It's nice to know. 19 Obviously, that will spread to other communities 20 across the City as it goes on? 21
Yes, exactly. This is 22 why we're trying to have an impact on it now when 23 the numbers are still low so that we can keep it 24 from spreading any further. 25
So the program is in 55 04/08/03 - WHOLE place, Commissioner? Do you have a program in place?
We're working with all of our providers right now doing prevention, HIV prevention. And last year we were able to significantly reduce -- I think we cut the number of MSM cases in half. I think that was two years ago, and it's relatively stable. Now we're seeing it increase. So we've called together all of our community-based providers who have been so successful in partnering with us in getting the word out, getting the message out, getting people into testing and getting people into treatment. They're around the table with us working strategies to bring people into treatment.
Commissioner, could you give us those figures and maps in terms of where AIDS, syphilis, these things are happening?
Yes, sir. I just made a note to myself to make sure we get that over to you.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter. 56 04/08/03 - WHOLE
Thank you, Madam Chair. I actually did not have a question for Commissioner Domzalski. I have a question that is more pertinent for Public Property, although I do not believe that they are here. So I'd like to ask Mr. Dubow, as I think he's generally the highest ranking representative of the Administration, if he could take the question. Mr. Dubow, I seem to recall a couple years ago in a budget hearing -- and actually, I think that Councilman Rizzo may have expressed some concerns about this issue. He and I haven't had a chance to talk about this. Now, the City has a contract with a company for the advertising on the bus shelters; is that correct?
I seem to recall that there were, I believed, at that time, some restrictions on the type of ads that could be displayed on those bus shelters, and specifically I seem to remember -- and I have not pulled the notes of testimony because I can't remember what year this was -- I thought that there was a specific 57 04/08/03 - WHOLE prohibition on alcohol and tobacco ads on the bus shelters. And in recent times, both in my district and other places, I have seen ads for alcoholic beverages, beer. A couple of them are structured in such a way that they portray a beer can somehow matted over or in the shape of a woman's body. And I think that at two levels these particular advertisements are completely inappropriate on a City-owned bus shelter for which the City generates revenue. One, they are sexist in nature. And two, I don't know that we should be in the business of generating revenue from alcoholic beverages as a City government. Can you get us some information quickly about that issue? I thought -- and I'm not putting my colleague on the spot -- I seem to remember that there was supposed to be a provision in our lease agreement that specifically prohibited that type of advertising, or if it did not specifically prohibit it, that it was within the Public Property Commissioner's discretion to prohibit such ads. And I've noticed a recent almost kind of explosion of them, as I indicated. Some are in the district that I represent and I've seen others in other places. 58 04/08/03 - WHOLE So it's not unique to the 4th District. And I'd like to get an answer to that particular issue. I don't know why we're in that business.
I've not dealt with that issue, but we'll get you information quickly.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you. Commissioner, I just want to go back briefly to the high schools and the infection rate, the various infections that you identified. Commissioner, could you leave us today and ensure me that anyone that tests positive is being treated?
Yes. Yes, in the sense that they either will come back to the school to be treated or we will outreach and determine what is happening with treatment. Eventually they will be treated.
So what I'm hearing today is that someone takes the test, tests 59 04/08/03 - WHOLE positive. What would be the period of time that you would -- your time line -- that after 30 days, after 60 days? How quickly will you assure that that student is contacted and treated or the information -- my concern is the bureaucracy. If the student goes to the private doctor, the information flows back and forth because you could have a number of young people out there that you know have this infection and not have the process to assure that they're all treated.
We would either treat or verify treatment within 10 days at the outside.
Yes. Yes, they can. However, we've never had that. I mean, we've never had that. If a child is refusing treatment, there's something else going on. We'll sit and we'll talk with them. We'll have our doc talk with them. They will be treated.
It is an antibiotic. It's one dose, and I believe that it's a Pfizer 60 04/08/03 - WHOLE product, azithromycin, I believe.
So you're fairly confident that all of the people that test positive for this, for an infection, are not out there still walking around with an infection, that they're treated within days? 8
No, not the original 9 one. One of the things we need to make sure is that 10 we provide the education to children, and these are children aged 15 to 19 years old about how they got the disease and what they really need to do to prevent this from happening again.
I don't want to disappoint you, Commissioner. During this whole process we haven't talked about the needle exchange program. How is it working?
Well, Councilman, I want to make sure I stay within my area of expertise and give you really good information, so I'll call my colleague, Mr. Bencivengo, who has information.
My concern is the common complaints that we get. It's not so much the program. It's in many cases the locale of the program; near schools, near populated areas that 61 04/08/03 - WHOLE people feel as though it's bad for their neighborhood. I haven't heard too much of that lately, so I just thought maybe we'd take a minute to get us up to speed on how the program is doing.
My name is Mark Bencivengo, Assistant Health Commissioner in charge of the Drug and Alcohol Program in the City of Philadelphia. You're absolutely right, Councilman. I think a couple of years ago, and prior to that time even, I don't think a week went by that I didn't hear something about some kind of a complaint. Generally, it came from the same group of people, but nevertheless, there were complaints about the locations. And in a couple of cases where we had some concerns like that, we did work with Prevention Point Philadelphia to relocate the needle exchange to an area that was less problematic. I am very happy to say that in the last couple of years, I have heard virtually nothing in the way of complaints voiced by residents of neighborhoods where the exchange is working. I do think, though, that it remains a potentially controversial area. Harm reduction programs have elicited mixed feelings 62 04/08/03 - WHOLE on the part of people looking at them. I think, though, the literature over the last several years has been overwhelmingly positive with regard to needle exchange in a number of areas. One, not contributing to an increase in drug use; and two, addressing the spread of HIV to a very high risk population. I believe the Commissioner talked about the various modes of transmission in Philadelphia and identified injection drug use right now as probably the number one reason that we're seeing for people becoming HIV-positive and eventually being identified with AIDS. So I think in a City like Philadelphia where there are a fairly large number of injection drug users, where opiates are a fairly popular drug, unfortunately, and where there is some resurgence in the use of heroin, not just in Philadelphia, but across the nation -- my colleagues in some other cities where they're not very familiar with heroin are now seeing it. I think having something like a community-based activity like Prevention Point Philadelphia is absolutely essential to address the spread of HIV in this particular population. And the program is actually 63 04/08/03 - WHOLE doing quite well.
Well, good. Obviously, you've made some adjustments and have made the program more acceptable to people that don't accept the program. As you mentioned, it's a very controversial issue. But I think by tweaking it and getting it out of sight in some communities that look at it as objectionable work -- because the complaints that I have received have stopped. The only question I would like to end with is that there was an accusation which recently -- the reason I'm bringing this up today is I got a telephone call from a mom in New Jersey that tells me that her daughter still continues to come to Philadelphia to get her syringes. That's troubling, if we're supporting the drug habit of a person in another state, or anywhere, even here, inappropriately. Have you been able to work at that problem?
Actually, I believe that the former Governor of the State of New Jersey did commission a report and had a group of folks working on needle exchange in the State of New Jersey, and I believe that the recommendation that 64 04/08/03 - WHOLE was given to her by a commission which she had established was for New Jersey to implement syringe exchange programs in that state. That did not happen. I believe that the current Governor McGreevey is a bit more open to having syringe exchanges in the State of New Jersey, certainly in a City like Newark and some of the upstate counties in New Jersey where there are fairly high rates of opiate and injection drug use. I would, as a professional in the area, recommend syringe exchanges. We do not ask people where they're from and deny syringes to people coming from out of state or outside the City of Philadelphia. I think not only in the case of New Jersey, but Philadelphia and Allegheny County are probably about the only two places in the state right now that have syringe exchange programs, and we are clearly not the only two counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that have opiate drug users. I'm sure there are folks from Lower Bucks that come to our syringe exchange. And the issue, from a public health perspective, is to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, and so we do not ask people where they're 65 04/08/03 - WHOLE from, and if they're not from this county, tell them they cannot participate.
Help me answer the question. You could save me a phone call. A person comes from New Jersey. They come over the Walt Whitman Bridge. They come to our exchange program. They have no drugs in the car. They leave the site. They have -- how many syringes do you give them?
About eight in a starter kit, unless they're bringing something back.
Now, they're going back over the Walt Whitman Bridge. The Delaware River Port Authority Police stop them. They have eight syringes that you just gave them. Is that legal?
In the State of Pennsylvania the possession of injection drug equipment is not legal. I can't really say for the State of New Jersey. I believe there are only about seven states in the United States where the possession of injection drug equipment -- or injection equipment is illegal. So I guess it would depend on what side they get caught.
So they get caught on 66 04/08/03 - WHOLE our side. They could be arrested for something they just got from us?
They could be arrested. We have ID cards for folks that are users of the syringe. There are rare occurrences where there will be a situation, even here in Philadelphia, where an individual leaving the syringe exchange or even going to the syringe exchange may be stopped by the local police. I would say that the Police Department in Philadelphia has been very cooperative in working with us. We've met with their legal counsel, when need be. The Prevention Point Philadelphia meets routinely with the district captains and we have very, very few problems in Philadelphia. It's not something that cannot happen, that injection drug equipment can be confiscated and perhaps taken away. We had a couple of cases sometime ago where an individual was arrested and the DA's Office worked with us around that. Generally, if they're frequenting the syringe exchange. And can show that they've frequented the syringe exchange, these case are not going to go anywhere.
Thank you very much. 67 04/08/03 - WHOLE Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much. Are there any other questions? Councilman Ortiz.
I just want to make a point on the program. It's one of the most successful programs ever instituted in terms of preventing the HIV/AIDS spread in the City. I remember when we began the process in this City of hearings and discussions in '86, '87. We had hearings -- Mark, you were here. At that point, it was really a huge epidemic. It still is an epidemic. But at that point it was no one wanted to deal with the solutions that had to be there. Rendell and both -- when Rendell said it's going to happen, even though it's illegal, it is a health prevention measure that we need to institute if we're going to protect the masses of the citizens of Philadelphia. And when you do needle exchange points, you've got to go to where the people that are using the needles are. And those are the points that we have been able to institute it. And I think our program in the City has become a model, if 68 04/08/03 - WHOLE anything, to be emulated across the nation. If the young woman is coming across the bridge, at least we know she's not going to be spreading the virus. She got the needle. I think that's the answer you give to the mother. If you know your daughter is a user, it's better that she's able to have access to needles or to treatment, rather than tell her when she comes across the bridge, you can't have it. Because she's going to use a needle, and it's probably going to be a used needle and then she's going to have AIDS and HIV and then we're going to have a problem.
We are non-judgmental in this regard, but we do encourage people to seek treatment. We make referrals to treatment. Not everyone wants to go to treatment. But we're always there encouraging folks to address their drug issue. We are primarily trying to stop the spread of HIV, but we do want to see people get into treatment, and that program does function as a bridge to treatment and reaches people that are on the margins.
We had testimony here from Sylvester Johnson. As long as we're the center of the best heroin on the East Coast -- and it seems 69 04/08/03 - WHOLE that we have the best heroin on the East Coast warehoused in the City of Philadelphia. No matter what anybody says about anything in terms of programs out on the streets and so on, we are the center of that heroin program and heroin stash. As long as we're that, we are going to be a center where people are going to come to buy drugs and use drugs and so on. The Health Department, our Health Department, is going to have to be very much aware of what's needed to be done. So I commend you on that. That resisted, by the way. You resisted all of the bad publicity, all of the stuff that came down, and I've got to say the Mayor resisted it and you resisted it, and I commend you for that process.
Thank you very much. Are there any other questions? (No response.)
There being none, thank you very much. The Chair recognizes and calls the Office of Emergency Shelter Services. Good afternoon. 70 04/08/03 - WHOLE
Good afternoon, Madam Chair. Mr. Hess, Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing.
Yes. Mr. Hess, I requested that you come back because I have been requested by two gentlemen who are social workers in this office have asked to testify and I need to have you here to respond to their questioning. And I have some questions. So we'll ask Mr. Glen Davis and Mr. Glen Reed and Victor McDavis to come forward. They have testimony. Good afternoon. Would you identify yourself for the record as you proceed to testify?
Yes. Good afternoon. My name is Glen Reed, and I'm a social worker too at the Office of Emergency Shelter and Services, and I work in the Emergency Relocation Unit.
My name is Victor McDavis and I'm a social worker too, and I work as a case manager at the Office of Emergency Shelter and Services.
Do you want to testify? You have some comments you want to make? 71 04/08/03 - WHOLE
Yes. The reason why we're here today is because we feel that City Council should be aware that currently at the Office of Emergency Shelter and Services, we have a crisis there. The service that we're giving the citizens of Philadelphia, I don't think we're doing the best job that we can. I think if people like myself and Mr. McDavis, if we don't come here and notify City Council of what's going on, I think that it will be continuous and it will go into year 2004, 2005. I have been working for the City of Philadelphia for years, and I've been working at 14 the Emergency Shelter and Services back when it was called OSHA. We're not here necessarily to ask for more money. We think that the money, whatever it is that you determine our office should have, I think we can spend it better. I think that presently our concerns are how our clients are being treated at the Office of Emergency Shelter and Services. I think that there are a number of issues that need to be addressed. We've tried to address it at our office for years. It's come to a point where I think that we needed to bring it to City Council's attention. Because I 72 04/08/03 - WHOLE think if they found out what's going on from the people they represent, I think that they would want to hear what's going and want to intervene. We made a statement that we brought along with us.
Do you want to read that, please? I think it would be more specific.
Yes. We wanted to take you through the intake process at the Office of Emergency Shelter and Services. Starting on the first page, it says, if you and your family were applying at OESS for emergency shelter or services today, this is what you would go through. First, if you had a young child in a baby coach, when you arrived at 141 North Juniper, you would have to lift your baby coach up six concrete steps to get into the office. Hopefully, no one in the party is handicapped and confined to a wheelchair, because the handicap lift rarely works. Once your family is in the building, everyone is frisked by security and given a number that's handwritten on cardboard and told to have a seat in the waiting room until your number is 73 04/08/03 - WHOLE called. The wait could be anywhere from a few minutes to the entire day. The length of the waiting period also depends on what time you arrive and who's working the front window. When your number is finally called, the person you encounter in the front window is a service rep. The service rep will ask you what service you're applying for at OESS that day. The service rep has the power to grant or deny you service. If the service rep determines that your are absolutely having a housing problem, then the service rep will place you on the appropriate log sheet and enter some of your personal information on the computer. Some of the questions the service rep asks while you're standing in line in front of other people, questions like: What is your name? What is your social security number and birthday? Do you have any medical problems and do you take any medication? Do you have any mental health issues? Are you pregnant? Are you a veteran? The questions continue. Answering the above questions in an open area, we feel, is a breach of confidentiality. And we believe it's dehumanizing to stand at the window 74 04/08/03 - WHOLE and tell your personal information where other people can hear you. Once the service rep determines you are eligible for shelter, you are given an orientation date, which is when you will first speak to a social worker for an assessment of your housing emergency. The orientation is usually scheduled anywhere from three to four weeks later. In the meantime, you are placed in the shelter paid by the City. There is no 11 assessment done. There is no counseling. There's no hard copy record. OESS may be found liable for placing clients who were not assessed with permanent shelter residence. In other words, for example, we had a child molester placed in a shelter that was for families. Also, since you have not yet spoken to a social worker, you are not required to pay shelter fees and you're not required to save your money. Now that you and your family are placed in the shelter, depending on available shelter space, you and your family may be sleeping in a single room, a lounge area or any space at a shelter that can be transformed into a sleeping area. The dilemmas that we see that are connected to the 75 04/08/03 - WHOLE example that we just gave you earlier is, first, there are not enough social workers and support staff at OESS in the intake unit to assess and address the volume of residents seeking emergency housing. Number two. On any given day, there are not enough shelter vacancies to accommodate the daily client demand. Number three. There are not enough social workers in the shelters to adequately address the intensive case management needed at the shelter for the residents. Number four. Resources at the shelters have been cut back by OESS, which limits the ability of social workers to provide essential services to shelter residents. For example, there have been cut backs at many shelters resulting in the suspension of immediate on-site drug testing. Funds for on-site drug testing and alcohol counseling have been taken away from many shelter provider budgets.
It should be noted that drug and alcohol screening is a powerful tool that is essential when dealing with many of the chronically homeless. If an on-site drug and alcohol screening -- if it's not 76 04/08/03 - WHOLE done in a timely manner, there is no way to determine a client's real sobriety. Number five. Once a family has been in shelter a minimum of 30 days and has saved $450 in their OESS saving account, they are eligible to apply for transitional housing. However, there is a lack of transitional housing vacancies. Eligible clients in shelters are currently on a waiting list. The wait may extend up to several months. Delaying a client's departure from shelter is costly to the City and money and man hours. Number six. There are not enough permanent housing programs to meet the current demand of the clients in shelter and those displaced by building emergencies. It should be noted there are a large number of clients entering the shelter system on a daily basis, yet there are limited opportunities to exit the shelter system and move into safe, secure, affordable housing. Number seven. On November 12th, 2002, OESS informed the social workers in the Emergency Relocation Unit that they were spending too much money from the Philadelphia Emergency Relocation account. The social workers were instructed to 77 04/08/03 - WHOLE decide which clients who have housing emergencies are most deserving of OESS Relocation money. In other words, no longer is the fact that you have a verifiable housing emergency enough to qualify you for a relocation payment. Your eligibility depends on the social worker's discretion. Also, depending on unknown variables, some clients are subject to an income guideline. In fact, it is true that there has been a substantial increase in the money used to relocate residents with building emergencies. However, according to the audit in 2002, the increase came from expenditures authorized by management, not social workers. For example, social workers are limited to making payments of no 16 more than $750. During the audit period, 33 clients received benefits of over $1,000, for a total of $150,803, or 36 percent, of the total expenditures through March 2002. Number eight. It should also be brought to the attention of City Council that the current chain of command and the insertion of the Office of Adult Services/Housing Support Center has made rectifying problems at OESS painfully difficult. We currently have four directors, one deputy director, 78 04/08/03 - WHOLE a deputy managing director and three assistant deputy managing directors. Resolving issues at OESS is chaotic and almost impossible.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you. Mr. Hess, you have an opportunity to respond. I guess the question I want to ask is, what is the Office of Adult Services and what is the relationship between the Office of Adult Services and OESS? And how is OESS funded and where do the employees come from?
Thank you, Councilwoman. First, let me say that there is not an Office of Adult Services. However, under the previous Managing Director, Estelle Richman, created essentially an adult services structure that includes OESS, Riverview Home, the Office of HIV Planning, and the Housing Support Center, as well as the administrative support functions associated with each of those operating units under the kind of overall heading of Adult Services. And I'd be pleased to provide you with a copy of that organizational structure. We can do that this 79 04/08/03 - WHOLE afternoon, if you'd like.
The Managing Director organized this. Was it done through the Executive Order of the Mayor? It's a new department?
Councilwoman, it was not. My understanding is that there was an Executive Order that was prepared to create the Office of Adult Services that included the same operating units I just described, and that is still pending action in the Mayor's Office. But in reality, it is true that the structure has been largely operationalized.
I will give you a copy of the organizational structure. It means that it is essentially in place. It is real. It does not have any budget authority, obviously. The budget authority goes through OESS and DHS in this case.
Again, there's not an Office of Adult Services, but Adult Services in general was assigned to me as the Deputy Managing Director out 80 04/08/03 - WHOLE of the Managing Director's Office.
So you have Adult Services comes under you; you're the director?
And then who is in charge of Emergency Shelter, OESS?
Now, this department exists without an Executive Order?
Shouldn't an Executive Order be executed prior to the creation of a department? Who is from the Administration?
I think the intent, Councilwoman, of the previous Managing Director was to create this operating configuration that would ultimately become an office, if and when the Mayor signed the Executive Order. And I know that this is an issue that the current Managing Director is working on.
Mr. Dubow, do you have any response to the question about this department? 81 04/08/03 - WHOLE
Okay. So you expect an Executive Order to come down fairly soon?
I wouldn't want to speak for the Mayor on that, Councilwoman. I have not had a conversation with the Mayor about it. I do know that the Executive Order was drafted sometime ago and it is in the Mayor's Office pending disposition, and that's the extent of my knowledge.
Now, what about some of the other concerns that were raised by these two gentlemen?
With respect to the intake process that was described, which I think was directed toward the family intake system, we share a number of those concerns. And, in fact, the Director of OESS has been working with the RGI folks to begin a process in collaboration.
Reinventing Government Initiative. To begin a process that would be collaborative with management staff and union representation to review the intake processes and operational practices and to make some 82 04/08/03 - WHOLE recommendations for changes in that area.
Well, we had hoped that it would have already started. It is ready to start. My understanding is that as soon as there is union representation assigned to that process, it will begin. I'm reminded that this is especially timely for us because, as you may know, we've just begun developing and instituting a brand-new homeless management information system. And so it's critical to the implementation of that new system that we redesign the processes, the operational process, of intake now.
Is there a way for you to provide some privacy area during the intake process? I'm particularly concerned and share with these gentlemen the sharing of personal information in a room where everybody can hear it. Is there a way to provide some privacy for clients when they come in?
There is. The current kind of physical facility is far from ideal in this 83 04/08/03 - WHOLE regard. There are not, for example, private interview rooms.
There are cubicles. Yes, Madam President. There are, in fact, some partitions there that do offer a better interview space than certainly was described to you at the front desk. And I will be delighted to talk to the director and the administrator to see if we can effect some change there. But that has been an ongoing concern.
Councilwoman, while we're on that and we're going down this list, if I may. How about the handicapped and those who are confined to a wheelchair? If we ask everyone to make certain that their building is handicapped accessible, why wouldn't your office be handicapped accessible?
Well, again, it was poorly designed in terms of the entrance. There is a handicap lift side of the building. The handicap lift currently works. There have been maintenance 84 04/08/03 - WHOLE issues with respect to the lift over the last six to eight months that I'm aware of, and perhaps longer.
Well, there was a period of time when there were some significant maintenance issues. As it turns out, what had apparently happened is the lift had aged. When it aged, it would still work if there was nobody in it, but the belts became loose and the pulleys, I guess, were not adjusted properly. So if you actually got somebody in it that had any weight to them at all, it wouldn't go up all the way. So there was a period of time when it was necessary to get the thing re-engineered and the maintenance taken care of so that it works properly. It's my understanding it does work properly now. But it is less than ideal. The truth is that there are six steps that you have to walk up to get into that side of the building. Because of the design of that side of the building and the configuration of the street 85 04/08/03 - WHOLE being directly in front of that space, you really can't put in a handicapped ramp, and so you're kind of left with the steps and the lift. And, again, it is truthfully far from ideal, but it does work.
Well, when the lift is not in operation, how is a client serviced?
There have been a couple of occasions that I'm aware of when the lift has not been in service and we were able to redirect folks to 1321 Arch Street where there is an accessible building to interview folks. But, again, that's not an ideal situation.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Cohen for a point of order.
Mr. Dubow is ready to report on the meeting that took place before. It seems to me the testimony involving this is going to take some time. I'm wondering if we could interrupt the testimony for just a moment or two to permit Mr. Dubow to report to Council on what he's doing to resolve the records problem, and then permit him to go back to work on the problem. 86 04/08/03 - WHOLE Could we have that moment, a minute or two for Mr. Dubow at this point?
Well, he could certainly report what they're doing after we hear from this group. But, Councilman, I'll go along with your request. I think it's not going to be worked out this afternoon.
No, it's not going to be. That's what he wants to briefly report, but he wants us to know.
Mr. Dubow, give us your words of wisdom, please, how you're going to correct this issue.
We have set up a meeting with Mr. Godbolt for next Tuesday morning. I think the remaining outstanding issue is what constitutes a reasonable cost for him, and we're going to go through costs with him so that we can reach an agreement on what's reasonable.
Thank you. We have no questions. We wish you well. But remember the budget of the Records Department is at stake.
Thank you. 87 04/08/03 - WHOLE My apologies to those testifying, because you have an extremely important issue that you're dealing with currently.
Councilwoman Tasco, I think I interrupted you because I wanted to ask a question, so would you please proceed with your questioning?
I'm looking at this. This is not your question. I think what we need to do is have some follow-up on this because a lot of this has to do with the Administration. So I won't belabor you with this because you did not create this. You're the executive director. But it certainly has to be addressed by the Administration as I look at this sheet. Because some of the issues that have been raised here by these gentlemen also have issues relative to who do they report to. Is it the Office of Emergency Shelter or to the Office of Adult Services? Who's in charge?
With respect to the staff members within the Family and Single Shelter Services, they all report to the OESS Director through supervisors and administrators. With respect to Mr. Reed, who is 88 04/08/03 - WHOLE assigned, I believe, to the Relocation Unit, that unit is housed within the Housing Support Center, which reports to the director, who is Jerry Devine. However, in his case we're still going through the union notification meet and discuss process, negotiation process for work rules and so forth. Because it's envisioned that there will be staff members in the Housing Support Center that historically have been assigned to OESS, and other staff members that have historically been assigned to DHS. The concept of the Housing Support Center is that a number of social service agencies have historically had housing units, and those housing units have been disconnected. And so for example, you might see someone come in to emergency shelter and need drug and alcohol treatment and go to CODAAP and get that treatment through a provider, end up in a recovery house for six to nine months, and then kind of be discharged from that recovery house without a housing plan. What then likely happens is that person may relapse and end up back in the shelter system. What we're trying to do -- and it is 89 04/08/03 - WHOLE admittedly a new concept, but what we're trying to do with the Housing Support Center is have a single point of entry for housing resources beyond emergency shelter and to coordinate those activities so that in the example that I gave you, for example, before that person left the recovery house, they would leave with a housing plan that would get them into either transitional or permanent housing to make it less likely that they're going to relapse, less likely to end up in the shelter system again. That's the concept. But in order to do that, it takes kind of an unprecedented effort of staff members that have historically been in different departments working together in the same unit. And we're, frankly, still trying to figure out how to make that work effectively. But the concept, we believe, is sound, to bring all housing resources together, other than emergency shelter, under one gatekeeping operation so that there's kind of a seamless delivery of services and people don't fall out of one system inadvertently and end up ultimately back on our streets or back in our emergency shelter system.
Excuse me, Chairwoman 90 04/08/03 - WHOLE Verna. Can I reply?
Please identify yourself for the record, please.
Mr. McDavis, can you speak directly into the microphone?
I want to bring to your attention -- I have a copy of labor management meeting minutes from November 27, 2002. These minutes were actually written by someone from Mr. Hess's staff, so these are the official minutes. It states, "In the meantime, Ms. Stock, 2187 President, has asked Mr. Devine to refrain from meeting with his staff in order to discuss the housing operation plan. All of the necessary information can be shared with the union stewards who will then pass on the information to other members. Mr. Devine said that he would comply with the union's request." What's at issue is not the nature of exactly what Mr. Hess is planning or what the Mayor may sign off on. What's at issue is the fact that the plan has been implemented without, one, the 91 04/08/03 - WHOLE Mayor signing off on it; and, two, without it being negotiated in terms of our work rules and changes with the union. This has not happened. And so you have a situation with my colleague here, Mr. Reed, who previously reported to the Director of OESS and in the minutes, as is stated, that Mr. Hess has agreed, along with Mr. Devine, not to have our members report to Mr. Devine. So in essence, who does Mr. Reed report to? What I'm saying is, is that we have a plan, we have a new structure, but none of this has been fully implemented. Even the housing center. It sounds good on paper, but none of this has been negotiated. None of it has been put into place. And basically what you still have is basically the same OESS structure, but you just have a different level of management. Now that's supervising staff that were previously part of OESS.
Madam President, I might want to suggest that we have the Managing Director come and explain to us what is going on, and someone from the Administration to talk about this new creation.
Fine. I think 92 04/08/03 - WHOLE we need that. At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. I would like to apologize to Mr. Reed and to Mr. McDavis. I've heard this three or four times and I've spoken with Mr. Hess and, I believe in one meeting, Mr. Schaffer, about this, and certainly this was before Estelle left. So it's been several months ago. And I've heard these complaints. I've heard others about Mr. Devine. I've heard the fears of Joe Mitchell going back to Seattle. I've heard so many of these complaints before about Mr. Brazil (ph) being needed and losing his position. I've tried to meet with Mr. Hess, and he will agree to that. And I thought that we were on a road to resolving things, but the issues you gentlemen bring before us today are the same issues we talked about in detail. I mean, the exact same issues you brought to us before; the social workers, intake, screening, social workers, people being placed for weeks without being diagnosed, those with DNA problems not even having to take urines so that 93 04/08/03 - WHOLE we know who is with who, a person accused of a rape is in with general population. All of these issues we talked about before and I talked to Mr. Hess about. I owe you an apology because I thought they were being addressed. I wanted to be used as somebody to try to bring us together to get them solved. And, obviously, any time you have come here today before the whole Body, you feel they haven't. And certainly we want to make sure that you are protected, that your jobs are protected. I know it takes a lot of courage to fight for what one believes in, even given the fact that you have long years of service. And it takes a lot of courage to come forward for the defenseless and the voiceless who otherwise would be just left after. So I applaud you for that. And certainly, Mr. Hess, obviously, these issues haven't been resolved or they wouldn't be here, since these are the exact same issues. I agree with Councilwoman Tasco that some of us have to sit down now in a larger forum and deal with each of these issues. Frankly, I'm disappointed. Every 94 04/08/03 - WHOLE country is judged by the way it takes care of its poor. In America it's what we're supposed to pride ourselves on. And, as you know, all of you know, this is my issue. I'm just disappointed that we are still here and that we don't have some of these basic issues of service resolved. Maybe at this point what we need to do is, as was suggested, have a group of us, Mr. Reed and Mr. McDavis, involved in the meetings, yourself and whoever you deem, Mr. Hess. Certainly the people we've heard of, Mr. Devine complaints, and Mr. Brazil with fear of being moved, and Mr. Mitchell who wants to stay and is afraid he's got to leave. I hear them all over and over and over and over and over and over. But like I said, I'm just disappointed. So I don't know who else would need to be involved. But we absolutely need to immediately sit down to meet with these issues and to resolve them. We can't treat people any way other than decently and with dignity and give them hope. A person shouldn't be homeless already and come into a place and be insulted or not respected. They're already victims one time or two times or three times when we meet them, and so we have to do our part to 95 04/08/03 - WHOLE respect them. I applaud these men for coming forward, and again apologize that they felt they had to mention these same issues that they've mentioned to me at least three times in the last six months. So, Madam President, I concur. I agree with my colleague, Councilwoman Tasco, that some of us need to sit down in a meeting immediately, in the next week to 10 days to deal with this issue and all the issues here point by point with the plan of resolving them.
Well, I notice Ms. Wilkerson just walked into the room and maybe she could be assistance in that too.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Hess, you were here before just a couple weeks ago.
We asked a lot of 96 04/08/03 - WHOLE questions and you didn't give us the right answers. That makes us angry. At least me. This is more than testimony. This is an indictment of the way you run the place. And I'd like an answer in writing on each of these things. It's not days. 7 I think you and your staff have to sit down and put 8 together an answer to each one of these, what is the 9 plan, what is the solution, and bring it before this 10 Council. This is going to be resolved right here. You're going to present this so that people and the homeless and the poor of this City can have some sort of faith in the institutions that are supposed to treat them. This is not going to be resolved by committees or whatever. This is going to resolved by you presenting to this Council in front of us and in front of the public how these questions that have been raised are going to be resolved. This is shameful. It's shameful that a sex offender, a child sex offender, is put into the population. If anything had happened to any kid there -- I don't know how you could live with yourself if anything had gone down. I am saying to you -- I'm not going to go through this because I think we would have you 97 04/08/03 - WHOLE here all day. It isn't days. You sit down. You answer these questions. You resolve these issues. You come back to this City Council with a plan of how it's going to resolve. And if it's more money, what resources are needed? And if you say you can't get them, you better put that down too. You say we can't do that because there is no money. Resources will not be allocated for that. You put that down.
Councilman, we'd be happy to do exactly that. I'll look forward to the opportunity to give you a full and complete answer to each and every one of these questions. We look forward to that. I would really appreciate having a copy of each of the questions and allegations so that we can look into them thoroughly and so we can respond completely and honestly.
I'll bring the minutes of your last testimony here. Because we asked questions, and answers were not given. Thank you, Madam Chair.
We asked the conditions of intake. None of these problems were 98 04/08/03 - WHOLE given.
Councilman, I will re-look at those answers and expand on them.
I'd like to say this is a twofold problem. What we ought to have, Mr. Hess, in addition to answering the issues that have been raised, is the plan of operation of OESS. What happens to a client from the day they walk in? And as you all -- that department -- reviews the entire process, look at what happens to a client. Where it happens to him. How it happens. So that you can assess the quality of service that the client is needing. If the quality of service is not what it should be, then you all need to look at what it takes to make the quality of service better for the client. The other issue is not yours. The other is an Administrative issue, that we have some issues around. I think that Ms. Wilkerson is here. We can ask her about the organization. And it's not your doing. It was the Managing Director who did it. 99 04/08/03 - WHOLE But you are in charge of the department. So we want to look at the entire service -- quality of service for clients who come into the City to receive service, how is it? What is it? Do you agree with what's going on? Numbers on a cardboard box is not good enough. There are tickets you can buy. Just look at what happens to an individual, whether they're homeless, whatever, an emergency from a fire. They have to be treated with dignity. Your staff has to understand that. And you have to put the proper service pieces in place so that the quality of service is delivered in a dignified way. And I'm sure that you want that. I've worked with you before. We understand the concerns raised by these gentlemen. I think once we come together and kind of talk about all of that, we can work it out. You've got to have some delineation of who these people report to. Who do they report to? Where do they go? That has to be worked out. You just can't take forever. You're just going to have to take the initiative to do it.
Thank you. Ms. Wilkerson, if you don't mind taking the witness table, I think Councilwoman Tasco has some questions that she would like to ask you.
Ms. Wilkerson, some issues have been raised by some of the staff members from OESS relative to the Office of Adult Services. I understand that this department should be established by an Executive Order. Could you give us the status of that Executive Order?
I didn't know that would be an issue today. I will check on that and try to get back to Council within the next day or so on that. I don't have an answer now.
All right. That just came up during the course of a call-back and we do need a discussion about that because there's some confusion about labor issues and -- I mean, you all have the authority and the right to work out, but 101 04/08/03 - WHOLE it's been two years, I understand, and I think we will need to find out how it's going to be resolved.
Thank you. Does anyone else have any questions? Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. May I request that during this meeting perhaps we can talk about other organizational issues that have been brought to my attention so that we have a full airing and can report back to the Council with regard to all these issues, as well as the Housing Support Center and other organizational issues that have arisen?
Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. I don't know who else might want to sit in, but we can coordinate through the Chief of Staff's office to schedule that meeting. Is that all right?
I wanted to know what's the impact of the cuts in the Rendell Administration on the availability of shelter beds. Is there any impact on that?
Yes. I think Mr. Hess can respond more directly. This is one of those areas where the Rendell cuts will have a fairly devastating impact.
Councilman, the effect of the state cuts as they currently stand could be as much as the loss of about 900 shelter beds. So we are diligently working with the Budget Office and the Division of Social Service folks to figure out how to mitigate some of that devastating effect.
That 900 would be on top of the 200 that the Street Administration itself cut last year; is that correct?
Actually, I think they've been largely added back. But yes. 103 04/08/03 - WHOLE
Added back to the system. The reductions we were able to take last year as a result of the census going down for the year, that trend changed in June and has been an upward increase in singles, also, and families experiencing homelessness in our City of 5 and 8 percent this winter. And so for next year's budget, at the request of Councilwoman Blackwell, and after consultation with the Mayor and others, we have added back those beds and some additional beds from other systems, principally DHS and Behavioral Health.
What happens now when a person needs shelter? What happened in the height of the winter, say, in February of this year? Was there a shelter, a bed, available for everyone who needed it?
There was. We did have to open a couple of rec centers at certain points throughout the winter to be able to handle the overflow, but we worked closely with the Department of Recreation to make those facilities available. And we were able to provide shelter to those that 104 04/08/03 - WHOLE needed it.
How much of the cost is covered by the state currently, say, in this year's budget?
About 30 percent. Now, the reductions in the state budget as they've currently been passed is about $4-and-a-half million.
Out of what amount that had been budgeted last year by the state?
I'm going to ask Rick Schaeffer, the Administrative Services Director, to give you greater detail on that.
Good afternoon. I'm Rick Schaeffer. I'm the Director of Administration for OESS. Councilman Cohen, in Fiscal Year '03, we have two main state grants for homeless services. One is a Homeless Assistance Program. That grant is approximately $7.9 million in this fiscal year. And the Human Service Development Fund, the HSDF Grant, is approximately $4 million. So the total this year is about $12 million.
How is that impacted by the proposed Rendell budget? 105 04/08/03 - WHOLE
As it stands now, the HSDF grant, which is this year about $4 million, would be eliminated. And there is a proposed 5 percent reduction in the HAP grant, so that would be about a 4 or $500,000 cut.
And your interpretation is that that will cause a reduction of 900 beds out of how many that are presently there?
I think for this coming year, Councilman, we had budgeted around 2,200 -- I'm sorry. 2,300. We'll have to move some money around. But strictly if you looked at the bed cost and how that would be impacted by a $4-and-a-half million cut, we would lose 900 beds.
It just seems disproportionate to the loss. It's serious, I admit that it, but it would not seem to me to impact that much if the state share of the cost is only 30 percent.
Well, part of it has to do with how the money can be spent and what funding 106 04/08/03 - WHOLE sources it's coming from. Admittedly, we would have to move money around because we could not absorb the loss of 900 beds. I can't imagine that would happen. But when we responded to the state as to what the impact would be, that was our position, that the impact would be the loss of up to 900 shelter beds.
Now, what has the Governor done with respect to that portion of the state budget? Has he approved that?
That portion of the state budget has been enacted. It was part of the original budget proposed by the Governor. It entailed about a $100 million in cuts for Philadelphia. The homeless services are just one of the many areas that are substantially impacted. What the Administration is involved with now is lobbying hard, trying to restore the cuts, and we're also working to prioritize where we would actually take cuts if that actually comes to pass. We're taking a hard look at our priorities and working to get some of the money back.
But the Bill has actually been enacted? 107 04/08/03 - WHOLE
It's gone through the Governor's office, in other words?
No. The Governor line item vetoed certain elements of it, but the entire $100 million cut is in place. The Administration circulated information about a little over a month ago that detailed all the cuts across government. But this is just one of those things that we're having to react to. It's before this whole budget process is complete. The Administration will likely have to return to City Council with an amended Five-Year Plan that reflects the loss of $100 million in FY '04, and it's going to be recurring. So we're talking about a $500 million loss over the course of the Five-Year Plan. So this is something that's devastating.
It's gone through the Governor's office and the Governor did not veto his original proposals for these cuts?
The Governor has signed the 108 04/08/03 - WHOLE budget. He did do a line item veto to take out all education funding, so there are clearly discussions that still have to go on at the state level before the budget is enacted. It's going to have to be amended. There's going to be a different budget at the end of the process. So there's still a chance that some of this stuff will get put back into the budget. And we're engaged, as Ms. Wilkerson said, in lobbying in Harrisburg to make sure that when things are put back in, some of these crucial services are funded.
But we can't understate how serious it is for a lot of different parts of government. OESS is hit particularly hard, but after school programming is at risk, drug and alcohol, as a lot of people know, has probably taken one of the most substantial hits at a time when we're seeing a run-up in the demand for additional drug and alcohol services. This is a huge issue. I'll recirculate the memo that details exactly where in government we're looking at these cuts, but they will be substantial, even under the best case scenario.
It's difficult to 109 04/08/03 - WHOLE comment on that because it's unbelievable that the Governor, who has been the Mayor of Philadelphia, would have been as naive as apparently he was, and that's putting it in the best light, when he proposed a budget that everybody familiar with politics knows the republican party would love. And the more he condemned it as he presented it, the more likely the republicans were going to view it as a very desirable budget, and they did that. I don't know whether he can work his way out of this or not. We will see whether the Rendell magic of the past works currently. I admit it creates all kinds of difficult problems. But then we were in difficult problems before that too, so it's a little hard to evaluate.
Well, that's right. Our situation was challenging. We've suffered the run-ups in costs. We had a fire fighters' award that adds $30 million to the Five-Year Plan. It wasn't there before. And when you add up all these additional costs or lost revenues, the City's situation is extraordinarily challenging.
All right. I guess at this time there isn't enough hard news from the 110 04/08/03 - WHOLE state to know what's going to be the final story. But I'm afraid that most of it has already been written. There may be minor changes, but it might get worse also, as well as having the possibility of getting better.
I don't want to predict what will happen up in Harrisburg. What we do know, though, is that that's a situation that's not likely to be resolved before we have to have a Five-Year Plan in place and approved by PICA.
Tell me about this Five-Year Plan. You know, we passed it in very routine fashion. Nobody takes it seriously at all that I find in City Council. Maybe some members do, but I haven't seen any indication of it. It's used as a whipping board against Council. Later we're told, well, you passed that in Five-Year Plan so that you can't change a budget. I just find it as a useful whipping lash that the Administration uses against Council because you can move things in the Five-Year Plan that nobody is paying too much attention to, and then whip it out later and say, yeah, but we proposed it and you approved it in the Five-Year Plan. 111 04/08/03 - WHOLE Suppose we don't do a Five-Year Plan, what happens?
The Five-Year Plan is a requirement of the PICA Act. And if we didn't have a plan, then the PICA Board could declare that we're in what's called a variance and they could stop the flow of all state funds to us. So they have some pretty dramatic tools to use against us.
There are appointments by the Governor and by the majority and minority leader of each house, the State Senate and the House of Representatives.
Have they ever issued any kind of a statement attacking Philadelphia for its failure to do what it has to do under the 112 04/08/03 - WHOLE Five-Year Plan?
There was a time early in PICA's existence where they declared the City to be in variance because the City was projecting a deficit. And the first step in that process is reporting monthly. And so the City began reporting monthly and showed how it would get out of variance, so PICA didn't have to resort to any of the harsher tools that it can use.
It seems to me often the Executive Office -- and this is not limited to the current Administration. It's true of every Administration since we've had the PICA law and probably before that. It's very common for a Mayor, whoever the Mayor may be, to work together with the state to try to clip Council's wings, if Council is doing something that the Mayor doesn't like. I think that's the reason we're in such trouble now. We taught the state how to carry out its role as a Super City Council. And so the state finally learned and began acting on its own, sometime when the Executive Office didn't want them to act. So I just think the City ought to stop using the state body as a method of controlling City Council. 113 04/08/03 - WHOLE They ought to try to do it within the framework of the City. You were saying we cannot afford to lose 900 beds, right?
And I agree with that completely. With respect to testimony of Mr. Reed and Mr. McDavis for a moment. Were Mr. Reed and Mr. McDavis here on their own, or were they here because you were presenting both sides? How did they happen to be at the witness table during the Administration presentation? I'm just wondering. I was about to congratulate you on a fine display of government activity to have both sides presented, to have criticism of your Administration at the same time as you're seeking support.
If I had thought to do that, we would have invited them up. Maybe we'll do that next year.
I was trying to figure it out. I thought their testimony was very helpful and useful in giving all of us a picture of what was happening. 114 04/08/03 - WHOLE Are there differences between the labor organization and your administration that have not been resolved? Is that why they were here?
There are certainly ongoing discussions with the union, especially with respect to the Housing Support Center, but also with respect to the intake process and the family shelter services. These are discussions that have gone on for some time and I suspect will take a while longer to get resolved. There is a need. A number of areas are in transition, are changing. We're moving much faster towards trying to reduce the average length of stay, for example, in shelter and move people into permanent housing faster with supportive services. We had a significant amount of success with that last year, thanks to our colleagues in the Philadelphia Housing Authority. We need to continue that. All those changes do create some degree of tension and some degree of uncertainty and has to be talked through and worked out. Ultimately we are most concerned about the quality of service we can provide to our clients. There continues to be room for improvement in that area in a number of ways. We're not going 115 04/08/03 - WHOLE to sugarcoat that. We want to get it out. We want to have those discussions. We want to work through those issues and we want to make that happen. We will continue to do everything we can to effect those changes along the way. Now, having said that, I'm not naive enough to think that it will happen fast enough, because clearly it has not happened fast enough already. But we have made some very significant strides in a number of areas that we try to present to Council in our original testimony and we will continue down that path.
Councilman Cohen, I don't mean to cut you short, but I understand Ms. Wilkerson is really pressured for time. She has another commitment that's very important.