we go forward with this initiative.
That's important, because we have a history back in the early '80s, where employers would hire young people, knowing full well that there was no intention on their part to retain them after X-number of years, based on the contract. So your future report should reflect as well the number of people that replace the full and part-time jobs and then those who are retained over X-period of time.
It's part of our service measures that we follow very closely.
And my closing comment is, Congratulations on the public-private partnership with the Please Touch Museum.
And making that world happen over there for the children.
I appreciate your being able to come to our opening, and I would invite other members of City Council to come and see the 1057 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 new intake area.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, Mr. Nardone.
And good afternoon, Sally. I just have a couple of questions. Our office keeps getting calls and complaints about the lack of cleanliness at certain facilities, and I just don't want to say what facility; we can talk about that later.
Short of terminating a contract, how does your office address these kinds of complaints which seem to go on for years?
Well, we have a quality 1058 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 assurance unit, which is made up of a -- has a supervisor and seven quality-assurance analysts. And what their role is to do is to take complaints like this and to basically follow up with the individual provider and respond to those complaints. So if there are -- we should speak after this session, and I should take the names of those places and have our quality-assurance team go out there and try to identify the problems. Short of shutting the facility down, what we try to do is work with them to identify what are the practices that they should put in place to get their program up to speed with the standards that we are setting for them. So, I mean, that's the typical approach that we would take. And so, you know, I would be happy to take any lists or providers that you've been getting complaints about.
Just a follow-up on a question that I heard Councilman Nutter and Councilman Darrell Clarke ask in terms of the community living in neighborhoods. And I know last year you developed a good-neighbor policy as 1059 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 a pilot. How long has that been going on now, and do you have any results? Is that going to expand to other parts of the city, the good-neighbor policy?
I think what you're referring to is the Health Department Good Neighbor Policy, which in West Philadelphia.
Is that -- I thought it was your department. It's not?
I think it's the Health Department that takes the lead, but with respect to a couple of the facilities that have opened recently in West Philadelphia, they are participating in that process. I mean, I think generally, it's a good mechanism to try to identify problems and deal with some of the day-to-day things that might come up in terms of facilities in a particular area.
Mm-hmm, okay. I thought we got that from your office but, you know, we can call the Health Department and get the results of that, 'cause we were interested in having that implemented in our area.
Because, you know, we have an abundance of different types of facilities with more than single-family living up in our neighborhood.
How many families are in the shelter system? Just families.
We have approximately 400 families and 1200 family members. I can tell you that as of yesterday, it was 1249 family members.
Okay. And right now, do you have a shortage of beds? At one point, there was a shortage or an anticipated shortage due to welfare reform.
There has been some moderation in terms of the family shelter demand. And so presently, we're in pretty good shape in terms of meeting the demand, and there are some -- there's at least one new facility that we will be opening very shortly that will further help us to meet any anticipated family shelter demand.
Okay, I have one more question. There has been a drastic reduction in 1061 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the number of homeless on the streets of Center City. Do you keep statistics on the number of homeless people forcibly removed from the public sidewalks for violation of the Sidewalk Behavior Bill?
I mean, generally, we have not had to force anybody from the sidewalk. I think that we've had some success with is using the outreach resources that are available, and I think that it's kind of been the teaming of the outreach with the police that's really helped in terms of being able to transition people into residential placements. And it's also having those different residential resources available that has helped move people from the streets into those placements.
You know, there are a lot of efforts in the city. I know in my area, there's going to be a cleanup -- a "Clean Your Sidewalk Campaign." Clean outside, around your house. People want to take their neighborhoods back and have a real positive impact on the physical appearance of the neighborhood. So when you're transitioning families 1062 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 from shelter to permanent housing, are you doing workshops? Are, you know, people kind of being oriented to the responsibility of being a renter or a homeowner? 'Cause some of the problems -- there's a program that's right near my mother, and there's a Catholic church that owns properties right near my mother, and I happen to know them. And she was having problems 'cause these people were new neighbors, new habits. And I called the priest and we kind of resolved them, but is that all a part of the transitioning program back out into the neighborhoods?
Yeah. If I could answer that or address that issue, we have the -- the mission of OESS is to move people from homelessness and into permanent housing, independent living, and to be self-sufficient. In that process, people from shelter -- I mean, our primary objective is to get people off the streets or to provide a place for them to stay that's warm and is clean and safe. In the process, though, after shelter, there are a number of contracted transitional housing providers, and that provides yet another 1063 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 step towards independence. And the expectation of those programs are that individuals in that process, that they learn life skills, they learn budgeting, they learn home management, they learn how to prepare meals, and also how to be responsible community members.
So it's kind of bits and pieces as people stay in the shelter system. And that's provided that the individuals follow that continuum.
So that's provided for maybe a year into placement? Or is there a cutoff date? I guess the question is --
Transitional housing programs usually from anywhere from six months to two years, depending on which program.
You know, 'cause we happen to know the priest at the Catholic church, but it doesn't mean that a neighbor would know who to contact if they were having some type of problem with that particular tenant. And if you're still doing counseling, or if an agency is contracted to do counseling, then, you know, 1064 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 people would need to know who to contact. So I guess the best thing is -- I don't know how we would find out who was the owner of the property or what contractor had that particular contract to -- so I guess I want to know if it's a one-shot deal or is it ongoing?
With respect to the transitional housing programs, it's definitely ongoing. There's a case manager that follows the person for the full -- up to two years that they might be in transitional housing.
And if there's a name -- I mean, if there's a name or an address, we could always check it against the transitional housing program just to see if it fits into that category. And I think that in that case, the appropriate step would be to have that case management agency go out and meet with the family and try to work to remediate the problems that are out there.
Thank you, Councilwoman. 1065 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you. In your budget request, you're requesting $16.5 million for purchases of service. Could you point me to a document that would list the services that you're purchasing for $16.5 million?
The bulk of that money can be found in the budget detail for the OESS budget on -55.
So all of the $16.5 million is detailed on those pages?
Most of it. Now, that would be for those providers we're contracting with this fiscal year. We don't -- I mean, there isn't necessarily an expectation that we would contract with those same providers going forward so that -- in other words, we renew contracts every year for shelter providers based on their performance and based on the level of bed need, so the thing is that there might be providers on that 1066 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 list we might not fund fully at the same level as this fiscal year, but that gives you a general picture of what are the providers that we're currently contracting with. And generally, those are continued going forward.
So that, again, most of -- for this fiscal year, how much is -- forgive me for not knowing the number for this fiscal year. How much is the number for this fiscal year, the budget, the one we're year in now?
I'm going to defer to the Budget Director on that question, okay. (Richard Shaeffer comes forward.)
Good afternoon, Councilman. My name is Richard Shaeffer, 1067 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Administrative Services Director for OESS. And the bulk of that increase is attributed to the inclusion of the $2.2 million that was referred to in Mr. Nardone's testimony as the funds that we hope to get back from the State in the next fiscal year.
Okay. And if I look in this year's budget, I'll be able to see the dollar amount that you have budgeted this year and what all those services are for, detailed?
Because sometimes they're just thrown in there -- and I'm not going to pretend that I read that carefully, but sometimes they're just thrown in there with not detail, and I'm pleased to hear that there's detail, because in some other budgets that we've listened to today, that they weren't detailed. So if you're telling me they are, that's great.
Excruciating detail. Thank you very much. 1068 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Are there any more questions for OESS? (No further questions.)
The next department is the Department of Recreation. (Department of Recreation witnesses come forward.)
Are you ready? Please identify yourself for the record and continue.
And City 1069 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Councilmembers. I am Bill Carapucci, the acting Recreation Commissioner. To my right is Jo Ann Mangano, Administrative Services Director. And to my left is Tom Fox, Maintenance Director. I would like to present to you the Recreation Department's FY 2001 Operating Budget request of $38,279,762 in General Fund appropriations. FY 2000 Funding Increases. In its FY 2000 budget appropriation request, the Recreation Department is asking for $612,669 in additional funds over the FY 2000 estimated obligations to fund increased staff services and supplies for an expanded after-school child-care program. This increase will help improve the quality and services of children's out-of-school care. The Commission on Children will be reviewing the Recreation Department's plan for after-school program expansion to ensure that the additional funds are put to the best use. Our goal in FY 2001 is to enhance the quality of care provided for children in the after-school programs by providing dependable supervisor care on a 1070 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 year-round basis. The FY 2001 budget appropriation request also reflects a transfer of funding and positions from the Mayor's Office of Community Services to fully fund two additional full-time positions in the Recreation Department's budget, a mural arts director and a mural arts assistant director. In our testimony scheduled for February 23rd, Jane Golden, the director of the Mural Arts Program, will discuss this increase in more detail. Recreation Department Mission. The Recreation Department's mission is to maintain and professionally staff safe, clean, and fully functional recreation facilities throughout the city in order to develop, coordinate, implement, and encourage recreation programs. The programs are responsive to neighborhood goals enjoyed by participants of all ages and create positive learning experiences. The Department operates approximately 161 staffed centers and playgrounds 5, ice rinks, the Dell East, 5 older-adult centers, 77 outdoor and 8 indoor pools, 130 after-school programs, 5 youth access centers, 34 1071 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 district parks, Veterans Stadium, and various other facilities and programs. FY 2000 Accomplishments. Development and implementation of standards. In FY 2000, the Recreation Department expanded the range of dedicated custodial services at rec. centers. Not only do the 46 larger A sites have full-time custodial care, 72 midsize B sites each have a full-time custodian assigned to keep it clean and perform minor repairs on a daily basis. The 32 small C sites have dedicated part-time coverage. Thanks to the support of City Council and the additional FY 2000 funding, the Rec. Department developed maintenance and programming standards for each of the full-time permanently staffed 150 rec. centers and 34 district parks. The Buildings Trades Division Standards outline inspection schedule of major facility heating mechanical, air-conditioning, electrical, and plumbing systems, including 77 outdoor pools and 5 ice rinks. With an emphasis on preventive maintenance and attention to seasonal priority, the Maintenance Division strives to protect the City's capital investment in rec. facilities and 1072 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 minimize the frequency and extent of emergency and major repairs. The Food Program and Reinventing Government Initiative. The Rec. Department, because of its success in expanding the summer food program, is now providing snacks funded by the State to children enrolled at rec. centers' after-school programs. In 1997, the Rec. Department, in cooperation with District Council 47, launched the Reinventing Government Initiative aimed at improving the Department's summer meal program for eligible children. S. Department of Agriculture. 27 million meals and snacks in FY 2000 and FY 2001. Maintenance of Rec. Centers.
Recreation's Maintenance Division plays a critical role in program expansion as well as its efforts to protect the City's capital investment in our systems. In the last five years, with the support 1073 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of City Council, the City invested $61 million in capital funding in recreation facilities. We were able to upgrade roofs, heaters, field lighting, courts, play equipment, and parks. They completed major renovation efforts at five youth access centers and significantly upgraded conditions in three of our oldest and most active facilities -- Vare, Waterview and Cruz Recreation Centers. We are currently upgrading two additional centers -- the Athletic and the Cecil B. Moore Recreation Centers. The Maintenance Division also converted an old, empty, deserted stone building into a well-equipped and attractive neighborhood health center that is part of the Francis J. Meyers Youth Access Center. Recreation's Maintenance Division also engaged in new approaches to service. The Department began to work closely with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and various Friends groups to upgrade the infrastructure, maintenance, and programs in our parks and squares. The Maintenance Division, working with Friends groups, PHS, and dedicated neighborhood 1074 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 volunteers, installed major play equipment at Carol Park, rehabilitated the park building, and installed new play equipment at Gorgus Park and installed a storage shed and drainage system at Elmway Park. With additional funding the Council provided in FY 2000, the Rec. Department now provides custodial service on a part-time basis to 34 parks during the months of May to October. Expansion of Core Services. In pursuit of the Department's mission, we dedicate ourselves not only to investing in the development of our employees, but also challenge ourselves to expand and upgrade our core services throughout the city, with a particular emphasis on under-served communities. The Rec. Department has radically expanded the outdoor pool season. With the help of many Philadelphia corporations, we are expanding our Swim for Life Program to ten facilities. This is a competitive and developmental swim program that now has participants from every part of the city. For the last two years, the Rec. Department had the longest pool season in the 1075 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Department's history. In FY 2001, the Department will continue the service-friendly schedule and start opening its pools the first week in June and keep many open until Labor Day. The Department focuses on expanding our sports programs across the city and reintroducing them to neighborhoods where they had disappeared. We enlisted the support of our professional sports teams, local companies, and a cadre of volunteers, and expanded the support of our longtime adult volunteers to provide more organized sports opportunities for our young people. Through a corporate community alliance, we expanded our ice rink season from 9 to 14 weeks, and substantially increased both free skating and organized sports opportunities. We expect 70,000 participants to use the ice-skating facilities in FY 2000 and in FY 2001. New Directions. The After-School Programs. With the vision and support exercised by City Council, the Rec. Department established over 130 after-school programs in the last three years. The after-school program enrolled 3200 participants in FY '99 and expects to enroll the 1076 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 same number in FY 2000. To enhance the quality of care provided in the after-school programs, the Rec. Department sought and received a grant from the State to provide snacks for eligible children enrolled in the after-school program. The FY 2000 proposed operating budget includes more than 600,000 in additional funds for the Department's after-school program.
Before the start of the next new fiscal year, the Mayor's Commission on Children will be looking at the City's after-school programs to ensure quality programs throughout the city and to determine the best way of using the additional funds to enhance our current programming. , at recreation centers, churches, schools, and community centers. After-school programs have a strong anti-violence component. They offer school-aged children a safe environment in which to play and learn as an alternative to unsupervised activities. 98 million in general funds dedicated to 1077 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 after-school programs administered by the Recreation Department since FY '98. Specialty Camps. In FY 2000, the Rec. Department continued its special program to involve girls from economically distressed neighborhoods in sports programs. We plan to increase FY 2000 participation to 220, up from 155 participants. Last summer, the Department established the first neighborhood summer golf camp, with golf instruction and short courses at centers throughout the city. The summer golf camp provided instruction and practice for 307 participants in FY 2000, and is expected to enroll 325 in FY 2001. The Rec. Department introduced a baseball camp in FY 2000, and plans to begin a girls introductory basketball camp this year. The baseball camp offered a one-week instructional camp that accommodated 60 children. Because of its success, the Rec. Department plans to add another baseball camp at Cobbs Creek Rec. Center. This will double the baseball camp participation to 120 participants in FY 2001. 1078 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 This summer, the Rec. Department plans to conduct one-week instructional basketball camps for a total of 150 girls between the ages of 5 and 12 years old at 4 to 5 rec. centers. 6 Our department will continue to conduct 7 and enhance our ongoing visual arts, performing, 8 arts, soccer, and environmental caps. 9 Automation. The Rec. Department is 10 automating the way it does business. The Department has a local-area network of computers located in the One Parkway Building. It also has six maintenance district offices and ten program district offices connected to the Department's network. The Rec. Department's attempting to automate maintenance and program activities at the rec. centers. A computer-based work order system will record, assign, schedule, and monitor custodial and skilled craft work orders for requested and preventive maintenance for facilities. The Department plans to implement the automated work order system in FY 2001. The department is starting to automate the scheduling of recreation center usage in the 1079 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 registration of participants for program activities. The automation of program registration is in its pilot stage. With further training, we will be able to register participants for activities administered on a central basis, such as after-school, Camp William Penn, performing and visual arts programs. Connecting the 150 staff facilities to the Recreation's LAN is a Recreation Department initiative in FY 2000 and in FY 2001. In conclusion, I believe the Rec. Department has accomplished much over the last few years. We have used our increased operating budget to deliver tangible gains to the youth of city and the neighborhoods we serve. We have been a good partner with corporations and major institutions in meeting our shared mission of service and youth development. We have built a relationship of trust and respect with our union representatives, and we are currently involved in redesigning government initiatives with District Council 47. We have joined with our advisory councils to approve the level of programs and service at all of our centers. 1080 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 That concludes my testimony, Honorable Council President Verna and other members of Council.
Thank you, Mr. Carapucci. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, I hate to be repetitive, but I don't believe you were here when this discussion occurred earlier. In reference to the food program, with the Mayor's initiative in wanting a healthier Philadelphia, and I see that your program is subsidized by the State and also the Food and Drug Administration, and I'm sure that there's very stringent guidelines on the treats and snacks that you give to young people. But I would hope there would be some coordination between the new health person that we have in the Administration with that program just to make sure that we're, you know, we're doing what we should do in that particular area. So just wanted to repeat that comment again because I know that you have a very good 1081 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 program and plan to expand it, so that's something that I would hope that you would do.
Thank you, Councilman Rizzo. We are already looking at the summer food program and are trying to aim it towards food that's considered very healthy for the kids.
Yeah. Maybe some of them would be surprised to see what an apple is, you know, something that's not in a wrapper. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Carapucci, the Mayor has indicated that one of his initiatives for FY 2001 is the KIDS Program. Do you remember at this point in time what role your department will play in that program?
As for after-school programs, we have requested over $600,000, and that's being reviewed by the Commission on Children, and they will be able to guide us in the best way to expand our program. That's with Estelle Richman and Naomi Post-Street.
Thank you. 1082 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I have a couple of quick questions. One is an issue about the use of a facility and the responsibility for opening and closing a facility. Over the years, we have had varying degrees, as it related to the policy, as to some instances, if you had a strong advisory council, sometimes that member had the key and could open it without a staff person somewhat unofficially. Where are we going to go in that direction? 'Cause I know too often we have situations in some centers where we can't gain access because there's not a staff person available at that particular time.
Well, we try to work with the community. And when you have a strong local advisory council and you have a strong community group there, we've opened our facilities beyond our regular hours. And if you have a particular, you know, case, we'll work with you on that. 1083 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Yeah, we'll continue to work. Where there's a need and where you have a local group that wants to work with us, we'll work something out.
Okay. In your advisory council meetings, could you possibly emphasize that liberal policy so we can make sure that all these centers have operating and functioning advisory councils.
Our supervisor at the site -- if something comes up where there's a particular problem, then the district manager for that area will usually intervene and we'll work it out.
Okay. Another question. Rec. centers -- particularly A centers and B centers to some degree -- are probably one of the few public facilities where people from all age ranges frequent, particularly in the 1084 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 summertime. I mean, we may have basketball leagues with older adults, younger adults involving concerts. I mean, there's just all kinds of people. And I've always felt -- and this is kind of a recommendation or, I guess, a suggestion that we look into the potential of providing services above and beyond recreational type services. This is -- you know, the reason I say that is that too often when we have community meetings, we don't get all of the people that we want, or at a school, as an example, too often, we have Parents Night and you might have three parents there, but then if you go to a rec. center and there's a league, you might have 150 parents there. And I would like to see the possibility of coming up with some strategy to maybe have some adult education programs in the facilities. I know we talk about computers for kids, but the reality in today's world is if we don't get of these adults acclimated to computers, you know, their job opportunities will not be enhanced. So I would like to -- if at all 1085 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 possible, I would like to talk to you about furthering other operations in some of these rec. centers, if at all possible.
We could definitely work with you. If the facility's there and we have the computers at the center and you have the people that want to use the computers, we could work this out with you.
Okay. But it's not necessarily -- and I appreciate you saying you'll work it out with me, but I would like to kind of see some policy developed where, generally, we would come up with a program, where we do an outreach to the adults across the city in getting them involved with computer employment initiatives, because these the adults do come to rec. centers when they may not come anywhere else as it relates to city --
Well, we would have to have somebody that could teach them how to use the computer. We're trying to ourselves, with our own staff, to train our own staff in the use of computers.
Okay. 1086 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
And possibly when we finish that, some of our employees could then teach the neighborhood people how to use the computer better.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
I got the yellow folder, which is a kind of a plethora of material here. You were obviously very prepared for today. You must have known I was going to ask a question or two about this. (Laughter.)
I'll go through these material, but I just want to at least acknowledge the -- is this the first time this booklet has been printed or presented? I don't believe I've seen this material before.
We just -- about three months ago, Tom Fox and his unit set the standards 1087 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 for building trades and for the custodial and grounds.
And this is the first time I could ever remember this being done.
All right. I appreciate that and I'll come back to that. The other thing I didn't see either in our package, nor did I see much of, and I know that I missed the beginning of your testimony. Other than at the back with this service-level impact statement, I didn't see any particular material regarding the Mural Arts Program. Is there testimony that I missed somewhere?
Yeah. The Mural Arts Program, they're going to have detailed testimony next week, February 23rd.
I could answer some of the questions on Mural Arts, but the detailed material, Jane Golden's going to handle.
No problem. What I'd like to talk a little bit about is the facilities classification system. 1088 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 With the previous commissioner, I had had a number of discussions about a couple of facilities in the 4th District, and I wanted to get a little better understanding of why certain facilities are classified the way they are based on my knowledge that your classification then determines what level of service and maintenance and how many people you have at that particular facility. So, for instance, at the Venice Island Playground, there is a swimming pool, a basketball court, a roller-hockey court, a tot lot, and a building, all situated on a very narrow island, and that's considered a C classification facility. And it seems to me that the only thing it doesn't have is either a baseball field or a football field. I mean, there's not much left to our facility. So why is it a C versus a D, with that level of activity?
In most cases, Councilman, they're clear-cut. There's As, based on large buildings with fields and swimming pools. There's Bs, based on the same thing -- the size of the building, ballfields, a swimming pool, an 1089 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 affiliated school gym that we oversee. The Cs sometimes are not as clear. Most of the times, they are. Like, for instance, you have a small little building, with no 6 ballfield, they obviously would be a C or possibly even a D. Venice Island has always been one that could swing either way.
And over the years, for the last years that I know of, it's always been 13 considered a C facility. 14
And it's because you don't have any ballfields, there's no school affiliated with it.
Well, what I would like to do -- I mean, we don't have to go into all of the programmatic activities over there. I mean, there are a couple known facts. One, the City recently put upwards of $200,000 worth of improvement at that particular facility. Two, as a result of that -- and I appreciate the Department's support and Eric Iffrig and all the 1090 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 people that get that done. There has been an explosion of activity at essentially a newly renovated facility, both in the building, outside the building, roller-hockey activity, their relationship with North Light, and a whole host of groups and organizations have now put the facility in a position perfectly situated that more and more people want to use it but it stays at the C classification. I mean, we don't have enough bodies over there to properly support what it is that we claim we want to do, which is provide recreational activity. I mean, that kind of discussion leads to a larger discussion about the early years of the Administration. I mean, when I first got here, we really didn't have that much money for capital improvements. We had no City tax supported dollars in the first few years. Actually, it was all PICA money. We won't get into the split between Recreation and Vets Stadium. I won't torture you with that today. But the Recreation Department has benefited tremendously from long overdue capital improvements because we, as a government, to some 1091 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 extent had neglected the facilities and then didn't have money to do anything with them. My present concern is, we've made them much better -- some are wonderful. The question is, do we have the maintenance staff and programmatic people to support and keep in good running order our facilities, given the level that we've taken them to in terms of capital improvement? And at the same time, if we're going to make these kinds of improvements and encourage use, we have to have people there to staff these places. Otherwise, folks will start to not come to the facility because it's not being kept up, and you get that vicious cycle going on where you have less people, then you say, Well, we don't need to put people there, then the place starts to get trashed, and you end up in the same exact situation. You can't put the level of investment that we make in these facilities and not support it with program and staff. So I'm concerned about the classification of this particular facility and a couple of others, but I use that because you and I 1092 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 know that facility well, but that there is a larger argument and issue about how well we're maintaining and staffing our facilities, given the capital improvements that we've made. Now, with the maintenance level standards -- and I will read through all of the materials -- who checks on the cleanliness and the safety of our facilities with any regularity?
Yes, Councilman. I'm Tom Fox, Director of facilities for the Recreation Department. I would say the first line of check or a look at hazards would be our custodian or caretaker at a facility. Also, the program staff does, I would -- I'm surmising that they do walk around the facility almost on a daily basis.
Well, I mean, I walk around City Hall every day, but I'm not responsible for what it looks like. Whose job is it, or is it a part of that person's job and responsibility to not only walk around the place, see what's going on, and 1093 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 either fix it, clean it, repair it themselves, or call someone else? And who checks -- I mean, who knows at 2 o'clock in the afternoon -- I mean, we're doing after-school activities now and now we're really going to really get into after-school activities. Whose job is it? I mean, unfortunately, you get down to this level of detail. Who makes sure that the bathrooms are clean, towels, toilet paper, faucets are working, not leaking and running all over the place at 2 o'clock in the afternoon? And then who has the responsibility to make sure the place is decent at 6 o'clock in the evening or 8 o'clock in the evening, when all the kids start running in and out of the place? I mean, I have gone in some rec. centers that neither I, a member of my family, certainly not my daughter, and some people I don't like would suggest that they go into some of these facilities. Now, I want to know whose responsibility it is to make sure that they are at least in a decent condition. Now, I know they can't check after every person goes in -- that's 1094 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 impossible. But there has to be a regular sweep, and someone downtown also needs to know on a regular basis what's going on with these facilities.
As a result of the increased funding that we received last year, we could put additional staff, especially in the B centers, to complement the staff that was in the A centers. Actually, that's part of what's in these booklets, is that their first priority for the caretakers is when they arrive at a site, they are supposed to take a little walk around the facility to see what the general conditions are and if there's something hazardous. If it's an electrical situation or something, they would call the electricians.
Do the supervisors do spot inspections or unannounced inspections of the facilities?
Again, as a result of this, you know, enough staffing, where we can actually say, Look, we have enough to make people responsible, we have district caretaker supervisors for each district. Part of their 1095 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 duties are at least twice a week to visit the site and to fill out a, a sheet that says what are the present conditions in the site.
That gets collected, and then it's given to the building -- the grounds maintenance superintendent, who, in turn, if he sees something, he'll bring it to my attention, but I think, for the most part, he'll handle most of those, correcting them.
Is there a monthly analysis of what's going on at different facilities throughout the city?
Is there a monthly review or an analysis of all of this paper that's flying around or emails or any other level of communication?
Okay. How many outstanding work orders are there at rec. 1096 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 facilities throughout the city?
The system was started in -- this computerized work order system that we have was started in 1991. So the backlog in the system, which over time was something like 80,000 work orders, is presently about 1900.
Some of them might go beyond a year, but for the most part, they might be two or three months.
Is that the average length of time it takes to get a work order completed?
Hopefully, we'll at least finish them within one month. Very often, it's -- it is dependent on the availability of the materials, vehicles, and whatever -- especially materials. Usually things that are in the system for a long period of time are usually the result of something special, like a door that had to be special-ordered or a window that had to be special order or something.
Okay. On OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the testimony, the after-school program, the numbers seem to work out that -- the past three years, we have now upwards of 130 after-school programs, we have 3200 participants in FY '99. That seems work out to somewhere around 30 or so kids a site, 3200 kids. How many kids do we have in Philadelphia?
I don't know how many children we have, but we have a situation where we have a limited capacity based on what we can handle for the staffing of it. When you have an after-school program with children in the 15 program, you really can't go much beyond that with 16 one teacher. 17
So you really have to 19 limit how many kids you could put in the program. 20
Well, you're 21 requesting an additional $600,000 for after-school 22 programs, right? I assume that must mean that 23 you're going to expand the number of sites. And 24 how many kids do we think that's going to serve? 25
We're looking -- our 1098 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 plan still has to be reviewed by the Commission on Children. Our plan is to expand our summer day camps. So that way, the kids that are in the after-school program, when it ends in June, will then be able to go into the day camping program. There wouldn't be that break.
I'm sorry, you confused me. I thought that we were expanding our after-school programs.
We are expanding our -- it's all going to be a component of after-school programs because it's going to be on a year-round basis. In other words, the sites that have after-school, when that program would end, say, in the second week of June, we would then be able to have those kids put into the day camp program.
Yeah, I understand that. Let me talk about September to June, after school. Now, I don't want to talk about the summer.
What is the expansion -- when the news accounts report or the Mayor says that we're tripling the amount of money 1099 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 for after-school programs, I always took "after-school" to mean sometime between September and June.
What does that mean and how are we expanding them and where are people going to be? And what impact does that have on the Recreation Department if you're telling me that at 25, 30 or so kids a site, you've already maxed. I then have to assume to that the only way you can expand is by going to non-rec. sites. And how many people -- I mean, are we going from 3200 to 9600? Are we going to 10,000, 8,000? How are you going to do all of this?
Estelle Richman could probably answer that question better because she's one of the co-chairs of the Commission on Children, and they're guiding us in the after-school initiative. (Estelle Richman comes forward.)
This is Estelle Richman, Director of Social Services. Councilman, because of the way the City budget works in some ways, in that we actually 1100 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 began preparing some of these dollars and moving them forward, we really do need to look at the comprehensive approach. And while we've added some of these dollars in the Recreation budget and some of these dollars in the Library budget, the overall impact is going to be to look at how we're going to spend the after-school dollars, without precommitting them to any one given area. The Recreation Department had requested to expand their summer camp program. That certainly will be considered, but the primary focus at this point in time for the Mayor is to look at all after-school summer programs in entirety to be able to see how we can fit in the most children and which ways we can do that. So while the Recreation requests will be considered, we're also looking at proposals from Mural Arts, proposals from the Library, proposals from DHS, to make sure we can serve as many children as possible in an innovative way, and to be able to get outcomes from those projects in a way we haven't measured before. So this is to leave it somewhat open, 1101 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 to be able to give the process that is going to look at giving it a chance to work with as much input into that and make it as inclusive as possible. But it isn't pre-described right now in the budget testimony.
Okay, all right. Let's just talk a little bit about the budget history of the Recreation Department. Mr. Carapucci, are you aware of what the budget for the Recreation Department may have been five, six, seven years ago, at the beginning the Rendell Administration, as compared to what it is now?
I couldn't give you an exact number, but I know it has increased.
Well, that's in the right direction. Somewhere in this morass of paper --
Our Administrative Services Director, Miss Mangano, has informed me that it's gone up about $4 million since the beginning of the Rendell Administration.
I think you actually might be shortchanging yourself a little 1102 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 bit. I think the Department, since 1992, has received about a 31, 32 or so percent increase in its budget since 1992; is that correct?
Hi. My name is Josephine Mangano. I came to the Department in --
Hi. My name is Josephine Mangano. I came to the Department in 1996, and since that time, our budget has increased approximately about 1.7 million for after-school programs. And last year, we got a $2 million increase for maintenance enhancements. The budget probably has increased more than that, but those increases have probably been for pay raises and for full funding of positions.
It's actually a credit to the Department, and I just actually wanted to get a sense of how you were able to do 1103 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that. And, I think, what you've been doing with the increase has been very helpful to the City of Philadelphia. Under tight budgetary circumstances, the Recreation Department, you know, has been able to post some very decent numbers in terms of increases -- certainly as compared to some other departments or agencies of the city. So it's not a criticism for a change. Now, the FY '92 budget for the Recreation Department, excluding Veterans Stadium, was about $24.2 million, and in FY 2000, you're at 32.3.
Very good. All right, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown. 1104 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, officers of the Department. On of your testimony, you cited -- in the third paragraph, you cited a couple of successes that spoke to the value of working with the Friends group and local neighborhood volunteers to bring life back to a couple of recreation centers, namely Mifflin Square and Carol Park. Are there any similar initiatives on line to employe that same approach? Any other additional rec. centers on line to employ the same approach that have proved to work?
Well, right now, we're working with volunteers to rehabilitate Cecil B. Moore Recreation Center and Athletic Rec. Center.
Okay. Mural Arts Program, you indicated in your response to Councilman Nutter that we'll get further details later this month. Please speak to your impression 1105 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of the Mural Arts Program.
The Mural Arts Program has been an excellent addition to our department. And, recently, they've been trying to get involved more and more in the after-school programs and depending on what the Commission on Children decides to do, if they're going to be involved, I think we could make very good use of the Mural Arts staff and their expertise.
Your testimony indicates that there's been a $1.25 million increase. Those dollars will be specifically and strictly for Mural Arts? I'm looking at your testimony, third paragraph.
That was in private money raised. The Rec. Department raised approximately 1.25 million in private money, and then usually that's dedicated towards a particular project.
And so since this says 1.25 million for Mural Arts, those dollars will go for Mural Arts, correct?
Since Mural Arts has been our department, which is around four years 1106 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 now, that's the cumulative number of dollars that have been raised, not just in one year.
Oh, okay, all right then, but that clarification is helpful. How many staff are currently dedicated or devoted to Mural Arts?
We have four -- well, we have seven part-time staff, seasonal staff, and we have four full-time staff.
And they handle this tremendous level of productivity that's been cited in that same paragraph. At one point this was a site on North Broad Street devoted to Mural Arts activity; is that still real?
Good afternoon. My name's Jane Golden, with the Mural Arts Program. That was 808 North Broad you're referring to, and that is now under the Mayor's Office of Community Service. They've had that site since 1996, when we were transferred to the Department of Recreation. 1107 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Okay the. My questions around the after-school programs have been adequately addressed at this hour, knowing that there's much work to be done in a positive way. On of the testimony, the first sentence: "In FY 2000, the Recreation Department continued its special programs to involve girls from economically distressed neighborhoods in sports programs." Earlier this morning, the Health Department testified, and it was an enlightenment for me that to the extent that girls are involved in athletic programs, they tend -- the data suggests that they tend not to become pregnant, if you will, not to become teenage mothers. So just speak to what that means, "special programs for girls" in detail.
Well, what we discovered over the last couple years when we looked at our programs was that there weren't a large number of girls in the athletic area of our department.
So that's when we 1108 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 started to see what can we do to bring more girls in.
And then that's why this year, we're going to begin these one-week basketball camps for girls ages to years-old 8 so that they could, you know, get introduced to 9 basketball, and hopefully they'll stay with the 10 sport. 11
Or with some other 12 -- well, right now, the focus is basketball.
But this year, we're trying to begin -- we've always had specialty camps for cultural programs. We're trying to do more specialty camps --
Very well. You have your first neighborhood summer golf camp?
We have a summer golf 1109 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 camp. We've had that for a few years, and last year, we tried to expand it on a basis throughout the city. We set up little miniature golf courses in some of the centers.
The Recreation Department has a lot of good things happening. I'm always interested in knowing how that good information gets into the hands of parents and teachers and schools so that they can be an added voice box, an added microphone, informing young children and youth that they have a place to go. So how does that happen with the Rec. Department?
Well, we're normally -- there's a few ways. We've been trying to get -- put more of our programs out on the Web site.
We're putting our stuff on the cable, we try to get into the local newspapers. We have a public relations person that's directed. For instance, they're going to start a new program to make sure the area newspapers in the community that we're addressing has this in the paper. Plus we have a -- we have our staff. 1110 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 We have 150 facilities with supervisors. And in most centers where they're active, that word gets out. So we are trying to do all of that -- through the newspapers, through cable TV, and through some of the local schools. Like for instance, in my next testimony, we're going to talk about Camp William Penn, and we're going to start sending people to the local schools to visit the counselors.
So that they could get -- the counselors could get these applications in hand so we can increase the number of kids that go away to Camp William Penn.
Does the department produce a catalog listing all summer-camp activities?
Okay. And could 1111 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 you make sure that all Councilmembers receive that information through the Chair?
And then lastly, you mention in your testimony, on , that you have computers, about 400. What will be the process internally for the distribution of those computers?
Some of them are already dedicated, but we're going to try to put them in after-school sites.
So you're going to reserve them, for the most part, until the --
That's really our focus with the computers, and the Mayor helped us get some of these computers, my understanding, and which we wanted to do anyway, was make sure to put them at the sites that have a viable after-school program.
So that's what we're 1112 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 trying to do.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There's a couple items in the budget in detail that I need some clarification on. The first is on -39, which indicates a reduction in 51 semiskilled workers. I'd like to get an idea as to what they -- what kind of semiskilled workers -- what do semiskilled workers do, and how will the district absorb the work which was being performed by those individuals?.
Yes, Councilman. Excuse me, Tom Fox, Director of Facilities for the Recreation Department. We're doing a reclassification, I guess you call it, to make the recreation facility's caretaker class more appropriate for what is happening. It was done, I guess, in the mid-'80s, and it was really focussed on the person staying 1113 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 in the rec centers. We've redesigned it so that it encompassed the person having training, and also these individuals could work in a rec center, they could work in a park, and they could also work in a --
Secondly, on 35-64, there is a 610-person increase for temporary or seasonal employees. Could you tell me what the bulk of them would be expected to be doing in the summer?
Yes. We had considered expanding our summer camps in the summer so that we could provide continuous out-of-school care for our children year-round, and that's what the expansion of most of those temporary jobs are.
So this is related to the overall City initiative of after-school, 1114 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 summer-camp kind of children --
Okay. And then one other item. In 35-69 is a $204,000 increase -- 35-69, $204,000 increase in purchase of services, but there's nothing specific as to what that increase would be or what it would be spent on.
And I believe that that is an increase for -- I'll have to check that out.
Okay, we can get back to that. In your testimony, Commissioner, you indicated -- you've used the terms "underserved" and "economically distressed." Could you give me an idea of what the Department's definition of "underserved" and "economically distressed" communities are.
Generally speaking, it was the -- we took a look at our program, areas within our own program where the numbers weren't adequate. 1115 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Where the facility's there but the participation's not there, okay.
Exactly. In other words, we have a large facility and it's not being used to the extent that it should be used. And we tried to focus the last few years on having those neighborhoods use our facilities to a greater degree.
So it's not necessarily underserved but underutilized. I mean, "underserved" indicates a neglect on the part of the Department.
It's underutilized, okay. And what is the Department's definition of an economically distressed community?
I guess it's where you 1116 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 have a high unemployment -- you have an area of high unemployment.
I guess my concern is that I wanted to ensure that all of these new recreation programs are put into place fairly across the board. One of the complaints -- and this goes to underutilized and underserved. One of the complaints I hear from mostly middle-class, working-class neighborhoods is that they take a lot of effort in conjunction and cooperation with the Recreation Department to provide recreational activities, athletic and non-athletic, for the kids in their neighborhood, but that somehow or another, they believe that in going to Washington Township or going to Delaware County, they're getting more of their tax money's worth in recreation and in other services that that particular township or municipality provides. I don't want to get lost in the -- I don't want the active neighborhoods to suffer because they're active when it comes to the new resources that may be available to recreate and to deal with the kids in every neighborhood. And, for example, in South Philadelphia 1117 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 where I live, in Councilman DiCicco's district, you may have very active, stable working-class neighborhoods of all colors, and then in the middle, have an economically distressed new ethnic cultural group that really isn't in tune language-wise or cultural-wise with what all of our programs have been. Now, is that neighborhood economically distressed, or is it considered as part and parcel of the whole of that particular 19148, for example, zip code that may not be considered economically distressed? And how do we ensure that any new money we're spending in after-school programs, summer-camp programs are being integrated fairly throughout the entire community, you know including, middle class, upper mill class, and more poverty-stricken areas? 'Cause I think that's a real complaint that I hear from people who are making a decision whether to continue living here or not.
Well, it's our obligation to offer all of our recreation programs throughout the city. And I know, like, for 1118 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 instance, this year, when we do the girls basketball camp, it's going to be spread out throughout the city. They're going to be -- I think we're going to have five or six different sites so that most parts of the city -- not all parts of the city -- will have access to enroll their children in the camp.
The other thing I would suggest, and I know you guys have moved in that direction when it comes to roller hockey, ice hockey, and some of the other basketball programs we kind of tend to concentrate our resources and our programs in a specific geographic-defined area, and then leave those people there. I have found the most success in dealing with the athletic programs I'm involved in through the Recreation Department and through private athletic associations is, when we start moving kids from one neighborhood to another, having a league that encompasses West Philadelphia and South Philadelphia and the Northeast and North Philadelphia. I mean, I find that we get more benefit for the money we spend when we start to bring kids together through athletics, through 1119 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 cultural activity, as opposed to just concentrating one neighborhood. And I think you've seen that in our ice program. I mean, we've had tremendous success at Cobbs, Scanlon, Simons, Tarkins, Rizzo in kind of having all those kids compete with each other and get to know each other's and get into each other's neighborhoods, more importantly, to see that there's not really that much difference than maybe in the color of their skin or their ethnic background. So I would just urge that kind of expansion in that regard. I just want to move to one other area, Veterans Stadium. Does there exist a list of maintenance and improvement needs that have been determined by the Department of Recreation for Veterans Stadium over the next one, two, three, or five years? Is there a capital plan or a program? In lieu of the decision -- I mean, in spite of the discussion of all the new potential facilities, does the Recreation Department, whose facility that is, have a comprehensive list of minimal and desirable improvements or maintenance 1120 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 needs for that particular facility?
Greg Grillone will be able to answer that, from the Veterans Stadium.
Sure, I figured he would. Thank you. (Greg Grillone comes forward.)
Greg Grillone from Veterans Stadium. Separate and apart from the whole process that's going on relative to the new stadium --
Yeah, just imagine we're not even talking about new stadiums.
Right. We commissioned a study back in late summer, early fall by an architectural and engineering firm in the city to kind of give us some guidelines and give us some guidance relative to where we go from here relative to the structure and its useful life. And we've digested that report and we're using that as a basis and as a guideline to formulate some of our capital programming needs -- again, 1121 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 separate and apart from the --
How much is the -- how much is that consultant's -- what's the name of the consultant, by the way?
And what are they recommending that we be doing as far as an amount of money is concerned?
Well, first of all, the format that we gave them or the context within which we gave them their charge was that at the time, it appeared clear to most people that we would have new stadiums within three or four years. So with that kind of conservative approach, I think that they formulated a program of three to four years' worth, about or 22 $24 million. 23
Okay. And that's 1122 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 -- could you give me an idea of what some of those, you know, I believe there's some -- waterproofing was one of the major -- may have been one of the major items? And what else, what else were they recommending?
There was some waterproofing reapplications because, as you know, we did a lot of work in the early '90s, so it's coming up on its useful cycle to have some more application of waterproofing. There was some recommendations relative to some of the HVAC systems as well as a look-see to possibly some electrical, although we've done a lot of electrical in the last few years. And, again, this did not include any of the kind of big-ticket items that you would expect if we were going to be there, you know, for 10 or 12 years, such as, for example, replacement of a field.
But as far as minimal structural, safety, comfort issues, the 1123 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 consultant's recommending about a minimum of million? 4
So when we hear 6 numbers from the teams, that we're talking -- you 7 don't need to comment -- numbers from the teams of 8 upward of 150 or 160 or 200 million that they 9 could start working on tomorrow and billing the 10 City for because we're in violation of our lease 11 seems to perhaps be -- and this is my editorial 12 comment -- a bit exaggerated. 13 Just one other tongue-in-cheek question 14 for you. How much time do you spend down there? 15
Yeah, personally. 17 I know you've been there for a number of years, 18 but how much time do you spend most of your -- 19
I know you'd tell me if you did, and I know you'd be concerned, but you haven't seen many, right? Or any?
Okay, all right. I just wanted to make sure we had some clarification on comments made by one of our team's owners lately. He termed it as "a rat-infested facility," which I thought was a bit unfair. Much overexaggerated and a bit unfair.
I just want to make a comment about this discussion about 80 million. I think, in fairness to them, I think that supposes that they will be there, obviously, until the end of their existing leases.
So in fairness to them, if you're going to be there for 10 or 11 years, 1125 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 it's a big difference than the charge that we gave Ewing, Cole, Cherry, Brott, which was much more than --
But also, from an editorial comment standpoint, we're being asked potentially to spend $80 million in two years, so I -- I mean, my wife, for example, she likes Jaguars but she drives a '97 Sable. She likes her '97 Sable but she'd really like to have a Jaguar. So, I mean, I'm just trying to put some kind of rationality and some practicality in our discussion as it relates to stadiums because I think sometimes we get -- not you. We get and the media and teams get a little far afield as to what it is we're talking about, but I just wanted to try to get on the record some of those issues.
I'd like to come back again, I want to get back in line.
Thank you. 1126 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Good afternoon. The Recreation Department's -- the Bellfield Recreation Center has been under repair for mechanical renovations for a fire that occurred before I was even elected Councilperson. There really seems to be a major problem coordinating the various building trades -- the painters couldn't paint because the electricians weren't done, the dry wall couldn't go up because the plumbers weren't done, and so on. Who coordinates these various trades? Because I'm really disappointed of how long Bellfield has been out of commission. So I guess the bottom-line question is, who coordinates that? So that work can flow smoother.
Well, if it's a capital repair, that comes under Eric Iffrig. He could give us a better discussion on that. If it's 1127 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 regular maintenance, it would come under Tom.
I'm pretty sure that comes under Eric Iffrig, Capital Budget. And he has a long history of working with Bellfield. (Eric Iffrig comes forward.)
Good afternoon. My name is Eric Iffrig, Director of Planning and Construction, Recreation Department. The Bellfield Recreation Center is now under its second renovation contract. The original contractor who had the project was not completing the job anywhere near on schedule, and then we experienced the fire. In a settlement with the surety company and with that contractor, they were released from the contract, and fees were settled between the City and that contractor. The project was rebid, and a new contractor was put on. In the interim, we did let an emergency contract for the roof replacement. The new contractor now is also experiencing some problems. As far as the coordination of the work 1128 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 between the separate subcontractors, that's the responsibility of the prime general contractor.
So what are the new problems with the new contractor? The bottom line is, when is this job going to be done? I mean, do you have any idea? I constantly get calls, letters, calls, letters, calls from people. You go in a store, they stop you. When is it going to be finished?
In a word, it is not my business to say it because it is literally not my business, but we do believe that the prime contractor is having cash flow problems. As a matter of fact --
Cash flow problems, which is the classic problem with a construction contractor trying to complete a job. His credit starts to dry up, and he's unable to pay people promptly, they lose confidence in him. For instance, this Saturday, we had scheduled overtime for our inspectors because we had scheduled the installation of the epoxy 1129 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 flooring, which is one of the last steps on this job. The subcontractors did not show this weekend, and we believe, again, that there's a problem on payment, and that's why that subcontractor was called out. We're -- we can't say we're as frustrated with the progress at Bellfield, not nearly as much as the community is, but this contract is bringing us very close to completion. We have some heating ventilating duct work to complete, the floors and, I believe, the doors, and that's the principal work to be completed on this job now.
Well, maybe we'll talk later too, 'cause if there's anything we can do to help, we'd be willing to do that, okay? A couple of other questions. I'd like to have a copy of the program's division facility usage minimum standards. And is that produced by a general one for all playgrounds and then one for playgrounds that are either A, B, C or D?
The staffing is according to what they're classified. If you're classified, for instance, as an A center, you have 1130 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 a full-time supervisor, a full-time what we call "Leader I" at 40 hours, and then you have an assistant rec. leader. So the staffing there should be in that pattern. For a B-type facility, which is a midsize facility, you have a supervisor and a part-time employee. For a C facility, depending on the size of the C facility -- and I went over this before, where there are various -- some of them are larger C facilities, some are very small. They will have at least a supervisor, and some will have a supervisor and a part-time employee. So I could break it -- I could send you specific material on all of that.
And we'll get that to you, but in a nutshell, that's how we determine the programming staff, based on the determination of a facility.
Okay. And that is in regard to the facility-usage minimum standards? I have a very large facility in our district that we believe is very much 1131 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 underutilized, and if you have something in writing, then I'd like to see that.
And I think you know what facility I'm talking about. If you don't know, some of the other staff members know, and we can talk about it later and I'll tell you that.
Okay. Now, what is the average amount that a recreation center receives to put together an after-school program? What is the average grant? Someone said it's $5,000. I was at a recreation center advisory council meeting one evening, and people raised the issue that the money that they're getting really doesn't allow them to put together, you know, a good after-school program, particularly as it relates to staffing.
Well, we provide for each after-school site a staff person. We also will provide supplies. That's of no cost to the local center. If the local center would want 1132 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 additional staff, then possibly they could supplement what we do through grants, through, you know, charging the kids a small stipend, things -- but we do provide for every facility that's in the after-school program a staff person.
It's call a "rec. specialty instructor," and 95 percent of them come from the neighborhood where the after-school site is located. And the site supervisor then goes out and will recruit a person to work in the program.
Are there any minimum work or educational requirements for that position?
Well, we try to -- you know, we like to have a high-school graduate, which is pretty easy to be in these days. But, you know, we try to get some of the college kids. Now, if you have a particular site, you could let me know about that particular site because we seem not to have a problem in finding staff.
Well, I don't think you have a -- I don't think this site has a 1133 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 problem finding staff. It's just the quality of staff because -- what is the salary or hourly wage?
The salary is $8 an hour, which is, I agree with you, could be low, considered low. But, you know, that's living within our budget and trying to make maximum use of our funds.
Okay. I just want to say one more thing. I don't want to -- We sit and talk about after-school programs, after-school programs, and your programs with the girls basketball and all those other sports and activities for girls, I think, is a good idea, but even at that, that goes up to age 12. And there's a whole population out there of 13 to 18 that at some point needs to be wound into this whole after-school piece. So I just want to keep reminding the different departments not to forget those pre-teen and teenage girls and boys that need to come out -- that will hopefully come out and participate in some level of activity that's more age-specific for them than the other traditional, normal kind 1134 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of after-school programs.
Thank you. We understand, and I know, like, for instance, in the cultural program, we've expanded that, and the vast majority of our kids will go, like, for instance to the performing arts camp, are teenagers and we -- and our dance program, we have sites that we didn't have a couple years ago, 10 and that's mostly teenagers. 11 So we are trying to address it. 12
Okay. And what 13 do the Youth Access Centers do? 14
There's a myriad of 15 activities there. In other words, they get a 16 little grant, and the supervisor at the site then 17 can set up programs -- like I'll give you one for 18 an example. Down at 58th and Kingsessing, Meyers, 19 the supervisor there established a preschool 20 program where they were able to hire neighborhood 21 people, and it really helps in that community with 22 the kids. So they have a lot of freedom on what 23 they can do. 24
And they have -- for 1135 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 instance, Meyers has a health center component to it. So there's a difference, depending on the area, but we have now, I think, six Youth Access Centers.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, maybe you can just go over some process with me, because it will have a lot to do with my question. The Recreation Department, like other departments, are, from what I understand, not responsible for their utility bills. The Department of Public Property pays the electric bill for all the recreation centers; is that correct?
I understand there's some movement to change that to put that money in your budget, so then you have some motivation, might I say, to try to conserve energy. 1136 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 I'll give you an example. I ride throughout the city, and we had a snowfall, and I ride through ballfields, I ride around where there's football fields totally covered with snow, with every light in the recreation facility at full brilliancy, every one. I was told that because of the antiquated system that we have, that we have no way to do a minimum of lighting for security purposes; that it's either they're all on, or they're all off. I would hope that we would -- and I get a lot of questions from constituents that when they get their electric bill and they live in the area of rec center -- and granted now, they don't want the lights all out, but they want some management of that lighting if it requires every other standard to be on, or just enough to secure the facility. But you can imagine a constituent riding through a neighborhood and looking at a field that's ice-covered and seeing every light on in the facility. And part of the problem is, it's just -- it's something where you don't have to pay the bill, you don't have to pay the bill, and I'm sure 1137 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that you're concerned and you don't want to see the taxpayers' money wasted, but I think you'd be more motivated -- or at least the department would be more motivated -- if you had to pay that bill 6 every month for all that energy. Again, it's just an observation that our taxpayers have and have asked me to communicate that to you. And I've seen it myself too.
Thank you, Councilman Rizzo. In some of the neighborhood, some of the people want us to keep the lights on for security. But if we can -- in some places where we can separate it, where we can have a minimal number of lights on, we're going to do that. I understand what you're saying and I've seen that myself. But in some of the places, if we shut one off, we have to shut them all off. So we're going to look into that.
And I understand that to make those changes, it would be very, very expensive to separate some of that lighting. But you can imagine the impression, the message it 1138 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 sends to people when -- for example, I forget the facility, and I'm not even sure if it's a Recreation Department facility, up in Mt. Airy Allens Lane, the field is just coated -- it's not yours, but it's just coated completely with ice, and every light in the place is on. Thank you. Thanks for looking into that.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Could you tell me, Bellfield Recreation Center, is that an A or a B?
Also an A. And back to Bellfield. Is Bellfield -- 1139 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 is it ever going to be finished, or do you pass it on from commissioner to commissioner so you always want to be sure there's a lot left to do?
We certainly hope it's finished soon. We've had a lot of complaints, and Eric's been working with that.
I know there have been a lot of contractor problems. When do you anticipate that it will be fully completed?
Councilman, we would have expected that we would have had it completed shortly. As I said, apparently the (unintelligible) contractor is having problems with some of his subs, and we can't predict what the completion is going to be, if he, in fact, will complete the contract. His surety is involved early in this process with him. That's usually a big asset to preventing a contractor from defaulting on a job. So I believe the main items left are some mechanical work that's separate from this contractor's work, doors and flooring. Hopefully, we'll be able to complete this by the end of March. And as soon as I can 1140 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 get an update, I will give it to you, Councilman.
All right. Well, we ask you again to at least permit it to be in -- get it in a condition to be used for Election Day purposes on April the 4th.
Councilman, it has been open for Election Day and Primary Day use practically since the fire.
But the community is ceasing to believe me. They kind of yawn or laugh when I say that someday it will be done, 'cause they don't -- it's about four or five years now too. Councilwoman Miller, it's like Lonnie Young -- not maybe quite as bad as that, but not far behind it.
I raised the same question prior to you coming into the room about Bellfield Recreation Center, so. . .
Good, good. Maybe between all of us, we will get it done.
All right. Now, you 1141 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 know, it's strange when you think of the recreation centers and all of the other parts of the Recreation Department and the Vets Stadium both being in the same department and how we treat the different levels at the recreation center. We scruff around with usually inadequate custodial staffing because -- even those that are staffed well are usually the very heavily utilized centers, and it's difficult often to keep up with the cleaning facilities and so forth there because of the heavy usage, and then you think of the Vets Stadium. And so there are a few questions I would like to ask. The Recreation Department, does it, in fact, supervise the operations, the facilities of Vets Stadium?
We do that. Were there any plans by the Recreation Department with respect to the impending $6 million increase in income from the superboxes, that which was told us as the reason why we ought to approve the last lease? Because even though we were giving out a lot of money and not getting much back in, the day 1142 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 would come when the City of Philadelphia would get increased income that would help the whole Recreation Department as well as the City budget in general.
Councilman, I didn't hear the beginning of your question. I think you're referring to the --
Were there ever any plans for the use of the $6 million a year that was anticipated to come in additional payments to us by the Eagles, beginning, I think, next year? Wouldn't it begin in 2001?
Have there been any plans made for how that $6 million of increased income, or did all of you really know that it would never be paid to the City, that somehow or the other, the Eagles would find a way to prevent that clause from becoming effective? Because there was a lot of cynicism. There were a lot of people at that time that said, you know, we'll never see that $6 million a year, and those of us then in Council had to bravely stand up and say, Oh, no, you're wrong. That's, 1143 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 you know, it's in steel, that million will absolutely come 'cause the team can't get away.
Councilman, let me just 5 say, first of all, I didn't negotiate the lease 6 extensions back in 1984 and 1985, but any of the revenues that's generated at the stadium goes directly into the General Fund and it's used for, you know, the general purposes of the City, to fund all the --
So it doesn't go directly back to the Recreation Department or to the stadium, for that matter.
But it just seems to me that in the course of events, if I were an employee working one area of the government that was going to be producing additional income, I and other coworkers would be saying, Well, we sort of have first claim to that money 'cause we're helping to produce it, so let's -- what would we do with it? And the Recreation Department could find lots of uses for it. They could increase the 1144 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 custodial staffs, they could do cleanups, they could finally do the Lonnie Young Recreation Center, they could do Bellfield, they could do a whole lot of things. But there were no 6 discussions like that in your time? You were all realists; you knew the money would never come.
Well, it's General Fund money. I mean, the stadium's not set up as an enterprise fund, for example, similar to the Airport, with the Aviation Fund. It's just not set up that way. You know, it was always set up as part of the main of city government, and the revenues and the expenses are a part of the General Fund.
Yeah. Well, if it were set up like the Airport fund, it wouldn't be in the Recreation Department. So somebody had some idea of entwining both in the concept of Recreation. And it just seems to me it's a -- the Department shows it's a tremendous contrast. And like Councilman Kenney and, I'm sure, many others, I was very offended by the comment made by Jeff Lurie about the stadium. Maybe I don't go as often as many others do, but 1145 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 I've been there many, many times with family members over the years, and I never thought of it as a rat-infested place. He might as well have said "dump" instead of "stadium" when he said it was a "rat-infested stadium," and it just seemed to me that -- why didn't he change it? I've never heard him use that language before about the stadium. Has he, have we missed it here in the City? And I'm concerned about that because if we're putting in all of this money into recreation, I question whether the wiser use is putting it into professional sports teams, where, at most, a very tiny percentage of Philadelphians ever really get to the Vets Stadium on any regular kind of basis. I don't know whether you have any figures or not, but I think even on one-time users, it's probably only percent, or maybe 20 even less than that, of Philadelphians who get to see it. So we're building a stadium for the use of others, when I think we have such a demonstrated need among the young people of Philadelphia for recreational services. The other questions were kind of 1146 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 related to it. This hearing brings out the heavy contrast in the use of money. Spending a few million for the recreation for the youngsters in the city, making that available would do so much more to make the city a world-class city, I think, because it would have a positive impact with respect to crime, with respect to the educational level of the students, with respect to what we could do for the schools. It seems to me very questionable that we should be spending all of this time and energy and the potential for spending City money in the large amounts we're talking about for the stadiums. I'm going to stop the questions at this point, Madam Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney. (Councilman Kenney responds off mike.)
Certainly, certainly, come back to you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter. You want me to come back to you as 1147 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 well?
All right. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown -- she's not in here chair. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
At least somebody's here. We'll let Councilwoman Miller -- I'll yield to her on one question then I'll come back.
Thank you. Thank you, colleague. What is the snow removal plan for playgrounds and parks? Because there are a few in my neighborhood that I drove by pretty much every day that didn't get shoveled.
Again, I'm Tom Fox, Recreation Facilities Director. We have to kind of take it in steps 'cause of the staffing levels we have. So the first priority is the older-adult centers, and if 1148 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 know that there's after-school programs or tot programs in the centers, we try to do those first. Then we go to A, B, C, D class centers, and then we'll move into the parks. Then breezeways and cul-de-sacs. If you would -- if you'd give me the center, I will address the one that was not done.
Okay. I just want to make one comment. You know, I just want to thank the cooperation of the people from the Recreation Department, the commissioners and their staff. You know, prior to this term, I served as Chair of Recreation, and I really did enjoy working with you, and I thought we had a good working relationship. So now that I'm back to the district, we have to get those projects in my district completed. Thank you.
I just have, I guess, more of a statement. I, too, want to thank 1149 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 you, the Rec. Department. We've had a good relationship. But what is very, very frustrating for me, and it began when I first came into Council, is the problem we have in getting these projects done. And there seems -- there ought to be some way, and I would imagine that these projects are bid through the City Procurement Department. One, I would imagine there ought to be a statement of financial capability from the contractor, that they can do the work. And that there ought to be some way to remove the contractor and allow the project to go on in another fashion. Because it took -- when I came on board in 1998, it had taken -- it took ten years to add on to Finley Rec. Center. And what happened, the money would be appropriated in the budget for the center, the bid would go out and come in over bid. Then the next year, you had to put more money in the budget. The bid is submitted, it comes in over budget, so it's just a constant, never catching up, until I just said, Hold it, all the money goes in, and we get this project done. 1150 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 What I think we need from the Recreation Department is some strong advocacy to complete these projects and for you to come up with a solution to this problem 'cause it a problem. No recreation facility or any facility should wait two, three, five years to get completed because of some contractor that can't -- and I understand the contracting business is a tough business and that people do run into financial problems, but that's their problem. You've got to find a way to complete the project for us 'cause we are held accountable by our constituents. They're waiting for the project. And it is very frustrating for us have to deal with this. So I want to I want stronger advocacy from the Rec. Department to whomever, whether it's the Procurement Department or the Capital Projects Department, to make sure that these projects are given a timeline and that they are completed. It's just very, very, very difficult.
We understand because it's frustrating for us too at times.
And you know you 1151 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 have the problem to make the change.
Well, maybe we'll find a way to make the change. I've been requested by a group, what is the rules -- what are the rules and regulations governing easements on Recreation property? You may not have an answer because it's probably a legal issue. I have a request from a church whose back is to a recreation center, and they want some easement on that land.
Yeah, okay, all right. In terms of the after-school programs, I will just share this with you. I don't know -- and we will probably have some input with this whole new after-school program committee that's going to be put together. I will share with you the same issue that Councilwoman Miller raised about the quality of programs, the kind of programs for teenagers. 1152 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 They -- I was in a meeting with a group of young people and they said -- all of them don't play basketball, all of them are not into sports, and they want someone to ask them what kind of programs they want, after-school programs they want. We have to confer with them if we expect them to use the facilities so that we have programs that can meet their needs.
We're also very interested in the coming years now with improving the quality of these programs. I know for a fact that's one of the things we're looking into. But, again, Miss Richman is going to oversee what -- how the future of our programs are going to grow.
Okay. How many people work with Mr. Iffrig's department in his department, Eric's department? He basically is in charge of all of these construction projects? Does he have enough staff?
Okay. And so what do they do generally? 1153 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
I know he has an engineer, he has a landscape architect, he has a number of inspectors. (Eric Iffrig comes forward.)
The planning construction division is set up to implement capital projects for the Recreation Department, much as the Public Property Department or the Capital Program Office does for many other departments in the city. The Department is empowered by the Charter to initiate the design and manage the construction of the capital projects and its facilities. Bidding, of course, is through procurement. And in addition, we do, of course, make budget requests.
Now, once you submit a project to the Procurement Department for bid, what monitoring do you provide for that request?
What's supplied to Procurement for bid, the procurement process is the same for Recreation as for every other department. The procedures are that the capital project will be publicly advertised, documents 1154 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 made available, a sealed single-bid opening will be held. And the Department will, after review by Procurement, Controller's Office, other offices, receive the results of the bid, with the prices from the contractors in the order that they're deemed responsible to the requirements of the City. The Department at that point recommends an award of contract. So specifically in the bid process, once we turn it in for initiation to bid, we get the official results after the bid opening and recommend award. It then gets contracted. It goes through the contracting process through Procurement, Law, Finance, Controller. The whole process, once we turn the job over, takes about four months, and that's all according to procedure. That's from the day we initiate the bid practically -- it's out of our direct supervision, except for the recommendation of award.
Now, this contractor that you had problems with on Bellfield, will he be allowed to bid again on a Recreation project? 1155 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
The standard qualification for a contractor in the City of Philadelphia is different from any other place, as it is not annually or any other means. It's a job by job. So for this project, this contract, every contractor, everyone who want to bid a job, must submit for each bid a five-page qualification statement, with additional information if needed. On that, they show their financial position. We try to evaluate from the information that we know on accounting principles what we should be looking for in their funding review. We review their previous experience, we look at how long they've been in business, and we check their references occasionally. When they're new to us, when they're new contractors to us, we're usually a little more careful, and we talk to the contractors to make sure that they're not going to have any special problems by not being familiar with the City processes. This particular contractor is a successful private contractor, he's experienced in major renovations and, I believe, won awards for 1156 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 -- he completed a major project, a very hard project for us at another site. As I said, I believe it's specifically a business problem that he's having at this point. And the fact that he has his surety involved now, he's not avoiding the issues, not avoiding his responsibilities, and he's continuing to work through it, that I really believe we'll get this project finished at last. Trust me.
Okay, I still state my -- I'm just flabbergasted. Well, the process just takes too long, too long. And I'm asking that you all find a faster way to get these projects completed. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman. The Chair recognizes Councilman DiCicco.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. And I, too, want to compliment the Recreation Department for all the 1157 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 hard work that you do during the year, and you're very responsive to my requests, I know, in my district, and I appreciate all of that. The issue on scaffolding. I know, on -65 and 35-68, it references the scaffolding rental. Primarily I believe it's used for the Mural Arts program, and Jane Golden and I have had some discussion about this. And I believe at the time when I spoke to Jane about this, we were renting the scaffolding, primarily because we didn't have anyplace to store it if we were to buy it. Is that still the reason we are renting, or are there other reasons for that? I mean, it's a considerable amount of money, which I obviously would like to see put back into the program or programs and do the one-time purchase of the scaffolding, as opposed to renting.
Initially, it was a problem because we needed to transport the scaffolding, and we have on loan a truck, which has been helpful. We have -- we were able to -- in last year's budget, we received some scaffolding from 1158 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the equipment pool, and as of today, it has not been purchased yet. But I hear good news -- that we should be getting it any day now, and that would be great, and we'll be able to use that on some projects. Tom Conway, from the Graffiti Abatement Program, has informed me that we can use part of his warehouse to store the scaffolding. Fiscally, obviously, it makes good sense for us to own scaffolding, so I hope that we can continue to have this truck and some space, and with this new purchase of scaffolding, we'll be able to make a dent in the rental bill. But also, we have at any given time 10 to 15 projects going on, so it still necessitates that we rent some scaffolding 'cause it's just an enormous amount of scaffolding that we would have to purchase.
I understand that, but I think there would be a basic number that you could -- of scaffolding, pieces of scaffolding that you can use as the base for all of the other projects, and that that would reduce the debt, 'cause I'd rather see that money get put back into the program, as you would also. And you and 1159 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 I have spoken about that.
Absolutely, yes, I would. And I'm quite excited that the scaffolding -- we'll be getting the scaffolding really soon.
Okay, thank you. And as I mentioned to you privately, if there's anything I can do about finding some space for a -- maybe not a large amount but a small amount of scaffolding, I do have a facility which we can share, all right? I mean, that offer's still on the table.
Excuse me, Councilman. This is a councilman who has snow removal machines and all of that, so I guess he does have storage space.
Don't advertise that. Yeah, I know, I have the facilities, I have a lot of storage space. Thank you, thank you. Rental of parking spaces. What is that? Parking spaces?
This is Josephine Mangano again. We have in our budget money for the 1160 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 rental of parking spaces. The Recreation Department is highly decentralized department. So, therefore, we have employees who supervise districts, and they have maybe about rec. 6 centers, staff rec. centers under their 7 supervision and other facilities, and they're 8 assigned a vehicle. 9 It used to be that the Department of 10 Public Property would pay for all the parking 11 charges, but a couple of years ago, they changed 12 their policy, and they kept as a base anybody that 13 had included -- whose payments had been included 14 and any requests we have above that base, we 15 request rental of parking spaces. It's not only for employees who are assigned vehicles; it's for employees who use their own car to coordinate programs, such as our after-schools program, where we have 10 coordinators and they go around center to center. They use their own cars but we do provide them with parking spaces when they do have to come into Center City for meetings.
If I understand that, as it relates to the Recreation Department 1161 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 vehicles, the employee private vehicles aside for the moment, is this for overnight parking? Is that what we're paying for? I'm missing the point.
Well, some of it is for overnight parking if it's -- but a lot of it is for daytime parking. When we have our district managers come in for their periodic meetings, we have a parking pass for them that's on a daily basis, a daily rate.
Okay, I understand now. I just was curious as to whether we were still paying for overnight parking outside of Center City. All right, I can understand that, all right. The only other question I had was as it relates to Veterans Stadium. It was testified today -- I believe Mr. Grillone?
Grillone, okay. Councilman Kenney had asked some questions about the condition of Veterans Stadium, and I believe the other morning you were here and you testified to some extent as to what we had either budgeted 1162 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 or had spent over the course of about ten years, and it was somewhere in the vicinity of 64 or $65 million, if I recall correctly?
Right. So if you break that number down over the course of 9 years, it would be roughly 6.4 million a year. If 10 you took the 8 years -- because it was a question of 8 to 10 years -- it would be roughly 10 million a year -- or 8 million a year, I'm sorry, $8 million a year. So when we look at the number of 40 million and 80 million which are being tossed around as it relates to the maintenance of Veterans Stadium going forward, whether we build new stadiums or not, and you condense that, what is typically an average of 8 million a year, for the sake of this conversation, and you squeeze it into 2, you get to the 80 million. What I'm getting at is if the report that you got from the engineers or the consultants, those were for minimal repairs or to keep us up to code going forward, with the 1163 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 anticipation of building new stadiums?
And that came to to million over or years, so we're back around that 6 to 8 million a year cost for maintaining the facility?
So if we said 10 $80 million and we spread it out over 10 years, as 11 opposed to condensing it into 2 years, barring any 12 unforeseen major structural problems, electrical 13 problems to the facility, we would be basically 14 spending about what we have been appropriating for 15 the last ten years anyway. 16
With the exception - as 19 I said before, unless you get to the point where 20 some of these big-ticket items have to be 21 replaced. 22
I understand that, 23 and we all go through those things with our house 24 know. We know we have certain built-in expenses, but when the roof goes and we don't anticipate it, 1164 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 it becomes a bigger-ticket item, and I can appreciate that. 'Cause I'm just trying to still deal with this whole issue on the 40 to 80 million, and I'm trying to figure out a way of justifying that number somehow in my mind. And the only other question as it relates to stadiums, I know in the summer we hired temporary employees, they're called"Recreation Attendant Trainees."
RATs. Do they work in the stadium, by any chance? Do any RATs work in the stadium? (Laughter.)
No, I'm serious. I mean, do Recreation Attendant Trainees work in the stadium? Are they assigned to the stadium, any of them? I thought I could crack the case on the 1165 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 rats here, you know, and put this to rest once and for all. No?
Okay, thank you. No further questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen.
There was one study made by somebody about what repairs might be needed over the next few years, about three or four years ago, the one that some of us have talked about, that we understood called for about $23 million in repairs that were there then needed.
And early fall, and it 1166 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 included roughly three to four years out.
Right. And was that done in connection with the requirement of the lease that the City maintain the stadium? In other words, was it done to see what was needed as a requirement of the lease, or was it done just as a study of what the stadium needs? From time to time, do you have stadiums made like that?
Right, it was just done as part of our normal management of the facility. I mean, we needed some guidelines and a blueprint going forward as to, you know, what we're going to need.
That was my initial reason for, you know, asking for it. Initially, we didn't know about the new stadiums. When it finally came time to engage these engineers, there was a lot of, obviously, information out there that the likelihood of new stadiums was on the horizon. So, therefore, we kind of narrowed their 1167 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 focus.
So, therefore, you'll see nothing in the report that goes out six, seven, eight, nine, ten years.
Yeah, right, based on a set of priorities that are relatively conservative.
It means that, for example, if we get into three years from now and there is a new stadium on the horizon about to be built, the normal useful life, life-cycle information would tell you that we probably should replace the playing surface, for example. But in light of new stadium coming on board, it doesn't really make sense to make that significant of an investment in a new field if we're only going to be there for another year.
And at that point when you say we'll make that decision, would you 1168 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 refer to not putting on a new field as maybe "deferred maintenance"?
We would do what we could in the way of maintenance to get us through that final year, let's say, in this theoretical example that I'm giving you.
What does "deferred maintenance" really mean? Is that a term of art? What would you --
In my mind, it means, you know, making kind of minor repairs that can kind of get you through the next period of time, rather than making a full-scale replacement or a rehabilitation.
Yes. We have a staff down there that does maintenance, yes.
And you're comfortable that we're doing the maintenance that we're supposed to be doing under the terms of the lease, right?
Yeah, I'm comfortable, but I'm not going to give you a legal conclusion, 1169 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 obviously.
But in the normal working time, do you think we're meeting our requirements?
Yeah. I think we're doing okay. I think there's probably a difference of opinion.
They probably would like to see a higher level of maintenance, but generally, I think we're doing okay.
It's always easier to spend somebody else's money than your own, isn't it?
And that's why we traditionally have landlord-tenant disputes, even amongst people who agree on everything else. But if the landlord and tenant, they'll have different ideas as to what they ought to get. 1170 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 But we have, as a policy, have been deferring maintenance, haven't we? We've been doing what we've felt we had to do under the terms of the lease from a -- not -- I don't want a legal decision. I mean, from the people in charge. If you felt something had to be done so that the place could be useful to use, you would deal with it, right?
Incidently, are there any outstanding loans on the Vets Stadium now based upon any building that's ever occurred before? Are there still City bonds which we owe money for the Vets Stadium?
I think the original bonds are just about completed. But, obviously, throughout the years, as we've done capital improvements, they've become a part of our general, you know, debt service, so I think there are outstanding bonds. I think somebody from the Finance Department could -- is probably more of an expert.
Is there somebody 1171 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 here from the Finance Department? Could anybody answer the question? (Rob Dubow comes forward.)
The question is, is there any money owed now? Are there any bonds issues?
Rob Dubow. Yes, there's a little bit left, as Greg said, on the original bond, I think just a couple of million. And then there is debt outstanding on bonds floated to finance repairs to the stadium over the last 30 years.
Over the last 30 years, we've continued to do repairs. For instance, we talked about the repairs done over the last eight years. There were bonds issued to fund those repairs, and the bonds are still outstanding.
Can tell us what the total amount of bonds -- of money now owed on the old stadium?
I'd have to get back to you on that. I can get you that information, but I don't have it with me today. 1172 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Now, the Recreation Department also has the responsibility for the senior-citizen centers throughout the City?
The older-adult centers. There has been a matter for a long time being discussed up at the Northeast with respect to -- the Northeast Older Adult Center, on Castor Avenue. I'm not sure what the -- is it Fanshawe? Something like that. Is it Shellmire? Shellmire that's been talking about feeling the need to move somewhere else? Are you familiar at all with that?
Because I've been there, and they seem to feel that they've outgrown the place. The field is kind of inadequate now, it doesn't have an elevator to go up to the second floor, and so a lot of people that use the ground 1173 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 floor can't fully use the facilities. Secondly, they're talking about wanting to go to some spot near a park or in a park. I'm just not sure exactly what it is. I was wondering what's the state there now?
It's a very heavily utilized one. I know that from my visits there.
The center -- the Northeast Older Adult Center is very heavily used. And by its usage, it does recommend itself to being expanded. The existing space is within a strip shopping mall and does not have physical space available to it. Councilman Mariano's deeply involved with identifying a new site, and more importantly, with identifying funding. The final site's not fixed, the full funding is not fixed, but the program is very well along toward being funded. Again, until a capital project fully funded, we really can't commit to what the final --
Where would the funding come from? 1174 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Other outside funding sources are being sought. I don't have any further information on that, though.
Doesn't the State have special funding programs for recreational activities?
I believe they're mostly for operations. I don't recall know that.
Well, I would just like to suggest that we explore it, but it's my understanding that all counties except Philadelphia have State parks fully funded by State government. Now, Philadelphia is a county as well as a city, and in other areas of government, I think we receive funding based upon the fact that we're a county and not a city because we have responsibilities that only counties have. And we have it as a city and we also have the double responsibility for the State. I would like to urge that because I 1175 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 think we have strong claims to make upon the State because we're the only would ones -- only county, as I understand it, of the 67 in Pennsylvania that get no direct support in the nature of funding as a State park would get. And I would urge that that be looked upon. All right, thank you, Madam Chair.
I have two questions in reference to the stadium. And I know Councilman Cohen covered this territory, but I just want to make sure that I got it right. I know there's a lot of controversy, there's differences of opinion in reference to the condition of Veterans Stadium. But what I'd like -- and again, I'm not asking, Mr. Grillone, for you to make a legal opinion here, but based on the lease, which expires at '10 or '11? 2010, 2011?
At the end of 2010. 1176 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
At the end of 2010. Based on your knowledge, are you providing the maintenance required based on the lease, the legal document that you have? And does the condition of the stadium meet requirements of that lease?
So for the record, you're stating that you believe that the maintenance that you're providing conforms to the agreement of the lease.
Also that -- okay, I got the answer that I was looking for. I want to ask you another question, and it has to do with -- not Veterans Stadium, but you being in the stadium business, you know a lot about, I would assume, other stadiums throughout the country. At least you have some knowledge of other stadiums around the United States.
Yes. Do you know of any other football-only stadiums in the United States that have the practice facility 1177 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 incorporated into the stadium? My question is, we're going to build the Eagles a brand-new stadium. And, again, someday we're going to build them a brand-new stadium. Do you know of any other stadium in the United States that has that practice facility incorporated in a football-only stadium complex?
Part of it. In other words, on the same parcel, whether it's connected to it or it stands alone at the same site.
There are a couple that are in the proximity of the stadium, yes. And then there are others that are somewhat removed.
The practice facility that we're hoping that gets built.
Right. Except that ours is a little closer, obviously -- just divided by Broad Street.
But there are some 1178 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 stadiums that have a practice facility that's incorporated with the stadium.
Okay, that's it that's. What I wanted to know, and you were to the point. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much, Councilman. Councilwoman Brown?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to go back to the William Penn testimony and the attachment that speaks to enrollment numbers. The first paragraph of your testimony indicates that you're requesting a $5200 increase. Yet the numbers reflect that, for reasons that I'd like for you to share with us, the goals in terms of young people attending the program have not yet been achieved. When you compare your 1999 original goal with the actual goal, there's a shortfall of 400 young people. 1179 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 And then you have a goal in FY 2000 of 850 for the current estimate, which I can understand because we're not there yet. But help us understand what reasons contributed to your not being able to achieve the goal of FY '99.
Last year, there was a problem at the camp, in the very first week of the camp with some of the staff.
And the director, Roland Chandler, had to dismiss a few of the staff.
And, therefore, we didn't feel it would be safe to continue to recruit children into the camp when our number of workers was down.
And it was like the second week of July at this point, and it would be 1180 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 too late to recruit new staff. And that's why we had a low enrollment for us.
That year. So given the circumstance behind those staff, have they been rectified so that that bridge, we won't cross again? (Roland Chandler comes forward.)
Councilwoman, my name is Roland Chandler. I'm the Director of Camp William Penn.
Thank you. One of the things we're going to be doing is a redoubled effort i trying to recruit qualified staff. One thing we're starting earlier -- have already started, we have an announcement on cable television, we currently have a Web under construction by MOIS. So we're going to be out there earlier.
So what things are you doing differently in terms of recruitment? Have you revised the criteria of the type of professionals you're looking for or what?
We're still looking for 1181 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 college students.
And this group largely that was dismissed last year didn't meet the criteria.
We're just going to try to look deeper and to -- like I said, starting earlier and trying to create a bigger pool of applicants is what I'm looking for this year to select from. My first priority at camp is the safety and the well-being of the campers, and keeping these folks on board would have compromised that, and I didn't want to do it. And to try to continue to have the camp enrollment with reduced staff would have also compromised that as well.
In all the years 1182 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of Camp William Penn?
If my other colleagues have questions on Camp William Penn, they're next on our list. So we technically haven't gotten to them yet.
So could we do any other areas dealing with Recreation before we focus on Camp William Penn? If that's okay?
My final question is not related to Camp William Penn.
It's really an acknowledgment. You state of your testimony that with the athletic programs, you draw on and enlist professional sports teams, a good thing. And then in the Mural Arts Program, 1183 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 you draw on professional artists, so that young people get a chance to see the long view from where they are from an amateur's standpoint and what opportunities lie ahead at the professional end. So if you're not doing it already -- and I'd be curious to know if you are -- with the dance program, is there any outreach linkage with the Pennsylvania Ballet or the Philadelphia Dance Company?
Yes, there is. The dance program across the city is exploding. Leo Dignam (ph.) and Ruth Butler, two of our employees, have additional sites this year, and 16 we'll be able to get you the information and we'll 17 send it over to you. 18
On where they are 19 and where they're located. I would be interested 20 in that. 21
Thank you, 1184 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Councilwoman. Councilman Goode?
I have questions for the stadium manager. I forget your name.
Thank you. Let me first commend you for your honesty this afternoon. Let me ask you a question. At what point did you know there were going to be new stadiums?
Yes, at what point were you informed that there were going to be new stadiums?
Just the general, you know, information in the newspapers and the desires of the teams and the -- forgive the word -- the arenas within which they, you know, compete in terms of the economics of the business. It was obvious that they were going to 1185 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 push for new stadiums, and I think it was common knowledge, for example, that the ---
It was a goal of the former administration to try to get those things done.
Well, I recognize the former administration, through the auspices of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, began studying stadiums back in 1997 and paid $50,000 in Economic Stimulus Funds for an Arthur Anderson report. Have you been aware of new stadiums since 1997?
Just the ones that were made public throughout the last several months that --
But you've continued to plan for stadium renovations at the level that 1186 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 you've been planning?
Right now, as I said, we have a good bit of information that was generated from the engineering report. Unless, you know, we hear differently, you know, we will continue to use it as we formulate our plans.
So at what point have you ever believed that new stadiums would be a reality? Will they be a reality in 2002, 2003, 2004? Is there any point at which you've decided that new stadiums will be a reality, therefore, there's no need to continue to plan renovations at the level at which you've been planning renovations.
I think that's still to be determined, Councilman. I don't know that we can predict that.
Actually Councilwoman Reynolds Brown asked me to ask you to speak a bit more into the mike.
So if you are not anticipating any specific point where there are new stadiums, then it would be your responsibility 1187 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 to plan for what those renovations should be for the next two- or three-period, and that's what you have done.
For the record, who else will be responsible for planning those renovations in case there were not new stadiums by a certain standpoint?
We're part of an overall, you know, capital budgeting process. And we would use, you know, our knowledge and experience, along with input from the teams to get some ideas as to what they think would be necessary. And I think as testified before that it's really a collaborative effort.
So in the planning of stadiums, were you ever consulted on how the stadiums should be planned?
No. I haven't been directly involved in the process stadiums.
Okay, even though you're the current stadium manager. In addition to that, were you consulted on what the improvements should be to those stadiums -- to the 1188 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 stadium in case there were not new stadiums.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Do you want me go to Michael and then come back to you?
The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter. Would you or Councilman Kenney like to speak on this issue? You move from that end of the room to this end of the room, so I assume that your focus is somewhere else at the moment.
But, Madam Chair, 1189 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 don't take me out of the queue, all right?
I want to go back to -- I asked a long question about easement and I want to ask Mr. Iffrig while he's here, just for the purpose of the record. There is an attempt to provide entrance to the Barrett Recreation Center from the Fifth Street side. Right now, we can only enter from the Eighth Street side, I believe, and we put in a request, and there has been some discussion about obtaining easement from the railroad or someone so that we could build this opening, which we have appropriated money for. Are you familiar with that?
Yes, ma'am. There are actually two requests for easements -- our one for us and one from us. They are separate. The one from the church on the Lindsay Avenue side is separate from the one that we're engaged with EPOP, and hopefully very soon, 1190 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Thurgood Marshall School management to create an access through the school property through the former railroad right-of-way, which is now school property and into our eastern side of our property. I had talked to Mr. Pertillo (ph.) of the Eastern Philadelphia Organizing Project, who was involved with the neighborhood, in trying to get the access through the Marshall school. We had talked in December, he was going to call me back to arrange a meeting with the principal and with people from the community to discuss the exact location and nature of the access. I imagine that he's waiting out the weather right now. I will check back with him and see where they are with the scheduling of a meeting.
If you think if another question, just let us know. Councilman Nutter, are you ready?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I thought you'd never call on me. 1191 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 (Laughter.)
Councilwoman Miller raised an issue, I think, when Mr. Iffrig was at the table about a particular recreation facility and a contracting issue. I don't remember the location, but your response had to do with a problem with the contractor either not having adequate funds or some look of availability of personnel or something. Do you remember that exchange between yourself and Councilwoman Miller?
The question has revolved today somewhat around the problems at the Bellfield.
Right. I don't know anything about the center, but the part I picked up in that discussion was an issue that has been discussed on a couple occasions here in the past, which is the contractors bid on multiple recreation and sometimes even Fairmount Park work all at the same time. They win the bid or bids. They now literally either don't have enough financial resource of their own to buy all of the material and equipment that they need to 1192 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 complete the job, or they don't have enough people to do all of this work simultaneously, and then what they do is do our work based on their timetable of how they can best utilize their personnel to get the maximum number of bids, one, and slow down everybody's project, or we essentially become their bank because they don't have the resources to do what needs to be done, and then wait for us to pay them from previous jobs so they can keep the work going on the current work. Are you familiar with those kind of situations, Mr. Iffrig?
Well, those situations have happened over the years, and some of the most reliable contractors that this department's ever had did work from check to check. One of the points about the Recreation Department's projects are, is they tend to be very small. Therefore, they don't attract large contractors, and that's large, well-financed, and well-funded contractors that have large lines of credits or large amounts of assets. That's historical within the Department. 1193 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 That is the reason that we've aggregated as many projects as we can. We've done 1200 for $120 million, but the medium-sized project is only $60,000.
Are there any opportunities, I guess, then to somehow widen somehow the pool of contractors? You and I went through a terrible time out at Venice Island with a particular contractor who could not do any of the things that person claimed that they were going to do at the particular time because they had too much work either with the Recreation Department or Fairmount Park or some other agency of the government, and slowed that project down, either due to general incompetence, lack of funds, or inability to manage their workforce in a way that allowed that project to proceed forward in a quick fashion for the amount of work that needed to be done. Now, I mean, at some level, it seems to me that we have to -- and I'm not accusing you of anything, certainly. But by way of the system, we have to better manage our contractors and develop protocols and procedures that say, you know, you 1194 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 have five jobs with the City. How are you going to get all this work done? I mean, you've got, you know, ten people that work for you. Now, you're either going to jerk us around and you're going to do this project now and then you're going to do someone else's later and get to the other one and, you know, by the end of the year, you actually will have all the work done, but if individual contractors were doing jobs, it would have been done much quicker. It is not fair to the citizens of this city, who oftentimes have to miss a rec. season because someone has overcommitted in their zeal to do big business. I love people doing business, I've lived check to check. I mean, I know about that. And what you do if you're living check to check, you don't go out and make a whole lot of commitments on a lot of stuff. And what I want to know is -- and you may or may not have an answer for the moment and we don't have to beat it too long -- is there any process or procedure that the Department is able to develop, possibly through Procurement or any other entity, that requires someone to lay out all 1195 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of their activity and demonstrate their ability to perform? It's not just winning the bid. The bids go to the lowest responsible bidder. And it seems to me in that phrase "responsible," there has to be some element of can you do the work in a timely fashion? You don't win a bid in January and hope that it gets done two Januarys later for some of these small contracts. That's my first thing. Second, we've heard a lot about -- and I'm sure we'll continue to hear about -- discussions regarding Veterans Stadium. You'll all appreciate that I don't want to talk about Veterans Stadium for the moment. What I do want to talk about is another major facility in our city that gets nowhere near the level of attention, time and just due, which is the Dell East. What I'd like to know is, what is the current status, the physical plan over at the Dell East? There was discussion, I believe, last week about capital dollars, the amount appropriated versus the amount needed. But I'd also like to know about the operating costs and operation of the Dell East, which is one of the great 1196 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 facilities in the city but certainly doesn't get the support, in my opinion at least, that it needs. What's going on at the Dell East?
Starting with the first question on the contracting issues, I could go on for quite a time on the contracting issues.
There are a number of things that have to be done. Management of the contractor starts with selection. We reject a lot of contractors before the bid's open. It's based on our best ability to read their assets and experience. Even if we knew what other projects they were working on in other departments of the city, we are not going to know what other private business they're doing or what other pitfalls 1197 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 might run into. It is a risky business.
We have had some problems, but if you count the number of problem projects against the number of projects successfully completed, I think we've got a better ratio than the general public experiences, very frankly, because of the number of checks and balances in the contracting procedures, some of which are there to protect the contractor.
Which do make it hard to move against them to replace them. Some of those are accounting issues. I do want to stretch it out and say that one issue that's always raised is whether or not we do rewards and punishments, whether we have liquidated damages on projects to assess contractors. It usually requires a concomitant reward for early finishes. We are not funded to do rewards, we do not have additional money to pay rewards.
If that's going to be 1198 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 established, that would be great. Other issues we have talked to the Procurement Department in a lot of detail about these things, and we expect to continue to.
Right now, the public standards for public works specifications are being rewritten.
A written response has been repaired (sic) and will be supplied by the Administration.
A written response has been prepared and will be delivered by the Administration.
Okay. That was on capital. Talk to me about operating. 1199 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
I didn't see in the testimony any real mention of the Dell East, and I don't see anything in here that talks about personnel, operating budget, which, I'm sure, is in the big book, but I was looking for something here in the testimony.
For our summer of 1999, our revenues were approximately $581,000. Of that we, counted as revenues the City's contribution of $388,000. Their expenses so far for this fiscal year, Fiscal Year 2000, and the majority of the season for calendar year '99 fell under Fiscal Year 2000. We have expenses of approximately $646,000 to date, and we were anticipating approximately $100,000 in expenses for start-ups prior to the end of this fiscal year. 1200 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
On the Dell East payroll? They function with -- all year-round with two full-time people and one temporary person, who helps out substantially. And during the season, they have approximately 38 seasonal staff down there. Those salaries come out of the Department's General Fund. The salary costs come out of a different pot of money, the money I'm discussing here for expenses. The expenses I just quoted were net of the payroll expenses. Do you understand what I said?
You took me into a place from which I'm not sure I can escape.
When I discussed expenses that we've incurred so far, they were expenses to run the Dell, exclusive of the payroll expenses of the manager and the --
Okay, right, I understand. How does that compare with last year? And aren't we always looking to both upgrade the facility, have more activities and more programs and the like? I mean, what are we doing and what 1201 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 are we not doing that we could be doing but for lack of funding?
Comparison to last year is that we have incurred more expenses this year and have gotten -- well, incurred about the same amount of expenses, maybe a little more, but our revenue gone down about 25,000, 35,000 from the last previous season. As far as programming is concerned, here is Warren Haskins, and he's the Director of the Dell East. (Warren Haskins comes forward.)
Hello, City Council. Warren Haskins, Manager. Presently, the Department is in the process of requesting $130,000 additional appropriation for the Dell, which is sorely needed to get us up and running throughout this season and for next season, bottom line.
Correct, yeah. We have a 1202 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 deficit from last season, which we've brought over to this fiscal year. And at the moment, we don't really have all of our present start-up monies, so we're looking for an appropriation, which would allow to us start up and allows us to have a feasible operating budget for Fiscal Year 2001, which would be July 1.
All right. Well, let me go back to the young lady, or maybe Warren knows it. What is the anticipated budget for FY '01?
The anticipated budget for the Dell East is, the City makes a contribution to the Dell East out of its General Fund and it's stayed at the same level of --
So why do you 1203 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 characterize it as "a contribution"? We own the place.
I characterize it as a contribution because it's the way we account for the monies that help to support the Dell East. Part of the monies are, in fact, from the City's Operating Budget, but there's another pot of money that they generate through the revenues that they generate.
Right. What's our contribution to the Veterans Stadium?
Our contribution to the Veterans Stadium is their whole operating budget.
Of approximately $4 million, but they also generate revenue of -- we're anticipating $11 million for next year for Veterans Stadium.
They probably have a few more people than the Dell, right? 1204 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
All right. So what's the issue with the start-up costs and level of contribution or additional contribution? I mean, how do you make -- I mean, we want the place to work. I mean, we're obviously not doing as good a job as anyone of us would particularly like in terms of having a world-class facility out there. We've got a $4.5 million need, we're trying to stretch a half million dollars to cover $4.5 million. You know, maybe if the place looked better, maybe if the accommodations were a little nicer, maybe if it was a place that people thought that the City actually cared about, people might actually come out there, right?
So what are we going to do about it? 1205 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Well, we'll have to work on a plan for that. We can approach that from various angles of what we can do to make the place as viable and vibrant as it should be.
I understand that, that's on the capital side. Now we're talking about the operating side. I mean, we don't need to plan for $130,000. We need to transfer some money into the appropriate budget class and end that discussion, right?
I understand, all right. Mr. Carapucci, could you shed some light on all of this?
Smart move. 1206 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 (Laughter.)
Mr. Dubow? Mr. Carapucci, I've always said that you're a brilliant man. (Laughter.) (Rob Dubow comes forward.)
Mr. Dubow, I haven't had opportunity to ask you a question all day. Welcome.
Hello. You've heard the discussion around the table. And what can we do with regard to Dell East start-up costs and making this an upgraded facility that ensures that, you know, in the summer, that we're going to do our best to dazzle the Republican National Convention? What can we do over in North Philadelphia to make 'em maybe come out to a concert or two?
I think we need to talk to the Dell so we can understand what the start-up costs are. And then, you know, work out a funding scheme, if we think those costs are appropriate.
Okay. Do you think 1207 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 you'll be able to put that together before we get out of budget season and certainly specifically before March 17th?
And somewhere in the course of the budget season, you'll report back what happened?
Thank you, Mr. Nutter. If Lucien Blackwell were here, he would talk about the Lions, and every time we mention the Dell, how they took them from Dell East and put 'em in Dell West. He complains every time. But certainly, we agree that Dell East is a great neighborhood place, and we certainly 1208 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 think it deserves its proper attention.
Madam Chair, I'm fortunate enough to actually have both facilities in the district and maybe we can see if we can get some additional --
All right, we certainly support you in that regard. Thank you. Are there any other questions for Recreation? (No further questions.)
Maybe we need to find about ten more questions and keep you here a little longer. (Laughter.)
No, thank you very much, thank you. Camp William Penn, you're next.
City Council President 1209 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Verna and City Councilperson Blackwell, I am Bill 3 Carapucci, Acting Recreation Commissioner, and I'm requesting -- I want to present the Camp William Penn FY 2001 Operating Budget. Camp William Penn is requesting a total of $328,053 in General Fund appropriations for FY 2001, which is $5,200 more than in FY 2000 estimated obligations. It provides for full funding for negotiated pay raises. The FY 2001 request supports 3 full-time employees and 63 temporary workers to staff Camp William Penn during the camping season, which, this summer, will extend from July 10th to August 15th. In FY 2000, 653 children attended Camp William Penn. The Recreation Department anticipates 960 will attend one five-day and three eight-day encampments in the summer of 2000. Located in the heart of the Pocono Mountains on a 671-acre site, Camp William Penn introduces urban youngsters to the myriad outdoor activities enjoyed during a resident camping experience. Campers may row and swim on the seven-acre Springfield Lake, hike through the woods, and participate in sports, crafts, and 1210 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 outdoor activities. The campers learn a series of self-reliance by participating in camping activities such as pitching their tents and cooking around a camp fire. They also experience the ultimate camping experience, sitting around a camp fire and exchanging stories. Youth of all neighborhoods of Philadelphia attend Camp William Penn. It is an especially attractive summer activity for children who otherwise might not have the opportunity to attend a summer camp. Camp William Penn plans to reinvigorate recruitment efforts to attract campers and staff for the summer 2000 season. Camp staff will send press releases announcing the opening, the camping opportunity to community newspapers, provide brochures to elementary and middle schools, visit school counselors, and develop a Web page to advise of the overnight camping opportunity. Camp William Penn staff must pass a child line check, which investigates their background for their appropriateness for caring for children. Staff also receive a week of 1211 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 orientation and training at the campsite prior to the opening of the camp. Training includes CPR certification, a review of the camp schedule, information on how to handle fire, accident and, other emergencies, tips on counseling campers, and guidelines on maintaining camp discipline. Efforts are made to keep the cost of the camp operation as low as possible while providing the full benefit of a residence camping experience. This concludes the Camp William Penn testimony for FY 2001, and we will be glad to answer any questions.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Good afternoon. I wanted us to revisit with the recruitment for staff this year to ensure that we don't have a deja vu. So in addition to starting early, are there any other amendments or revisions in the criteria of the professionals that you're looking for or college students that you're looking for? 1212 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
I think our criteria's okay. One of the things we require is that they have that degree of education, and I'm also looking for experienced staff this year, preferably -- maybe not in a residential setting, but some experience in working with children, perhaps in a day camp or in some capacity like that.
So with the exception in 1999, you've never had a problem with the recruitment on the college student end, and, therefore, never had problem with enrollment on the other end?
No. Generally, when we recruit, generally, we will have more applicants than we -- qualified applicants than we can accommodate. Our practice is to have a waiting list, and very often, we do go through the waiting list, as we did through last year. Some of the staff that we did bring up, we waited too late because a lot -- we lost a lot because they had already taken employment elsewhere.
Are there 1213 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 residential requirements of the counselors that you hire?
Actually, Camp William Penn is probably the only City agency that does not have a residency requirement.
So we can recruit anywhere in the country. And, in fact, we have internationals that are from Europe.
That is certainly a plus when it comes to exposing young people, children and youth, to folks who don't look like them, if you will.
My thinking is, for those who are taxpayers in the city, for young people whose parents are taxpayers in the city, is there some consideration to giving that group of college students first priority, first pick?
I haven't considered it, but I could. When you mention residence requirement, you're talking specifically --
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, I heard Councilman Nutter discuss the condition of the rec. centers, the cleanliness, etc. I want to talk more about Camp William Penn itself. A year ago, I expressed concern that the camp meet local codes in the area that it's housed -- fire, sanitary, and all those things. Some day I'd like to really go. I'm embarrassed to say that I've never been there. 1215 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 I'd hope you'd want to us visit.
I'm concerned about smoke detectors and alarms and all those things. Even if they are above and beyond what the local codes in the Poconos requires, could you just elaborate on the condition of the facility? Would it be something that we'd be not happy about if we visited? Do you need -- what do you need there to bring it up to code if it's not? Just tell us a little bit about the condition of the camp.
To answer a couple of your questions, Councilman, we are always in need. Yes, we do need. Not smoke detectors, no. 17 As I stated earlier, safety is always my number-one priority. We have two full-time caretakers at camp, who are -- they're local and they live there year-round. They do it all, the plumbing, roofing, the whole nine yards, carpentry, everything. And I think that given the tools that they have to work with and the supplies, they do a tremendous job, a really tremendous job. I am 1216 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 proud of the facility myself.
In the last couple years, we've placed -- at our lake front, we have a crib that we use for -- it's a protected swim area. We replaced it, it's quite nice, and it's going to outlast most of us here. We replaced our boating dock. One of our caretakers has a saw mill. We're in the process of rebuilding some of the older cabins with our lumber, and it's not costing us anything. As it relates to safety a and fire detectors, we're an accredited camp by the American Camping Association, and one of their safety standards mandates that every building that houses campers and staff must have a working detector. And they do. Every day, we have an inspection of the living quarters for cleanliness and this type thing, and detectors are tested at least two or three times a week.
They're battery-powered. 1217 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
No, they're battery- powered, and they're nine-volt batteries. We purchase them from the Philadelphia Fire Department. Part of our safety procedure is that from their safety unit, we've had a firefighter to come up maybe ten years running now --
-- to do fire safety orientation. Every unit that is occupied also has in close proximity a working fire extinguisher. They are charged and tested prior to start-up, prior to campers arriving every summer.
It sounds like you've got that under control. I asked again this question a year ago, and I don't think it was ever followed up on 'cause I never heard anything and I'm going to ask it again and this year, I'm going to follow up on it. Are we entitled to any type of subsidies from the State or federal government based on this environment that we have considered 1218 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 a campsite? I understand that some facilities like this do get some help from some federal funds and some State funds. We get no help at all with this facility, right?
This facility -- you just mentioned it's not -- you're not -- there's no residency requirement to work there. Is there a residency requirement to participate there?
All our campers must live in the City of Philadelphia, yes.
Thank you very much. Are there any other questions? 1219 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 (No further questions.)
Our pleasure. Next we have the Atwater Kent Museum, I believe. (Break taken.) - - - (Proceedings resume.)
To our colleagues coming into the chamber, we are ready to resume our hearings. Thank you very much. (Atwater Kent Museum witnesses come forward.)
Please begin. Identify yourself for the record and begin.
City Council President Verna and Acting President Blackwell and Members of Council, my name is David Rasner, President of the Board Trustees of the Atwater Kent Museum. Joining me at my side is Nancy Moses, our Executive Director. 1220 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 I am pleased to present this testimony in support of the proposed FY 2001 Operating Budget of $225.988 to the museum. This represents a roughly 3 percent increase over the original appropriation for FY 2000. What I intend to do is keep my comments brief, I think you have the description, I think you're running out of time and you --
Whatever. Atwater Kent is Philadelphia's official history museum. It is dedicated to protecting the City's treasures, interpreting its heritage, and educating generations of its children and adults. City support for Fiscal Year 2001 will help Atwater Kent Museum accomplish a four-part strategic agenda: 1. To continue expansion of its education programs for youth in school and during the summer; 2. To create winning exhibits and programs for residents and tourist; and 3. To save and preserve the City's significant artifacts; and 1221 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 4. To move forward on our plan and to expand into a museum that can really tell and display the entire Philadelphia story. And at this point I'll digress from the script. The Atwater Kent Museum, which is the City's history Museum, has, I think, during the past several years, really put its place on the map. We are now sandwiched between Independence Park to the west and what I hope to be DisneyQuest on the east, or vice versa. And we have a little role to play in play displaying and portraying the City's history. We are the official museum for the City of Philadelphia. Recently, as a result of hard effort, we have negotiated a contract with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, hopefully to ensure that their 10,000 objects of significance for Philadelphia history comes to our museum. And included in the 10,000 objects is the famous wampum belts, many paintings, and other Philadelphia memorabilia. We now have to become a museum of importance, a museum of first class, and that 1222 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 requires expansion, it requires hard work, and it requires the museum to develop itself in a very professional way. We have a very committed board. When I came on board to the Museum, which is now is about eight years, I was initially Mayor Rendell's select person to be a trustee to the museum. And I think to the Mayor's surprise, I've managed to succeed and make this place survive over the past seven or eight years. I've been board president for the last two, and it's hard work. And we now have a very committed board. Initially, when I came on board, it was a board of six. Now there's a board of 27, and as a result -- we are governed by City Charter and we had to come to you folks and change the City Charter so that we could expand the board as well as charge admission. The Atwater Kent Museum, which is at Seventh and Market Streets, is the original site of the Franklin Institute. And that's how it came to pass, that's how Atwater Kent acquired this facility. And then by City ordinance, the City agreed to make it into a history museum. 1223 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 And the space that we have is small, so we're planning to expand into our courtyard and elsewhere into the back and become a part of what's going on at independence park. In addition, because of changes in technology, several years if you had told me that we'd be thinking about Internet Web sits and that kind of stuff, I would say no, that's into the next century. We now find ourselves dealing with those things on a day-to-day basis, so that our concept also is a museum without walls, that people can share what we have by looking at us on the Web and using their computers. Lately, this past -- Nancy Moses, we have really engaged the public, engaged the school children. History, I believe, is required in three or four grades in the Philadelphia public school system. We now have a full-time staff person from the School District who is in place at the Atwater Kent, helping us with hosting various school groups at the institution. If I'm not mistaken, I think last year, onsite, approximately 14,000 children came through our facility. And all told, I believe that we had 60,000 tourists 1224 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 and school children come to the museum.
We now are able to charge admission, which we were not able to do that two years ago, so I again had to come to Council to change the ordinance that made us and allowed us to charge admission, so that is a revenue stream. So that we are moving ahead, but it's going to take a lot of work on our part to step up to the challenge, the challenge of administering the HSP collection and of becoming a true history museum for the City of Philadelphia and possibly for the region. We have a very dedicated staff who enjoy their work and are pleased to be there and work very hard. We have tried to put on entertaining exhibits at the museum. We have taken over the Norman Rockwell piece that was at the Curtis Center. We now own it and have displaced it in, I think, a very handsome manner. We currently have a carousel exhibit, so if you haven't been down to the museum, we invite you to come down there and take a look at the old carousels from Philadelphia's past. In addition, in time for the convention 1225 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 in the summer, we intend to put on a kind of knock-your-socks off political memorabilia exhibition. I believe it's called "Campaign Choices and Presidential Voices," and it displays 200 years of presidential campaign memorabilia. And we're doing this so it will be open in time for the Republican Convention, and we intend to do it by June 9th of 2000. After that, the next program that we have is really to display some of the treasures that we're getting from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Again, that includes the wampum belt and various pieces of furniture and so forth. It is important that museums in the City network with one another, share their resources. We have made linkages to the Constitution Center, which take place, linkages to the Balch Museum, and others. And we intend to really become part of the landscape in Philadelphia that's of significance for tourism and for the public. So I want to invite any questions if you have any. Otherwise. .
Thank you very 1226 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 much. Councilwoman Brown?
Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple of questions related to outreach. On the last page of your testimony, there is a line item description of service called "Community Programs Outreach," and starting with FY 1998, there are no figures, but figures do appear for FY 2000. What should one gather from that? Help me.
Well, basically what happened was that we put in place a new very innovative kind of community outreach activity. It's called "Putting the Me in History." Putting the "me," making kids understand their history. We have staff that spends a semester in a school as an adjunct faculty, adjunct teacher helping the kids, and the teachers work through a community history research project. We've had them in every Councilmatic District and some in the suburbs as well. This is privately funded.
And the kinds of project 1227 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 that children come up with are everything from murals to videos to plays to books that they create out of the story that they find in their own community.
The schools that are participating, how does the connect happen? Principals hear about it say, I want to participate? Or you reach out and say, Here's an opportunity, buy in?
We do both. We can only do about ten a year because it's a very intensive experience, both for the teachers and the kids and for us. This isn't like walking into a school classroom one day; this is like becoming a part of the curriculum. So we do ten a year.
We're just running down our third year of a grant and we've replaced it with a whole bunch of smaller grants. So this is a part of our ongoing activity. We did three of years a pilot to test the program.
Okay. So that means though we're in the third year, that the 1228 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 initiative itself will continue?
Yeah. We moved it from a special project one-time grant program to something that's central to the operations of our museum.
Second question. It's, I think, prudent that given the location of Atwater that you found a relevant way to be connected with the Republican Convention. What connect exists with the school system so that -- schools are coming close to closing at June 9th, and so young people may or may not hear about it.
Right, absolutely. Here's what we thought we would do. We think of the audience for the political exhibit as having sort of three different audiences, and the most important audience to us are the children. So we're continuing this exhibit up and through the general election.
And we're using it as 1229 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 centerpiece of a specially-developed voter education package for kids, because they're going to hear about the Convention all summer long.
That sparks an idea. So community organizations and special-interest groups who have an interest in voter education can link up with you to take the word to the constituency of children that they serve.
That's right. And we'll also be doing it ourselves when school reopens in the fall.
We have an enormously active educational program, and it's -- every single day, we're booked with as many groups as we can deal with at this point. Three years ago, it was 3,000 children we served. Now we don't have room for all of the groups that want to come.
Well, that's what you hope for, to be in a capacity where you don't have the room.
We have really evolved in 1230 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 our mission. You know, I'm from the old school that believes that museums were there to show off what they had and you go to see what's there. I've come to now believe that that really is an important role but maybe a secondary role, and the main role is education and outreach. Those are really our two principal goals.
I agree with you completely, ditto. I have no more questions, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Are there any more questions? (No further questions.)
Fairmount Park, we're ready for you. (Fairmount Park witnesses come forward.)
Welcome. Thank you for your patience. If any other Members of Council are in there chambers and they would like to -- or are in their rooms and they would 1231 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 like to know that Fairmount Park Commission is on, we're ready to begin.
I'm William E. Mifflin, Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Commission, and I am pleased to be here this afternoon on behalf of the Fairmount Park Commission to present to you the recommended Operating Budget of $13.3 million for Fiscal Year 2001. The Fiscal Year 2001 budget provides an increase of an additional $265,000 above Fiscal Year 2000's estimated obligations for annualized wage increases implemented in FY 2000. I'm joined here this afternoon by the following senior staff members: Nancy Goldenberg, who is the Project Administrator for the Natural Lands Restoration Environmental Education Program; Dennis Waller, who is the Deputy Director for Business Management and Properties; Paul Nice, who is the Deputy Director for Administration; and Mr. James Donaghy, who is the Director of Operations and Landscape Management for Fairmount Park. I'd like just to paraphrase from my printed and submitted testimony, if I may, Councilwoman, and then move on to the questioning 1232 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 period.
As I know you are well aware, the Fairmount Park Commission has the responsibilities for managing nearly 8,900 acres of City parkland, which includes 50 neighborhood and regional parks managed by the Commission, and it does comprise one of the largest municipal urban operated landscaped parks in the country. Within the 8900 acres, the Park Commission operates 8 recreation centers, 11 day camps, 22 playgrounds, hundreds of tennis courts and athletic fields, and over 100 miles of recreation trails. In the area of major accomplishments I'd just like to highlight a few of which we are particularly proud. These have been important initiatives that have improved the delivery of services and to utilize our budgetary resources more effectively. The first, of course, is the William Penn Foundation Grant for the Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental Education Program. This is an unprecedented grant to the Fairmount Park Commission, received in the late 1233 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 fall of 1996. And today, we are now about halfway through our five-year plan period. We've 141 trained park staff in natural land restoration, we've completed three natural lands projects, we've completed three pilot environmental education programs, serving more than 2600 students, we've increased partnerships with 145 different organizations. And, again, now that we are approximately halfway through the grant, we are working on a sustainability with the William Penn Foundation that will -- and an action plan is expected in a -- within a month that will ensure sustainability of the project at the completion of the grant. I know that many of you are familiar with our tree maintenance program, and our program is a comprehensive plan for both park and street trees. Typical examples or work include pruning to alleviate pedestrian and motorist hazardous conditions, as well as removal of dead and dangerous trees tree. Tree pruning, which is one of the major functions of the tree maintenance plan, has 1234 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 increased since Fiscal Year 1998. The monies available in FY 2000 will provide for 7800 trees to be pruned, and in 2001, we'll continue pruning approximately 7900 trees. Street trees, of course, are a big function for the Fairmount Park Commission, and this year, we will be utilizing both operating and capital funds to remove approximately 1,180 trees. In this fiscal year, we will plant 489, and we will be planning an additional 600 with capital and private funds. In park trees in Fiscal Year 2000, we anticipate removing a total of 1,889 trees. And in Fiscal Year 2001, we will come very close to that same number, by utilizing both operating and capital funds. In programmatic improvements, we have established a new division in Fairmount Park, using in-house staff, so we've not expanded the number of total park employees, but we've created an environmental education division. We think it's a very important facet of Fairmount Park. And today, we've accomplished, I think, a great deal, particularly in the areas of programs. 1235 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 We have completed an ecology camp, a park explorers after-school program, and we're also interfacing with the School District of Philadelphia in cooperation with the School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Archdiocese schools for their service learning projects. We think the future of the environmental education division is pivotal to the success of Fairmount Park's ability to take the lead in environmental awareness and open space. Under management initiatives, we continue, I believe, to provide a very acceptable park appearance. 7 weeks in Fiscal Year 2000. And, again, I believe that the appearance of our parks and medial islands, of which we are responsible, have seen a dramatic improvement during this period of time. We've been able to accomplish this by contracting out that operation.
And, subsequently, the park employees who were previously performing the mowing operation, have now been moved over to perform other equally 1236 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 important functions, such as ballfield renovation and landscape and planning activities. Another important management initiative has been our park-wide master concessionaire. This was started in July of 1998. And, basically, it's a park-wide concessionaire operation providing food and beverages through rental concessions, mobile operations, and catering operations at four major facilities in Fairmount Park. 5 million in revenue compared to the projected half a million dollars over the next five years, if we had not implemented the park-wide master concessionaire operation. We are actively working on the restoration of Fairmount Park Water Works, which, I realize, is more of a capital function, but I did want to mention that the Water Works is scheduled to be completed in spring of next year, and will operate as a 200seat restaurant, 200 seats under cover, with additional facilities on the decks and pavilions. Another management initiative of which we are quite proud is the Fairmount Park Rangers, 1237 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 and I'd like to thank the City Council on behalf of their past support and look forward to their continued support of this important function in the park. Today, the corps is a 24-member organization providing invaluable service to our park users, providing a visible uniformed presence in our park, who are really the eyes and ears of the Philadelphia Police Department as well as our park staff. Our rangers are now more mobile, using bicycles, horses, and even volunteer in-line skaters. I'd like to mention the private support and services that are provided to the Fairmount Park Commission. Probably unprecedented in this country, we have over 80 Friends groups that support Fairmount Park in enhancing the physical appearance of the park, working with us on historic sites, with sports and athletic associations. In fact, there are members here that are today from the Friends of Philadelphia parks, one of the umbrella advocacy groups for Fairmount Park, and they have continued to lead many initiatives in Fairmount Park, and quite 1238 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 frankly, we could not provide the services without the Friends groups, of which we are quite proud. The Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust is an initiative of the Fairmount Park Commission that was supported by the Council City of Philadelphia in 1993 by an ordinance creating the opportunity for the trust to draw down houses from the Fairmount Park system and to offer long-term leases to tenants or proposed operators of the houses, thus ensuring that major capital improvements could be provided to the houses on a long-term -- through a long-term lease. Today, the trust manages 15 properties for us, and Director Waller is the 16 direct liaison from the park staff, and as he 17 administers over 80 leases for park properties, we 18 enjoy the support of a trust of 20 of those. 19 Let me conclude my remarks this evening 20 by just stating to you that the Fairmount Park Commission will continue to work creatively with parks groups, our private sponsors and foundations, and to all of the users of the park as well as the users of the park, to ensure that that the park resources will be made available to 1239 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 them. And we appreciate greatly the support of the Street Administration and, of course, of City Council in our past efforts, and we certainly look forward to working with you in the future. My service level reports are attached, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have of those reports or any questions you may have regarding Fairmount Park.
Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I want to thank Bill 19 Mifflin and the staff of Fairmount Park. I think of all of things that I thank having, is that great park. I grew up in it, and I know you've really been cut back severely in the number of people that work there to keep it, and I want to just let you know that one of the things that I encourage people to do is to use the park, I 1240 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 encourage them to -- when people come to visit the city, I just tell them about how wonderful the park is, and I've gotten so many return calls telling me they were pleased that I told them about it. But let's move on to a controversial issue that's going on right now, and I know there's sensitivity on what we can talk about, but I think now, pretty much all of it has been in the press. Could you just take a few minutes and tell us about the deer cull, tell us about your position on the cull based on the reports in the paper, the permit that you received back from Pennsylvania Game Commission. And also if you could tell me, in this fiscal year, I can't find anywhere in the budget how you paid for Tony DiNicola (ph.) to come to Fairmount Park and shoot the deer. So how much did we spend for his services last year and how much is budgeted and how do you pay for that this year, if in fact, you bring him back to shoot more deer?
Thank you, Councilman. As I believe you are aware and other 1241 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Councilmembers are as well, we know that that we have a serious overpopulation of white-tailed dear in two of our parks within the system. One is in the Wissahickon and the other is the Pennypack, which is -- one is in the northeast section and the other in the northeast section of the city. Both about equal in size. Last year, we implemented a successful but abbreviated culling of the deer as a result of a successful application of a permit from -- offered by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which has jurisdiction over the deer. After years of analyzing and studying the population and the damage to the park as a result of the deer and as a result of using best practices, we believe the use of a professional sharpshooter is the most effective, humane, and safe manner in which to remove the deer. And our goal, Councilman, is to save the forest. Our goal is not to promote hunting or promote an opportunity for people to remove animals from the Park, but it's to ensure that reforestation will occur. And, quite frankly, it is not occurring, and we have scientific analysis 1242 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 which proves that if we do nothing, quite frankly, the next generation or the future generations will not have forests in those two areas. We have applied and just as recently as yesterday received a permit to again institute a culling in the Wissahickon for this year. We have not applied for the Pennypack, but we would like to do so for next year, quite frankly. The Game Commission has offered the permit unconditionally. However, there was a cover letter associated with the permit, which indicated that the Commission, the Game Commission, would be most interested in seeing the combination of archery hunters through organized sporting groups the opportunity to effect the same results as the sharpshooter. As I'm sure you're aware, hunting is illegal in Fairmount Park, and it has been the position of the Park Commission, and will continue to be the Park Commission's position, that we will not permit hunting of any type -- organized, controlled, open, or of any nature on Fairmount Park property. What is possible is to have hunting 1243 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 occur on private property, and in fact, for the last 50 years -- it may be an exaggeration -- of a couple years, hunting has occurred in Philadelphia County on private property. And, quite frankly, that helps the Fairmount Park Commission significantly as the dear do migrate from park property to private property. So if we have support from private property owners, if in fact, we have support from adjacent counties or townships in some type of controlled -- or reduction, rather, of deer, that will help our problem in Fairmount Park. There are not any -- there is nota line item or any funds identified in our park budget as proposed expenditures of the culling, nor were there last year. All of the funds expended on this process for Dr. DiNicola have been with private funding. We have not utilized City dollars to contract with any service provided in this operation, Dr. DiNicola or any other professionals involved in this process. And it is our intention to continue that diversification and bifurcation of funding.
Could you identify 1244 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the private funds?
We're able to take advantage of the William Penn Foundation funding of the Natural Lands Restoration Grant. We're not able to plant new trees in the Pennypack or the Wissahickon until we can manage the deer population. And as a result of the funding available to us for reforestation through this grant, we have received permission from the foundation to provide funding to eliminate the deer so that we can then go on about the business of reaching the goals of the grant.
With this cover letter that you received with the permit, do I interpret that for the record that until you resolve this issue about having hunters come physically into the park to hunt, that there will not be a cull?
No. What I said, I believe, was that the permit is unconditional. We can proceed with the culling for this year. The cover letter indicated that future culling from the aspect of -- or future removal of 1245 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 deer, from the Game Commission's perspective, should include, or will include, archery hunting. So that's future years. So for this year, we are not required to use, nor being asked to use, anything beyond our professional sharpshooter.
We have not made a final decision yet. The letter is being reviewed by a team of experts. I do not wish to move forward by accepting the permit if, in fact, that would preclude me from future culls. I believe it does not, but we are interpreting and analyzing the correspondence received from the Game Commission. So it is our intention to move forward, but we have not, in fact, set the operation in motion.
Why is the -- is the problem more severe in the Wissahickon than in Pennypack? Is that the reason, the rationale behind no cull in Pennypack? You indicated you would like to do that next year?
It's just that we had 1246 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 more statistical analysis and more data on the Wissahickon than we do on the Pennypack when we applied for both permits. We have been supported by the Academy of Natural Sciences, again through the William Penn Foundation grant, and by the Friends of the Wissahickon, who commissioned a wildlife biologist study of the Wissahickon. So until we -- and we will have completed the appropriate and necessary studies of the Pennypack, we did not feel comfortable in applying for a permit.
Mr. Mifflin, the Fairmount Park Commission, along with the Game Commission, is being criticized for a lack of alternatives. Obviously, you need to get the herd under control to a point where it's manageable, and the track is to keep it down. Why aren't we doing more on PZP -- is that the terminology? -- PZP and other alternatives? The folks that are opposed to this cull believe that there are alternatives. Professionals believe that alternatives work. Is it a matter of money? Do you need additional funds? And, apparently, the William 1247 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Penn Foundation, if they're willing to pay for a cull, I would hope that they would be also willing to support research to determine whether alternatives work. Would the William Penn Foundation, or the Fairmount Park Commission, are you doing anything to explore alternatives? Because just having a cull this year and next year and next year, personally -- and I think you know where I am here. I understand your problem, but I don't understand if there are other alternatives than shooting these deer, why we're not exploring them. Could you just bring me just briefly what we're doing to explore alternatives, and how we can convince the people that there's a sincere effort to avoid killing these deer.
Thank you. The resolution of the Fairmount Park Commission last year authorizing the application to the Pennsylvania Game Commission included the statement that I'm going to paraphrase -- I can't quote it. That a cull would be the first step in managing the population, and that we would explore, pursue and evaluate and monitor all and 1248 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 any other processes which would give us the same result. And that includes, but is not limited to, immuno-contraception, trap and transfer. Today, the only method that the Pennsylvania Game Commission will approve for the elimination of deer anywhere in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is hunting, controlled hunting, or in the case of Philadelphia, a professional culling. So we're precluded from the other examples by virtue of the agency which has jurisdiction over the animals. I have followed closely the work of Dr. Fitzpatrick and others in this area of immuno- contraception, and I believe it does have promise, but no one that I've spoken to in the scientific community has suggested -- given the number of deers that in the Pennypack, and we do know the numbers, and the number of deer we have in Wissahickon, we've taken two different types of counts -- that immuno-contraception would work in that population. It, quite frankly, can work once we reduce the number to a manageable number. So our goal is to do just that -- get it down to a manageable number. 1249 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 We certainly don't like doing this, Councilman. This is the last thing I thought I'd be doing as the park director when I took this job years ago. But it gives us no pleasure at all, 6 but it's a very difficult and emotional issue, and 7 it's evolving. It's an issue in the entire 8 eastern portion of this country, from Virginia to 9 Maine. The incidence of Lyme's disease, the 10 incidence of automobile accidents with deer, the 11 incidence of damage to farm crops. Something 12 larger, much larger than Fairmount Park, has to be done to solve this white-tailed deer problem. And I think a lot of good people are looking into the issue, but we're just not there yet. The Game Commission is now trapping and transferring elk, as an example, in counties -- obviously not in this county, but in counties in the western part of the state, but that has not been perfected yet for white-tailed deer at this time.
Well, I appreciate that response because I'm constantly hearing that there's a lack of sincerity on trying to develop an alternative. 1250 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 And, Mr. Mifflin, I'm not surprised that the Pennsylvania Game Commission won't authorize other methods of controlling the herd of deer. They're in the business of generating revenue for the State of Pennsylvania by selling hunting licenses. And I think that there are two different scenarios here. We have a municipal park that's within a city. We don't hunt here, so I think the Game Commission should maybe butt out and let us do what we need to do here in Fairmount Park to control this herd 'cause they don't receive any revenues that I know other than when we hunter in the private areas to get this herd under control. I agree with you totally, but I think that we need to show more of what we're doing to try to maintain the herd in using these alternatives. Thank you very much.
And again, I thank everyone that works with you for the great they job do in keeping that park in great condition. 1251 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Good afternoon, Mr. Mifflin and everybody there from Fairmount Park.
Mr. Mifflin, we just recently met not long ago to talk about issues concerning the 8th District and Fairmount Park. And, you know, in sitting here reading your budget information, somehow I wish that we could add more money for street-tree removals. In my district, we have a lot of trees, as you're aware of. 1252 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 And I guess what I'd like to see is of the 1,00 -- of the 1231 street trees that you did remove in Fiscal Year 2000, I'd like to know where they are by section of the city. And I'm going to do whatever I can, and I'm going to ask you if you can ask someone to give you more money for the removal of street trees. And I'll do what I can to help you get more money. There are lots of people in my district that have been on the waiting for three years to get their trees removed, and I'm going to be advocating for them. And also, some of those people are having problems keeping their homeowners insurance or getting homeowners insurance because of the dead trees that are so close to their property. And Councilman Nutter going to continue. I have to leave because I have a meeting, and Councilman Nutter will be continuing this.
Thank you. 1253 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Thank you for the question. Would you like me to begin my answer?
I think as you may know, and I don't mean to be presumptuous, given the limited resources that we have for this function, we try to be as correct as we can be in the disbursement of the funds and in the subsequent action of the contractors in removing and replacing those trees. We divide the city up into the 10 Councilmatic districts, and we spend the money evenly amongst all 10 districts, so that each one, each district person receives the same level of service. You have a district in which -- all Council people have trees in their district, so we need more money for every district. But you represent a district which has mature trees that need to be removed. Some of them are lifting the sidewalk and have outlived their space, or perhaps even outlived their usefulness as a shade tree on the streets of 1254 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Philadelphia. It's an expensive proposition. The average cost for the removal of a street tree today in Philadelphia is $750. As you may know, the removal of a street tree must be combined with the planting of a new one to qualify for capital dollars. The planting of a new tree is about $250. So we have easy figures here. It costs $1,000 to remove a and plant one, and we just can't remove a tree, we have to plant a new one to qualify for capital dollars. We probably have 5,000 trees on our backlog list for removal, and we do the very best we can each year in whittling away at that list. When trees reach the top of the list, so to speak, if they become dangerous and their limbs are falling or we see where the tree is causing some major safety hazard, we'll do our best. Or if it's been brought to your attention by constituents, we'll do our very best to maneuver that list, but its a list that's established almost a year in advance, and we try to follow the script, so to speak. And it's just a simply a question of 1255 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 supply and demand. We know the demand is there, and we're doing our very best to remove the trees.
I don't doubt that you are doing your best. However, it is a public safety issue, and it will also -- particularly those trees that are going to fall and that do fall and have been on the list, and here comes a storm, and they're down, hitting cars etc. And it puts the City in a situation where people are filing claims through Risk Management. So, you know, we'll communicate more.
And as I said, Councilman Nutter is going to be talking about street-tree removal too, and I do thank you for your response.
Very good, thank 1256 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 you. One running theme that we hope has emerged in talking with the various City departments is the need for coordination and linkage, and the Recreation Department and Fairmount Park Commission each operate recreation centers. Speak to coordination amongst those departments, if you would, and any differences that exist as relates to the implementation of the same type of task.
Thank you, Councilwoman. I believe we have a very effective coordination effort in place. And, in fact, the charter of the City of Philadelphia mandates that there be a Recreation Coordination Board, and that board is to be comprised of the Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Commission, the Commissioner of the Department of Recreation, and the Superintendent of Schools of Philadelphia.
And those three offices meet throughout the year and to -- the purpose of the meeting is to ensure that there is not a duplicity of programs or services, to ensure that 1257 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the state-of the-art equipment and programs are being provided to our constituents. More specifically, the Department of Recreation and the Fairmount Park Commission will jointly share civil service lists for hiring.
The Fairmount Park Commission has initiated requirements contracts for mowing and tree removal, of which the Department of Recreation and other City agencies who have need of mowing or tree-removal services can take part of our requirements contract. So we freely share that responsibility. In the areas of training, again, the Fairmount Park Commission has an issue of training seasonal employees to qualify for civil service exams that are now in the Department of Recreation, positions in the Department of Recreation as well as the Fairmount Park Commission. We share lists like lifeguards, and I'll support them at Kelly Pool, as an example, for a PDR swim team, which is at Kelly Pool, which is a Fairmount Park pool.
Sure. 1258 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
And the Department of Recreation will provide some opportunities for our park users as well. So I feel as confident as I can, given the resources we have, and I know the Department of Recreation was at this table a couple of hours ago, so they don't -- may not have all the resources and we may not have all the resources but I think we're providing --
Part of your comment, as a segue into my next question, the Five-Year Plan shows that the Park Commission has made strong progress and efficiencies as relates to mowing contract and tree removal. Despite these improvement, isn't the Park Commission still struggling to keep pace? And how does Philadelphia stack up with other cities across the country in this area in terms of standards that you use to address that problem?
Well, you know, each -- it's tough to compare a city from one parks 1259 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 department in one city to the next, unless you had a whole bunch of variables in there. I'm not responsible, as an example, for the operating budgets but of the Zoo or the Art Museum or the stadium or of cemeteries. In some cities, the parks department is responsible for those, so you have to kind of weed through that. I think that that, as an example, our mowing cycle, on average of 2.7 weeks for the estimated 2400 mobile acres in Fairmount Park, is a very satisfactory level of service. Some of the acreage gets mowed more frequently than 2.7 acres, and some perhaps not as frequent. It is an average. Some cities have enjoyed a long history of street-tree programs, municipal street-tree maintenance programs, and Philadelphia actually is one of them. In fact, Philadelphia led the nation with a street-tree ordinance that goes to the protection and the enhancement of street trees in Philadelphia as a model ordinance, when enacted in the 1960s. Recently, in the last administration, in the last term of the Rendell Administration, we 1260 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 began to make initiatives with the support of City Council, particularly in street-tree pruning. We had taken probably a 10- to year-hiatus from 5 any routine of street-tree pruning, and we're now 6 playing catchup to that. 7 So I think we're providing a level of 8 service that's -- that may not compare real 9 favorably to other cities in that one particular 10 category, to be perfectly honest, but I think 11 that, as Councilwoman Miller has indicated, she 12 realizes we're doing the best we can, and I know 13 that we'll continue to do that. 14 And I look for ways in which we can 15 maximize our efforts in street-tree maintenance as well. We're not adverse to looking to other levels of government which may fund revitalization projects, as an example, for neighborhoods, which could include streetscape enhancements, or perhaps other departments, which may have funding for street improvements, and finding ways in which we could work with those agencies to get trees removed or planted. So I think there's a couple of ways outside of the direct funding coming from the 1261 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Fairmount Park budget that we could perhaps increase our level of services.
This is a totally different angle. Avenue of the Arts North is now looking into -- or have been, through the capital budget, allotted money to deal with streetscape. And with new initiatives of that type, might there be an opportunity for a conversation or a discussion with the Fairmount Park Commission?
And lend the expertise of your office towards that end?
We'd be delighted to. And often, the major sponsors of these projects will come to the Park Commission 'cause they realize we have jurisdiction over the street trees, but I appreciate your comment and will make sure that we're a part of that.
Moving now to the Environmental Education Centers and knowing that you've made tremendous progress, you have funding in place, but might have you thought about a plan that speaks to sustaining the Environmental Education Centers after the current funding from 1262 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 when William Penn leaves us, dies?
Yes, Councilwoman. And as I had indicated previously, we have about two -- a little more than two years worth of funding left for the entire project, and that would include that funding which has gone -- has been directed to environmental education. However, over and above that, in 1998, the Fairmount Park Commission created it's own environmental education division, so we took staff within the system and assigned them to this new initiative. Now they're bolstered for the next two years by the William Penn grant.
We are working, almost literally as we speak, on a sustainability plan that we must present to the William Penn Foundation that will ensure that some level -- and we hope a very high level -- of services will continue after the grant. There are ways in which we can ensure that these services will continue. We have a number of revenue initiative areas that we are considering, which will bring new dollars to the 1263 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 City, which we'd hoped could be earmarked for, among other things, environmental education. We're going to do some fund-raising. We're fairly adept, for a public parks department, at raising private dollars. We're looking for partnerships with other governmental agencies as well as the corporate community, to name just three examples of what the plan will include. And I'd be happy to keep you involved in that planning process.
Please do. Neighborhoods and communities talk, and according to the testimony, there are six that are on line or currently operating. What level of uniformity in programs will exist with regards to those various locations around the City?
I'm sorry, missed the very first part of the question six centers? I'm sorry. Six --
That's -- you're right. I'm sorry, I just missed your first word, and that threw me off of the entire comment. 1264 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Understanding that you have to have some respect for the community where it sits.
Yes, ma'am, yes. I'd like to use the phrase that these centers will not be cookie cutter-type centers. As an example, the one in Cobbs Creek is using -- is adaptively reusing a 1930s stable, park stables, masonry stone stable that has been vacant for more than a decade. And one of the major focuses of that initiative, with the support of Councilwoman Blackwell, is the career opportunities for African-Americans in environmental education. So even though the environmental ed. curriculum that will be presented to the students at that center may be similar in its curriculum content to the other four or five centers, one of the things that makes Cobbs Creek, as an example, 1265 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 different is that we're working in the minority community, and the opportunity, through education, to create career opportunities for citizens of that region is really not being duplicated in any of the other centers. And they each have a very unique opportunity. The one in FDR Park, as an example, which is in South Philadelphia, has been embraced by the South Philadelphia community.
And we wish to take a room in the center. And, again, we're adaptively reusing a stable, as a matter of fact, in FDR Park, although they will create a historical library for South Philadelphians in the building, and they'll have meetings there, and there's a great emphasis on senior citizens' activities in FDR Park. So we are making them or attempting, if you will, and even in the planning stages, to make them adaptive and current, if you will, to that particular community, while having a uniform theme of environmental education.
Well, many of us 1266 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 are excited about that and are keeping a watch eye. My final question is around the Park Ranger Program. We know about its success are concerned about its future. Where -- the current number you mentioned in your testimony is 24?
And with regards to the future, what are you thinking, what is your action plan?
Okay. I personally have a great affinity for the rangers, and I work pretty strenuously at ensuring that the rangers are a part of the Fairmount Park delivery of service and will continue for the future. Our plans, however, are not to expand the program on the short term. We believe that it is economically feasible if the support from the City, through City Council, continues at its present level of $500,000 annually, that we can raise the matching $500,000 to ensure that this current level of can be sustained. There will 24 have to be some increases for raises, cost-of- living increases, and I'm certain that we can 1267 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 locate that funding as well privately. But the challenge is, to the Park Commission, is to match the City funding, and the Commission has accepted that challenge and continues to work to met that. I -- I wish we could do better. The rangers are an important facet of our park operation. And my work at the university in the early '80s suggested that we need about 150 rangers to adequately service the park. So with only -- and we do work, depending upon the time 12 of the year -- seven days a week and two shifts a 13 day per day with. 14 So a lot of people ask me, "Where are 15 the rangers?" Well, with 8900 acres, 7 days a 16 week, 2 shifts a day, they are few and far 17 between. 18
And I will close 19 by saying that the rangers become a clear example 20 or a tangible example that the Cobbs Creek 21 Environmental Center is trying to do, and that is, 22 draw a line, if you will, to a career path that 23 can come with that experience. 24
Thank you very, 1268 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 very much for your testimony.
Where do I start? Mr. Mifflin, as Councilwoman Miller mentioned, I also had some concerns about street trees and park trees. And on of the testimony, you make reference to utilizing both operating and capital funds. And I thought it was my general recollection that we primarily used capital funds for planting and removal of street trees.
Why are we using operating dollars also? 1269 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
We use -- I thought I knew the answer to this. Was there just numbers? Okay, the number reflects trees removed for emergency purposes. That would include the use of operating dollars. May I also add, as a footnote, through the pruning program, which you may wish to speak about, and in part to my answer of Councilwoman Miller's question, I think, on pruning, I don't think I really answered that part of the question, when we list our trees by block, by street block, and when we prune trees in that block, as opposed to pruning individual trees throughout the City, if we come upon a dead tree, we will remove that tree in the block. So we are utilizing the funds from that contractual program.
Okay. Now, in the 1270 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 section on street trees and the section on park trees, if I'm reading this correctly, you say in FY 2000, you anticipate removing 1231 street trees and you expect to plant 489. And that in '01, you expect to remove 1180 and to plant 640. The math on that seems to indicate a net loss of street trees of 750 in FY 2000 and 540 in '01.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. We have an answer. May I ask my Director of Operations to explain those numbers.
James Donaghy, Director of Operations. Yes, we do experience a net loss in our street-tree population every year. We have more trees dying than we can replace with the current funding.
Well, what level of funding would you need to stay at least equal? I mean, if we played this scenario out over an extended period of time, there would be virtually no street trees left in Philadelphia.
That's correct. 1271 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
What's the funding level that you need to at least stay at the current number?
I can get that to you. I can't give you that today but certainly can give you an answer.
We're at somewhat of a disadvantage in that we are estimating the number of trees in Philadelphia at about 250,000. That's a number that we have used for probably a decade, and we would -- we are working our way through the City with an inventory.
How long is that -- I mean, I seem to recall that a couple years ago, there was an effort and an approach made through U.S. Senator Arlen Specter to get some funding, I believe from the Forestry Service.
And if we have been doing pruning -- I believe the million dollars started maybe three fiscal years ago.
And we had people all over the City doing this kind of work, I mean, 1272 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 shouldn't we know by now better than the decade-old estimate?
We have completed about a quarter of our tree population from an inventory perspective. We're going to speed up that process with support from sponsors and other individual organizations who are interested and supportive of our street-tree efforts.
And part of the problem is that -- and maybe I should have qualified my statement that we have been using that same number for a decade because we're not quite sure. We're not aware of all of the activity that occurs in street trees; it's unreasonable to think that we could, quite frankly. Individuals plant trees without permission, individuals remove trees without our permission, and when we come upon those locations, we'll add it to the data bank. But short of an ability to be in every neighborhood on an annual basis, as an example, there's always going to be some variation of the number of trees. 1273 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
Well, I understand that but, I mean, the net activity by our citizens, I would think, is somewhat negligible, both on the -- certain on the planting side.
And on the removal side. I mean, people often talk about taking the tree down but, you know, if you've got a 20-, 30footer outside your house, you might take a few whacks at it with a hacksaw, but I don't know of many situations where we have people taking down large tree on residential neighborhoods illegally.
So we don't know what the citizens, but we certainly know what are doing.
And if we took down the numbers that we took down last year and we're taking down what we're taking down this year, the total over the two years is close to a 1300 net loss of trees.
No matter what the inventory is, if you take a net loss of 500 to 700 trees or so a year, you will significantly decrease this population, no matter what the number is.
So my question, to go back on this portion is, I'd like to see a budget or some detailed explanation as to how we get a smaller gap between the number that come down and the number that get planted. I mean, and similarly, I mean, we've been doing the million dollar piece, as I said, I think it's about three years now.
The number, you can only do so much with that amount of money.
And we know from the start that we were actually talking about more of a 5 to $6 million program if we were going to legitimately try to deal with the street-tree population in Philadelphia. You're only going to be able to squeeze, you know, 7900, 8200, 8500, 1275 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 somewhere in that neighborhood, at the most, out of the million dollar. And so now my question is, what efforts have been made, or what discussion has taken place, about getting the million-dollar figure up at any level over some time, closer to what we all, I think, generally agreed two, three, four years ago would be a more legitimate street-tree program? I mean, we can't just keep doing it at a million and think we're solving major problems out there for any extended period of time.
Has there been a request for additional for street-tree pruning?
Any particular reason? I mean, does Mr. Dubow not like trees, or I mean, has he got a tree problem, or did he fall out of one time?
I mean, is he like an anti-tree element in the budget office?
Mr. Dubow, please 1276 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 come up and defend your character now that I've assailed you. (Rob Dubow comes forward.)
Mr. Dubow, has there been a request over the past couple years to revisit the street-tree funding issue from a dollar standpoint?
Okay. If you received a request, what would be your response?
Whenever we get additional funding requests, we analyze the costs and the need. So without looking at what their request looks like, I can't really tell you that we would analyze it.
Okay. Well, based on what you know, based on what you know and even on what you've heard today, 200, 225, 250, whatever the number may be, if we're at a million, it's estimated that to have a legitimate street-tree program, it would cost 5 to 5, and we have a tremendous continually decreasing street- tree population based on trees that we take down 1277 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 and trees that we plant, and we don't know what the citizenry is doing out there. But we at least want to look at and legitimately evaluate some level of increase to deal with the street-tree problem within the City of Philadelphia, which any arborist knows and some regular citizens knows, that you can extend the life of the trees, decrease long-term the City's liabilities by keeping the trees healthier because they're not either falling on people, falling on cars, falling on houses. I mean, we actually save money if we do this thing right.
We would be willing to look at and totally analyze any requests.
Okay, thank you. I appreciate it. You'll -- similar to our discussion earlier with Dell East, you'll have that discussion prior to any voting out of the budget bills?
Thank you. Now, the budget of the part has 1278 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 seemingly been somewhat -- Mr. Dubow, you might not want to leave -- is seemingly covered in a fairly tight range for the past eight fiscal years. In FY '93, when I started here, the Parks budget was $11.2 million. The current budget year Parks budget is $13.1 million, about a 17, percent increase, which would seem to be a 10 lot of money. 11 As compared to the earlier testimony 12 with regard to Recreation Department, which, 13 during that same period of time, has seen about a 14 33 percent increase in their budget, can you give 15 us some sense of why there's such a disparity 16 between the Recreation Department -- glad they got 17 the money, happy for them, they have a lot of 18 facilities, but this is the largest municipally owned park system in the United States of America, and what are we doing to maintain it and support it as a regional place?
Well, I think there are a few levels of answers. I think Recreation has done a very good job of putting together their requests for programs and explaining how those 1279 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 programs would be of benefit to the City and to their system, and they have had good success at getting those requests funded. I think the Parks has also been able to use outside funding to enhance its services.
The outside funding is normally targeted for specific purpose and use. And outside funding or no outside funding, we have a responsibility to fund the parks ourselves. You can't penalize someone for being a good fund-raiser for outside sources, nor do we pawn off on the private entities or the foundations our fundamental obligation and responsibility.
That's true, and we never -- I mean, as you said, we have increased their funding, and we haven't reduced funding in reaction to their getting large grants, like the William Penn Grant, but it obviously reduces the amount that they'll request from us if they're getting that much outside funding.
But you're not going to sit there and say that it hasn't maybe affected your judgment, viewpoint, or thought 1280 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 process if somebody gets a large grant from the outside, although it's specifically targeted or was acquired for particular reasons, and if you thought that you might be able to offload some responsibilities, or if they had some special feature that might be interesting to a wide variety of people, I mean, you wouldn't necessarily say, Well, we still need to provide significant City support since they already have significant outside support. I mean --
And I don't think -- and, Bill, you can correct me if I'm wrong -- that there have been any major operating requests that we've denied them over the last several years.
All right. So it's really more of a request. I mean, you at least have to put in a request again and again. You might still get a no but, I mean, if you don't have anything on the table, then it's really no. 25
Okay. All right. Let me go back to Director Mifflin. With regard to your budget, I guess I read the increase for this year is $265,000, and I got the impresses either from the testimony or some documents that that's only for scheduled wage increases. Is that a part of the union contract?
We had some discussion a year ago and I got a hold of the notes of testimony from last year's public hearing. And as I was reading through it, getting ready for this upcoming year's budget testimony, I saw where we had some discussion last year about the Environmental Education Centers and the number of centers and the need for personnel to run these centers. Now, your testimony at the time was in the realm of -- I think you planned to staff them by a reorganization, or maybe it was a combination of reorganization or attritioning out of certain 1282 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 positions and maybe you put other people into these slots. Can you give me an update on that? And where do we stand with the funding issue? 'Cause if the dollar increase is only to deal with wage hikes, then I don't get the impression that there is a request for additional personnel to staff these centers.
Mm-hmm. We did not submit a request for additional personnel in the submission to the Finance Department when called for budget call, if you will, for our documents to move over to the Finance Department. We have subsequently developed a plan that would identify new revenue to the City, that would, in part, support some of the positions in environmental education. I have previously testified that --
Are the revenue items directly related to what people would be doing in environmental education? Or are the revenue initiatives just park issues, and if you have more money, you can fund more people?
It's more the latter, Councilman. Although since we last met here last 1283 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 year, we have commissioned a feasibility study for the Environmental Education Centers performed by an outside consultant.
And they have made certain recommendations and we actually have -- and certain conclusions. And we now have a very clear path identified as to the cost of operating and maintaining these centers once they are built. In addition to that -- and that's in part why we are looking perhaps for additional revenue to sustain positions, but it also suggests that we can do things at the centers, once they are built at well, to help them become sustainable, including staff.
Now, when the park generates revenue, I don't know if the park is renting items, you know, like bikes to use, whatever, events at the various facilities, does the park keep that revenue or does that revenue go into the General Fund? I didn't realize the park had the ability to capture specific revenues for itself.
Revenue fees for services 1284 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 are all directed to the City General Fund. We do have the ability --
Right. But how does that translate into an automatic increase to fund new bodies?
Well, we would hope that by showing these increases in revenue that a request for additional staff would be offset, where one would offset the other. So rather than go in and just ask for additional staffing, additional programs, we've elected to support that request through suggested new revenues.
Well, aren't we at the stage where these centers are just about ready to go? I got the impression when I reread last year's testimony that it was estimated that somewhere in the next year and a half or two from that time, these centers would be, I guess, on the verge of being built, and then you would need to put people in them. Based on the scenario that 1285 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 you have at least laid out, I'm assuming that you have to get through at least a year of the revenue enhancements to be able to be able to show any level of track record --
-- of additionally generated park funding before you'd ever be able to fill the positions or even get to the point of having a, I'm sure, really warm and fuzzy conversation with Mr. Dubow about that request.
Right. Well, some of the initiatives that we believe are quite capable of occurring are just expansion of existing contracts. So it would not -- there would not be a, you know, a long lead time, we believe, in our ability to increase the revenue. And as an example, that could be at a driving range or on our golf courses. As you may know, we just recently did an (unintelligible) on our golf courses, and we've seen already that revenues are going to increase. We're ready to open a new trolley service to Fairmount Park from the Visitors Center. The contract's signed, and it starts 1286 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 March 15th. So we think that there are a number of revenues that are -- we're as confident as we can be that will actually materialize. In addition to that, we've been taking a strong look, a very hard look, led by Nancy Goldenberg and her staff, on the sustainability plan that I alluded to earlier in my testimony and by questioning Councilwoman Brown that we owe to the William Penn Foundation. And basically the foundation, two and a half years into the grant, has said to us, Put everything on the table and come back to us. And we're not opposed to making some changes in the way that, in 1996, we said we were going to spend that grant. And early on, in this planning process, which has been going on for about the last six weeks, we've made some decisions -- as an example, the staffing of volunteer coordinators and other people that assist in implementing the grant goals are going to be held. We are going to ensure that they will be fully funded through the life of the grant. So whereas some of the staff positions were to leave the grant in a year, we've now, 1287 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 through a reorganizing the grant, have secured the funding for those positions for the next two and a half years.
Well, basically, Councilman, I've bought some time, is what I've done. After that we will have to be in a full fund-raising mode or revenue-enhancement mode. It goes to your question of timing.
Right. I mean, I am deeply concerned, and I continue to be, I was last year, and I would say just for the record that I'm even more concerned now, that this ends up being potentially an even more expensive example of the Ranger Program.
And when people come to us, or we go to them, or somehow parties meet up, have great ideas about some grant-funded activity that people want to have, they ultimately, I'm sure, expect for their investment that we, the government, will still do what the government is supposed to figure out how to keep 1288 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 it going.
And I guess it's my assumption that during that time, we have a clearly laid-out plan over a period of years, 'cause I think I said last year that it's virtually impossible in any one fiscal year to capture all of the people that you need to fully run a program. I mean, I might not even necessarily be for that since you'd see explosive growth in someone's budget in that particular year.
But, you know, if get three here and four there and five there, you know in five years, you could actually have something serious going on. And I've just not seen that and I'm getting very concerned about it. And I also need to know, I guess, if you're talking about revaluating what the agreement was in 1996, then what is the status of these Environmental Education Centers? Two of them are designated for the district that I represent, Strawberry Mansion and Wissahickon. 1289 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 What's going to happen, when do they start, who's going to run them, and when will they be working?
Well, we have a number of initiatives underway to answer those questions. One is that at least one of the centers of the six centers may -- in fact, its construction may be delayed. It's a combination of both because the community of support was not identified in that particular geographic area, and the price of these -- construction of these buildings which are, as you may know, about 3,000 square feet, for a cost of construction, are coming in a little bit higher than we had anticipated.
So this is a part of the planning process that we are going through -- evaluating if we should delay something or if we should move made into other areas. So we're not finished that planning process. As I said, an action plan is due within a month to the William Penn Foundation for their consideration. We're not going to abdicate our responsibilities under the grant, nor are we going 1290 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 to saddle the City of Philadelphia with a burden of sustainability when the grant is completed. That's why the plan that we have developed of revenue enhancements is a five-year plan. It does build up to the crescendo that you've suggested over a five-year period of time. And I'm confident as I can be that --
And you're two and a half years into the five-year period of time.
I mean, how do you get -- I mean, you've got a gap there.
Sure. Our five-year plan's pretty aggressive. Our five-year plan goes beyond this grant issue. We're looking at the ability of improving our services in recreation, in helping bolster our budget when we have to respond to storms. We spend a lot of overtime in those categories. So it goes -- it does go well beyond this initiative, which is -- what I'm 1291 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 saying is, we think we can raise enough money to cover the cost of the grant employees. In addition to that, I mentioned a feasibility study that we had completed. And I think we feel fairly comfortable with the numbers that came out from the consultant's report on what it will cost on an annual basis to sustain the buildings and the staff within the buildings. So I think we have the numbers there, and we're not discouraged by the numbers, particularly given the opportunity that we now have with the William Penn Foundation and the fact that we may be able to do some things a little bit differently. Let me further expand. When we last talked here on this project a year ago, the term "Growing Greener" from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was not mentioned. Well, Growing Greener's been passed by the state legislation, as you know, with $650 million over 5 years, and it provides opportunities, among other things, to acquire open space. Well, our William Penn grant had $1.7 million for acquisition of open space in 1292 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Philadelphia. There may be an opportunity that we can use State dollars, through Growing Greener, to acquire that --
Let me give you a little reaction, though. I mean, I will always support and encourage any possible effort to get anyone else's money to do whatever it is that we think is good and appropriate for the park. On the other hand, again, by way of the discussion about the budget and funding levels over an eight-year period of time, I mean, I'm left of field -- I mean, I start with the fundamental premise that Fairmount Park does not have the financial resources that are appropriate to its size, to its importance, to its significance in the City and in the region. It's a basic fundamental premise. And that we are then left to treat it almost as a person who is borrowing from one credit card to pay another credit card. And, I mean, that will get you through next month, it might get you through the whole year. I mean, you know, I get a credit card application like every week. And if I signed up for all of them, I could 1293 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 probably get through the whole year -- I could buy groceries and do all kinds of stuff. But one day, the bill's got to be paid.
And I do not believe that this park system has the financial resources as a base to do the things that the citizens of this city and this region deserve. And so then -- you are then forced -- and you should be anyway, but you are then forced, because you're not the getting fundamental support at home, to run around and try to get this grant, that grant, and the other grant, all of which generally have some timetable -- two years, three years, five years.
So, I mean, I go back to -- we saw what happened with the Recreation Department over time, we've seen what has happened with the libraries, and they also had the opportunity to participate in the William Penn 1294 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Grant funding. But their budget has also increased at its base at a higher level than the Park Commission.
And some combination of what Recreation did, what the Free library has done, both in the government and exterior to the government, through the various Friends groups and a whole host of people who have lobbied everyone imaginable, I'd like to see that level of aggressive, passionate, dogged pursuit of the core funding that the park system needs, which then allows you to leverage additional dollars but not be fully depend on them.
I mean I don't anticipate -- unless we really make some major mistakes in our budgeting process, I mean, I don't think we're going to see the Recreation Department budget go down, notwithstanding whatever grant funding they get for a wide variety of programs, but they set on a particular path and then it began to take off. And we've seen that with some of the other agencies and departments. 1295 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 So I'd like encourage more of that, more discussion with Mr. Dubow and other people and with members this Council. I mean people, I believe, in this City Council actually care about this park system but, you know, we need to be more aggressive about what's going on in the system programmatically. You mentioned earlier in response, I think, to either Councilwoman Miller or possibly Tasco, about the park's appearance. I have some concerns about the park's appearance as well, and I guess from some of the discussion earlier with the Recreation Department, their brochures and materials and game plan on how they make sure that rec. centers are clean and what they plan to do going forward, you can forward to us. I'd like to know if we have the same kind of documentation and game plan in place about the cleanliness of Fairmount Park in the various areas. I understand it's spread out all over the City. But, again, we're not going to have people very interested in the park system if it's perceived as dirty, trash-filled, and debris all over the place, or trees, vines, and all that kind 1296 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of stuff in various states of disrepair. So I'd like to know what the -- kind of the operation and maintenance aspect of the park is, and that may be underfunded as well.
I don't know, but I'd like to know how we get the park to the next level of being a premiere place. Lastly, some concerns about actually parking related to the combination of off of the Kelly Drive. The Art Museum, Lloyd Hall and the restaurant at the Water Works. It seems to me that on an average day, there is a bit of a parking issue over there, and if the Art Museum really gets going with a particular exhibit or something, how are we going to park all of those cars over there? What is the parking plan?
As I'm talking, I'm trying to do the numbers in my head. We'll expand -- our plans include the 1297 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 widening of the road going into the Water Works from Kelly Drive to permit perpendicular parking. And the roadway -- we'll refer to it as the forebay of Aquarium Drive going up to the Engine House -- will be widened and will provide for additional perpendicular parking. It's my --
Well, is it enough to accommodate the various activities over there?
That will add about 200 parking spaces to the present number.
If you can get to us, through the Chair, some more detailed information that, I would greatly appreciate it.
Let me just put three things on the record and then I will unburden everyone. In October of last year, I received a letter from Mr. Dubow based on a letter that I sent to Mr. Dubow regarding letters that my constituents were receiving when they would ask about street-tree removal. And the letter would basically say: 1298 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 We inspected the particular location, this tree will be done in the future when the money is appropriated -- and "money" is actually spelled wrong here. Enclosed you will find the total of trees listed for removal that are also backlogged for the same reason. Please call with any questions you may have. I mean, we started getting a bunch of those, and naturally, the citizens reacted very negatively to that. Is that type of response still going out?
Can you get me a copy of what response is going out for people when they inquire?
When we did the street tree ordinance actually a couple years ago, I had sent a request asking if the Park Commission regulations had been amended to incorporate the Council ordinance that was passed. I'm not aware 1299 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 of getting a response on that. Do you know if the Park Commission has amended their regulations to reflect actions by City Council?
Yes, they did. My recollection is that I had asked the City Solicitor's Office to forward to you that action of the Commission, and I will ask them to do it again.
And last for the day, which we can talk about later, I need to more fully discuss with you the situation of Chief Buffy Red Feather Brown and their request for access to a park facility for the American-Indian organization with which he is associated. I don't have a clear understanding of where that situation is.
Mr. Waller is more intelligent on that issue than I am. So you might want to have your discussion with him.
Okay. Well, if he can give me a call, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.
Councilman, 1300 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 are you finished?
Thank you. To follow the questioning about the appearance of the park, I'd like to know a couple of things. Liability, Risk Management, they obviously support your claims. Are we getting many lawsuits? Or since accidents occur out in the park, people accept them as accidents, but do you get many lawsuits because of people being injured in the park?
I can't give you, Councilman, a specific number. I don't think that the number -- if you're relating it to the appearance of the park, I don't believe the number has dramatically increased or decreased over the years.
But my point is that yesterday morning, I witnessed a very violent, serious accident on Kelly Drive on the way to work. And the roadway was totally flooded with water, the drainage is just terrible along where 1301 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 the marine unit is.
And I've noticed lately that the drainage on the drive is just not good, and I'm confident that that standing water yesterday morning contributed somehow to that accident. I'm speculating.
The Kelly Drive, is that a state highway, a city highway, a park road? Who's responsible for the condition of Kelly Drive?
Well, it is -- legally, it a state highway. It is the Department of Transportation that has jurisdiction over that highway. The maintenance of the highway is shared amongst departments. The Fairmount Park Commission has, as an example, snow removal and de-icing responsibilities. Flooding responsibilities will probably be the first 1302 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 responder to a clogged inlet. However, I am familiar with the situation that you've just described, and I know that the Water Department is a frequent responder to clogged inlets on Kelly Drive. So in summary, it's the City throughout -- perhaps the Streets Department, the Water Department, and the Parks Department -- that's responsible for the maintenance of Kelly Drive.
Mr. Mifflin, I would appreciate someone surveying the next time we have a severe rain storm the conditions on Kelly Drive. And also, I recall that there was some attempt to manage the runoff of springs along the drive, which on a day like tonight on the way home, that runoff comes out onto the roadway and freezes up, and there's a patch of ice that could be as much as 100 feet of pure ice there.
And on many times I've called and asked for the Streets Department, whoever, to get out there and put salt down, de-icing materials. But I remember when the drive was in pretty good shape and you didn't have as 1303 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 many springs running into the drive, even in the summer.
You've got these wet situations that I'm sure -- and I didn't mean to interrupt you -- can contribute to the vehicular accidents along the drive. So if someone could again focus on trying to divert that water away from the roadway, I think we would probably avoid the many accidents that that contributes to.
Thank you for your comments. It's not unreasonable to expect the Park Commission or other City agencies, you know, to attempt to capture the water before it goes over the curb, and capture it and pipe it to a drain in the roadway. So it's an engineering issue that we somewhat successfully accomplished on Lincoln Drive, and I know you use that drive as well. I think, however, if I could just for 60 second time pontificate on the reasons why. This really goes to the heart of the William Penn 1304 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Grant, if you will. There's just been so much development that has occurred in the City that water is running off at higher levels than it was previously. And you just indicated by your remarks when Kelly Drive was in better shape, the water was not coming down there. Well, there's more water cascading down the locks of Kelly Drive today, quite frankly, than there were years ago. And that's the case on most park roads. And it goes a lot to the fact that there's been development. There's been paving that's occurring on the ridge, if you will, and the water is just finding the lowest spot.
But I do obviously recall a response from Fairmount Park to -- I think I recall you actually dug some --
You trenched behind the curbs to capture that water. And if you're coming up there on a night like tonight and then all of a sudden, you encounter glare ice --
It's a high-maintenance area. It's clogged with leaves and other debris, and then the water cascades over it. 1305 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
And going back to my initial question about Risk Management, I know you're probably like any other recreation facility. Lots of things don't happen during the winter months, but as spring comes along, you start an aggressive effort to get the park ready for peak use. An example I'd like to make -- Forbidden Drive, and I know the drive was devastated during Hurricane Floyd, and the condition of Forbidden Drive is in pretty bad shape. I walked it about a week ago from Northwestern all the way down to Valley Green, and it wasn't fun negotiating all the holes and puddles and all the things. But I noticed something that I think could cause some consequence to the City. I noticed that there's a tremendous amount of the rail, the wooden rail that would prevent a person from falling off there gone. And, again, it's not -- it's nature's --
Trees come down, but I don't see any of it being replaced, and I would 1306 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 hope to see that rail along Forbidden Drive restored to protect the people that are using the drive.
Yes. Thank you, Councilman. For pointing that out to me. It is a somewhat dangerous condition, we are aware of it. Although we've made some emergency repairs and we've had some volunteer efforts to assist us in replacing missing guardrail, we have the ability, again, through this grant, to have a major improvement project, including resurfacing and refencing Forbidden Drive, which will be started this fall. So this summer, we will continue to do somewhat of the emergency repairs, if you will. We've lost a lot of footing where the fence would go. It's just not as simple as going back and placing rails. As you've probably witnessed, the posts have eroded.
Yeah, Hurricane Floyd brought about $2.5 million worth of damage to the watershed areas of the park. 1307 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
My final, you know, ongoing question is -- I should have brought this up when we were discussing Kelly Drive.
The lights. If we don't do something very soon, and I talked to PECO Energy. And, apparently, that project is on track, but I would appreciate it if --
And the rest of this audience knows what I'm talking about. The underground cables on Kelly Drive have failed, and many years ago, PECO Energy, to get the lights back, strapped wires, physical wires to the aluminum fixtures, which are not meant or designed to support that kind of load.
And I'm surprised that many of them are even still there.
But I'd appreciate it if that would get a top priority because, again, there is a situation where if someone takes out one of those street light standards, with 1308 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 those wires being attached to it, you could take four or five of them out, and I wouldn't want to be in a car when one of those light standards is flying down the highway.
It's my understanding that ground will be broken on that project this spring.
It is not a project which we are administering. It is, as you know, from the City Streets Department, but they've been in contact with us and we have had an opportunity to comment on the plans.
Because every time I see Corbin McNeil out socially, I say, "When are you going to get the underground cable done on Kelly Drive?"
In spring of 2000. 1309 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
This goes back to trees. When you put the RFP out for tree-trimming, is the RFP put out for tree-trimming citywide, or do you ask for bids on various areas of the City?
Okay. Once the person -- the company is successful in securing the project, how do you determine where the trees -- where dead trees are cut, where trees are trimmed, and where trees are pruned?
The Director of 1310 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Operations could provide a more explicit answer than I can.
The list for the tree pruning and tree removal, which is done with those $1 million line-item operating dollars, is developed in May of the previous fiscal year. That list is sent out with the bid to all of the contractors. So they actually go out and look at almost all of those trees. The way develop that list initially is by reviewing our records and looking where we have the most requests for pruning in areas of the city. We do divide it up. We're pruning 6800 trees this year, and we are going to be pruning about 680 trees in each Council District, plus or minus 10 to 15, depending on how it worked out in the geographic area. But the list is developed from our existing records based on requests for services. So this -- within the next -- over the next three months, my staff will be putting together the list to do pruning work and removal work in FY 2001. So that we hope -- I hope to have that completed by the end of April. 1311 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
The other thing is on the removal of dead dangerous trees, how is that determined?
Yes. Well, Fairmount Park manages the contract, the contractor, who does the removal work for us, and we develop that list based on the most serious trees. We actually have ratings. We have 5,000 dead trees standing out there that we know of, so we evaluate trees, and we have those that are in critical condition, that are dead, and they are the first to make it on the list. And also those that have been there the longest. So we try to balance that out. We know people have been on a waiting list for up to three 1312 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 years.
Some longer. And, you know, if we have a tree that we know is -- that our arborists, who are all certified and trained determine to be critical, and now that we're looking at this thing coming over in the next few months. Then we'll try to make sure we put that on the next list. So --
Could we see the list of tree-trimming and removal and trimming, tree-pruning, tree-trimming, and I understand you spray trees?
We only spray when there is a need. We haven't sprayed trees in about four years. We had a major infestation of a giant-winged aphid four years ago, which was causing some major problems, and we did spray. We do not make that a practice. We had to identify some additional funding in order to accomplish that work because it's not built into our regular budget. Generally, the infestations of insects or minor. Of course, if you're living under that tree, it may not be minor. But on a 1313 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 whole, we don't do that on a regular basis.
Trees, just tree removal and trimming -- and tree trimming and tree pruning?
Tree pruning, we did about -- we'll be doing about 7800 trees this year. And for tree removal, it's about 1200 trees.
Okay, what I'd like to know by number, not necessarily by street or location, but by district.
How many trees were pruned and sprayed by district in this budget year, in the year 2000, in the current budget year.
And when you prepare your list, I'd like to see the number of trees that are going to be done by district in the Year 2001, this budget coming up. 1314 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
And are they -- does one company do all of the trees? Are you saying they are hired by sections of the City?
No. The bid is released on a citywide basis, so there's one company, but that company does have the minority participation limits that it has to adhere, so this particular contractor we have now, Davy Tree Experts, is doing some subcontracting work to meet that requirement.
Will they go into one area first and then another area? Or are they carrying employees throughout the City?
We generally deploy throughout the City. Davy Tree had 15 crews working on a daily basis. There is one crew per Council district beginning the work, and they take the other four crews and they'll send them to one area and concentrate them and then begin moving that -- you know, as that crew finishes that work, they'll continue to move them around the City. The current -- we are doing approximately 6800 trees on pruning, and we have 1315 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 about 4200 of those already completed for this fiscal year. And anticipate that work to be done by mid-March now.
Well, I will say to you that last spring, I visited a community in Whittaker Mills, the community association. And I had a lady constituent who told me that she had called the department for a tree to be removed. And they just removed the tree -- I got a letter this that the tree was removed this week. However, she reported that her friend lives in Mayfair, and the friend called the Fairmount Park, they came out the next day, removed the tree, sprayed the tree, and pruned all of the other trees on one phone call. She gave me her report last spring, and they just did the tree this past week.
-- doesn't happen. It may have been -- if we did an entire block and were doing pruning, that was work that had already 1316 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 been listed.
Yes, absolutely. Because we can't do that because we can't stand the fire if we begin doing that. We know everyone talks across the City, not just around the neighborhood. So we do the very best we can to stick to our procedure so that people can't say that someone's getting special treatment. If we went down removed the tree and pruned the tree, then that was probably in a pruning grid, because when we set up our pruning grids, we try to do a ten-block area. So this person may have called and it may have just been a coincidence that we were in. And if we probably investigated that particular location, it's probably parked on a larger grid.
Thank you. 1317 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Are there any other questions? (No further questions.)
The Art Museum. (Art Museum witness come forward.)
Thank you for your patience. Kindly identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good evening, Madam Chair, Madam President. I am Anne D'Harnoncourt, Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I am pleased to be here, together with my colleagues Gail Harrity, the Museum's Chief Operating, and Robert Marrone, our Director of Facilities and Operations, and until just a moment ago, Cheryl McClenney-Brooker, our Director of Affairs, who had to pick up a child at her school and wishes she were with us but had to leave.
Please proceed. 1318 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
I am delighted and I know, given the lateness of the hour and your daunting schedule all day long, that I will be as quick as possible. You have our written submission. 2 million in operating support for Fiscal Year 2001. And we appreciate also the opportunity to express our vivid gratitude, both to Mayor Street in both of his crucial roles, past and present, and to City Council as a whole, as well as individuals for all their support of the museum. In fact, if I could emphasize three things in my testimony, one would be the year 2001, because the calendar year 2001 is the 125th anniversary of the museum, which, as you know, was founded as an outgrowth of the first great international exhibition ever held in Philadelphia in 1876, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of this country. And we look forward to celebrating again with all the citizens of 1319 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Philadelphia, and I will say, we are hard at work devising celebrations, which we hope will reach each and every one of the citizens of this great city, who are we are so delighted to serve. We are also at -- the year 2001 has -- is a -- kind of has been a dream for us, and for a long time, we have a long-range plan that is focused on that year and what it means as we enter the new century, and we are thrilled to have acquired, with City Council's marvelous help, the Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company building across the street from the museum, which will make so much difference in our ability to expand our programs and space for our collections and ways to reach a wider and wider audience. I will -- just very quickly, our exhibition schedule. We had a marvelous run of exhibitions in this past year, including an exhibition devoted to Goya, which infused about $20 million into the City's economy. We are about to open a great exhibition devoted to the splendor of 18th-century Rome, one of the largest -- probably the largest great exhibition the museum has ever done, which is already receiving national 1320 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 press attention. And we're thrilled to have productivity bank loans to advertise these two exhibitions outside the region in order to attract visitors from out of town to Philadelphia. We try to divide our strength and our resources between our devotion to and service to the citizens of this city and our duty and our responsibility to attract visitors from all over the world to Philadelphia, not only to enjoy ourselves, but the rest of the assets that Philadelphia has to offer. Last year, we welcomed approximately 800,000 visitors, and I'm very proud to say that that is substantially up from the 500,000 that I remember so well about eight or nine years ago, and including over 70,000 school children. Aside from the anniversary of 2001, which is enabling us to strive towards a number of our most important dreams, including more space, the second thing that I'd like to emphasize is the museum's increasing role in education. We are not only, of course, as you know, dedicated to the arts education of all of our citizens, but particularly those of young people and children. 1321 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 Because as the evidence increasingly comes in, exposure to art and interaction with art improves children's and enhances children's ability to learn. We have had partnerships with the School District of Philadelphia, which continues to bloom, with the Free Library, with colleges and university across the region. And we are doing this in person, we are doing this online, we are doing this in every way that we can, and we've been developing just now a set of teaching posters representing our collections of impressionism, of African-American art, of medieval art being given free, thanks to a couple of grants we received, to every school in the School District of Philadelphia.
And I'm very happy to say that two of our educators have received national awards in the past year, and in particular, Marla Shoemaker, our Head of School and Family Programs, was named "National Museum Educator of the Year" by the National Art Education Association. I won't go into all the institutions in Philadelphia with which we collaborate, which we 1322 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 are deeply proud to do, so Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods, and there are community arts organizations in almost all of them. We try to be in partnership with as many as we can at the same time -- whether it's the African-American Museum in Philadelphia, which is a big and distinguished institution, or much smaller ones, they go on and on. In Fiscal Year 2001, we are particularly excited because we anticipate that our program will attract approximately 1 million visitors from around the world, an increase of at least 200,000 over this past year. And in part, we anticipate that will be because we will have the honor to present an exhibition called "Van Gogh Face to Face," which is first exhibition of Van Gogh portraits ever to be organized anywhere, not only in this country, but abroad. We are partnering with two other cities to do this. 25 million is a figure that has essentially remained flat for the last five years, and we are doing our best to work with it. It provides the 1323 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 contribution towards the building operating services -- security and maintenance -- which have been the City's share of keeping the museum accessible to the public. 8 million. And I might add that in Fiscal '99, the museum did receive an additional grant of City support to cover the increased cost of security and maintenance for the very successful Delacroix exhibition, as well as a productivity bank loan, which helped improve our attendance and admission for that show. So next year, we do see coming at us not only the Van Gogh exhibition, which we hope will draw several hundred thousands visitors more, I would think, and the Republican National Convention, which, of course, the whole city is anticipating so -- as well as the adding of the Reliance building to our campus, if you will. So we do anticipate, because of our ambition to increase our attendance, to serve the City, to have greater access to all of our visitors, offer them more and more, which is our 1324 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 ambition, we do foresee that there will be substantially increased expenses, so we may need to return to the Administration and to Council to see if there's a possibility of an additional special support of some kind during the year to help defray these special costs next year. I think you know us all very well. We operate a not-for-profit Pennsylvania corporation, which operates the museum's facilities, which are owned by the City under a written contract. It's hard to think that the museum building was constructed 72 years ago and has had, of course, some important infusion of support over all that period of time. It was built by City money, authorized by this Council. And we should say that while we are very grateful for the support and the restoration of some support in the capital program for Fiscal 20001, that we also are happy and have been investing substantial amounts of private funding into the building projects, whenever that is possible. And in the last several years, we invested about 5 million into the reinstallation of our European galleries, and look forward to 1325 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00 doing that in the future, if we can. It's the City's commitment of dollars which helps to us leverage the other support.
So we're very excited about our future, and we're not only entering the 21st century and the new millennium, but we're turning 125 years young, as I hope that will prove the case, we want to make our anniversary year as exciting as possible for everyone in the City and beyond. And we are enormously grateful to the Council and to the Administration for their partnership that makes it possible for us to continue to do what we are striving to do.
Thank you so much. We certainly appreciate all the wonderful work that you do, and we're so proud of the Art Museum. It's a real jewel to the City, believe me. Are there any questions from members of the committee? (No questions.)
Thank you so much. And I'm sorry you were kept waiting to testify. 1326 OPERATING BUDGET CONT'D. - BILL 05 - 2/16/00
This committee will stand in recess until, Tuesday February 22nd, at 9:00 a.m. Thank you all very much. (Adjourned at 6:44 p.m.) - - - 1327 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Wednesday, February 16, 2000, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE BILL NO. 000005 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter