We're not a hundred percent, but we will be by the deadline. And we are working with all of the parts of government. So each one of the Deputy Mayor's areas is participating, particularly around obesity, and we will, I think, have the best crack of anybody in the country at making these dollars do what's needed to begin to address both obesity and smoking, particularly among youth. 279 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
Final question on this topic. So the entire City will have an opportunity to be impacted by those dollars or is it based on where the greatest needs are on the obesity level? The backdrop on that is, back story, two of my colleagues ultimately supported menu labeling because when I showed them where the incidents of diabetes were, which heavily impacted their districts, they were more prepared, if you will, to support the bill.
So the Centers for Disease Control specified that these had to be at scale citywide.
However, we are permitted to have interventions that are expected to have a different impact. So, for instance, one of the things we're doing is bringing farmers' markets into underserved communities. That's a 280 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. citywide intervention, but not every community in the City is underserved. So we will, in effect, disproportionately work with communities that are poor and communities that don't have good opportunities to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Now, will that have OEO application to ensure that farmers' markets --
We won't pay farmers for the markets. What we'll do is work with folks who can, like the folks who help facilitate finding the people, who can come in and do the selling. We won't -- this is sustainable in that what's required is to figure out who the partners will be and find the place, and we'll facilitate that, and then the farmers' markets should sustain itself.
Okay. Any connection or relationship with the School District as it relates to the U.S. 281 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Centers for Disease Control for prevention dollars?
Huge cooperation, and I have to say we have been so pleased with the great partnership from the School District around school lunch programs, around physical activity, around health education and nutrition education. So a good example, something that will be important to you in particular, is school children will be educated about menu labeling so that they can interpret the information for their families about menu labeling, and the School District was already thinking of it. We are going to help and encourage that. The partnership I think couldn't have come at a better time.
Lastly, just update us on the website, the IdleFreePhilly.com.
So we are out of compliance with federal air quality standards for two components of air quality. One is particulate matter, particularly very fine or small particulate matter, and the second is ozone. Both of those are produced in this area particularly by motorized vehicles. And when a vehicle isn't moving but sits there idling, we are unnecessarily generating both particulate matter and the precursors of ozone, and as a result, this is an initiative to help both educate people about ordinance 19 and to help people with strategizing around how to reduce the time that vehicles are idling without being in use. So turn off your truck or whatever vehicle it is rather than having it sit in place for long periods of time. Now, part of this is how do we 283 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. get traffic patterns so that where there are particularly large vehicles, diesel engine vehicles, we have good flow. So working with Transportation and Utilities for the City, we can work on that issue. So this is a major effort. It's not a small one, and it goes across a lot of parts of government and a lot of partners to figure out how we can actually decrease the amount of time when vehicles idle, which should make a difference to both particulate and ozone.
Very well. Is the School District or the Health Department developing the curriculum for menu labeling?
Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. Is Councilman Jones in the 284 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. room? (No response.)
Thank you, Madam President. I just want to ask a question here, and I apologize if you already answered this question, but I'm just curious to know. People who use the health centers, are any of them insured?
Depends on the health center, but you can figure it's about 50 percent.
Fifty percent? I was just wondering what impact President Obama's healthcare reform bill would have on these centers.
Great. I don't know the answer, because it depends if people -- 285 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
It's also people may choose to go elsewhere or people may stay with us.
Well, that's my point. My point is, if they have their own healthcare, they would probably go to their own doctors, make appointments with their own doctors or perhaps go to the hospital instead of our health centers, and I was just wondering if this would along the line alleviate some of the congestion or whatnot in the health centers.
It may. If the -- remember, 50 percent of the folks who come to us are insured. They like it. We give great care. And I have to say, I came from outside City government. When I came into City government, one of the first things I looked at was the quality of care of the providers.
And I agree 286 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. with you, because I'm familiar with the Northeast there.
Great providers. Great there. So a lot of people like their providers and they are their doctors in their care. So my hope is that folks who are uninsured who have been coming to us when they get insured will stay with the health centers, and what that will do is relieve the General Fund around some of its obligation.
Because it would generate some revenue which we don't have today.
Which I'd love it if you cranked back into the health centers so we have better and better care, but I know from the budget there 287 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. are an awful lot of needs in Philadelphia.
Okay. Thank you, Dr. Schwarz. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. Do we have any other questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Thank you for your great service. We will now hear from the Department of Human Services. We were to have public hearings this afternoon for the First Judicial District. However, because of the lateness in time, we are going to reschedule them for April the 13th at 10:00 a.m. (Witnesses approached witness 288 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. table.)
Good afternoon. Thank you for your patience. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Anne Marie Ambrose, Commissioner, Department of Human Services.
Nice seeing you. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Good afternoon, President Verna and members of City Council. I am Anne Marie Ambrose, Commissioner for the Department of Human Services. Today, I will present to you the Department's FY11 Operating Budget request and report on how our expenditures align with our organizational goals to improve outcomes for children and youth, improve the perception of DHS and increase our community presence, and improve operational efficiency. These goals serve as the Department's blueprint for 289 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. meeting the City's charge to invest in youth and protect the City's most vulnerable. The General Fund budget request is for $576,365,473. This is 12,860,000 above the FY10 estimated obligation level of $563,505,473. The total budget request including Grants Revenue funds is $598,859,638. " We 16 currently have 231 providers under 17 contract. Fifteen percent of them are for-profit providers. The Department of Human Services is committed to supporting the Administration's goal of percent 21 minority, woman and disabled-owned 22 business participation in City 23 contracting. The Department of Human 24 Services' FY11 participation goal is five 25 percent. 290 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Since the tragic death of Danieal Kelly on August 4th of 2006, the Department has undertaken significant reforms under the watchful and helpful eyes of the review teams created by former Mayor Street and reestablished by Mayor Nutter. Our efforts have focused on increased accountability, improved processes to ensure child safety, the creation of a vast continuum of in-home services to meet the diverse needs of children and families, and enhanced community connections. Several of these initiatives were recommended by the review teams and continue to be monitored by them. In November 2006, the Child Welfare Review Panel was created to examine DHS' practices in order to outline ways to enhance child safety. To date, DHS has successfully completed or continues to implement most of the recommendations. Our progress and implementation of the panel's 291 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. recommendations is being monitored by the DHS Community Oversight Board, an independent multi-disciplinary panel of experts convened by the Mayor. In their February of 2010 progress report to Mayor Nutter, the COB concluded that it's pleased with our progress and that we are implementing our reforms in a manner that should lead to long-term sustainability. I attribute our ability to sustained growth in change to having a passionate leadership team that is committed to organizational development and performance management. I cordially extend an invitation to anyone in Council who would like to learn more about what DHS does and how we operate to meet with me and my leadership team. We recently hosted an extremely productive visit with Councilman Kenney. Next, I must recognize how vital our partnership with Family Court is to our growth as an agency. DHS' partnership with Family Court is 292 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. unprecedented. Under the leadership of Administrative Judge Kevin Dougherty, we are working together every day to improve the lives of children and families. Together, we have decreased placements by percent this year and increased 8 adoptions and permanent legal 9 custodianships by 25 percent. 10 DHS is working diligently to 11 continue to improve the outcomes of 12 Philadelphia's most vulnerable children 13 and youth by enhancing internal and external accountability and strengthening our programs and services offered to children and families. Last year I reported to you that DHS enhanced its performance management and provider oversight capacity through the development of the Division of Performance Management and Accountability. PMA uses data-driven and evidence-based methods to track the efficiency and effectiveness of services.
In the year since its inception, we have 293 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. seen significant advancements in evaluating and managing our own performance and our providers. One example of this work has been PMA's development of a provider report card for general foster care placements. I am pleased to report that all of the providers performed well and demonstrated that children are receiving appropriate services while in their care. We intend to continue to develop provider report cards across our various levels of care to measure and examine provider performance. DHS also continues to monitor agency-wide performance through continuous quality improvement methods, including ChildStat, monthly quality improvement case reviews and our newly implemented quality service reviews. With most of our reform efforts to date focused primarily on safety, we are now looking more strategically at our older youth population and wellbeing 294 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. issues, such as education and physical health. Forty-four percent of our youth in placement are years and older, so 5 it is critical that DHS develop a plan to 6 support this population effectively. 7 A third of the City's dropout 8 population has been in DHS' care. As a 9 result, DHS established the Education 10 Support Center to improve educational 11 outcomes for children in our care by 12 taking a more coordinated, effective and 13 targeted approach to remove educational 14 barriers for children and youth in DHS care. We have also expanded our Center for Child and Family Wellbeing to include a part-time medical director who will work with DHS on managing physical health issues of clients and consulting with staff during investigations on detecting child abuse. Our Juvenile Justice Division continues to look forward to the move to our permanent youth detention facility in West Philadelphia. 295 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. DHS is committed to enhancing its community connections. The leadership of DHS values and appreciates the extremely hard work and stress that our staff endures. We hope that by standardizing case assignments, aligning providers geographically and collaborating with system partners, we can better communicate, deliver services and change community perceptions of DHS. For the past two years, DHS Children and Youth Division staff have been organized geographically. Just recently through our collaboration with the School District of Philadelphia we aligned our CYD staff with regional superintendents in an effort to improve educational planning and coordination. Our in-home service providers are also similarly geographically aligned. Through geographic assignment, we aim to foster greater outreach and collaboration between public and private agencies, including social service providers, 296 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. police captains and schools. These new relationships extend up to the highest level of meetings taking place with the School District leadership, as well as with Commissioner Ramsey and District Attorney Williams and their leadership teams. These types of cross system collaborations are vital to ensuring child safety, because as the COB noted in its February 2010 progress report to Mayor Nutter, ensuring child safety is not solely the purview of one agency. Child welfare is a community responsibility. We also continue to improve operational efficiency through organizational restructuring, program development and cost management. Last year, DHS restructured its Administration and Management Division into two distinct divisional support functions - Finance, and Administration and Management. The Finance Division was created in order to 297 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. manage better the complex operations within the department and to focus on budgeting, revenue maximization and integration of financial functions.
Administration and Management will focus on human resources and administrative, technical and logistical support for the agency. DHS has also streamlined its Community-Based Prevention Services Division to more effectively target and provide services. This reorganization has led to an alignment of services, improved access to resources and enriched our engagement with the community and stakeholders. Next, DHS is committed to utilizing technology to improve operational efficiency. Examples of our efforts include merging multiple databases throughout the agency, developing an electronic case management system, piloting an on-board employee vehicle-sharing and tracking program, 298 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. which will enable our workers to conveniently reserve vehicles over the Internet, safely transport children and help better manage our fleet, and working with the Department of Technology to provide, on a pilot basis, hand-held 8 devices that will allow our emergency 9 units to create photo validation of their 10 visits and to record case notes in 11 realtime. 12 Finally, DHS continues to 13 better manage our personnel costs, 14 reducing overtime, eliminating staff 15 vacancies and reducing placement costs. 16 Our projected overtime costs for FY10 is 17 20 percent less than last year. 05 savings in personnel costs. 20 DHS is also committed to 21 obtaining better outcomes for children by 22 reducing placements by ten percent 23 annually through the management of 24 admissions and shortening the length of 25 placement. Over the last three years, 299 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. our dependent child welfare placement population has steadily declined. We now have less than 5,000 children in placement. Equally important are our efforts to minimize the utilization of more costly and family disruptive out-of-state placements for both dependent and delinquent youth. Comparing FY08 to FY09, DHS, in collaboration with Family Court and CBH, decreased out-of-state placements for dependents by 46 percent and delinquents by 27 percent. DHS will continue to look for ways to be cost effective and maximize our operating efficiency. Commencing in FY11, each divisional deputy must develop strategies to meet this goal. The division of PMA will develop divisional score cards to monitor each division's performance and implemented improvements. At this time, I'm happy to entertain any questions you have and 300 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. again extend an invitation to meet with any Councilmember or their staff following the hearing.
Thank you. Ms. Ambrose, you state that your General Fund budget is being increased by $12.8 million in Fiscal 2011. When I look at the revenue estimates from other governments, your state aid is being reduced by $37.4 million in Fiscal 2011. Am I correct in assuming that the City is increasing its cost of DHS by $50.2 million? Kindly identify yourself for the record. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: Good afternoon. My name is Rumana Ahmad. I'm a Deputy Commissioner for Finance here at the Department of Human Services. Our budget, our Operating Budget breakout is, it's a mixture between City share, State share and federal share, and the projected increase 301 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. in City share is not -- let me pull out the actual number that it is, but it's not 50 million. The increase in City share between FY10 and FY11 would be about $4 million.
How is that when -- DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: Our target budget for FY10 is $58 million and our target operating budget for FY11 is $62 million. Our State share -- so the Act 148 money that we will be receiving is about $355 million for FY11. So our total operating budget is going to be $576 million, based upon our State, our federal and our local monies. So we're talking about a cash flow issue rather than specifically an operating budget issue. So there have been delays in receiving particularly our IV-E money, which is going back to FY09. So this would be an issue I think that requires a little bit more background. So one of our biggest revenue 302 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. sources out of our approximately -- we'll just say approximately $600 million operating budget for the last couple of years, about a hundred million has been -- a little over a hundred million has been from Title IV-E and a large --
I'm sorry. What was your last statement? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: The funding source, about a hundred million of our revenue comes from Title IV-E funds, which are federal funds, and there are quite a few requirements that are attached to complying to draw down these funds, and the State actually is -- the Office of Children, Youth and Family under the Department of Public Welfare is responsible for interpreting the policy for those funds and forcing or encouraging or requiring counties to comply with those policies. There were quite a few changes that came at a statewide level beginning July 1st, 2008, which would be the start of Fiscal Year 303 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. '09. So there's been a delay in actually drawing down those funds both in FY09 and in FY10 as a result of the various changes that have occurred statewide. In the last several months, we have drawn down -- we've actually invoiced for -- as far as our FY09 funds are concerned, we're about -- 90 percent of our maintenance funds have been drawn down. The rest of our funds, with the balance of -- we have one with our fourth quarter administrative costs, our fourth quarter adoption costs have not been invoiced, but other than that, we have invoiced for the other portions of our IV-E money. There is -- because of the negotiation between the State and the federal government, there is a hold on a subsection of our IV-E money. So about $20 million for FY09 is being held during this deferral period. So we will -- we're expecting to see some resolution 25 between the State and the feds on that in 304 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. the coming weeks, so that money should be released and should come into the City in about 30 to 45 days after that release has occurred.
We are led to believe that the State is reducing its funding for DHS in Fiscal 2011. Can you tell us what options do we have in finding replacement funding from a source other than the City? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: The State -- our budget itself is also reduced from the operating budget from '10, which was at 500 -- I'm sorry. That would have been $590 million, was our operating budget for '10, but our target budget is actually $560 million. So we've reduced our target projection for FY10.
Can you tell us what is the total amount of City-generated funds that go to DHS and the cost of employee benefits, and building maintenance should also be 305 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. factored in at the least. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: So for our FY11 operating budget, the City share is 62.9 million. And let me pull up our actual -- our other City costs. So our other City costs for FY11 projects are projected to be $120 million. Within that, our total personnel costs for FY11 are $95 million. And those fall into our operating budget rather than our other City costs, if that makes sense.
Thank you, Madam President. Good afternoon, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Good afternoon.
You state in your written testimony that you currently have 231 providers, 15 percent of them are for-profit providers. What percentage of those are disadvantaged 306 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. businesses? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: The total percentage is actually, I think, 3.4 percent.
Of the for-profit providers? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Correct.
Why is that? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Part of it is that most of that funding -- and the total funding that we're talking about is actually about $60 million. About 52 million of that is actually for placement costs, and two of the providers for placement costs that are included in the for-profit are VisionQuest and Cornell, which are -- there's not a lot of discretion around some of the placement issues. We work with the court. And even when you do some research on what for-profits out there are minority or women-owned or disabled, 307 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. there aren't a lot of options.
And what services do they provide? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Placement for mostly delinquent youth, some dependent youth. In the discretionary area where we have about $4.9 million, we do much better. We have about a 42 percent participation rate for those services.
You said VisionQuest provides what services? Placement? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Placement services.
And there are no subcontracting or procurement opportunities associated with that? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yeah. One of the things that we need to work with those providers on is their subcontracting and how they can do more minority participation with the subcontracting that they do for food 308 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. service and various things that they provide to the children.
One of the things you need to work on? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Absolutely.
What does that mean? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: One of the things that we need to talk to those providers about.
So should your goal be higher? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yes. Absolutely.
So why is your goal what it is? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Our goal is what it is because we're trying to get to a higher number.
That doesn't make any sense. Do you or do you not know what procurement or subcontracting opportunities might exist? 309 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: We do know, and we actually work with OEO on all of the RFPs that we put out and try to --
Let me jump back to that. You put out an RFP for daycare services? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Correct.
And what's that for? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: It's for providing daycare for children that are DHS involved.
And what were your goals in that RFP? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Just give me one second.
Do you want me to tell you? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Actually, yeah, if you can find them before I can.
It actually said "best efforts." That's disgusting. 310 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. For daycare services. If you were providing daycare services and you put out an RFP and that is an opportunity and in the past you've spent $80 million in contracting and only done about three, four percent with disadvantaged businesses, you set a goal now of only five percent. If I ask you about your for-profit providers and what subcontracting opportunities exist, going through all of that line of questioning and then I ask you about a daycare RFP and you say you've been working with OEO and you set a goal of best efforts, that's unacceptable. Do you have any response to that? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: All I can say is that we know that we're not meeting the goal, that we want to work more closely with OEO.
That means nothing to me. Can you explain how you can't even achieve meaningful participation on a daycare contract, a 311 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. contract to provide daycare services? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I think --
To me it means you just think you don't have to do it. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I don't think that that's the reason. I mean, one of the issues that we have is that we have to meet State mandates and so some of the requirements that were put out recently in a bulletin by the State require a two star rating.
And so the RFP had to say "best efforts"? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: No, and we can reexamine that language.
It's closed already. And after it says "best efforts," it goes on to say, "These ranges are based upon an analysis of factors such as the size and scope of the contract and the availability of MBEs, WBEs and DSBEs to perform various 312 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. elements of the contract." These are daycare services. I mean, how long has DHS been providing daycare services? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: We've been providing daycare services for a long time. We --
So you don't know what capacity exists out there in terms of disadvantaged businesses? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: One of the issues that we have is in order to get reimbursed by the State, we have to follow certain mandates that they lay out.
I understand all that. Based upon your experience, based upon the fact you've been doing daycare services for years, based upon what you should be doing, which is identifying disadvantaged businesses that are qualified, you should know what's out there in terms of qualified DBE firms, and when you put out an RFP for daycare 313 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. services, it should not say "best efforts." That's ridiculous. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I agree with you.
So who set the goals? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: We worked with OEO on all of our --
How do you work with OEO to say best efforts? I can see if you actually came up with a number that you can say you worked with OEO. In other words, OEO told you you could just put best efforts or don't worry about it? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I'm not sure exactly. I mean, if we want to get an answer, maybe -- (Person speaking from the audience.)
You must come up to the witness table. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Joe, why don't you come up. (Witness approached witness 314 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. table.)
Good afternoon. Kindly identify yourself for the record.
Joe Cronauer, Assistant Commissioner, DHS. The way that we work with OEO -- and I think that we do need to work more closely with them -- is that we'll share with them what the RFP says, we'll share with them the language, what the goal is, and OEO will return to us what the ranges are that they establish.
That's completely unacceptable. I've said department by department, you're the professionals, you know what goods and services you want to procure. You've been in business of providing daycare services for a very long time. You should know what exists out there in terms of capacity. You should set the goal. You should meet the goal. I don't want to hear that OEO set the goal. 315 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. That's ridiculous. I'm not going to accept that. I mean, if you can't tell me what amount of contract dollars should be going to disadvantaged firms for daycare services, you're not serious about this. You're not. No other response? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Councilman, I'm not disagreeing with you. This is --
When OEO came back and said based on good-faith efforts, best-faith efforts, you just said okay?
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Good afternoon. Thank you. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Good 316 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. afternoon.
I think that we went through this, I think, last year and maybe the year before. You've been here -- COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I wasn't here the year before, but we --
Last year, and certainly the Councilmembers raised that issue before, because we've told you, as we've told the Health Department and other departments, that there has been a lack of effort in broadening your base of provider contracts, and that's been a concern of ours, because we get telephone calls from providers who are not being considered. We don't know who is being considered, and it's very disappointing to have the departments come back and not have made any effort to increase minority participation. And I'm looking at one of the questions I have. You have -- there are a number of cultural-based organizations that you 317 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. have that are missing from your increase of $13 million in the General Fund for the purchase of services for the DHS budget. There are organizations that have traditionally been part of your program, APM, Congreso, SCAN and Intercultural Family Services, and they are not listed as providers for Fiscal Year '11, and these organizations have certainly through the years been providers of services for DHS, and if they are not included, I'd like to know why and how you evaluated them for them not to be included. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: All that you have mentioned are actually current providers and provide a variety of different services at DHS, with the exception of SCAN.
So what happened to SCAN? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: There were a series of concerns that we had regarding individual cases, and once we 318 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. looked more closely at some of those cases and met with the provider over a series of months, we made the decision that it was in the best interest of the children that we serve to terminate those contracts. I spent considerable time with Derek Green from your staff going over many of those issues and concerns.
And we certainly don't want any problems to happen to children, because that's our first concern, but we want and trust that in your evaluation, and hopefully so, that the performance evaluation will be fair. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yeah. So let me speak to that, because I actually think some of the providers in our performance evaluation process have actually done very well. APM, for instance, was one of the highest scores on our new provider report card for family foster care. Concilio also did well, Women's Christian Alliance. So 319 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. some of the providers that we traditionally value have done well. I think some of the outreach efforts that we've engaged in is, we've met with GPUAC. We believe that they have an infrastructure that can help provide the administrative oversight that some of our smaller community-based providers lack. So we've engaged them in writing out a proposal perhaps that could help. They call it GPUAC University. So we're looking at that and working with Kevin Dow to explore that to help some of our providers. Also, Deputy Commissioner Figueroa is on a task force with the United Way that has public and private providers talking about this issue. Kevin Dow has recently joined that group. Because we do think that there's a problem with what we're doing at DHS and we want to support -- we talk a lot about being more community based. In order to do that, we need to have partnerships, 320 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. and the stakeholders that provide the community services need to be part of that. The other thing that we're working on is, Washington, DC has currently -- has recently created service collaboratives at the community-based level. They're going to be coming up and talking to us about how they've done that, sort of creating the community umbrella that provides the administrative infrastructure that's necessary for providers, to make sure that they're meeting all of the legal mandates that we at DHS have with the federal government and the State government.
And I appreciate that and appreciate your efforts to really address the issue. This morning we had Dr. Arthur Evans talk about their increased minority participation to 38 percent, because that was one department we were on constantly about their lack of outreach to the 321 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. broader community and the involvement of a diverse pool of providers, and so they have -- and you might want to talk to him about how they've done it, because he laid out the whole program, how they have through their office increased the number of people who know about the contracts, how to bid on the contracts, what's involved and all of that. So it's just knowing what they are. And as Councilman Goode said on daycare -- I'm really kind of embarrassed for us, because I'm on your Advisory Board -- that there are daycares -- I mean, we're in zoning every week about daycare, and so there are providers all over this city that are capable and licensed, and certainly Councilwoman Brown's very deeply involved in the daycare issue. And so your pool should be far more expansive than it is. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yeah. We recently requested a new position from the State for childcare, because this is 322 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. of concern to us, and the new requirements by the State are really going to limit the ability of our families to access available daycare in their neighborhoods. And so --
It's going to what? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: It's going to limit the availability of access. There's a new requirement for the daycares that we use to have two stars under the new State bulletin, and so we do have that position that's going to be housed under Deputy Commissioner Figueroa, and we're really going to work on this. I think, you know, there's an unfortunate choice of words that were used here. We do value community participation, and we need to do a better job.
Next year when you come back and sit in that chair, you're going to have a better report, 323 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. right? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yes. Yes, I will.
Much better report, right? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yes.
Good afternoon. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Good afternoon.
I wanted to go back to the discussion that President Verna was asking about, the funding. The $20 million being held by the State right now, was that part of our grants revenue or was that part of -- I'm assuming if it's from the State, it's grant revenue, the 20 million that's being on hold? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: Yeah. It's actually -- it's 324 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. reimbursement. It's IV-E reimbursement, yes.
Why is that money being held? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: It's being held statewide, actually. So it's not just Philadelphia that's suffering. So the State is actually -- there are a variety of issues that the feds had taken with the Title IV-E program in the State of Pennsylvania.
I wanted to clarify that, whether it was grants or general. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: Yeah. It flows through the General Fund, but it is -- it's a reimbursement program. So we do outlay the funds and services continue to be provided. This money supports specifically children who are -- specific children within our foster care pool. So it's a reimbursement for that type of service. So we have to obviously 325 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. continue to pay for it. But the money that's on hold right now, it is due to the State compliance with federal requirements. So what they're doing is, they've been -- there are a couple of things that they've done statewide to improve the process. One is create a statewide collection system. So all of the invoices, where they would historically go in by paper and then be reviewed manually and then get sent off to the feds, they've actually been loaded -- they're now loaded individually into a State collection system, and they're quality controlled. So they're actually reviewed and if you have any issues. And another thing they've done is reviewed the actual reimbursement rates by provider service, and those are some things they've done. Now, the feds are actually working with them to make sure that they meet the standards that the feds have set. So it's been kind of an iterative 326 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. process. There was a piece that's actually on hold in the fall and they released that, and now it's just down to this one subcomponent that I'm told by the State they're very, very close to closing the deal on that, so it should be soon.
So are we going to be able to recoup dollar for dollar? Because I know in our budget discussions with the Mayor's executive team, there's been a concern that we may have to eat some of that, up to $10 million, and, in fact, part of the discussion with them has been we need to budget for that if that's the case, because it's a big number. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: We actually haven't anticipated that. We've asked that -- and this is a statewide plea from all the counties -- that the counties be held harmless, because this was something that was actually orchestrated by the State, and the 327 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. discussions have always been between the Administration of Children and Families and the Department of Public Welfare. So we have not anticipated that. Oh, here's our Budget Director. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. Steve Agostini, Budget Director. As you know, Councilmember and others, we have had concerns that changes either at the federal level or the State level in terms of the reimbursement could put us at risk. I think kudos need to be given to the Commissioner's team and especially to Rumana in trying to get the billings done in a very aggressive and compressed timeframe. If I recall correctly, I think they've thrown as many as ten additional people at the entire claims process in recent weeks, months in an effort to be sure that we are 328 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. receiving those reimbursements in a timely basis and being reimbursed for as much as possible. Nevertheless, it is possible that depending on how that gets worked out -- and Rumana made mention of the deal being worked out with the State and the feds -- that we could be at risk, and that was one of the issues that we raised. Hopefully now all this turns into simply a timing issue in terms of when the dollars are received. Perhaps they're not going to be received in the next couple of months, which means they may not necessarily be received in this fiscal year, but we would receive them in the subsequent fiscal year. If it turns into a timing issue, then our concerns are greatly diminished, but if at some point it actually turns into a material issue where we don't get reimbursed, then I think we'll come back to you and give you some information about that. 329 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
That will be important, because I know you guys are building a cushion. I just want to make sure that if this becomes a cushion, that we have that information hopefully before we approve the budget, because a $10 million item is a huge item for us.
Okay. So thank you. I notice that in your budget you're still carrying most of your technology to the point of $3.1 million. There's been a streamlining with DOT, so I wanted to know why DHS' technology is not with our other office. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I don't -- go ahead, Steve.
So one of the concerns that we had with grant-funded positions like the multitude that exist in DHS is that if we were to remove those positions, put them under the Office of 330 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Technology, that we would then run into difficulties in getting reimbursed, because they were not directly in the line of command, if you will, providing service. And so what has been agreed to is a service-level agreement and an understanding about how those individuals will report, what the workflow is and what the work needs to be done in order to support the grant-funded activities. We just didn't want to run the risk of pulling those folks out and then not being able to get reimbursed, because the dollars are very sizable.
That's an important point. I just want to make sure that as we're looking around how we manage data, that we are ensuring that there's some connection back since we want to make sure the data interfaces. So that's a good point to bring out. When we look about the amount of money that we've spent for the care for individuals, there's about $109 331 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. million, 72 million of that being with eight organizations. You made reference to how you guys have increased the accountability. What other things have we -- what are the things that we're doing to ensure that in this case there's like eight providers that provide the bulk of the work are meeting the highest standards? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I think there's a variety of different things. Most of the children that you're speaking about are court ordered. So we work in collaboration with Family Court on most of those cases. Many of those big providers that we use have many different levels of care and specialized services within that. What we've tried to do is look at each of the levels of care and look at a compliance tool that we're developing. It's going to streamline what we used to have. So the State does their licensing piece. We wanted to focus a little bit more on quality of 332 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. service delivery. So those are the things that we're working, and the tool will be complete on July 1st.
I notice that you moved away from your family preservation, so there's a lot of items that show unfunded. Where are those services now being picked up? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: We actually eliminated family preservation in the last budget cycle based on some poor outcomes, and now we've created a new service called "family stabilization service," and we've increased our alternative response services.
So are we still servicing the same amount of clients? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yes.
And what's that number? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I think it's -- hold on one second. I think it's 3.65, but someone can look it up for me 333 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. while --
Okay. In a lot of your budget, especially as it relates to Class 200 funding, you have many things that say "vendor to be determined." Some of these items were previously funded in 2010, so I wanted to know vendor to be determined, is that because we're changing vendors? And those are mostly on where you have a few million dollars in vendors to be determined, but they were budgeted last year. Is that because we're changing vendors, we haven't selected vendors? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yeah. We're getting ready to issue an RFP mostly around delinquency prevention and mentoring for older youth. That was actually some money that was set aside. The court used to have about $1.6 million in their Prevention Services Unit. We've convinced them that some of the services they were providing were duplicative of 334 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. what DHS was already providing, and we determined that we needed to do a little bit more around older youth. So there used to be an intensive delinquency prevention program that was actually a really good service. We want to look at that. And we've also met with former Mayor Goode about his take on mentoring for older youth. He had some really terrific ideas around site mentoring and the research around site mentoring for pre-delinquent youth, and so --
So we'll have an increase in services, so when we look at the court's budget, are they going to be decreasing that support? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: No. 19 That was actually a Memorandum of Understanding that was established between Administrative Judge Field and I believe it was Commissioner Martinez. So it dates back that long. It would just be money coming back to DHS that we would issue an RFP in partnership with the 335 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. court. Some of those cases would be around kids coming into the delinquent system, where they think that family services or just some community-based service would prevent that child from entering deeper into the juvenile justice system, so a diversion from juvenile justice.
Okay. In your statement you talk about the breakdown of your staff, and I notice that four percent of your staff is Latino. What is the percentage of Latinos served through your department? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: That's a good question and I'm not sure I have it for you, but something I can get back to you on.
But I think we'll agree that four percent in a city that's ten percent Latino is not sufficient, right? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Absolutely. I can tell you that even 336 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. given our population, it's much higher than even ten percent.
Going back to Wilson Goode, what goals are we establishing to ensure that as opportunities arise, we recruit, without taking all the best from the agencies in the community? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Well, I think based in some part on your advocacy efforts, we've developed, I think, a very robust dialogue with the Latino providers. We meet with them frequently. We've included them on both our Prevention Realignment Committee that's determining which way prevention dollars flow and what kinds of services are best there, and also we have two members of the Latino provider community sitting on my DHS Provider Leadership group that meets every other month for a couple of hours talking through issues. So they're well aware of the issues. We've also spent some time meeting with Concilio 337 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. over the last couple of months to make sure that we're supportive of the new leadership at Concilio. They provide great services for us and we want to make sure that we're helpful throughout the transition.
In terms of the new services, your services in the home, what is it you call it now? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: In-home protective services, and we actually have a continuum now. We used to just have services to children in their own homes. We now have a continuum of services depending on the needs of the children and families presented to us.
One of the concerns that I've heard from the providers is that, one -- and I know DHS' goal is overall to have a reduction of placement, but I think that one of the concerns is around how the referrals come and the providers' ability to maintain staff if their referrals are up and down. 338 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Are we getting better at that? This was a huge problem last year. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: That was a huge problem last year and coupled with all the budgetary concerns and the providers not getting paid, they lost a lot of staff. I think most of that has stabilized. Those services have been in place for some time. I think the providers have stabilized, because the money is finally coming in, and I haven't heard any of those concerns recently.
How are we doing with contracts? One of the issues that we really experienced last year when the State delayed their funding and their budgets was also we have providers that provide services and don't get a contract until September, October, November. Where are we? Are we able to turn around contracts in 90 days? Are we getting better at that? It's a huge problem for smaller -- COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: It's a 339 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. huge problem. We're getting better, but there's still a lot of work to be done. I mean, one of the things that we've talked about is bundling contracts, so that under Health and Opportunity, we share many of the same providers. If we could just have one bundled contract for that provider and work it through that way. We're trying to work with Law on that as well. It's a really cumbersome process not only for the agency, but for the providers, it's not a good process.
So what's our goal for this year? I don't want to be calling you guys again in September saying, Where are contracts? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I don't know if Joe has set a goal, but --
You got to come back up. I got to get you on the record, someone I call.
Hi. Our goal is to have all of our contracts conformed and ready to go by the time our providers 340 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. are able to invoice for the first time, which will be August 10th, depending on --
Yeah. And it really is possible. It can be complicated, particularly if there are delays in like the State budgeting process or whatever, which could preclude us from beginning the process, but we've been working well and we'll have a full meeting to talk with our providers about exactly what pieces of information we'll need them to have ready for us so that when we get the green light to begin our contracting process, we'll be able to get that information and move it through the process.
And I want to reiterate Councilman Goode's concern around when we contract with some of these private providers, especially for the ones that are not necessarily 341 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Philadelphia-based providers, the issue of minority contracting, because they do do an array and do purchase services. They can have a tremendous impact in the communities in which they're currently located if they bought locally and so forth. So I can't even tell you how important that is. The one thing that I will add as it relates to our non-profits, because I know Dr. Schwarz spoke earlier around analyzing Board composition, but it would be very important for me to look at staff composition, because they're some of your larger providers who -- and I've seen it. It will have one Latino doing ten million things, and they get a bigger contract than some of the folks that are on the ground, and I think if we started asking for those numbers even on the employment side, I think you start seeing a shift in even their employment. Because ultimately the goal of Wilson and Blondell, who have worked at this for 342 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. many years, is providing contract opportunities, but also employment opportunities. And if organizations are not asked the questions, there's no 6 reason for them to try to recruit a more diverse staff that reflects the population that they're serving. So we're the purchaser of these goods, and if we enforce it, it will happen.
Yeah. And our current plans are not only to ask about what your staff composition is, but to distinguish between senior staff and all staff, so that not only are we having a diverse representation if you look at the overall staff composition, but that includes what your executive staff looks like as well.
And also where they buy. Where they buy, their Board composition, what they buy, where 343 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. they buy and their staffing. I think if we started all saying that and singing that song, I think we'd see a shift in that. And I think ultimately the community would be better served and Philadelphians will be better served. So thank you, Madam Chair.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. Good afternoon. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Good afternoon.
Councilman Goode used the word "unacceptable," but Councilwoman Tasco used the word "disappointing." When you consider the Mayor's Executive Order that we were led to believe he made exceedingly clear wherein he expected the leader professionals in his Administration to 344 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. step up and honor up, I would really use the word "egregious" and some might argue insubordination. When there's an $80 million budget and three, less than four percent goes towards the world that the Mayor stipulated clearly in a formal press conference, he wants Philadelphia to do better. So I cannot let that go by, because I've been here for ten years, and I sent a letter to Mayor Nutter last year making it clear and making it plain that with every single department, we, Councilman Goode, myself and others, would be asking real questions, wanting the hard data about MBE, WBE participation. And so when we get this number ten years later, it's awful. It's awful. Further, when you say that X number of the contracts are for non-profits, 15 percent, and you mention VisionQuest and Cornell, are they local? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: They're 345 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. for-profit. That's -- 3
Are they 4 local? 5 COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Some of 6 them -- they're Pennsylvania-based 7 companies. 8
Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: One of 10 the goals here is also about keeping kids 11 closer to Philadelphia. 12
Exactly, 13 as has been raised and advocated for in 14 this Chamber. 15 COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: That's correct. And so they're Pennsylvania companies. When we've done some exploration with the State on additional providers that we could use, there really aren't very many choices that are local providers.
I understand that, and having worked in the world of placing children in certified, reliable, safe environments, I completely 346 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. understand that. That was my job at Family Court. When it comes to procurement services that these agencies provide, talking to them is not going to move the needle. If there's not a hammer to help them understand that we at DHS have a requirement to meet the Mayor's Executive Order, nothing happens. So talking with them doesn't get you there. Is there a hammer in place for agencies like this, as few as they are, to help them understand, we have a requirement with MBE, WBE, DBE expectations, is there a hammer to help move them to help you honor the Mayor's Executive Order? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I think we could put that in the program -- the performance standards of the contract and set percentages for them on each of the things that they subcontract for.
So from that, I should understand that there are 347 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. professionals within DHS that write those contracts? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: We work with the Law Department to write those contracts, that's right.
But ultimately the sign-off on the language of those contracts rests with? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: With me as the Commissioner at DHS.
So when we hear the word "best effort," we know that in many words that's a four-letter word. In 2010 with the Mayor's Executive Order, best effort does not get us there. It simply does not get us there. And so when I hear that that is the case on a childcare -- and it's not daycare, because we're not taking care of the day, we're taking care of children -- childcare contracts, that's further disturbing for me, because no one can tell me that we don't have five-star Keystone Star childcare centers in the 348 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. City, because I know that they exist, because I've visited them since I've been here. We can go with the Caring Center in West Philly or Adrienne McKinney right there at the Bourse. So to suggest that we have a contract and we're going to use our best efforts to find childcare centers who provide services to children, most of whom look like me, it doesn't mix, it doesn't connect at all. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Understood.
Okay. Who grants the Brightside contracts? Is that a State contract or is that a DHS contract? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: I believe that's the State contract through Optel, but... (Witness approached witness table.) DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FIGUEROA: I just wanted to -- Cynthia Figueroa, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Human 349 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Services. I just want to comment, Councilwoman, about the childcare. That particular RFP had been posted, I believe, approximately seven months ago, and now in preparation for the State bulletin that has a requirement that not only is it that you're licensed, a licensed facility will not be sufficient in order for the State to allow us to pay for the subsidy. The daycare provider will have to meet the two Keystone Star qualification. So we're actually working right now to try to figure out what is going to be the best contracting process. So we didn't yield, I think, the responses that we wanted with that posting that happened seven months ago and we're still --
Excuse me. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode for a point of order. 350 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
Very simple question. Does that mean that the childcare facility has to be owned by a white male? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FIGUEROA: No. It means that they have to reach that two Keystone stars, and so we're actually looking at --
Does it have to be owned by a white male? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FIGUEROA: My response to the question is no. 14
Could you have a hundred percent participation from minority and women-owned businesses? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FIGUEROA: If they met the requirement.
You should know whether they meet the requirement. You should know whether the capacity is out there. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FIGUEROA: That meet the --
If you're 351 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. actually evaluating a childcare RFP and it's your field and the Department has been doing this for years, you should know what minority and woman-owned childcare facilities are out there and how they rank and whether it's possible there could be a hundred percent participation. So what you're saying is completely ridiculous. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
What procedures do you have in-house -- let me go back to what Dr. Evans did, which for me was very instructive, wherein he was able to stipulate X number of -- he conducted a survey. He actually conducted a survey wherein he indicated there were 214 providers, 81, or 38 percent, were minority-owned, women-owned or DBE. And he had as a part of that 352 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. process technical assistance available for those prospective, potential providers who could, if given help, move to possible consideration for CBH. So help me understand how and if DHS has done that recently or has that in the pipeline, because it appears to me that that's the only way you're going to change this number of less than four percent. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: So on the non-profit side, we actually have recently done a survey. The results are incomplete, but I can tell you that our rates look much better. Of the approximately 300 providers, we actually had 107 responses. Of those, 13.3 percent were minority providers, 24.5 percent were women-owned and one percent was disabled.
So that means only 33 percent responded? Did I hear that correctly? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: I 353 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. apologize. The number she has the denominator on, there's actually -- it's not updated. The number --
You're going to have to talk into the microphone. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: Okay. I apologize. So the -- we also did a very similar survey, and there were about 191 not-for-profit providers that we sent the surveys to. COUNCILWOMAN Brown: Of that, how many responded? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: One hundred and seven.
Stop right there. So these are agencies and providers that are receiving dollars from the City of Philadelphia and you're asking them for information to help you do your job better and only close to 50 354 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. percent of them responded or a little over 50 percent? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: This survey was done -- this is something, I agree, we should have been doing on an ongoing basis, keeping track of this for our not-for-profit providers on an ongoing basis, but this survey was done fairly recently, so that would be the response that we got during the last -- during the survey that we did that took us about over the last month or so.
All right. So you're telling me then that you're reaching out to those who didn't respond so that you can try to get -- DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: Yes, we are.
-- the full picture, correct? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AHMAD: We are, actually. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Correct. 355 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. And we did it last year. We had full results. We wanted to update the numbers, and we didn't do it in enough time to actually get a full response, and so we can give you the responses that hadn't come in at the time that we got this. And actually Rumana has more information than I even had.
That would be helpful. Let me go back to the for-profits. For the for-profits, the expectation of Councilmembers is that if you're receiving dollars from the City of Philadelphia and you are a for-profit, we expect for your picture profile to show that you're doing business with MBEs, WBEs, DBEs, period, period, and to the extent that you're not doing that, then you need to know we have to reconsider whether or not we're going to continue to give you taxpayers' dollars. It's 2010, and the Mayor has made it clear in his Executive Order. So then when we come into these Chambers, we 356 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. really want to hear department heads who have embraced it. And we listen to what you say, but ultimately we're looking at what you do based on these numbers. And so as Majority Leader has said, months 7 from now, because I actually had this 8 conversation 12 months ago, but 12 months 9 from now, we really want these numbers to 10 be better. We cannot defend anything 11 less than that, not anymore. The Mayor 12 has made it clear in his Executive Order. And what we're learning or what I've learned since I've been here, for too long department heads were putting it on OEO. Well, OEO is not doing this and OEO is not doing that. And then in conversation with my colleague, I discover no, it's the department heads who ultimately have to be held accountable for honoring these goals and what the Mayor has stipulated, and so ultimately it starts with leadership. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Yeah, and I did think that we made an 357 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. improvement at least in the ones that we had more discretion around, so the minority participation rate for those are 42 percent for the for-profits.
Those are non-profits? COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: Those are the for-profits. For the for-profits, for the contracts that we have more discretion with, the minority participation, women rate is 42 percent. For those placement kinds of cases, the majority of the for-profits that we have, we have to do a lot more work on putting some performance standards into our contracts and encouraging them to do subcontracting.
And I would submit that encouraging doesn't get us there. Doesn't get us there. If there's not a hammer and a stipulation, if you don't do A, then XYZ will not happen, they have no reason to move the needle, because they're not committed to 358 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. this the way they should be receiving taxpayers' dollars. So I guess the ask is, come up with -- work with the Law Department to come up with stronger language so that they understand that this is the Mayor's and City Council's expectation. (Witness approached witness table.)
Don Schwarz, Deputy Mayor for Health and Opportunity. I don't want to interrupt the conversation. I just want to point out -- because Behavioral Health was cited, they report to me, DHS reports to me and so forth -- a difference here that I want to make clear.
And something that we all have to be conscious of. So for DHS, unlike DBH, the majority of the provider agencies that are for-profit here for the largest contracts are agencies that have a choice to do 359 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. business with the City and take our kids or not. And we have a lot of difficulty. I've actually been in press since I've been in my role reviewing cases with DHS the number of agencies that don't take Philadelphia kids. Even though they're contracted with us, they don't take kids, and they cite a thousand reasons. So I agree with you --
Can I just do a footnote to that question? So they're being granted a DHS contract and they're opting not to take Philly children? Is that what I'm hearing?
In some cases, that is correct. Part of the answer to your question of can we put this in our contracts is absolutely. Can we hold providers to their behavior? We can. The delicate balance here is at some point if a contractor says to us we're just not going to do business with the City of Philadelphia, that becomes a 360 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. problem because of the number of children who at times are placed particularly by the court, and we lack discretion in those cases. We don't have a lot we can do about that. And if a provider says, Well, you have that in your contract, I'm not going to do business with you, DHS is caught in the middle and doesn't really have a lot it can do. So I understand. I think we will do it. We've actually talked to OEO about can we jointly come up with the right language, particularly for non-profit, for-profit subcontractors.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode for a point of information.
Because I want to follow up with -- I get that and understand that. Then there's a role here for Judge Kevin Dougherty or his designee to help these agencies understand we will not refer if we have -- presuming we have options and other alternative like placements, then they have -- "they," the court, Judge Kevin Dougherty or his designee -- have to help us with the hammer. COMMISSIONER AMBROSE: And Judge Dougherty and I had a conversation about this as I was preparing for the testimony. He understands it. I think he agrees and he'll be a partner in this. So I expect his support.
-- remember that many of these entities are licensed by the State and they take kids from all 362 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. over the State of Pennsylvania, as well as in many cases other places. So can they do business without Philadelphia? (Councilwoman Tasco talking without microphone.)
Well, for some providers, that's true. We have the -- it's a complex question because of the kid who is special from Philadelphia, and those kids frequently don't have a lot of options.
Are they the greatest proportion of kids in the particular entities that you do special care? They're not. And those are the agencies where I'm concerned we'll have a problem. Can we do it with the agencies where 75 percent of the kids come from Philadelphia? We absolutely can. Can we do it with the agencies where not 75 percent? We have to figure that out. What I want is a standard in all of our 363 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. contracts.
In all of our contracts. The Councilman has been and you have been clear that in our non-profit contracts, non-profit subcontracts with for-profits should be held accountable.
You've also been clear -- we hear you -- that in our for-profit contracting, if there are for-profit subcontracts, we have to be clear. So the language in the contracts that we use needs work. We are going to in this year and actually very quickly work with OEO on can we agree -- and I think we can easily agree -- on language. We'll get that into our contracts for July. We have to talk to all of our contractors so they understand and we figure out how we can hold them accountable. One of them is reporting, 364 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. which you heard from Mr. Cronauer. We will do that. And a year from now I am hoping, one, we have more data than we do and, two, we have different participation rates so that it does change behavior. Where we are going to have an issue is the issue for DHS when there isn't much discretion, and I want to be clear for the record about that.
And by "discretion," you mean options of like placements. I truly get that, having worked in that area.
For -- good. (Councilwoman Tasco talking without microphone.)
Thank you, 365 4/7/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Madam President. Two comments. One, Dr. Schwarz, you said that if you were to pursue this matter as we suggest, that you would end up stuck in the middle.
Before you answer that question, let me make my second point. We're actually stuck in the middle.
As I came to this Council, 95 percent of City contract dollars were going to businesses owned by white men.
For the last few years, 82 percent of City contract dollars are going to businesses owned by white men. The Mayor's goal in reverse is to have 75 percent of contract dollars go to businesses owned by white men. You're not stuck in the middle. We're stuck in the middle. That's unacceptable. A lot of what you do, whether it's good work or not in terms of health and human services, is tied to poverty, is tied to economic starvation, is tied to a number of things that in part will be solved by people being stuck in the middle and doing the right thing. So do you want to be stuck in the middle or not?