a 74470 94460 7

1 2>
Let.s Make a Deal
C
oming from the relatively conservative state appellate division, the court decision
was perhaps not a totaL surprise. StiLL, it stung. In October; a paneL of judges
ruLed that City ComptroLLer ALan Hevesi overstepped his authority when he
refused to sign off on contracts the city had drawn up with the welfare to work corporate
giant Maximus. By now, the saga is the stuff of city legend: After meeting with city offi-
ciaLs before the contract was even signed, Maximus secured a $104 million deaL to train
welfare recipients for work, neatLy circumventing the rules for competitive bidding.
But the court said the deal should have gone through, basicaLLy because the mayor
wanted it to. The ruling, say government reformers who track city social service con-
tracts, officially extends the mayor's already substantial authority over private contracts.
It may be fair to say that one mayor in particular is the issue-you know, the one who
routineLy uses city dollars as a bLudgeon against enemies reaL and perceived.
No GiuLiani, no probLem, right? WeLL, not exactLy. ScandaLous abuse of contract power
may walle with the mayor's departure next year. But regardLess ofwho's in City HaLL, the
way the city spends a huge portion of our money remains virtuaLLy invisibLe and unac-
countabLe. More than half of contracts now do not go through competitive bidding. And
it is next to impossibLe, even for watchdog groups that Live for this stuff, to actuaLLy find
out how much agencies are spending on contracts, what they're getting for their money,
and how exactly the job is getting done. In other words, the rest of us are buying bLind.
So what to do? WeLL, shining a LittLe light wouLd heLp a whoLe Lot. The comptroLLer's
office used to do that, reguLarLy publishing synopses of contracts and their significant
details. Now, wouLd-be watchdogs are stuck poring over pages and pages of published fig-
ures that don't expLain what's reaLLy going on. And while no one wants to go back to the
favor-swapping days of the Board of Estimate, the board's obligation to hold weLL-adver-
tised hearings for every contract was a precious opportunity for good-government agita-
tors to make noise about bad deaLs.
It also wouldn't hurt to get an assist from the City Council, which has had pLenty of
opportunities. Councilmembers have the power to pass Laws making the contracting
process more transparelll. They could aLso use their authority over a special part of the
city budget devoted to contracts to demand accountability for how dollars are spent. But
the counciL is as vexed as anyone when it comes to figuring out the basics about impor-
tant city agency deaLs.
And to a great extent, most councilmembers choose to stay in the dark. Their con-
stituents hardly push for dirt on deals the way they do for dog runs and smooth streets,
and who can blame them? Amid aLL its contract shenanigans, one of the GiuLiani admin-
istration's enduring accomplishments is that it is now that much easier to stop caring.
Cover il lustration by Greg Spalenka
ALyssa Katz
Editor
City Limits relies on the generous support of its readers and advertisers, as well as the following funders: The Adco
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(ity Limits
Volume XXV Number 10
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DECEMBER 2000
FEATURES
The City Limits 20
Why worry about the privatization of government services when
you can cash in? Introducing the City Limits Index Fund,
a portfolio of the hottest companies in the bureaucracy biz. By Kathleen McGowan
Taking Liberties
She thought investigating child abuse and neglect would give her a
chance to help kids. A year of confusion, betrayal and moral
cul-de-sacs was all she could take. A first-person account. By Akka Gordon
Put to the Test
Immigrant students need to learn English. But by making them take
Regents exams to graduate, the state is shortchanging some of the
city's most motivated students-and setting them up for failure. By Phyllis Vine
PIPELINES
Tally No
Census 2000 was supposed to make up for a decade-old miscount
of New York's homeless. Instead, snafus and incompetence may
deprive the city of billions. By Sajan P. Kuriakos
Downward Mobility
No one disputes that people who can't walk need wheelchairs. But
neither the state nor their nursing homes will agree to provide them.
So they squabble-while people lie stuck in their hospital beds. By Yael Schacher
Burned Out
The fire that killed a 13-year-old girl should have sent housing
advocates marching on City Hall. But years of fighting for better
code enforcement have left them weary, drained and mute. By Kathleen McGowan
CO ...... E NTARY
Review 129
Morals of Muck By Robert E. Sullivan
Cityview 130
The Profit Motif By Emily Menlo Marks and Doug Turetsky
DEPART ... ENTS
Editorial 2 Job Ads 33
Letters 4 Professional 37
Directory
Briefs 5
-

LETTERS i
,
LAW OF THE FATHER
The stories you portrayed in "Failure
to Protect" [September/October] were, at
best, pandering to the women out there
who believe that a family doesn't need a
man in it. Your story suggests that all men
who beat their spouses and children can
get custody of their children. Your story
suggests that all women who go to court
for help do not get it from the court. That
is patently and absolutely a bold-face lie.
More women are getting court orders of
protection than ever before. (The number of
orders granted to men is also on the rise;
though it is not mentioned in your article,
men are battered by their' spouses as much as
women.) Your stats do not take into account
that most women who seek orders of protec-
tion do so to have their men removed from
their house as a precursor to a divorce
action, and that most men who get orders of
protection against them do so without bene-
fit of a trial. Men who do stand trial for
orders of protection usually have the orders
dismissed because there was never any
proof offered to support the order being
sought by the woman in the first place!
The problem is that any woman can go
into any court and get an order of protec-
tion against their man at any time. The man
doesn't know about it until he is served
with the order and ordered to get out, with-
out benefit of a hearing. A date is set for a
hearing weeks down the road, and until
then the man is not allowed into his house,
to see his kids or to retrieve his belongings.
And at the same time, he is ordered to pay
child support and rent for the house he
doesn't even live in, as well as set himself
up in a new place until the case can be
heard. I urge you to readdress this problem,
and to please contact those disenfranchised
fathers who have been victimized by the
system, and then look at the devastating
effect it has on their children.
Efrain Rodriguez, Jr.
President, Fathers' Rights Association
of New York State,
Hudson Valley EastlWest
and NYC Chapter
Annia Ciezadlo responds:
My story does not suggest that "all men
who beat their spouses and children can
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M
g
get custody of their children," as Rod-
riguez claims. It does say that most people
who beat their partners-and even a few
who also beat their kids-can get unsuper-
vised visits with their children, and some-
times even custody.
UMIOMDOOZV
I would like to add some comments on
Michael Haggerty's story ["WEP'd Out,"
September/October). Yes, it's true that
many union leaders have long charged that
the WEP program replaces unionized pub-
lic employees with WEPs in violation of
state law. And yet one union official, Pres-
ident Wtllie James ofTWU Locall 00, was
willing to violate the law when in 1996 he
reopened our contract to give up 500
cleaning jobs to make room for the WEPs.
James claimed that if he did not reopen the
contract, the TA would have to layoff
many of the cleaners. A week later, The
New York Times reported that TA in fact
had a huge surplus. Willie James gave the
labor movement a slap in the face.
Alberto Candelaria
Member; New Directions, Transit
Workers Union Local 100
RUMMIMC OM HOMES
While I appreciate your lament over the
housing crisis in New York City [editorial,
September/October], I would like to cor-
rect your assertion that it will take "a wave
of catastrophic homelessness" to make
housing an issue of political urgency.
As Speaker of the City Council, I have
been outspoken about, and deeply commit-
ted to, tackling New York's affordable hous-
ing crisis. Most recently, I have established
a Housing Task Force that will soon report
on strategies to eliminate governmental red
tape and make it cheaper and easier to build
affordable housing throughout the city.
As a candidate for mayor, I intend to
make housing a leading issue in my cam-
paign. It is critical to the future of this city
that the next mayor implements a long-
term Koch-like plan for affordable hous-
ing. In September, I joined the four other
mayoral contenders at Habitat for Human-
ity's housing forum to outline my vision
for housing in New York. For two years, I
have advocated for a Jiousing Trust Fund.
As a public benefit corporation, this fund
will be financed, in part, by the stream of
property tax dollars from the sale of the
World Trade Center, which alone will
fund the construction of more than 20,000
(continued on page 32)
CITY LIMITS
Exhibits
The Withers Underground
I
n miles and years, the Queens Borough Pub-
lic Library is far removed from the battle-
grounds of the civil rights movement that
transformed America in the 1950s and
1960s. But that distance is now a little short-
er, with the Library Gallery's exhibition "Let Us
March On! Selected Civil Rights Photographs of
Ernest C. Withers, 1955-1968."
As the title suggests, the collection is meant
neither as a comprehensive chronicle of the civil
rights movement, nor as a Withers career retro-
spective. But the photographer, a lifelong Mem-
phis resident whose other photographic subjects
have included baseball great Satchel Paige and
musicians like Elvis Presley and Howlin' Wolf,
was drawn by work and passion into the civil
rights orbit time and again.
A work assignment first brought Withers into
contact with the nascent movement, as he pho-
tographed the Emmett Till lynching trial in Mis-
sissippi in 1955. Till, a black teenager from Chica-
go visiting relatives in the South, was lynched for
speaking to a white woman on the street. It was
one of the first times that a lynching had even
made it into the courts, and Withers was on hand
DECEMBER 2000
when the inevitable not-guilty verdict stoked
moral indignation in the North and black anger
across the country.
Those photos, unfortunately, are not on view at
the library. But for anyone intrigued by the famous
and forgotten faces who fought for full citizenship
for southern blacks, what is on hand is a revela-
tion. The surprisingly short and dapper Martin
Luther King, Jr., all of 26, leading the Mont-
gomery bus boycott in 1955, comes across as
human and vulnerable in Withers' pictures. Partic-
ularly striking is a photo of King and longtime col-
laborator Rev. Ralph Abernathy, riding on Mont-
gomery' s fITSt desegregated bus after the boycott's
successful conclusion. Rather than wearing tri-
umphant expressions, both look humble and
apprehensive-two travelers at the outset, not the
conclusion, of a long and uncertain journey.
As a friend of King's, Withers had intimate
access to the movement's most visible spokesman.
His informal shots of King resting in his room at the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis during the 1966 March
Against Fear seem unremarkable-until the viewer
realizes that King was barely 20 yards from the spot
where he would be gunned down two years later.
But as civil rights organizer Ella Baker
famously said, "The Movement made Martin,
rather than Martin making the Movement." With-
ers might have been at his best in capturing the
faces of those anonymous marchers, volunteers
and activists who made the movement, but he also
catches the world they sought to change. His
images of Memphis in the 1950s include one sign
posted in the driveway of the city zoo: "No White
People Allowed in Zoo Today." Of course, only
white people were allowed on the other six days of
the week.
He also captures a counter-protest at City Hall,
in which two well-groomed white teens hold a
neatly lettered sign reading "Segregation or War."
The "or" is in script and underlined; the other
words in block capitals. It's as if June Cleaver her-
self whipped it up, in between seeing to the laun-
dry and getting dinner ready.
-David Jason Fischer
"Let Us March On! Selected Civil Rights Pho-
tographs of Ernest C. Withers, 1955-1968," will be
on display at the Queens Borough Public Library
until January 7.
-
Brie& ........ --------...... --------------1
Plato de Rata
B
UShWiCk protesters delivered a hot lunch special to the Department of Health in early Octo-
ber: One of the massive rodents that has been tormenting their neighborhood, nicely gar-
nished with lentils. They're not alone in their complaint. Now that cool fall days have put mos-
quitoes at bay, rats have resumed their rightful place as Most Conspicuous Urban Vermin. Harlem
Councilman Bill Perkins has gone on an anti-rat offensive, the City Council is pushing legislation
to replace plastic bags with trash cans, and the mayor's office has launched an anti-rodent poster
campaign. But somehow, none of the official efforts raised public awareness quite like the Bush-
wick prime platter.
Public Housing
Working From
Bome
R
esidents of the Lower East Side's Lil-
lian Wald projects feel cheated. Sure,
their buildings are getting repaired But
even though federal law recommends
local public housing authorities hire
tenants for rehab work, the New York City Hous-
ing Authority won't respond to their job applica-
tions, say Wald residents.
Section 3 of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 says
that if federal money is used to fund repair work
in the projects, local housing authorities and their
contractors must do their best to hire people from
the development and the surrounding neighbor-
hood. The idea is for tenants to get a chance to
learn construction. .
But according to Wald residents, not a single
one of their neighbors will be working with the
NYCHA crew designated to repair the ceilings
and roofs in their buildings-and they are ticked

off about it. 10 October, residents marched with
members of Good Old Lower East Side, a tenant
advocacy group, to the offices of the federal and
local housing departments.
Debra Cardona, a tenant at Lillian Wald, said
both her son and daughter submitted applications
in May, but have yet to hear from NYCHA.
"What am I supposed to tell them?" she asked
federal housing department representative Steve
Savarese. ''These jobs would have meant that
they'd have training and could work for them-
selves."
Unfortunately, Savarese said, the federal
Department of Housing and Urban Development
can't force NYCHA to hire local tenants. The law
"sets out goals," he told the tenants, "but there is
no penalty for noncompliance."
NYCHA wasn't much more helpful. When
the residents arrived at the agency's executive
offices, they ran into Commissioner John Mar-
tinez as he was getting into the elevator. "I
already know about your letter," he told them.
"I'll have a response for you in the morning."
As of a week later, the tenants hadn't heard
back.
-Anumda Bruscino
Lead Paint Laws
Paint it Over
S
ometimes a step into the past can be a
big leap forward. In October, a state
Supreme Court judge overturned the
city's one-year-old lead paint abate-
ment law-and lead paint activists
were jubilant.
Justice Louis York said that the city's law,
crafted by political expediency instead of a
desire to protect public health, had skipped
essential environmental review processes and
was therefore invalid. For now, the decision
seems to tum back the clock, reverting to an
older, tougher rule.
"It's been a very long, very worthwhile
struggle," says Marie Dixon, an activist with a
lead-poisoned child. "His decision is based on
protecting children as opposed to political
mumbo jumbo."
Lead paint can cause serious permanent
brain damage in children who ingest the dust or
chips-roughly 1,000 New York City children
each year are diagnosed with lead paint poison-
ing. Most older buildings have lead paint, but
the price of safely removing all that toxic paint
can become colossal, turning the issue of lead
paint abatement into a highly politicized battle-
ground between environmental activists and
landlords.
The city's current legislation, Local Law 38,
was passed last year after months of secretive
wrangling and deal-making at the City Council.
Its backers, including City Council Speaker
Peter Vallone, insist that it was a reasonable
compromise between protecting children and
minimizing clean-up costs. "It's disappointing
to learn of this decision, which we hope will be
overturned," Vallone said in a statement.
But housing and children's advocates lam-
basted Local Law 38 as a sell-out to the land-
lord lobby. They found two provisions especial-
ly dangerous: that landlords neither had to hire
certified workers to do the technically tricky
lead paint removal work, nor do any testing
afterward. The law was also condemned by
environmental scientists and public health
experts, as well as brusquely critiqued by the
federal Environmental Protection Agency in a
letter this fall .
Given the judge's strongly worded decision
and citywide elections around the comer,
politicians may now have the momentum to
craft and pass and new, more tenant-friendly
law, says Matthew Chachere, staff attorney to
the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corpora-
tion, who worked on the suit. "I think they're
going to have to handle this issue much more
carefully."
-Kathleen McGowan
CITY LIMITS
...... ----------.... ---------------Briem
Child Welfare
Foster Care
Death Scare
In October, the Administration for Children's
Services announced some welcome news: In
1999, fewer New York City children died from
abuse or neglect than in any year since the city
started keeping count, nearly two decades ago.
The number citywide was 57. Among children
whose cases ACS already investigated, deaths
dropped to 23-down from 36 last year, and way
below the 58 fatalities of 1988.
It's very good news, but it obscures a darker
statistic: Last year, six children died in the
agency's own foster and adoptive homes, a stun-
ning 21.7 percent of the total number of fatalities
that took place under the agency's watch.
A report from the independent Accountability
Review Panel confirms that foster children are as
unsafe as ever. Between 1990 and 1995, there
were an average six deaths a year. In 1998, seven
foster children died; in 1997, six. But while deaths
have remained constant, the population of kids in
foster care has plummeted from 49,814 in 1991 to
36,648. As a result, the fatality rate has actually
gone up.
Looking closely at those six deaths last year,
DECEMBER 2000
8F.ST WESTERN
MOTELS GETS
CITY CONTRACT
TO SHE.LTER
THE HOMt.ESS
-lNTEMS!
the panel found some serious shortfalls at ACS
and its private contract agencies. Particularly
harmful, according to the panel: "insufficient sup-
port" for foster parents dealing with troubled kids.
In one case, two siblings with behavior prob-
lems were placed in foster family that was too
large to properly care for them. In another case, a
boy who suffered from hallucinations and destruc-
tive behavior was shifted from home to home, as
successive sets of foster parents decided they
couldn't handle him. In a third, a developmentally
disabled girl was adopted by an aunt who herself
suffered from psychological problems and eventu-
ally killed the girl.
The panel recommended better selection and
monitoring of foster homes; better mental health
care for troubled foster children, including use of
specialized group homes; and improved and
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expanded services for foster parents. In a written
response, ACS officials agreed that insufficient
help for problem kids is a problem-and called on
the state to fund them.
There's an even more intractable problem, says
panel member Patricia Morisey, a retired profes-
sor of social work from Fordham University.
Under federal law, ACS now has to find perma-
nent homes for children within a year; on its own,
ACS is also now pushing to find foster homes in
children's own same neighborhoods.
But good foster nomes are harder and harder to
find. "The agency has focused on people who
have very similar socioeconomic and personal
problems to the children's parents," observes
Morisey. "People who are the most adequate don't
want to get involved in the system."
-Alyssa Katz
For more news updates, events and job ads
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Tally No
The Census counts the homeless out, and New York is the poorer.
By Sajan P. Kuriakos
W
en workers for this year's U.S.
Census approached Fraser Bres-
nahan of the Coalition for the
Homeless for help counting the poor and
homeless, he was eager to help. Bresnahan
oversees two vans that serve 700 meals a
day at 25 locations across the city, and he
readily provided the Census Bureau with
the vans' schedules.
But census workers made it to just
four of the 25 sites Bresnahan had sug-
gested they visit. And once they got there,
the enumerators dawdled so long that
many of the diners left before they could
be counted. ''They stood around and wait-
ed for us to begin serving before they
began counting," Bresnahan says in dis-
belief. "Obviously, once people get their
food they want to eat and leave .... They
. ."
Clyde Kummerle, whose Holy Apos-
tles Soup Kitchen on Ninth Avenue is
the city's largest, had his own chaotic
encounter with census takers. When the
workers arrived, they didn' t even have
pencils, never mind a clear idea of how
they'd interview a sampling of the 1,100
people who pass through the soup
kitchen for lunch. Census crew leaders,
who might have had a clearer idea of
how to conduct a count of homeless
people, were nowhere to be found. "No
one really had a handle on what to do,"
says Kummerle. "I believe one of our
staff or volunteers went out and got
them pencils."
Ten years ago, the Census undercount-
ed New York's homeless by more than
70,000. Overall, the 1990 count failed to
enumerate 450,000 New Yorkers, costing
the city an estimated $450 million in fed-
eral funds. An undercount affects the city
DECEMBER 2000
in many ways. But a low count hits the
neediest the hardest, because much federal
funding for social programs is based on the
proportion of poor people in a given area.
According to the finance division of the
City Council, the 1990 undercount cost the
city $94.5 million in community develop-
ment block grant dollars, $42 million for
Head Start, and $3.9 million for emer-
gency shelters.
But this year's losses may make 1990
look like a windfall, according to a report
drawn up for the federal Census Monitor-
ing Board by the accounting firm Price-
WaterhouseCoopers. In the event of a seri-
ous undercount, the study forecasts a steep
decline in federal assistance for adoption,
foster care, and vocational education,
among other programs. The total price tag
is an estimated $2.3 billion.
l1
e repercussions of the 1990 under-
count of the homeless were severe, as
conservative lawmakers used the low
figures to justify. cuts in funding for pro-
grams for the homeless. As a result, advo-
cates for the homeless helped convince the
Census Bureau not to issue a figure this
time around measuring the total homeless
population.
But a failure to count in homeless peo-
ple still distorts the Census' overall picture
of the number of poor people in New York
City. To make sure that the census' long
form, which measures income levels, got
to the appropriate number of homeless
people, the Census Bureau agreed to stage
a two-day count at the city's homeless
shelters and soup kitchens.
"For our purposes, the most important
aspect of the census is the chance it provides
to accurately count [the number of people]
living in poverty," says Mary Anne Gleason,
a housing policy analyst for the National
Coalition for the Homeless. Gleason also
advised the Census Bureau this year.
But this year's count isn't cutting it, say
census workers. Citing the confidentiality of
its clients, the city Department of Homeless
Services refused census workers entry into
all city-run shelters. According to one enu-
merator, DHS told them that it had "made its
own arrangement" with the Census Bureau.
In the deal, DHS collected its own data on
homeless people on the census short form,
which does not note income. As a result, the
Census collected no information on the
income of many of the poorest people in the
city. "Census officials declined to comment
on the New York count."
Gleason says the impact of the shelter
undercount is significant. In the shelters,
"New York has about 25,000 homeless
people on any particular night," Gleason
explains. "If this entire population had
been polled and the appropriate percent-
age given access to the long form, poten-
tially more than 4,000 additional names
would have contributed to New York's
poverty figure."
Census workers confirm that efforts to
count the poor and homeless who don't live
in shelters were just as careless. Enumerator
Frank Eadie says he was sent to a soup
kitchen in lower Manhattan that served Chi-
nese clients, and instructed to count and
interview them. Speaking no Chinese,
Eadie could do nothing.
"I'd gone to work for the Census
Bureau in hope of improving the inclusion
of the homeless and hard-to-reach popula-
tion," says Eadie. "But my commitment,
energy and time proved wasted."
Additional reporting by Judy Richheimer.

PIPELINE i
,
New York's
homeless and
hungry stand up
for food but not to
be counted-the
Census missed
many of them
this year.
B
Downward Mobility
New York says no to motorized wheelchairs-and disabled people are stuck in the middle.
PIPELINE " By Yael Schacher
,
Caught in a
dispute between
Medicaid and her
nursing home.
Janet Spina was
stuck in bed for
more than a year.
(.,
J
anet Spina has never liked living at the
Waterview Nursing Home in Flushing.
It's a "good home," she admits. But
it's also the place where she spent more
than a year largely immobilized.
Spina, a 43-year-old divorced mother
of three, has multiple sclerosis. In 1998
she moved into Waterview, depending on
Medicaid to pay for her care. But Spina
lacked a critical part of the care she need-
ed: Though only able to move her right
arm, nobody would pay for her to get a
motorized wheelchair. As in a growing
number of cases across New York State,
Medicaid and the nursing home both
insisted that they were not responsible
for providing one.
When she first arrived at Waterview,
Spina liked being part of nursing home
life, participating in activities like group
trivia games even when she found the
questions too easy. But she grew frustrat-
ed, then depressed, by her need to rely on
busy nurses to push her wheelchair
around. At Waterview, a 200-bed private
facility specializing in people with neuro-
logical disorders, about four staff members
are typically available to assist the approx-
imately 40 residents on Spina's floor.
So last July, Spina's doctors asked Med-
icaid to pay for a $5,000 motorized wheel-
chair she could operate on her own. The
state Department of Health promptly denied
the request. It claimed that nursing homes
are responsible for buying all necessary
equipment, using the funds already provided
to them for Medicaid residents.
Meanwhile, Waterview insisted it
couldn't afford to buy the <,:hair itself.
According to Executive Director Larry
Slatky, paying for expensive devices like
motorized wheelchairs
would drain the home
of its Medicaid funds
and make it impossi-
ble to provide care for
the 80 percent of
Waterview's residents
who rely on Medicaid
for their insurance.
Spina appealed.
But two hearings and
a full year later, she
still had no chair. By
then, her ability to
speak had deteriorated
so much that she could
barely articulate her
requests to the care-
takers she depended
on to move her.
Toby Golick,
director of Bet Tzedek
Legal Services Clinic
at Cardozo School of
Law, knew that this
was not the first time a
Medicaid recipient in a
nursing home had trou-
ble getting a special wheelchair. The cases
she had seen followed the same pattern: The
state was routinely shifting responsibility
onto caretakers for the disabled. "The
defense that understaffed nursing homes
will always have someone to push a manual
wheelchair is preposterous," she says.
In response to what advocates for the
disabled say is a recent upswing in the vol-
ume of cases like Spina's, Golick and other
lawyers are suing the Department of Health
in federal and state courts to get motorized
chairs for their clients. Like some of the
others, Golick's suit asserts that the Depart-
ment of Health's denial of Medicaid cover-
age for motorized wheelchairs to people
living in nursing homes violates the Medic-
aid Act and the Americans With Disabili-
ties Act. Those laws require states to fur-
nish the disabled poor with the means to
"attain or retain capacity for independence
and self-care" in the most "integrated set-
ting" appropriate to their needs.
But right now, there's no one in New
York State who can guarantee that will
happen. The state claims it already pays
enough to nursing homes to take care of
patients who rely on Medicaid. Meanwhile,
as they reckon with managed care and
compete with upscale assisted living cen-
ters, nursing homes are pleading poverty.
According to the New York State Partner-
ship for Long Term Care, nursing homes in
New York City received an average of $251
per day for each resident in 1999-not
enough, homes say, to pay for expensive
equipment.
Stuck in the middle are disabled people
on Medicaid, who must wait for nurses who
are perpetually busy bathing, dressing and
medicating other severely disabled patients.
Advocates for the disabled are growing
increasingly outraged at both sides and say
the state and nursing homes are each out to
minimize how many Medicaid dollars they
have to spend. "It's a collegial partnership,"
complains Anne Emerman, vice-president
for legislation of Disabled in Action of Met-
ropolitan New York.
N
ew York's reluctance to shell out for
expensive special medical equip-
ment is nothing new. According to
Marge Gustas of New York State Assistive
Technology Advocacy Project, "There is a
long history statewide of denying individu-
als in nursing homes requests for payment
for certain special mobility equipment."
The state's decisions were inconsistent, and
the people they affected frequently did not
have the resources to challenge them.
But two developments have led to the
recent rash of lawsuits. The disabled are
having an easier time finding advocates to
help them fight, in the wake of a state
courts ruling that called for increased
access to legal representation for the dis-
abled at hearings held in nursing homes.
CITY LIMITS
Lawyers for the disabled also say the
state is now more aggressive about fight-
ing requests. According to Valerie Boga-
rt, a lawyer at Legal Services for the
Elderly, "You used to be able to win a
request for these special chairs at admin-
istrative fair hearings by proving their
medical necessity," she says. "Now, there
are a whole bunch of cases pending in
different courts."
Nina Keilin, an attorney who works
with Bogart, explains that in the last three
or so years, the state has been "trying to
narrow the exceptional type of services it
will pay for outside the regular rate of
reimbursement to nursing homes." This
has affected not just the provision of
wheelchairs but also AIDS medications,
mental health services and equipment for
disabled people living at home. (The
Department of Health declined to com-
ment on its handling of these cases.)
As a result, attorneys say, New York
is far from where it should be, both legal-
ly and ethically, in providing meaningful
assistance to people with disabilities who
rely on Medicaid for their care. Last
year, in a case called Olmstead v. L.c.,
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states
cannot unnecessarily segregate disabled
people in institutions, and that they must
be integrated into the community when-
ever possible. Golick interprets Olm-
stead as applying to patients inside nurs-
ing homes as well. "The Olmstead case
is helpful because the Supreme Court
read the ADA expansively as a law
designed to remove barriers that keep
people from participating in community
life," says Golick. For clients like Spina,
Golick says, their community is by
necessity their nursing home. "Denying
someone self-mobility is discriminatory.
In a nursing home, the state is not doing
all it can to integrate residents."
At hearings, health department repre-
sentatives don't even bother challenging
advocates' assertions that patients have a
legal right to their chairs. Instead, the state
has consistently exploited a single techni-
cality.In one of Golick's cases, the depart-
ment claimed the chair a nursing home
resident requested was not a customized
device, as required under state law, but
rather "an off the shelf motorized model"
adjusted to his use but also readjustable for
use by others at his nursing home. The
chair was therefore the property and finan-
cial responsibility of the home.
DECEMBER 2000
But many wheelchairs built now can be
characterized as being "off-the-shelf."
Medicaid law has not caught up with the
wheelchair industry's increasing use of
standardized component parts for custom-
built wheelchairs, says Gene Murphy,
executive director of Friends and Relatives
of the Institutionalized Aged.
There was no question that Spina need-
ed a specialized chair. With help from
Waterview, she was able to exploit a loop-
hole and obtain a chair through Medicare.
When she finally got the chair in Septem-
ber, she felt a taste of freedom. "Like hav-
ing legs," she says .
Yael Schacher is a Brooklyn-based free-
lance writer.
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Burned Out
While advocates fight frustration, a broken housing code enforcement system claims another life.
By Kathleen McGowan
I
t's not like they hadn't tried.
For months, the tenants of 27
Brevoort Place had pestered their land-
lord to fix the endless problems in their lit-
tle Bed-Stuy townhouse. And the city's
housing inspectors tried to help, at least at
first. They visited the building often, duti-
fully documenting everything wrong with
it-the peeling lead paint, the leaks, the
broken stairs, and, twice last October, the
fact that even though there was no fire
escape, the sprinkler system didn't work.
It didn't make much difference. The
landlord simply ignored the stream of vio-
lation notices from the housing depart-
ment. After a few more visits, city inspec-
tors pretty much gave up on the building,
even though, as far as they could tell, none
of the dangerous problems had been fixed.
Six months later, the sprinklers still
didn't work, and the building still didn't
have fire escapes. But 13-year-old Ashley
Sims didn't know any of that when she
came over to spend the night with her
friend on July 22. When somebody set the
second-floor landing on fire at three that
morning, the building turned into an infer-
no. Other tenants leaped from the win-
dows, but Ashley Sims couldn't get out.
She died in the fire that night.
"Our dreams are gone," says her moth-
er, Sharon Sims. "Not a minute goes by
that I don't think of her." She says other
kids in the neighborhood keep stopping
her, asking her where Ashley is, and when
she'll be back. "Nobody should have to go
through what we are going through. It's a
nightmare."
When a government system set up to
protect children fails, it's often front-page
news, complete with lawsuits, political
hand-wringing and AI Sharpton. But when
it comes to the city's decrepit housing
code enforcement system, it doesn't work
that way. After a quick flurry of mea cul-
pas from the mayor and indignant rum-
blings from the City Council speaker,
what happened at 27 Brevoort Place has
been more or less forgotten. Apparently,
nobody is particularly surprised that the
system to enforce the city's housing code
doesn't work.
Lamenting the failures of code enforce-
ment has become a ritual in New York
City. Every few years, someone dies in a
DECEMBER 2000
horrible and preventable building disaster.
Housing experts bemoan the slipshod sys-
tem. Reporters document the miserable
housing conditions that many New Yorkers
must endure. Everyone shakes their heads
and vows to do better next time. And noth-
ing much changes.
The mess can't all be blamed on the
Republicans and their landlord friends.
The city's housing code enforcement sys-
tem was devastated 10 years ago, when a
Democratic governor cut the budget and a
Democratic mayor stood by and watched.
And today, the people who usually fight
for tenants-activists and the progressive
wing of the City Council-have resigned
themselves to living with a system that is
shoddy and unreliable.
The result has been a deadly deadlock.
City Council officials say that they don't
even get pressured by advocates to put
money into code enforcement. Advocates,
in tum, say they're fed up with fighting the
unresponsive city governrnent. Frustrated
and jaded, most everyone who might do
something about this slow-motion cata-
strophe has essentially given up. "People
are just exhausted by the whole thing,"
says one City Council insider.
"Every year, there's an effort," says
Michael McKee, associate director of New
York State Tenants & Neighbors, a housing
advocacy group. "But it's sort of like a deja
vu pro forma thing. After a certain number
of years, you're sort of dragging yourself out
of the mud to beat your head against the
wall. People feel beaten down. It's very hard
to do this work and not be demoralized."
O
nce upon a time, say tenant advo-
cates, housing inspection and code
enforcement worked pretty well.
When tenants called the housing depart-
ment back in the 1980s, an inspector would
come out promptly, and immediately
address serious problems, anything from a
major rat infestation to a heatless winter
day. Follow-up was better, too: Inspectors
would make sure that important repairs got
made, and if the landlords wouldn't coop-
erate the emergency repair bureau of the
city's Department of Housing Preservation
& Development would step in to do the job.
Particularly negligent landlords had to con-
tend with the city's aggressive Housing Lit-
igation Bureau, once respected for prose-

PIPELINE.
,
MOur dreams are
gone," says Sharon
Sims. Her daughter
Ashley died in a
fire-in a building
without the sprinklers
or fire escapes
required by law.
s
500
450
'-400
p;
.- 350
S
1
300
.5
250
m
.5200
...
::;)
..,g 150
(;
j
E 50
100
::;)
c
o
cuting-and even throwing in jail-some
of the city's worst slumlords.
In 1990, Governor Mario Cuomo cut
$8 million in state aid for city housing
inspection. The city never made up the dif-
ference, and by 1995 there were fewer than
200 inspectors left, less than half the num-
ber there had been four years before. The
system never recovered either its funding
or its efficiency. In fact, critics say, it effec-
tively stopped being a system at all.
In March 1995, code enforcement
became big news after three people were
killed in the collapse of a run-down
carries a penalty up to $1,000 and a jail
sentence, dragging landlords into court
was impossible for the overburdened
agency. Without enough lawyers to chase
after lying or negligent landlords, the
inspectors' best efforts were being squan-
dered. In short, they said, the system sim-
ply made no sense.
Meanwhile, the Manhattan District
Attorney's office launched a criminal inves-
tigation of the Harlem landlords. The New
York Times called for a "broader re-exami-
nation of city housing policies." And then-
Harlem City Councilwoman C. VIrginia
Fields demanded a
shakeup of the code
enforcement sys-
tem, along with an
early warning sys-
tem that would
monitor troubled
buildings in order to
prevent disasters. It
seemed like things
were going to get
better.
T
his winter,
the devil
came to

Bushwick. In the
late 1970s, this
shabby Brooklyn
Although staffing has
improved, the city's
housing department
almost never hires
as many inspectors
as it could.
Harlem tenement. HPD inspectors had vis-
ited the property many times, even notic-
ing a menacing crack in the foundation,
but they either didn't understand the symp-
tom or failed to refer it to the people who
could fix the problem.
A meticulous audit later that year from
State Senator Franz Leichter and city
Comptroller Alan Hevesi dissected exactly
what was wrong with the city's code
enforcement. They found the system was
better at tabulating violation statistics than
actually fixing broken-down buildings.
Staff cuts were only part of the problem;
the real issue was that enforcement process
lacked teeth. Inspectors might come out
and document the same problem three or
four times, but there was no way to pres-
sure a landlord to do repairs. On top of
that, because the rules allow landlords to
"self-certify" repairs as long as they are
done promptly, lying was rampant: The
audit found that 40 percent of landlords
hadn't made the repairs they said they did.
While lying about repairs theoretically
neighborhood of
rowhouses and tenements was plagued by
fires from landlord arson and vandalism.
In 1977 alone, more than a thousand Bush-
wick apartment buildings were torched.
The new year rang in like those bad old
days. On the bitterly cold night of February
22, it seemed like Bushwick was ablaze
again. In just over an hour, five separate
fires were set within a couple of blocks. It
was apparently the work of the same arson-
ist or arsonists, since every time the m.o.
was the same: the firebug found a building
with an unlocked front door, crept into its
hallway in the middle of the night, and set
something-a mattress, a baby stroller,
garbage-on fire. His was a particularly
nasty trick, since choking, panicked tenants
naturally head right for the stairwell-
straight to the heart of the flames.
By the end of February, fires had rav-
aged 15 Bushwick buildings. Neighbors
were terrified, and the Fire Department's
chief marshal urged Bushwick residents to
clear junk. out of their hallways and keep
their front doors locked.
But for some tenants, a front door that
locked would be a luxury feature. The ten-
ants at 72 Bleecker had been struggling
with their landlord for at least six months to
fix the lock on their front door. They had
also complained to HPD, and faced the
same routine the tenants at Brevoort Place
endured-inspectors would come, they
would see, they would fine, and they would
leave. "We kept telling [the landlord] we
need a lock, and she'd say, ' Yeah, yeah,
yeah,'" says tenant Rosanne Castegna.
"HPD knew about it, and they'd send an
inspector, who'd give a fine. They'd put the
[violation notice] in the little vestibule."
And that, Castegna says, was that.
Then one night in June, the hallway
arsonist dropped by 72 Bleecker Street.
Finding the door unlocked, he sneaked
inside and torched the stairwell. Castegna's
sister, Marie Ramos, describes what she
woke up to that night: "Black, all the
smoke coming through the living room
door. Black, all the smoke corning through
the kitchen door. When I opened my living
room door, I saw big flames."
Ramos' kids and her other sister, who is
mentally disabled, climbed out the kitchen
window, where firefighters helped them
down off the fire escape. But when it was
Ramos' turn, she fell off the ladder, hurting
her leg. Her upstairs neighbor wound up in
the hospital. Many residents had lived
almost their entire lives in this building.
Most lost all they owned.
That night, fire investigators noticed a
farniliar face there in the crowd, a man they
had noticed at some of the other fires. "My
sister says she knew the guy," says Ramos.
"She says he used to say hello to her on the
street. But he must have been crazy. She
said he was standing in front of the build-
ing watching it burn. She heard that he said
he was the devil, and that he did it.".
That suspect has been charged for one of
the Bushwick fires, and investigators think
he set the others, too, although they have no
proof. But until the investigators catch and
jail the right man, Bushwick tenants can
only sit tight and hope-because they've
already found out that they can't count on
HPD to make sure their buildings are safe.
''The tenants were trying to do their best
to make sure that nobody was in the hall-
ways;' Castegna says. "We figured if we
called the hotline, we would get results
right away, especially when there's chil-
dren and handicapped people in the build-
ing. It doesn' t work that way."
CITY LIMITS
A
fter the fire at 27 Brevoort Place,
HPD changed the way it handles
buildings with no fire escapes or
sprinklers. Now, inspectors will call the Fire
Department right away, and won't leave the
building until fire investigators show up.
The department also won't give up on these
cases until the work is finished, and says it
will be much more aggressive about getting
court warrants to force repairs.
But the deeper problem with code
enforcement was never at HPD anyway.
It's at City Hall. Fields' early warning sys-
tem stalled out within a few years when
the Giuliani administration decided it
would be too expensive. The reforms
Hevesi and Leichter recommended have
never been implemented. District attorneys
never bothered to prosecute any of the
landlords that Hevesi' s auditors caught
lying about repairs.
With a few notable exceptions-includ-
ing City Council stalwart Stanley
Michels-most politicians aren't interested
in making code enforcement work again. A
delegation of housing groups tried to meet
with Brownsville and Bed-Stuy City Coun-
cilmember Tracy Boyland to talk with her
about problems with code enforcement last
spring. Although Boyland's district has
some of the worst rental housing in the city,
she brushed the groups off, delegating the
meeting to one of her staffers who knew
next to nothing about housing. She also
didn't come to a recent City Council over-
sight hearing called in the wake of the fire
that killed Ashley Sims. (Boyland was not
available for comment, and her staff did not
return calls on the matter).
The one man who could easily make
code enforcement a priority, City Council
Deputy Majority Leader Archie Spigner, is
also not interested in reforming the system.
"I don't know that it's got to be changed,"
he told City Limits at the hearing. After
thinking for a moment, he added: "Perhaps
we could press upon them that it's irre-
sponsible not to make these repairs."
With dozens of other equally urgent
housing issues fighting for lawmakers'
attention, this one usually slips to the bot-
tom of the heap. "In the battle over all the
things the Council and the mayor battle
over, [code enforcement] gets knocked out
or traded off," sighs Jenny Laurie, execu-
tive director of the Metropolitan Council
on Housing, a tenant advocacy group. "It is
frustrating, and it's a lot of work." This year
in the City Council budget process, it came
DECEMBER 2000
down to an either-or decision between cash
for lawyers to do eviction prevention, or
more money for code enforcement. As
usual, code enforcement lost out.
Given the Council's lack of interest, it
would take a energetic lobbying effort from
tenant advocates to get hikes for code
enforcement funding-an effort that's not
forthcoming. The Association for Neigh-
borhood and Housing Development, a
trade association for housing nonprofits,
has recently mounted a campaign to push
for better code enforcement, but City
Council insiders say that the group is virtu-
ally alone in the effort. Most other housing
groups "talk about rent, and that's it," says
one. Another concurs: "Quite frankly, there
hasn't been a good advocacy effort to get
this on the agenda. There's no grassroots,
from-the-bottom push."
The shakiness of HPD' s code enforce-
ment records also makes it difficult for
tenant advocates to use tragedies as
opportunities to demand serious change.
The database shows about a dozen out of
the 40 buildings that suffered serious fires
so far this year had outstanding fire safe-
ty violations for missing smoke detectors,
defective outlets or blocked fire exits.
Unfortunately, HPD's records are so
unreliable that it is impossible to deter-
mine whether these violations contributed
to the conflagrations, or had been cleared
up before the fire. Although the database
lists some three million violations-about
two for every rental unit in New York
City-many of them are years or even
decades old, and landlords insist the
damning figure is mostly the result of bad
bookkeeping.
Sharon Sims and her sisters aren't wait-
ing for the Council and the mayor to sort it
out. Instead, they've gone the more direct
route: they hired a lawyer. "1 hope that
HPD starts doing their job, and I hope
everybody knows what my sister is going
through because they didn't have time to do
the job," says Carolyn Lee, Ashley Sims'
aunt. "1 would like to ask them: how would
you feel if it was your child?"
Additional reporting by Michael Haggerty.
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Since the big private prison firms are still unsteady, we threw in some small-
er companies that provide offender services like health care or education.
Notable New York newcomer Prison Health Services, a subsidiary of the Amer-
ica Service Group (ASGR), is now negotiating to take over health care at Rik-
ers Island. According to ASG chief Michael Catalano, about 38 percent of the
inmate medical care market is outsourced-and his company provides man-
aged health care to 325,000 inmates, about a quarter of that market.
Private prison stock prices are still in the cellar, but there are some solid
reasons to buy into prisons as a long-term investment. As Prudential Securi-
ties analyst James Thayer points out, the shrinking crime rate may have taken
the edge off of jail overcrowding, but longer sentences keep demand for new
beds strong. Another asset: the giant providers are beginning to regroup, and
the competition is weak. Getting into the business requires both a strong rep-
utation and good government ties. Three firms-Wackenhut, CCA and Cornell
Companies (CRNHo almost all the federal private prison work.
One bright light on the private prison horizon is the growing overseas mar-
ket. While the U.S. is still a leader in for-profit prison management, other coun-
tries are hustling to catch up. The most promising market? South Africa.
-
Welfare
One thing's for sure: Any economic softening will only
be good news for the companies that manage govern-
ment benefits programs. So even though some of the
biggest welfare-management companies have had profit
problems, we're keeping an eye on these stocks.
Early on in welfare reform, the data management divi-
sions of huge companies like Electronic Data Systems
-......-r--- (EDS), Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Citigroup (C)
rushed in, eyeing two profit centers: welfare-to-
work systems for local governments and "elec-
tronic benefits transfer" systems, the ATM cards
that provide food stamps and other entitle-
ments.
But it turns out it's not that easy to make
money on welfare. Low unemployment, plum-
meting welfare rolls and unexpected technical hitches
have kept profits low, and companies have backed off a
bit on their welfare-to-work business. Lockheed Martin,
which handles almost half the country's EBT and child
support payment systems, has been looking to sell its
government services division all year.
lite Gif,
When you hear the word "privatization," do you think. "cor-
porate scheme to cheat the poor"? Do well-connected wastrels
walking off with city contracts make you grit your teeth? Do you
believe that lining private pockets with public money is wrong?
You're so old economy.
Privatization is here to stay. While Democrats and Republi-
cans may disagree on details, nobody in power questions the
basic premise: that the private sector should take over a lot of the
government's job. Each year, federal and local governments
shovel more and more cash into the hands of business-savvy for-
profi t social services providers.
With that in mind, we are launching the City Limits Privati-
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
J
January 1, 2000 K 100
M A M A 5 0
That leaves the field pretty much open for govern-
ment specialist Maximus (MMS), which has rocketed
to the top of the field on sales of more than $300 mil-
lion in fiscal year 1999-up 30 percent from the previ-
ous year.
Running government programs is about 60 percent of
Maximus' business, and it does the job well; this little
firm, voted one of Business Week's top 100 growth com-
panies, has been profitable for everyone of its 25 years.
"It's still a solid company, one of the bellwethers in the
human services area, " says BB& T analyst Tom Maher.
Better yet, Maximus is a good buy right now. Thanks
in part to last spring's New York City contracting scandal
the company was trading at about half the price it had
been a year ago, with a price/earnings ratio well 'below
the S&P 500 average.
But while it waits for its $104 million New York City
welfare-to-work contract to be reinstated, Maximus is
also looking ahead: In October, it won a contract with the
federal education department to collect on delinquent
student loans.
CITY LIMITS
Our privatization portfolio
zation Index, a list of the top publicly traded companies that are making a killing-
and generating juicy returns-off the public weal.
Why? It's a great way to track the growth of this poorly understood sector. By
watching the markets, we can see the real-world results of the shift from old-fash-
ioned public works to new-style private contracts.
There's an added bonus: In these days of market turbulence, companies that can
count on government cash can be a great investing opportunity. In fact, our index
is up 8.7 percent this year as of October I-beating the pants off the S&P 500
(down 2.8 percent) and the NASDAQ (off 11 percent). Now you can see just what
the return on your privatization investment could be-and start planning. After all,
it's not like the neighborhood nonprofit you work for is going to give you a big sev-
erance package when its contract gets handed over to Lockheed Martin.
PRNX has been crafted through a combination of assiduous research and whol-
ly subjective intuition. The index includes four major categories: educational ser-
vices, government operations, waste management and security services. (That's
Wall Street talk for r-----------------....
schools, welfare,
trash and jails,
respectively.)
And although
we've set the list up
as a tracking device,
it's also a blueprint
for a truly cutting-
edge investing strat-
egy that doesn' t sac-
rifice either value or
growth. With the
City Limits 20, you
get a piece of a
small, hot firm like
Edison Schools, as
IInI
Citigroup(C)
DeIo!xe CoIp. (DU)
Electronic Data Sjstems (DS)
GJ[ClI Holdings Co/poratioII (GlK)
locIheed Martin IMS (lM1)
IIaIiIMJs (UMS)
IMtagtSdiiiols (AlSI)
Edison SdlOOIs (EDSH)
Nobel Learning ConnuIiIies (NLO)
!neIica Senic2 GfU141 ~ R ) - -
Avalon ComdiInaI Semces, Inc. (CflY)
illiIdren's ComjIrehensile Ser\ices, Inc. (liDS)
ilImeIConopm(CRlI)
Coo!dions Cotp. of !neIica (aw)
Rmare, Inc. (RSCR)
Watlenhul Corrections (WHC)
Allied Waste (IW) --
R!pubIic Senic2 Group (RSG)
Waste Comectioos (WOIX)
Wastellanagealent Inc. (WIll)
PIa ..... sIa J,IlIIIO PIE
54.0623
20.3123
415
16.5623
32.93
12.123
33.0623
3m
8.8123
26
1.3
3.4373
8.5623
1.3123
45613
1.8123
9.1813
13.123
23.613
17.4373
31.1'11
20.7
33.73
22.3
63.01
36.1
200
108.1
13.1
- 73.33
-7.7
38.20
10.3
46
-64.04
31.31
8.9
1.1
16.n
0.4
18.82
8.32
29.83
1.38
21.92
13.07
~ . 2 3
Nil
23.311
~ 3
8.04
8.23
3.73
Nil
W
7.01
Nil
9.86
21.48
Nil
1IIIIIa,t-)
220,600
Lm
21,691
!i88.1
14,101
426.4
- 906.7
1,333
SO.1
80.4
3.4
24.2
SO.9
88.8
139.8
144.3
L673
L995
369.0
11,338
Garbage
Schools
Ten years ago, the idea of for-profit public schools was
heresy. But charter schools have become the
hottest trend in education. After all, it's a
$360 billion industry, and for-profits still
have only a tiny piece of it-for now.
According to one analysis, privatiza-
tion in the K-12 sector is growing at 15
percent a year. Profits for mid-size edu- .... -=::::::1_-..,
cation companies are projected to grow _-=---oIt
by more than 300 percent in 2001.
New York City's own Edison Schools (EDSN), a private
manager of public schools, is hot enough on Wall Street
that all six analysts that track Edison rate it either "buy" or
"buy/hold", And although the company still hasn't turned a
profit, Edison has a market cap of $1.3 billion.
Why the enthusiasm? Edison's sales have nearly dou-
bled every year since its founding in 1995. As of Septem-
ber, the company managed 108 schools. And soon, it may
get a chance to seriously boost its portfolio by taking over
up to 45 of New York City's worst-performing public schools.
But there are other stars in this sky, including the pow-
erfully profitable Advantage Learning Systems (ALSI),
recently named as one of the top small companies by For-
tune magazine. Advantage sells classroom software
designed to improve students' skills, diagnose weaknesses
and help them prepare for standardized tests. More than
40 percent of all US schools now use Advantage products.
And, just in case vouchers overtake the charter school
boom, we're also tracking the old-fashioned industry titan:
private schools. With enrollment topping 26,000, Pennsyl-
vania's Nobel Learning Communities (NLCI) calls itself the
nation's largest private school company. Unlike Edison,
Nobel thinks big and makes money. In September, with
some advice from the World Bank, it launched a deal with
its private-school counterpart in China,
well as a powerhouse like Lockheed
Martin. Plus, privatization stocks are
bear-proof. Soft landing or hard, the
need for garbage trucks and elementary
school administrators stays constant-
while the demand for welfare managers
and prison guards can only grow.
Waste haulers have traveled when worries about fuel and labor prices took
hold. We're bucking the trend here, but given
the direction of the sector overall, we think
these companies are worth paying attention to
as good long-haul buys.
Our picks might raise some eyebrows
among short-sighted mutual fund man-
agers, since a lot of these companies are
not trendy on Wall Street right now. But
the way we see it, this list is a preview of
the future: You get a big promise at a
cheap price, in industries that are guaran-
teed to grow. And if the Chris Whittles
and the Ross Perots of the world are
cleaning up from privatization, why
shouldn't you?
- Kathleen McGowan
DECEMBER 2000
some rough seas lately. The late
1990s saw a wholesale war over market share,
won by trash giants Waste Management Inc.
(WMI) and Allied Waste (AW). These two, along
with the smaller Republic Services Group
(RSG), now control about 40 percent of the
waste hauling market. But the race for domina-
tion left both firms saddled with debt and merg-
er-related internal confusion, and share prices
are still depressed.
On the flipside: waste hauling is relatively
recession-proof, This year, while tech stocks
sagged, sanitation stocks were generally beat-
ing the market until the end of the summer,
And now that the leading companies are
shedding less profitable routes and focusing on
improving operating margins, earnings should
rise again. As Reed Conner & Birdwell chief
investment officer Jeff Bronchick puts it in
TheStreet.com, "there are some regional
monopoly issues that can be turned to share-
holders' advantage: With so few companies
playing the field, hauling prices are bound to
rise-and with them, profits,
-
E
mergency Children's Services is an inconspicuous,
dingy building at the southern edge of Soho. About
30 to 40 kids come here each night, after they are
taken away from their parents and while they're wait-
ing for a foster home to take them in. When they get here, they
cry, fight or sit silently on a stained couch, eyes glazed over. As
an investigator for the New York City Administration for Chil-
dren's Services, 1 spent many nights here.
When children first arrive at ECS they are taken through a
metal detector by security. Some carry garbage bags containing
their clothes; others tightly clutch just the one item they brought
from home. Each is accompanied by an ACS child protective
caseworker, who is given a number and waits to be called to
check the kids in. On a busy night, of which there are many, this
can take hours.
Taking
Liberties
-
In the waiting room, some tattered old books and the odd toy lie
about. A green banner hangs year round saying, "Seasons Greetings
From Pre-Placement" and does little to conceal the cracking paint.
The children hungrily eye a vending machine in the comer and beg
their caseworkers for candy. And the caseworkers say, No way.
Some of these kids, who range from newborn babies to 17-
year-olds, have been rescued from seriously abusive or neglectful
parents. Others are here for reasons that are ambiguous, unjusti-
fied, even arbitrary. But they all come to the same dim room on
Laight Street. And because the city's Administration for Chil-
dren's Services has identified them as children in danger, this is
the first of many unfamiliar places they'll be seeing as they jour-
ney through the city's foster care system.
Like me, the other caseworkers here are exhausted. Most of
them are on the phone or stare up at the television hung from the
wall. It is not part of the job to comfort the children just plucked
from their homes. They are irritated and want to get home.
When 1 first started coming to ECS, 1 tried to reach out to all
the children who were crying or sitting alone, shocked and terri-
fied. It was easier with the little ones, because 1 could hug them
and they would immediately respond. But the older ones were dif-
ferent. 1 asked them, "Do you know why you are here?" Chances
were that they had only a vague idea; ACS investigators often do
not tell the children they are removing exactly what is going on.
Most of the time the kids shrugged and said, "I don't know." Or
they knew pieces, like, "Because mommy didn't clean the house."
Often it was, "Because mommy got arrested."
The more 1 ended up at ECS, the harder it became to comfort
these children. When you had no idea where a child was going to
end up that night, it was impossible to assure them of anything.
When a child asks, "Am 1 going to get split up from my little
brother?" you can't say no. Although all efforts are supposed to be
made to place siblings together, there are countless exceptions.
Instead you have to say, "Let's hope not, okay?"
One night 1 was at ECS with a 3-year-old named Christopher,
whom 1 had picked up from a precinct in East Harlem. His moth-
er was arrested that day on drug charges. He had been living in a
crack house, according to the police who took him, and his arms
and legs were caked with dirt. All he had with him was a pacifier
and a scarf. 1 pulled the pacifier out of his mouth and asked him,
The former caseworker who wrote this article was eager to
put her name on it. But because of the sensitive nature of this
story, our lawyers advised us not to. Her name, as well as all
of the names in the article, have been changed.
She thought she was
hired to protect children.
But instead, a city child
abuse investigator
discovered that betraying
her clients was part of
the job description.
Tales from a year inside
the Administration for
Children's Services.
By Akka Gordon
"Are you going to talk to me?" He looked at me and said, "Fuck
off." Other than this, he didn't speak.
In the waiting room he pulled a chair out from under a girl his
age as she went to sit down. After she fell, crying, he jumped up
and down, pointing and laughing at her. 1 tried to engage him, to
keep Christopher from terrorizing the other children. Then anoth-
er caseworker came in. He lifted him by one arm and shouted in
his face, "Listen, you brat. You better sit down and SHUT UP." He
tossed Christopher onto the couch and he bounced, landing on his
head. The caseworker warned, "Don't even think about moving.
I'm watching you." Christopher did not move or even cry. He
looked at me for help. .
The caseworker explained to me defensively, ''That's the only
way these kids listen. That's how they are treated at home, so
that's the only way to get through to them." And 1 wondered,
silently: If we aren't treating these children any better than they
were treated in their homes, then what are we doing?
To the manager at ACS who makes the fateful decision to
remove a child, and to the judge who approves it, a child exists on
a piece of paper, alongside a list of disturbing circumstances. They
don't see a child having a panic attack at 3 a.m. because he is sud-
denly alone in the world. Or slamming his head against a wall out
of protest and desperation. The good intentions that go into the
decision to remove a child often have little to do with the some-
times brutal outcomes of that choice. And the problem is not sim-
ply caseworkers who do not know how to talk to children. The
CITVLlMITS
.
whole system does not treat children with dignity and respect.
Usually, the kids fell asleep in my lap during the car rides to
their new foster homes. But Christopher stayed awake all the way
to his new home in Staten Island, until 3 a.m. He stared out the car
window and watched Manhattan recede in the distance. He
seemed to know exactly what was like an adult
trapped in a little body that couldn't speak. But when I finally had
to leave him, he did what any 3-year-old would do in the face of
abandonment. He clung for his life to my leg.
W
hen I graduated from college two years ago, I
decided to become a caseworker for ACS. I wanted
to learn how child welfare policy affects children
and their families-not from reports and data, but on
the front lines.
It may seem hard to imagine now, but in many ways I loved my
job and had no plans to do anything else. As a caseworker, I was
in a unique position to advocate for children and parents when
they most needed help. Many of the parents and children I
encountered made deep impressions on me, and I established
close connections with some of them. I also enjoyed the inves-
tigative aspect of the job, the thrill of constantly going into
unknown situations. At first, I saw it as a daily adventure.
But it did not take long for me to see that there was no adven-
ture here. Many of these families were harassed, their rights sys-
tematically violated by ACS. Their children were being swallowed
up by an agency that too often operated on virtually unchecked
authority, wielded arbitrarily. And I represented that agency.
More and more, I felt that I could not do the job I believed I
needed to do with an ACS badge around my neck. I resigned from
the agency in October 1999, after working there for just over a
year. After all that I had experienced, I felt, like many of my
clients, crippled by feelings of powerlessness. At the time, the
only thing I could do was write it all down.
In the year I worked there, the Administration for Children's
DECEMBER 2000
Services investigated more than 50,000 reports of child abuse and -i
neglect. I handled about 50 of them in my job as a child protective ].
caseworker in the Manhattan field office. I went all over the city
investigating cases-to housing projects, family shelters and,
once, to an apartment where a father had made a robot for his kids g
out of old Metrocards. But except for the time I visited a family j
on the Upper West Side-who hired their own doctors to disprove
ACS's allegations of child abuse-my work took me to low-
income neighborhoods. The reality is that families who are likely
to be reported to ACS are poor.
When I fIrst started the job, my supervisor explained to me that
bad caseworkers sympathize with the parents. "Being sentimen-
tal," he said, "is the worst way to be." If you relate to the parent,
the wisdom goes, you cannot conduct an objective investigation.
The entire investigation process relies on the assumption that
parents do not know their rights, starting with the moment they
allow caseworkers to come into their homes. A lot of these fami-
lies are so conditioned to caseworkers knocking on their doors
that the presence of a city worker in their homes is just another
part of life. Nearly half a million New York City children have
been the subjects of ACS investigations. If you are poor and if you
have had problems with the law, if you have ever been involved in
a domestic violence dispute, if you took your child to the emer-
gency room after an accident, if you have ever used drugs, if your
children have problems in school, if you have ever been homeless,
ACS has been a part of your life.
C
hild protective specialists get about two to three new
cases each week, sent to them by their supervisors.
Those supervisors have their own supervisors, called
managers. It's managers who sign off on the big deci-
sions: whether a case is worth pursuing and, most critically, when
to put children into foster care.
For a caseworker, each case represents a heavy set of tasks and
responsibilities. First, unless the call was anonymous, she must
.e
contact the source of the report. Many calls come from profes-
sionals required by law to report suspected abuse or neglect, such
as teachers, guidance counselors and hospital social workers.
Other people call in reports, too, especially neighbors and family
members. But many of these reports turn out to be false, and some
of them are made purely for revenge.
Within 24 hours of a report, the caseworker has to visit the
family at home. Caseworkers must interview each child and
examine them all for marks and bruises. They must also interview
every other member of the household, check every room for safe-
ty, check refrigerators and cabinets for food. Immunization
records, birth certificates and proof of income must be verified.
Next, caseworkers contact the children's schools and doctors. And
in cases that involve drug allegations, the caseworker must accom-
pany the parent to a drug test.
At any point during the investigation, a manager can order
tact with a family, don't have much to say in the decision-making
process. Managers generally think of them as being incapable of
giving meaningful recommendations. One week after the investi-
gation begins, caseworkers have to file an electronic report. The
computer offers two options: "safe" and "unsafe." But my man-
ager accepted only one. Any time I determined a child to be
"safe," my manager rejected it and returned it to me. The first step
to protect yourself, I quickly discovered, is to determine that a
child is "unsafe" from the outset of an investigation.
I
n my division, if the allegations were bad enough-and
especially if they came from a teacher, doctor, or other pro-
fessional required by law to report suspected abuse or
neglect-our manager considered them to be absolute truth.
Virtually every time, if a caseworker could not find evidence to
prove that the allegations were unfounded, the manager would
I pulled the paCifier out of his mouth and asked him, "Are you going to
children to be removed from their homes if it is determined that
their lives are at risk. But under state law and ACS policy,
removals are supposed to be a last resort. As an alternative, the
agency offers a menu of services to help families deal with prob-
lems; counseling, parenting classes, drug treatment and house-
keeping services are the most typical.
These investigations and interventions save children's lives and
protect their well-being all the time. Caseworkers are trained to
look beneath the surface, to not trust a parent's statement without
evidence and to compile as much information about a family as
possible. Caseworkers and their
supervisors are accountable for
each case; the days when cases
piled up on desks without anyone
contacting a family are long over.
But accountability, at ACS, is
a one-way street. A manager or
supervisor has no one to answer
to if a child who shouldn't be in
foster care is removed from home
anyway. There is no penalty for
the wrongful taking of a child.
And the pressures to remove are
intense. I was trained to do
removals in cases that did not
necessarily qualify as abuse or
neglect because, as one of my
supervisors reminded me, "pre-
vention is better than a cure."
When I was resistant to doing a
removal on a case, that same
supervisor's advice was, "It's bet-
ter to be safe than sorry." And at
moments of uncertainty, the mantra was "Cover your ass"-a
phrase heard often around the office. It was backed up by a perva-
sive fear-among caseworkers, supervisors, managers and attor-
neys-of seeing our photograph in the Daily News as the person
who made an error that was literally fatal.
Caseworkers, usually the only people who have had direct con-
refuse to sign off on a case, clearing it from our ever-growing
caseloads, until we marked it "indicated" in the computer system.
Indicated means that ACS has found credible evidence that abuse
or neglect has taken place.
Our manager indicated a case in which an 18-year-old mother
was mistakenly picked up in a drug sweep and immediately
released. The same woman had been indicated in an earlier inves-
tigation, after hot tea spilled on her child at a family shelter, even
though the social worker whose tea it was witnessed that it was an
accident. Still, the manager decided that this previous incident-
along with a robbery conviction and marijuana use before the
child was born-was reason enough to indicate the new case.
Throughout ACS, the proportion of cases that end up labeled
indicated has jumped from 26 percent in 1994 to nearly 40 percent
in 1998. From a manager's point of view, indicating cases gives
them the legal leverage they need to order a removal at any given
time. For a parent, it also means something else: Having an indi-
cated case on her record means that she cannot adopt a child,
become a foster parent or work with children in any capacity.
From there, the decision to remove is entirely up to the man-
ager. By law, children are supposed to be removed only if their
physical or emotional health has been harmed or they are in
immediate danger or being hurt as a result of a parent's failure to
"exercise a minimum degree of care." In practice, that can mean
anything from a parent failing to show up for parenting classes to
sending her child to the hospital with a broken limb. But some-
times children are removed for reasons the caseworkers them-
selves cannot fathom.
On the night I met a client I'll call Louise at the homeless shel-
ter where she lived, she told me her ll-day-old son, Kevin, was
born without drugs in his body. That she prayed to God and he
gave her another chance. And that she got clean on her own, with-
out any program. I asked her about her other children and she told
me what I already knew: She had given birth to five children who
were all taken away from her while she was still in the hospital
because each time she tested positive for crack.
Back at the office, my manager ordered me to remove Kevin.
My manager, like most of her colleagues, did not go for the "life
transformation" stuff. It did not matter that all of Louise's drug
CITY LIMITS
tests had been clean for the past two years. The manager called it
a straight case of neglect, since the woman's other children had all
been taken from her. Besides, my manager reminded me, Louise
is taking heavy psychotropic medication.
Before going to court, we received a letter written by Louise's
psychiatrist, whom she had seen regularly for the past year. He
wrote:
I remember thinking in her case no medication and certainLy
no therapy had been able to have the effect on her that her new
child has had on her. .. . The effect of the role of motherhood on her
has defined her and given her grounding. It is our sociaL and
moral responsibiLity to support [Louise] inJunctioning as a moth-
er. It is clear that [Louise] is ill. However, it is my assessment, in
accord with all other senior clinicians [here], that [Louise] poses
no immediate threat to her child.
"I'm giving him back."
"Yeah, you better," she warned.
I
n my year at ACS, I was lucky to see only a few children
who were severely abused and neglected. I did see bruises,
belt marks and bums on kids. I saw dirty and hungry chil-
dren. I saw a baby with cockroaches crawling in her crib.
There were kids who had never been to school.
I had to ask a kindergartener if her father put his penis in her
mouth. I sat in the back of an ambulance with a 9-year-old boy
lying on a stretcher who had been beaten up by his mother with
a baseball bat. He clutched his HIP card, his only possession
now, in his swollen hand. I had a 3-year-old child whose moth-
er forced him to stay awake for four days and three nights
because she thought he was possessed by a ghost and would die
if he fell asleep.
talk to me?" The three-year-old looked at me and said, "Fuck off."
My manager didn't see things the same way, and she made me
file the case in court. "If we can't get a neglect finding on this
mother, I might as well go work for the Parks Department," she
told me. When ACS's attorneys initially wouldn't accept the case,
she emailed the head of the legal division. And while I was away
at a three-day training, she finally managed to get Kevin into fos-
ter care. Louise had stayed overnight with Kevin's father that
week after she missed curfew at her shelter, and my manager had
found an old order of protection against him-evidence of domes-
tic violence. Louise was nailed with "failure to protect" Kevin
from this potentially dangerous man.
(Only later did Louise tell me that she did not really have a his-
tory of domestic violence; she made it up a few years ago since she
knew it was the only way she could qualify for emergency hous-
ing. I explained to her that it was the only reason ACS was able to
take Kevin. "Well, what would you have done?" she asked me.)
In Family Court, Louise spoke up for herself, because her
attorney did not. She argued her case herself and, with the help of
testimony from her psychiatric nurse, won the judge over. Louise
got Kevin back on the condition that she secure housing, submit
to drug tests, continue to see her psychiatrist and comply with
ACS supervision.
The ability to return a child to his or her parent is one of the
few rewards of a caseworker's job. After picking up Kevin from
his foster care agency in Queens, I sat with him in the Emergency
Assistance Unit, the city's dispatch center for homeless families,
waiting for his mother to arrive. The waiting room was filled with
mothers and crying kids. A little girl came in the waiting area and
asked the lady behind the counter for a piece of paper. "No paper,"
was the curt reply. I told the girl to come over to where I was sit-
ting. My hands were full because I was feeding Kevin, but I told
her that she could rip some pages out of my notebook. She stood
there and tore out about 30 pages, one at a time. Every few
moments she looked up at me waiting for me to say no. I just
smiled at her. "That your baby?" she asked me.
"No," I told her.
"You homeless?"
I shook my head.
"You took that baby, didn't you?" she asked.
DECEMBER 2000
And I met some parents who were dangerous not just to their
children, but to me. I had to get an order of protection for myself
against one, and was warned by another that I was going to be
killed by the Bloods outside Family Court.
But all this is what I expected from the job. In a strange way,
these really horrible cases turned out to be the easy ones. It was the
cases that weren't so clear-cut that kept me up at night. I saw
removals occur when parents were accused of failing to follow up
with a preventive service program or counseling. Breaking rules at
shelters. Using or selling marijuana, or not sending their children
to school. Failure-to-protect cases were common. One time, I
removed a child from a mother accused of neglecting her infant son
when she was hospitalized after a suicide attempt. It turned out the
child was not yet even born when the suicide attempt occurred.
r worried about what I would do if my manager ordered me to
remove. I worried about making mistakes myself.
T
wo nights before Christmas 1998, I removed two chil-
dren who I still believe should not have been taken
from their home. I had been a caseworker at ACS for
two months.
At the last minute, my supervisor instructed me to accompany
an even greener coworker on a case I knew nothing about. On the
way up the FDR, in the back of the city car, my colleague, There-
sa, described the case to me. The children were to be removed
because their 82-year-old great-grandmother, Ms. Ruth Jackson,
was too old to care for them. Owen, 5, and Carla, 14, were in Ms.
Jackson's legal custody, because their mother and grandmother
were both absent, allegedly because of drug use.
According to the allegations from an after-school program she
attended, Carla had recently slashed a girl in the face with a
pocketknife at school and was beyond the great-grandmother's
control. Theresa told me Ms. Jackson had medical problems,
including high blood pressure, diabetes and glaucoma. Due to her
"failing health," our supervisor believed that she was not an appro-
priate caretaker for the children.
The supervisor instructed Theresa to ask the great-grandmoth-
er to sign a form that would voluntarily place the children in
ACS's custody. Theresa told me that she was instructed to call the
police and remove the children only if the woman refused to sign
-
the form. Our supervisor had informed Theresa that a refusal to
sign would constitute neglect, because Ms. Jackson would not be
complying with the best interests of the children.
"I don't believe that this is the right thing," Theresa com-
plained to me. ''The great-grandmother hasn't done anything
wrong, and her health seems fine." I was furious at her for not
telling me any of this before we left. I knew the options a family
could be offered in a time of stress. A removal was to be done only
in an emergency.
When we arrived, Ms. Jackson looked at us suspiciously and
seemed reluctant to let us in. Decorated for Christmas, the apart-
ment smelled like greasy chicken. It was 9 at night.
She instructed the children to go to their rooms. She sat on the
sagging couch and asked, "What can I do for you ladies tonight?"
She looked a little frail but seemed strong-willed.
I sat in the corner by the Christmas tree while Theresa tried to
explain about the voluntary form. "You are old and you have so
many health problems," she told Ms. Jackson unconvincingly.
"Who will take care of the children if something should happen
to you?"
Ms. Jackson said, "Ain't nothing happening to me. What if
something happens to you?"
Theresa tried again. "It's not safe for the children to be living
with you because you are too old to care for them properly and
.look after them." She looked at the floor as she said this, her voice
shaking.
''What're you saying, miss? These children are not going any-
"If we can't get a
neglect finding on
where. Nobody in this house is too old. I
raised them kids since they were babies.
The court gave me these children and
nobody's going to take them away from
me."
this mother," said
my boss, "I might
as well go work
for the Parks
"My supervisor said that..."
"What?"
"My supervisor"
"Your what?"
"My supervisor. He wants you to sign
this voluntary form so that the children will
be safe." She placed the blank form on the
coffee table.
-
"I don't know much about your supervi-
Department." sor, but nobody's signing these kids to them
foster people. It's Christmas. Did you know
that, dear?"
After about 15 minutes of this, Theresa signaled me to call the
police. Out in the hallway I called 911, then went back into the
apartment to wait for the cops.
Ms. Jackson had no idea they were coming. ''Who would want
to take these children?" she asked us. "It's Christmas. These chil-
dren are happy. I take these children to school every day. I make
sure they have everything they need to get along fine."
The cops banged on the door. "Who's that?" asked Ms. Jack-
son. ''That your supervisor?"
I answered the door. Two cops stood around and did not say
much. Theresa started crying, and everything fell into my hands. I
explained to Ms. Jackson that the children were coming with us
tonight and that she would have to come to court tomorrow to get
them back. I had packed kids up quickly once before, so I braced
myself to do it again.
The kids were watching The Brady Bunch, lying with their feet
up on their great-grandmother's bed. I introduced myself and told
Carla to pack up some clothes for herself and her brother. She
looked at me as if the prospect of leaving might be exciting for a
second. Owen wanted to know if "grandma" was coming. I told
him no, and said some things about how everything was going to
be okay. Ms. Jackson came in and put clean underwear on Owen,
put his pajamas back on, and packed some clothes in a backpack
for him.
As we continued to pack, Ms. Jackson stood in the bedroom
doorway with her mouth half-open, no sound coming out. Carla
ran down the stairs and waited for us in front of the police car.
In the back of the car on our way to ECS, Owen saw his big
sister crying. He sat on my lap and started crying into my shirt.
A
lmost all removals take place at night. Caseworkers
are too busy during the day, and a family is also more
likely to be home after dark. But some workers delib-
erately wait till after hours, for the time-and-a-half
overtime. Doing a removal, staying out all night at ECS, and then
taking the child to a foster home can mean more than doubling a
day's pay. With caseworkers' salaries starting at under $32,000,
overtime makes a big difference.
The caseworkers who want nothing to do with removals can
rely on other caseworkers who volunteer for the money. When
supervisors are desperate to find someone to do a removal, they
often encourage caseworkers by reminding them, "You could use
the extra cash." The consequence is caseworkers arriving at ECS
with no idea why they just removed the kids who are with them.
When the ECS intake worker or an ACS lawyer asks them why the
children were removed, "I don't know, it's not my case" is a stan-
dard response. Or simply, "Because my supervisor told me to."
Any caseworker can tell you that they have done removals that
they did not personally agree with. But they rarely complain to
management, since they will never get in trouble for removing a
child under supervisors' orders. Caseworkers are also quiet about
unnecessary removals because doing a removal and then transfer-
ring a case to foster care takes them a lot less time than keeping it
and trying to work with a family. Keeping a case obligates a work-
er to do regular home visits and follow-ups to make sure a family
is getting preventive services. It also means dealing with anything
that may go wrong and continuing to be responsible for the chil-
dren's safety.
To become a child protective caseworker, you do not need to
have any experience working with children, or demonstrate that you
actually want to work with children. No one even asks if you like
children. You must simply have a bachelor's degree in a social sci-
ence field and pass a two-part exam. For the oral part we were asked
to think of five questions we would ask a parent, based on a short
case scenario. A "powerful rotting odor" is supposed to prompt test-
takers to ask, "What is that smell?" For the written test, we listened
to a series of voice mail recordings and wrote down phone numbers
and other details. This was not a test of common sense, or even lis-
tening skills. It seemed to be a test to see if we were alive.
Once hired, caseworkers have six weeks of training, where
they are taught how to conduct interviews, identify abuse and
neglect, and carry out a removal. Legal issues, child development,
domestic violence, sensitivity to cultural issues and handling
angry clients were also part of the curriculum. Through it all,
CITY LIMITS
caseworkers are taught, it is essential to treat clients respectfully
and professionally.
But the social work lingo of the training, where we spent two
days discussing the need to "leave your baggage at the door," is far
removed from the harsh reality of a field office. For new case-
workers, the obsessive concern with liability at the field offices
quickly overshadows the reasonable criteria they have been taught
for identifying abuse and neglect. Most quickly learn to abandon
their training and to do what it takes to survive.
ACS has been making strides cutting down heavy caseloads,
but it's still a stressful and at times tedious job--each case, no
matter how trivial, calls for the same IS-page report. A contradic-
tion at the heart of it all makes the work even more difficult. Case-
workers are trained to be service providers and advocates for fam-
ilies. To work together with families to uncover and solve prob-
lems in the home, caseworkers must establish an intimate rapport
with their clients. Yet at the very same time they are engaged in an
act of betrayal: as they write down parents' statements and survey
their homes and behavior, caseworkers are building a potential
court case against them. At no point are they able to tell their
clients that everything they say can be used against them in court.
The relationship of caseworker and client becomes one of manip-
ulation, characterized by a deep lack of trust on both sides.
Although many of the best caseworkers get fed up and leave
the agency, there are good workers who have been at ACS for
years. They have survived because they have learned how to
manipulate the system to make it work for themselves and their
clients. They purposely omit or obscure facts about families in
their case records and in their discussions with their supervisors to
save clients from unnecessary court action. The most fortunate
have supervisors who share their commitment to respecting fami-
lies' rights. I was one of them: One of my supervisors was a men-
tor to me, and I considered her directives highly valuable.
Several months before I left the agency, an Emergency Chil-
dren's Services supervisor who was resigning after more than 10
years blanketed the agency with a stunning email. He began by
saying that he is not leaving the agency any better than when he
started. He blamed this lack of improvement on ACS Commis-
sioner Nicholas Scoppetta, whom he accused of being more pre-
occupied with making the agency look good in the media than
with making substantial changes that help clients. "ACS cares
more about statistics than they do about children, forgetting that
DECEMBER 2000
those statistics represent real chil-
dren," he wrote. The supervisor had
equally harsh words for protective
caseworkers: "ACS workers cannot
absolve themselves of responsibili-
ty for doing wrong removals by
blaming them on their supervisors
or managers or on agency policy."
He compared the level of obedi-
ence and complacency at the
agency to Nazi soldiers who killed
II million civilians during World
War II because "they too were just
carrying out orders." Nobody
Caseworkers must
establish an intimate
rapport with clients,
even as they build
a court case
against them.
around me talked about the email, not even to disagree.
C
ia and Owen were placed in foster care that night. The
next day, Theresa went to court. The judge, who hap-
ned to be in his seventies himself, ordered that Owen
be returned home immediately. The judge stated the
obvious: Old age is not grounds for neglect. Carla, however, was to
remain in foster care because of her behavior problems. When the
judge asked Theresa if she felt the children were in imminent dan-
ger, she answered that in her opinion they were not.
Soon after, Theresa was stripped of her cases and demoted. A
letter informed her that she failed to protect the children of the City
of New York, and that her interest was con-
trary to that of the agency. It turned out that
the ACS attorney had called our supervisor
and told him what had happened in court.
The supervisor called a meeting to
remind us that when we go to court we must
represent the agency's opinion only. We
must never state our own opinion, even if
the judge asks us directly. "Let your attor-
ney object," he said.
And so Theresa's case was reassigned to
me. Twice a month, I had to visit Ms. Jack-
son and Owen. I stood outside her door and
gave a lengthy apology before she let me
back in. Gradually, her trust in me grew and
our visits turned pleasant. I made sure the
house was not in disarray and watched Ms.
Jackson with Owen, always warm and attentive. Relying on other
family members to help care for Owen made parenting easier for
her.
I was getting to know the family better than I had expected.
The children's mother turned up on my desk one day as a brand-
new case file. Though she had been clean for several months
straight, she had just tested positive for crack at a hospital, right
before giving birth. By now, I knew four generations of this fam-
ily, and I was determined to find hope. So I set out to let the baby
stay with her biological father while making sure the mother's
tests continued to be clean.
But once again, my manager refused, even though the father had
no prior cases and no history of drug use. Her reason, she said, was
because she didn' t even know him. (She declined my offer to bring
him in for an introduction.) She wanted to know if he had a criminal
(continued on page 31)
Immigrant teens face many trials when they come to live in Hew York.
But few are as daunting as the English Regents exam
they'll have to take to graduate.
By Phyllis Vine
H
igh school senior Rakhi Hossain has spent a lot of time
thinking about what her life will be like after graduation.
After considering becoming a teacher, she decided that
she wanted to be a nurse. But last June, her vision of the
future began and ended with just one thing: the RegentS test she
just learned she would have to take that month in order to gradu-
ate. She spent the month doing nothing but cramming.
This was no small challenge. Her school, the Long Island City-
based International Charter High, is for immigrants who have
scored poorly on standardized English tests. And now Rakhi and
her classmates would have to take a standardized test-in English
Language Arts-to graduate.
Rakhi (not her real name) had already finished the other gradua-
tion reqillrements, including oral exams about a series of senior pro-
jects. One was a model of a Greek temple, to demonstrate the prin-
ciples of geometry. She analyzed poetry in BengaJj, her native lan-
guage. In other coursework, she had studied rustory, learning about
people "who came to this country centuries ago looking for a better
life, like many of us," she wrote. Through it all, she had become flu-
ent in English through the school's full-immersion approach.
But one thing she hadn't learned was how to beat a multiple
choice test. With almost no time to act, her school had fought, and
lost, a court battle to extend its exemption from New York State's
new requirement that all rugh school seniors take Regents exams
in order to graduate. International High is one of about 40 schools
in the city to use "portfolio performance assessments" of research
papers and other in-depth projects, instead of standardized exams,
to measure student acruevement.
The last-minute mandate to take an English exam-the one
test currently needed for graduation as the Regents requirement is
phased in statewide-was not something anyone had expected.
"We had permission not to prepare them for four and a half years,"
says principal Eric Nadelstern. "We were caught by surprise. It's
a terrible way to end the year."
Suddenly, everything Rakhl had learned did not matter. "In my
own country, this would never happen," she marvels, "to get a test
you had only two weeks to prepare for."
She failed the Regents Comprehensive Test in English, a less
rigorous version of the standard exam. So did 13 of her class-
mates. Rakhl spent the summer cramming to take the test again in
the fall. And again, she failed, along with seven other students.
Although she passed the writing part of the test this time, she
missed the reading section by one point.
Rakhi was humiliated. In her family, educational achievement
is the measure of a person's worth. One relative who did not go to
college was even disowned. Her father, who had been a teacher in
Bangladesh, keeps reminding her that she is the first person in the
family to be held back in school. "I have to listen to that every
day," she says. She is still so ashamed that she decided she didn't
want her name used in this story. For now, she is taking courses at
LaGuardia Community College and is hoping to finally pass the
test when she takes it again in January.
The test rut the students at International High hard. But even if
they had all year to prepare, it might not have made much of a dif-
ference. Of the estimated 15,000 rugh school seniors in New York
City who speak little to no English-known by the Board of Edu-
cation as English language learners, or ELLs-40 percent did not
even take the Regents at all last June. Of those who took it, about
half scored rugher than 55, wruch allowed them to graduate. But
next year, as the Regents requirement is phased in, they will have
to score 65 to pass. Just 7.4 percent of English language learners
scored above that. And that's out of the ones who actually made it
to the finish line: Almost a quarter of the class of 2000's ELLs
dropped out before graduation. Nearly 55 percent have been held
back one or two years.
Teenage immigrants arrive in New York wanting to learn quick-
ly, graduate on time and get on with their lives. But students who
haven't mastered English are now stuck. The state has repeatedly
rebuffed pleas to create an alternative graduation requirement for
them. At the same time, say advocates for immigrants, schools
don't have the resources-particularly enough qualified bilingual
and English as a Second Language teachers-to help students get
up to speed to pass the Regents in the limited time they have.
"We are supportive of rugher standards for English language
skills," says Margaret McHugh, executive director of the New
York Immigration Coalition, one of several groups now suing the
state to demand a graduation requirement that doesn't condemn
immigrant students to failure. "The question is whether the state
has given the students an opportunity to meet the expectations."
A
t International Charter High, students come from more
than 60 nations, and arrive speaking 40 languages. All of
them immediately plunge into speaking, reading and
writing English. The school tries to keep classes small,
and then break students into smaller clusters to hold discussions.
The idea is to encourage students to think creatively and rigor-
ously. "It's a move away from memorization to research papers,"
says Nadelstern. "The instruction is less traditional."
International has strict entrance requirements. With a student
body of 430, it can enroll about half of the students who enter a
CITY LIMITS
lottery and meet the criteria. Applicants must have lived in the
U.S. for less than four years and have scored lower than the 21st
percentile on standardized English tests. Considering where its
students start, its accomplishments are impressive: About 20 per-
cent graduate in four years and head right off to college. Taking
advantage of the school's on-campus location, many students also
take college courses at laGuardia Community College while
they're still enrolled in high school.
Under International's portfolio system, students learn by
sharpening ideas and revising drafts and projects until they pass
muster. Each part of the portfolio they submit for graduation-
including a scientific experiment, a social science report and a lit-
erary essay-must appear in perfect English, redone as many
times as it takes. And every requirement is designed to adhere to
New York State's education standards.
The process also brings bashful teens out of their shells. Stu-
dents who arrive shy and retiring eventually develop the social and
language skills to carry off an academic conversation with four or
five adults-another test they'll have to pass to graduate. "Stu-
dents learn the language by using it," says Nadelstern, formerly
president of the New York State Teachers of English to Speakers
of Other Languages and ex-chair of the state commissioner's
Advisory Council on Bilingual Education.
Recognizing the value of portfolio assessements, in 1995
then-State Education Commissioner Thomas Sobol granted two
dozen schools, including International High, a five-year variance
allowing them to use portfolio assessments as a qualification for
a Regents diploma, which at the time conferred honors. He
would later write that he did so because "there is more than one
effective way to educate high school students, and more than one
effective way to assess their progress."
The New York State Education Department now disagrees. It
insists that all students in the state pass the Regents to graduate,
with the exception of students with severe learning disabilities.
Determined to impose those tests as quickly as possible, NYSED
seized on a change in International High's legal status-its switch
in August 1999 from a Board of Education school to an indepen-
dent charter school-as an opportunity to force students into tak-
ing the exam a year before Sobol's waiver ran out.
Associate Commissioner of Education Roseanne DeFabio
asserts that the state's policy of allowing immigrant students to
remain in school until they turn 21 will take care of students who
can't pass the test on their first tries. "Even if someone comes in
at 17," she says, "he has four years in New York State to reach a
level of proficiency to get a diploma."
DeFabio equates the Regents exams with an Olympics event.
They are a demonstration of skill, she says, the "common evidence"
of meeting the standards. The tests are geared to prepare students for
entry level jobs or college. Department officials say they are making
a statement-to the world, to business leaders, to future employers
and to colleges-that only students who have a demonstrated the
Regents level of proficiency will carry New York's diploma.
DECEMBER 2000
Without apologies, New York State and Governor George
Pataki have joined the national movement to make standardized
exams the final word on student achievement. Under Commis-
sioner Richard P. Mills, New York has been aggressive in impos-
ing standards and exams. Students already have to pass tests to
move from grade to grade. But this year was the first time they
also had to take an exam to graduate.
Just four months after arriving in Albany, Mills announced an
end to minimum competency tests for graduation, which had been
left over from a previous reform era. Shortly after, he announced
that beginning with the class of 2000, all students must pass
Regents' examinations to graduate. And the only degree the state's
high schools would henceforth offer would be the Regents Diplo-
ma, which until then had been awarded as a special distinction for
college-bound students.
A
mong educators, the use of a single test as a graduation
requirement is extremely controversial. Students com-
monly have to pass exams to get into college, but no
other country in the world makes students pass a test
simply to get out of high school. The American Educational
Even though
students at
International
Charter High are
new immigrants,
20 percent are
off to college in
four years.
-
"Everything is
devoted to the
Regents: says
Sonia Oliva, a
senior from
Honduras. She
would rather, she
says, be thinking
about books.
-
Research Association, the American Psychological Association,
the National Council on Measurement in Education, the Nation-
al Academy of Sciences, the National Education Association, and
even the PTA oppose the use of a single test to determine whether
a student will graduate. Almost alone in its endorsement of using
tests this way is the American Federation of Teachers.
But politicians love spouting the statistics of improved results.
Visible and easy to report to the press, "new test or assessment
requirements can be implemented within the term of office of
selected officials," writes Robert Linn, an educational policy ana-
lyst with the University of Colorado and consultant to many
states, including New York.
To many education policy experts, state officials are the ones
who need remedial math. States that have imposed graduation
tests, they point out, have also seen their dropout rates shoot up.
In Texas, when a graduation test was first introduced, the dropout
rate for black and Hispanic students went up 50 percent in a sin-
gle year. Because those who leave school tend to be among the
poorer test-takers, test scores look strong-but that's partly
because many students who would have scored the worst never
even take the test.
Education reform advocates have watched their bopes for high
standards tum to dismay. Sara Schwabacher, vice-president of
New Visions Schools, a Manhattan-based organization that pro-
motes educational innovation, still praises the early days of the
standards movement. As she sees it, clearly articulated expecta-
tions to hold teachers accountable put the responsibility on teach-
ers to do their jobs effectively and give all children an opportuni-
ty to learn. Now, however, Schwabacher looks at the same stan-
dards and sees them smothered by standardized testing. ''The
movement to teach standards," she says, "is being corrupted by
teaching to the tests."
Thomas Sobol, now a professor at Teachers College, still fer-
vently believes in promoting high educational standards across the
board. "If we frame new standards and assessments that require
students to apply their knowledge, to raise new questions, to think
with what they are learning as well as to memorize it," Sobol says
now, "we can go a long way toward improving their education."
But maintaining high standards, he still contends, does not
obligate every New York school to use the same method of measur-
ing student achievement. Relying on testing as a graduation stan-
dard, fears Sobol, stifles students' critical and creative thinking.
Even worse, he says, it leaves a lot of them unable to make it out the
other side. "What about the students who learn differently-those,
for example, who reach intelligent solutions to problems in uncon-
ventional ways, or in ways they cannot explain?" he asks. "What
about immigrant children who enter our system in midstream?
''What's going on," says Sobol, "is a perversion of the original
intent."
N
ot surprisingly, the Regents requirement will hit hardest
in New York City, which is home to 80 percent of the
state's English language learners. There are more than
156,000 of these kids in the public schools. Spanish-
speakers constitute the largest group of students. Next come those
whose native language is Chinese, Russian, Haitian Creole, Ben-
gali, Urdu, Arabic or Korean.
City schools already have a serious job on their hands. Facing
the largest wave of immigration since 1910, they have had to
stretch to meet their basic obligations for English language
instruction, either in bilingual programs or in ESL classes.
In schools that are sufficiently staffed, most students can
choose between bilingual and ESL instruction. Roughly equal
number of students enroll in each. In bilingual classes, students
learn most of the curriculum in their native language, then study
English in English.
ESL classes are supposed to do one thing: get students' Eng-
lish up to snuff so they can succeed in their other coursework. It
is not designed to get students to the state's graduation standard,
which calls for students to read, write, listen and speak with close
attention to critical analysis, information, understanding and eval-
uation-all, of course, in English.
But even when it's well taught, ESL takes time to take hold.
Even after four years, students in ESL classes may still be mem-
orizing words, not speaking or reading the language, says Paul
Harrison, assistant principal at a Bronx high school. "In ESL
classes, you put plaques on the door with the word 'door,' on the
window with the word ' window,' on the closet with the word
'closet.' ESL teachers are not teaching hard literature," he says.
And both programs are facing crippling shortages of certified
teachers, social workers and psychologists. Curriculum materials
are also in short supply. ESL courses are overcrowded; classes of
35 to 40 students are not uncommon. The Regents are also well
aware of the problems facing bilingual education: They granted a
waiver allowing the Board of Education to hire uncertified bilin-
gual teachers, who now teach nearly 40 percent of all students
enrolled in the programs. Many of the teachers do not even speak
the native language of the children in their classes.
The English Regents exam requires subtle shadings such as the
ability to recognize motive, character, plot and voice of literary and
popular figures. Educators say, and the Regents acknowledge, that
the test requires a level of academic comprehension and expression
that takes four to seven years to develop-longer than many of the
students taking the test have even lived in the United States.
"ELls realize that remaining in school will eam them neither
the instruction they crave nor a high school diploma," McHugh
wrote to Regents Chancellor Carl Hayden in May. Lately, McHugh
CITY LIMITS
has been hearing reports of teenagers showing up for ESL classes
for adults in Queens, telling the instructors they have been coun-
seled not to waste their time staying in high school and trying to
pass an impossible exam. "The worst aspect is the climbing
dropout rate for ELLs," says McHugh. 'The move to higher stan-
dards was supposed to improve education overall, not just reduce
the number of students we were choosing to educate."
The state has responded to the crisis by issuing a list of rec-
ommended measures schools can take to help immigrant students
pass the tests. They include extra weekend and evening classes,
outreach to parents, additional teacher training, more teachers,
and more carefully aligning class work to the tests. But without
enough resources, observes McHugh, expecting students to grad-
uate just isn't realistic. "Standards are for the
system, not just students," she says.
At least one Regent agrees with McHugh.
"Overnight, we're not going to fix a system
with institutionalized failure," says Regent
Ricardo E. Oquendo.
But the Regents mandate is already here,
and for students, there are no waivers. Educa-
tion reformers say it's a guaranteed path to
failure. "You can't just say, 'We're going to
bring in these tests, and if the kids fail, we
hope that the districts are going to provide the
resources to help them,'" says Fruchter, direc-
tor of New York University's Institute for
Social Policy in Education. "Putting the
screws on top to improve the system makes
kids hostage. A lot of kids will pay the penal-
ty of not having a safety net in place."
r
e difficulties immigrant students have
had passing the Regents are hardly
unexpected. From the beginning, an
army of educators and advocates for
immigrants warned Mills and other state offi-
cials that they were brewing a disaster.
In late 1996, a roundtable convened by the
Education Department recommended that the
state not use the Regents for students still
learning English. Instead, it urged the state to
develop "alternative testing procedures to
ensure that the new Regents exams for high school graduation do
not systematically deny [ELL] students a high school diploma."
Over the next four years, prominent advisors-including sta-
tisticians, anthropologists, psychologists, linguists, curriculum
experts and professors of education-would repeat the request for
a safety net for these students. In August 1997, a technical advi-
sory group to the Education Department predicted high failure
rates among ELls. And last November, a 69-member English
Language Learners advisory committee urged the state to slow
down its imposition of the graduation requirement. Immigrant stu-
dents, they reported, lack "the frequency and duration of English
language arts instruction .. . necessary to pass the Regents Compre-
hensive Test in English." This committee, too, predicted high fail-
ure rates for these students.
One idea popular among advisory committee members would
have retained the current minimum competency exams until a spe-
DECEMBER 2000
cial Regents exam designed for English language learners was in
place. An Assembly bill that would have provided that alternative
exam died in committee.
But state officials have made it very clear that there are to be
no exceptions to the new requirement. Minutes from a technical
advisory group meeting in the spring of 1999 reveal that the Edu-
cation Department "advised that it is important for credibility and
public acceptance that the standards, once set, not be changed
without good reasons that can be defended in public."
The only concessions the Regents made were small: When
taking the state exams, English language learners could have
more time, quiet rooms, and the opportunity to have the oral
part of the test read three times instead of two. "1 fmd it dis-
tressing that...the Commissioner has
chosen to ignore the expert advice
of those to whom he has turned,"
commented Edward DeAvila, a psy-
chologist and consultant to states
and the federal government.
Some of the Regents themselves
acknowledge that the state's motives
are not purely pedagogical. 'The fear is that we will be criti-
cized-mostly by fairly conservative groups," says Oquendo.
"And nobody wants to be accused of watering down the tests, of
going against the tide."
To prevent that tide from further deluging students, the Puerto
Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund filed suit in federal
court this July, charging New York's failure to provide adequate
instruction to ELLs for the English Language Arts Regents
amounts to discrimination under the federal Civil Rights Act.
Alleging that the Education Department knew the hazards to
students with limited English skills, the suit maintains that state
officials "continued to press ahead with their agenda, placing the
educational lives and rights of ELls at risk." The suit is brought
on behalf of organizations, including the Immigration Coalition
and Alianza Dorninicana, that provide social services to immi-
grants. They fear a massive increase in demand for their services,
commissioner
Thomas Sobol
(right' is
supporting
International High
principal Eric
Nadelstern in the
school's fight to
stay Regents-free.
--
One graduation
requirement at
International High:
Students can't be
shy. To pass, they
have to carry off an
academic
conversation.
-
everything from counseling to job training, if the Regents require-
ment leads to a swell of dropouts. ''They've been doing work that
takes the pressure off of schools," says Sandra Del Valle, an attor-
ney for PRLDEF. "It's terribly unfair."
The lawsuit points to the extraordinary consequences associat-
ed with not having a high school diploma. The most obvious haz-
ard is significantly lower pay and much higher unemployment-
men without diplomas are twice as likely as those with them to be
unemployed, and women are three times as likely. PRLDEF's
objective is to see students tested on material geared to the length
of time they have studied English in school. "Otherwise, they are
asked to take tests on things they have never learned," points out
Del Valle. ''That's an invalid test."
I
nternational High is now appealing the ruling that forced its stu-
dents to take the Regents. The possibility that the school may
lose its case has changed the routine here: Teachers are now
preparing students to take the Regents in English and math,
which will both be required for graduation citywide this year.
Sonia Oliva, a senior from Honduras, is now preparing for
her graduation portfolio. She has just about decided on two
books for her literary essay. Reaching into her bag, she pulls out
an English-Spanish dictionary. "I need this to go along with
him," she says, and points to Robert Olen Butler, A Good Scent
from a Strange Mountain, about Vietnamese Americans. She
will compare it with Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers, about
Jewish immigrants.
Sonia smiles easily, speaks energetically, serves on the student
council, plays Friday soccer on an otherwise all-male team and
works at McDonald's on the weekends. Her father says she
doesn't have to work, but the extra money might come in handy if
she gets accepted to SUNY-Binghamton or to Stony Brook.
In the meantime, a new focus on the upcoming Regents exams
has transformed her classes. "Everything is devoted to the Regents,"
she says. She would rather, she says, be reading and thinking about
books. ''There's no point in memorizing stuff I will forget the next
day," says Sonia. ''This work means a lot-our grades, our way to
college. It's not easy. And they want us to do something like that in
six hours and the next day just to forget all about it."
It's that kind of passion for thinking and learning that Nadel-
stem says he can't bear to discourage. "I have no doubt if we
keep rolling in Regents we will be forced to conform to the
instructional model of large, failed high schools," says Nadel-
stem. The advent of the test makes him worry that the program
he has built, with the help of $60 million from the city and state
over the past 15 years, will be wasted. He worries about sending
students into the world without Rakhi 's ambition, or Sonia's
passion.
He is also angry for immigrant students allover the city who,
he believes, aren't learning the skills they'll need for the obstacles
that await. He would rather have successful, confident students
who know what they are capable of, than what he calls "the illu-
sion of accountability."
Nadelstem takes some comfort from a letter of support
Thomas Sobol wrote him last spring, when the state came down
on his school, advocating the continued use of portfolios. "State
officials," said Sobol, "have no monopoly on wisdom concerning
the best way to teach and evaluate students."
Phyllis Vine is a historian and freelance journalist.
CITY LIMITS
DECEMBER 2000
Morals of
Muck
By Robert E. Sullivan
"Fat of the Land: The Garbage of New York,
the Last Two Hundred Years," by Benjamin
Miller, Four Walls Eight Windows, $18.
B
enjamin Miller calls his chosen topic an analogy to munic-
ipal corruption and inefficiency, past and present. If his
well-documented portrayal of past practices is anything
like the policies New York lives with today, we are all in trouble.
Fat of the Land is about, well, the history of garbage. But in
Miller's deft hands, the accumulation and the disposal of waste
becomes a metaphor for political corruption and other ills of
society for the past two centuries.
Miller, a former director of policy planning at the
Department of Sanitation in the Giuliani administration, does
not merely restrict his book to Gotham's muck. It actually
serves as a guide to 200 years of governmental policy of
America and Britain.
Miller assails city corruption, gross misunderstanding of the
effects of poor sanitation by the medical community, and nar-
row-mindedness on both continents in general. But New York
City politics receives his special attention. The politics, he says,
mostly stink like the subject of his book, and he rests his con-
clusions on the irrefutable presence of muck.
For instance, he points out, shortly after Boss Tweed met his
political end-and Tammany Hall had allegedly been swept
clean-the new Tammany boss, Charles Murphy, appointed a
close friend, 1. Sargeant Cram, as head of the Board of Docks.
The Board of Docks, among other responsibilities, handled
garbage barges. In four years, the budget of the Board of Docks
increased 300 percent without any noticeable increase in its
responsibilities or effectiveness. Commissionerships on the
board became among the most highly prized patronage posi-
tions in the city.
There are also a lot of neat nuggets of information. For
example, if you live close to the city's waterways, you may not
be on solid ground. You may be living on garbage that the citi-
zens of New York paid to have hauled away, paid to have treat-
ed, and paid to be made into landfill, which was then sold back
to New Yorkers as prime real estate by City Hall cronies.
You'd never know, unless you're an old garbage hand too,
what an important role rubbish played in the American econo-
my. At one time garbage generated millions of dollars.
Once upon a time, according to Miller, everything thrown
out in New York was eventually collected, separated into sever-
al dozen re-usable categories, boiled down and otherwise recy-
-------' ... "'.-
REVI EW
cled by hundreds of human
hands-usually immi-
grants-and an equal num-
ber of pigs, who per-
formed the useful func-
tion of getting rid of
much of the ex-living
matter. Not only was
fertilizer produced, but
so was much more interesting
stuff-bones for bone china, for one, and
glycerin for nitroglycerin, for another; plus oil, grease,
tallow and soap, worth tens of millions of dollars a year. The
nitro was used not only to blast one's enemies off the face of the
earth, but to rip open the bedrock to make room for New York's
skyscrapers and subways.
What could not be used for any purpose-ash from inciner-
ation, for instance-was dumped into New York waters, over
and over again, and became the land that New Yorkers walk on
every day now, including LaGuardia and Kennedy airports.
Miller is disinterestedly cynical about what he says were two
centuries of corruption in the waste business, which he docu-
ments but does not, for the most part, outright condemn. But in
discussing the 1990s, when he served as head of planning for
the Sanitation Department, he really starts slinging it.
This is Miller on Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who had
announced the closing of Staten Island's Fresh Kills dump: "For
a mayor who prided himself on throwing more than 160,000
women and children off welfare in his first four years of office
to save some 89 million dollars per year, and who, since enter-
ing office had cut the Board of Education's annual budget by 80
million dollars, this was a puzzling prodigality, since the
increased cost to the city's budget-by the administration's own
understated estimates-was at least one hundred million dollars
a year."
Miller predicts a future festering with sanitation snafus.
While the Staten Island site is scheduled to close in 200 1-
when term limits will force Giuliani out of office-the city has
yet to come up with a workable plan to dispose of the millions
of pounds of garbage generated by New Yorkers every year. It
will undoubtedly top the list of headaches the next mayor will
have to contend with.
Calling the closing of the Fresh Kills dump without a fully
thought-out and viable alternative "disastrous," Miller says:
"New York at the start of the twenty-first century is no more
able, perhaps less able, to plan and implement solutions to such
basic municipal functions as waste management than it has
ever been."
Fat is very readable. Readers can skip over names and
details they don't need without losing Miller's valuable per-
spective: Citizens need to be acutely aware of how the city's
laws handle garbage.
This is, literally, top-flight muckraking .
Robert E. Sullivan is a Manhattan-basedfreelance writer.
CITYVIEW
Emily Menlo
Marks is
executive
director, and
Doug Turetsky
director of policy
and public affairs,
for United
Neighborhood
Houses.
The Profit
Motif
By Emily Menlo Marks and Doug Turetsky
P
rom child care to home care, job
training and placement to youth
services, for-profit entities across
the country are eyeing-and increasing-
ly delivering-the kinds of services and
programs that have long been the
province of settlement houses and other
community-based nonprofits. The business
sector has been making steady headway for
some time. Several years ago, settlement
houses and other community groups were the
sole providers of home care services to neigh-
borhood residents under contracts with the
city's Department for the Aging. Today, one-
third of those contracts are held by for-profits.
The mounting competition between the business
and nonprofit sectors, coupled with a rising empha-
sis on performance measures and technological pro-
ficiency, is changing the face of social services. It
is also one of the key challenges facing communi-
ty organizations in the coming years.
To many public officials around the coun-
try, the growing presence of for-profit service
providers is a welcome alternative. A vice
president at Res-Care, a for-profit chain that
operates group homes for the developmen-
tally disabled and programs for at-risk
youth in 28 states, put it this way in The
American Prospect: "As states are
downsizing and moving people into the
community, we have access to working
capital that smaller providers don' t. This significantly
reduces risk for states and allows a much faster implementation
of community services."
Ideally, competition with for-profits can prod settlement
houses and other community groups to become even better
service providers. There are certainly management lessons
worth gleaning from the for-profits, such as methods for more
accurately calculating costs in order to better negotiate con-
tracts. By their very definition, though, for-profits must devote
much of their management energy toward profit maximiza-
tion. When the private sanitation hauler Waste Management
found that some of its customers were not cost-effective. It
received permission from City Hall to simply dump those
clients. In social services, this bottom-line protection often
translates into reducing the scope of services or preventing
losses by "cherry-picking" program participants.
Recent experience with managed care, where many insurers
have concentrated on marketing to groups of healthy con-
sumers, is an example of how to carefully select participants in
a way that will limit the likely expenditures on services. If such
"risk selection" is followed in other service areas, it is an
approach that potentially leaves community groups with the
neediest people-and open to the charge that they are less effi-
cient and effective.
The public's growing demand for accountability in the
expenditure of tax dollars is leading to an increase in perfor-
mance-based contracting, and adding to the competitive pres-
sure of the marketplace. New York City has developed
performance-based contracts that often require organizations to
achieve certain service milestones before any payments are
made. For-profits can shoulder the risks and raise the cash from
shareholders to compete in this environment; settlement hous-
es and similar non profits cannot. But these performance mile-
stones may offer only a limited kind of accountability. If the
service becomes unprofitable, a for-profit may choose to sim-
ply shut its doors. Settlement houses have a more fundamental
form of accountability to their mission, board and community:
They have but one market, their neighborhood.
For-profits tend to employ narrow measures of success or
failure, such as earnings. A corollary may be test scores, which
are increasingly being used to define a school's success or fail-
ure just as for-profits are taking a bigger role in school opera-
tions. Heralding a school's test scores makes for good market-
ing, but one-dimensional accountability. Test scores may tell us
more about a school's ability to teach students to take tests than
their success at producing intelligent and informed citizens.
Technology is also affecting non profits ' ability to compete
as service providers. Information technology offers many possi-
bilities for improved service delivery and for providing the per-
formance measures sought by government and foundations. It
can also be an important tool for increasing administrative effi-
ciency. But technology also demands increased financial out-
lays and staff skills. That means more money up front for invest-
ment in hardware and software, as well as continuing mainte-
nance and upgrade costs. Again, community organizations are at
a disadvantage because of their limited access to capital for
infrastructure investment, upgrading and staff training.
Competition with for-profits, performance measures and
technology pose formidable challenges in the coming years but
also present opportunities to improve community groups' ser-
vices and strengthen neighborhood and organizational infra-
structures. If there is to be a level playing field between for-
profits and nonprofits, the public sector needs to remember that
there is more to evaluating the effectiveness of a program than
unit cost. And settlement houses and other community organi-
zations need to do a better job of communicating the added
value they bring .
CITY LIMITS
Taking
Liberties
(continued from page 23)
record, and I told her he had several trespassing
violations that he got while participating in a
movie shoot. She laughed at me, and gave me
her usual lecture on not believing everything
clients tell me.
He had, in fact, been working as a camera-
man on the documentary Dark Days.
Resourceful and quick-wi tted, he is also a cen-
tral character in the movie, one of a group of
people who built places to live in the Amtrak
tunnel under Riverside Park. In court, he advo-
cated aggressively for himself and his wife, and
managed to convince the judge to have him
take care of their baby girl. Both parents now
live in a family shelter in Manhattan, raising
their girl along with a new baby boy. The moth-
er has been clean ever since.
But Carla wasn't doing so well. Throughout
last year, she ran away from her group home in
Coney Island several times and refused to
attend school. Every time she ran away, I would
get a phone call and would go out to find her.
Since she was in the custody of ACS, she was
my responsibility once she AWOLed. I tracked
her down, and usually found her at her aunt 's
house on Avenue D. Each time we had to go
back to ECS and wait for hours for a nurse to
give her a physical again before taking her back
to the group home.
Carla wore red high-top Reeboks. She said
that she hated her family. Since she would oth-
erwise barely speak to me, I resorted to telling
her about how bad I felt when I was in eighth
grade. This never helped.
When Carla refused to go back to her group
home in Coney Island, the only group home
that would take her, given her history of run-
ning away, was Hegeman Transitional Home in
East New York, one of the most notorious
group homes in the city. By the time we arrived
there, it was 1 a.m. We were buzzed in and we
walked down a long, bleak underground hall-
way that felt like both a prison and a mental
hospital. After not speaking to me for hours,
Carla started panicking: "I can't stay here, I
can' t stay here! "
I tried to tell her that it was only temporary
and that she had to get through it. That she'd
end up somewhere worse if she ran away again.
"You can' t leave me here, please don' t leave me
here, I want my grandma, I want to go home,
please let me go home," she cried. It was the
most she had said to me all night.
She had been away from her great-grand-
DECEMBER 2000
mother for three months now. If I took her back
there, I would be violating a court order. I con-
sidered, irrationally, bringing her home with
me and giving her my bed to sleep in.
We went to the office of the group home and
met the woman on the night shift. I told her that
Carla had been having problems with other
girls stealing her stuff at her last group home.
"Oh, she' ll lose her stuff here," the woman
smirked. "Got any underwear you like? We got
a panty thief right now." She blew smoke in our
faces.
I promised Carla I would get her out as soon
as I could. And left her.
B
y the time [ resigned, I felt strongly
that the system was working against
children instead of for them. Most
of the families I encountered were
poor, they made mistakes, they could not cope.
They had many losses in their lives and often
did not show their children that they were val-
ued. Overwhelmingly, families who have their
children removed need support.
But instead of getting help, they get tangled
in a legal system that refuses to let them go.
They will have to claw their way through an
overbooked court system, where it takes
months just to get a trial. Most court-appointed
lawyers advise their clients to admit right away
to ACS' s allegations of abuse or neglect,
because it will help them get their children
back sooner than a trial will.
Losing a child to foster care is a devastating
experience. Yet ACS paints a very different pic-
ture of its efforts to prevent child abuse and
neglect. In October, an independent panel found
that after spiking sharply upward for two years,
the number of deaths of children in the city
attributable to abuse or neglect dropped to their
lowest levels in decades. Mayor Giuliani beamed
that ACS "has done an excellent job of accom-
plishing its purposes," and that the agency "real-
ly can set a model for the rest of the country."
ACS also points out that it is in the middle
of a comprehensive effort to overhaul its prac-
tices. According to figures the agency supplied
to City Limits, a recent review of case records
by New York State found that 7 percent of
placements of kids in foster care could not be
justified, down from 27 percent in 1996. And
after peaking at 12,000 in fiscal year 1998, the
number of children entering foster care went
down to 10,418 last year-still a staggeringly
high number.
The decline in child deaths and other signs
of improvement at the agency are welcome
news. But what kind of model is an agency
whose success continues to depend on routine-
ly causing unnecessary pain to children and the
parents who want to take care of them? Unlike
fatalities. the trauma a child endures from
(continued on page 32)
Beach
20,000
readers
in the
nonprofit
sector.
Advertise In

(ity Limits
Call Kim Nauer at
(212) 479-3352
VICTIM ~ SERVICES
IS now
Are you safe?
Are you
the victim of a
crime?
Call 24-hours a day,
7 days a week
212-577-7777
You are not alone.
(continued from page 31)
being wrongly removed, followed by years of
difficulty growing up in foster care, are not
measurable. For the kids I worked with, the
consequences are also not acceptable.
I
n March, I picked Carla up from court
after a hearing related to her slashing
incident. We ate lunch together at
McDonald's, and then she spent the rest
of the day asleep in my office. She told me that
she did not want to go back to Hegeman
because pimps were working the streets nearby.
That day, her aunt on Avenue D finally said
she was willing to take her in permanently and
become her foster parent.
When we arrived at her aunt's house, the
aunt shouted at Carla. She called her "a no-
good kid" and said she was not going to get
away with running away anymore. "I'm not
going to let you end up like your mother," she
yelled. "When you are in my house you will
live by my rules and let me tell you straight up,
you little smartass, YOU AIN'T GOING
NOWHERE!" The aunt's words dug into Carla,
and I could see on her face that she was about
to break. Carla looked at her aunt, then looked
at me. Without saying a word, she grabbed her
backpack and bolted out the door.
I chased her down the steps and up the block
before I caught up with her. She was out of
breath when I grabbed the back of her jacket.
Trembling, she looked back up at the projects
she had run from. With the sun in her face, tears
spilled out of her eyes.
Now that we had nowhere left to go, I took
her back to ECS again. She slept there for sev-
eral nights, spending days at ACS's teen center
in the Bronx. She was then sent to Rockland
County, to a home that provides special care for
troubled teens. I have not seen her since that
night. The reports I received on her after that
stated that she was unexpressive and uncooper-
ative and had not made friends.
When I last talked with her, this October,
she said she still wants to home to her great-
grandmother's. Just before we hung up the
phone, Carla told me one more thing: "ACS
treats kids worse than they were treated at
home."
The great-grandmother's trial took place last
April. ACS and the court-appointed lawyer
reached a settlement: Ms. Jackson would not be
charged with neglect if she signed a voluntary
placement form for Carla and complied with a
year of ACS supervision for Owen. Ms.
Jackson no longer objected. She believed her-
self that Carla was too much to handle. The
great-grandmother was right. Carla was too
much for her now .
Homesteaders Federal
Credit Union
120 Wall Street - 20th Floor New York, NY
(212) 479-3340
A financial cooperative promoting home
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No-fee Personal and Business Checking Accounts
Savings, CD's, Holiday Club and Individual
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As a equal housing lender, we do business in accordance with
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-
s
LETTERS
(continued from page 4)
rruoole ana mooerate mcome umts over a tIve-year
period.
As mayor, I will expand this project and identi-
fy additional streams of revenue for the city's
225,000 needed housing units. As mayor, I will
break ground and build affordable housing so that
all New Yorkers-not just the very rich-can
afford to live in this wonderful city.
Safe and affordable housing is not a privilege; it
is not a luxury; it is a basic right.
Peter F. Vallone
Speaker,
Council of the City of New York
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CITY LIMITS
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266 Stuyvesant Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11221 Fax: (718)573-6874. E-
mail: [email protected]
EXECU11VE ASSISTANT sought for innovative consulting firm serving non prof-
its, detail oriented, good writer, analytical , Word, Excel & Access expert.
Duties: grantwriting, office management, clerical. www.lp-associates.com
before applying. FIT, pay matches experience + benefits. Cover letter, writ-
ing sample, salary history, three references: Lawrence Pagnoni ,
[email protected].
The Surdna Foundation is searching for an ASSOCIATE PROGRAM OFFICER to
work with the Program Officer for Effective Citizenry on the foundation' s $5.5
million youth activism and civic engagement grantmaking program. Duties
will include reviewing grant inquiries and proposals; working with the Surdna
Board; assisting the Program Officer with all grantmaking and grant moni-
toring functions; helping to design specific programmatic initiatives; and
researching within the program' s fields. Applicant must have five years rele-
vant experience, excellent organizational , interpersonal , language and com-
puter skills. A full description ofthe position and the foundation can be found
at www.surdna.org. Persons of color are strongly encouraged to apply. Salary
range: $60,00().80,OOO. Please send letter of interest, resume and salary
history to: Robert Sherman Ph.D., Program Officer for Effective Citizenry,
Surdna Foundation, Inc, 330 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10015-5001.
No phone inquiries, please.
DIRECTOR OF JUVENILI JUS11CE PROJECT. The Correctional Association seeks
a committed activist to lead its Juvenile Justice Project. Duties include devel-
oping and initiating advocacy strategies; organizing a coalition of organiza-
tions and individuals concerned with juvenile justice issues; and preparing
public education materials. The successful candidate must be able to do
research and policy analysis and write clearly and concisely. Compensation
including salary commensurate with experience plus excellent benefits.
Interested persons should send writing samples and a resume to: Robert
Gangi , Correctional Association 135 East 15th Street, New York, NY 10003
Tel. 212-254-5700. Fax 212-473-2807
PROGRAM MANAGER. Youth Sports and Fitness. Asphalt Green, a state-of-the-art
sports & fitness center in New York City, seeks a individual to develop and imple-
ment youth sports and fitness programs and curriculum in partnership with pub-
lic schools and nO""Profit organizations. The individual must have experience
with public schools and curriculum program development. College degree
required, Master's preferred. Related experience in youth sports education a
plus. Excellent benefits & salary. Send resume to: Asphalt Green, Box PMYS,
555 E. 90th Street, New York, NY 10128. Fax: 212-722-1701. No calls. EOE.
EDUCATION PROGRAMS MANAGER. New York Cares, a leading NYC nonprofit
that organizes innovative, hands-on volunteer service projects, seeks an
enthusiastic, creative, and committed individual to develop, manage, and
evaluate our 40+ volunteer-driven educational programs. Requirements: BA;
2+ years relevant experience; strong administrative, writing, problem- solv-
ing, and communications skills; ability to work independently and in a team;
and a commitment to community service. Fax resume and cover letter to
212-228-6414, attn: HR or send via E-mail to [email protected].
(continued on page 34)
Tomorrovv starts today
Commitment is
leading to results TM
DECEMBER 2000
Deutsche Bank's commitment to
global corporate citizenship recognizes a
responsibility t o improve and enrich the
communities throughout the world in
which we conduct business.
With a focused strategy of support for
community development, the arts and the
environment, Deutsche Bank partners with
local organizations to build a brighter future.
Our commitment to a better tomorrow
starts today.
Deutsche Bank IZl
we
(continued from page 33)
MEMBER SERVICES COORDINATOR. Supportive Housing Network of New York,
a statewide coalition of 160 agencies that develop and manage over 17,000
units of housing with support services for low income and formerly homeless
individuals, seeks a FIT Member Services Coordinator. Responsibilities:
Build Network membership. Develop and coordinate services to member
agencies. Disseminate information on Network activities, community
resources and relevant policy issues. Organize workshops and trainings.
Produce monthly members news bulletin. Qualifications: BA min., excellent
writing and presentation skills, min. 3 years in housing and homeless
issues. Competent in MS Word, Access, Outlook and Internet. Salary: mid
30's depending upon experience. Excellent benefits. Send resume & cover
by October 1: Wendy Seligson, Supportive Housing Network, 475 Riverside
Dr., Suite 250, New York, NY 10115. Fax: 212-870-3334.
Hope Community, Inc. seeks 2 COMMUNnY BUILDERS with proven records of
mobilizing people in multi-cultural , low income environment to action. Must
be experienced in facilitating group learning and planning. Bachelors degree
and at least two years of work experience in the field is required. Spanish a
plus. Send cover letter, resume and writing sample to HCI 174 East 104
Street, New York, NY 10029. Attention: Marie LaPort or email to: mla-
[email protected].
The Office of City Council Member Gifford Miller (Democrat, Upper East Side)
has several FUll OR PARTnME POSmONS AVAIlABLE in his District and
Legislative Offices. Please fax resume to Marcel Van Ooyen, Chief of Staff,
at 212-442-1457 or call 212-788-6873. Applicants must have excellent
communication skills and computer skills. Salary commensurate with expe-
rience. Internships are also available.
Dynamic, experienced, computer-literate, detail-oriented, professional team
players sought by HELP USA for positions at two domestic violence family
shelters: AFTERCAREIIN-HOUSE CASE MANAGERS: Advocate, support, counsel,
refer residents to appropriate referrals. Must possess valid NYS Drivers
license, BA/BSW. Aftercare requires home visits in five boroughs. CLINICIAN:
Assessment, advocacy, crisis intervention, therapy w/ individuals, families
and groups; MSW/MA. FUll / Part-Time Available. TEAM LEADER:
Clinical/administrative supervision of BA/BSW, MA/MSW staff, crisis inter-
vention, program evaluation, reporting. MSW, 3 years experience. NYS
Drivers License and Bilingual Spanish a plus. Tuition reimbursement, train-
ing, health/retirement benefits, great transfer/promotional opportunities.
Send resume and cover letter to: Executive Director, PO Box 641, New York,
New York 10037
The Historic Districts Council, the citywide non-profit preservation advocacy
group, seeks a qualified EXECTUT1VE DIRECTOR to manage and implement
operations, including fundraising, advocacy initiatives, community outreach,
public programs, and publications. The E.D. is responsible for finance admin-
istration and manages a small full-time staff. Requirements: a strong back-
ground in historic preservation, non-profit administration and fundraising. A
degree in historic preservation or a related field, and NYC experience are
preferred. Excellent verbal , written, and diplomacy skills are a must. Salary
is commensurate with experience, and the position offers full benefits. Send
resume and cover letter to: HDC Search, 240 Central Park South, #15J, New
York, NY 10019-1413. For a complete job description please email :
[email protected].
Educators for Social Responsibility Metropolitan Area (ESR Metro) seeks a
qualified candidate for a per diem position as a BlUNGUAL TRAINER and STAFF
DEVELOPER for our middle school program. Our trainers conduct workshops
that teach particular concepts and skills, (for example, active listening,
assertiveness, mediation, and bias awareness). Staff development special-
ists provide site-based coaching for teachers or youth workers as they teach
or implement programs in their schools or agencies. Qualifications include:
experience as a teacher, trainer, faCilitator, and/ or staff developer; a bache-
lor' s degree; training in conflict resolution and intercultural understanding.
We are seeking a bilingual (English/ Spanish) staff developer/ trainer with
experience and training in middle schools. Please fax your resume and cover
letter to Jeanette Toomer, Curriculum Director, Project STOP at 212-870-
2464, or mail to ESR Metro, 475 Riverside Drive, Rm 554, New York, NY
10115.
WRITtRIRESEARCHER-Not-for-profit human service agency seeks individual
to perform a range of research, writing & data management duties for
--
foundation fundraising & program planning efforts. Strong writing skills,
ability to prioritize/meet deadlines & attention to detail required.
Experience in foundation/ corporate grant-seeking & knowledge of human
services desirable. Knowledge of Raiser's Edge a plus! Please fax/send
resume and cover letter with salary requirements to: Gail Cooper, Brooklyn
Bureau of Community Service, 285 Schermerhorn St. , Brooklyn, NY
11217. Fax: 718-254-0609.
Community Voices Heard: Is looking for an extremely detail-oriented, cre-
ative, bilingual OFFICE MANAGER to organize all aspects of our busy office.
Duties include: phones, reception, recruiting/ coordinating volunteers,
accounts payable, banking, creating and maintaining tracking systems, edit-
ing newsletter, light bookkeeping & correspondence, mass mailings, assist-
ing with grant proposals, maintaining data base and website. Excellent com-
puter, communication, people skills & commitment to social justice a must.
Salary range is $24,000-$30,000 annually, depending on experience, plus
benefits. CVH is a multi-racial, multi-cultural grassroots membership organi-
zation of low income people, mostly women on welfare, working to improve
the lives of our families and all poor people. CVH is an EOE. We strongly
encourage people of color, people formerly on public assistance and les-
bian/gay/bisexual people to apply. Fax cover letter, salary requirements and
resume to 212-996-9481. For more information about our work, check out
our web page www.cvhaction.org.
SOCIAL WORKER: Rental Assistance Program. Premier homeless service orga-
nization seeks 2 social worker/case managers to assist newly housed sin-
gle adults and families in becoming independent. Must have at least 3 yrs
exp with homeless/formerly homeless population, strong interpersonal
skills, exp w/ substance abuse, domestic violence & other issues affecting
the working poor. Extensive knowl of City programs & resources a plus.
Salary high 20' s-low 30's plus benefits. Send resume to: D.James, Coalition
for the Homeless, 89 Chambers St. NY, NY 10007. or fax 212-964-1242
JOB DEVELOPER: Rental Assistance Program Premier homeless service orga-
nization seeks part-time job developer to assist newly housed clients with
resume writing, interview preparation, networking and research for job oppor-
tunities. Current job bank a plus. Must be self starter. Experience with home-
less/ formerly homeless population a plus. Strong written and verbal skills.
Must be computer-literate. Some evening hours. Salary: $15 per hour. Send
resume to: D.James, Coalition for the Homeless, 89 Chambers St. , 3rd.
floor, New York, NY 10007, or Fax: 212-964-1242.
COMMUNnY ORGANIZERS. Seeking people committed to fight for social jus-
tice. Work on issues of affordable housing, public education and environ-
mental justice. Paid, 12-week apprenticeship providing field and classroom
experience, followed by permanent positions. Apply now for January program
at www. ticol.org. Also, PART nME RECRUnIR. Identify and recruit new orga-
nizers for TICO programs. Must have organizing experience, familiar with
NYC. Women and People of Color are strongly urged to apply. Fax/e-mail
resume and cover letter to TICO, Training Institute for Careers in Organizing,
(718) 733- 6922, e-mail [email protected] or call (718) 584-2954.
Full and part-time positions available for experienced DESKTOP PUBUSHERS.
Quark and Ventura experienced preferred. Unionized shop with very good
benefits. Fax resume to The Labor Institute hiring committee at 212-353-
1203.
Child Care, Inc., an early education resource development organization,
seeks MEDIAIPR ASSOCIATE to develop/ implement new strategies. Web con-
tent, newsletter, member relations. BA. , smart self-starter, computer/ inter-
net savvy; excellent writing skills. Resume and letter: Isanfilippo@child-
careinc.org, Fax 212-929-5785 Development, Child Care, Inc. 275 Seventh
Avenue, NY NY 10001
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR position available immediately. The Child Welfare
Organizing Proj ect (CWOP), a privately-funded, parent-led mutual aid and
advocacy group, seeks a human or legal services professional with NYC child
welfare experience, a commitment to system reform, and the ability to work
non-judgmentally with parents whose children have been removed for their
custody. CWOP is small , but growing, progressive organization representing
a controversial , highly stigmatized constituency. Responsibilities include
community outreach and organizing, staffing parent support and education
groups, public policy analysis and advocacy, and shared administrative
duties. Bilingual Spanish/English, computer skills, and direct personal expe-
rience with the child welfare system helpful but not required. Salary high
CITY LIMITS
30' s-low 40's. Send resume to , 3280 Broadway - 8th Roor, NYC 10027,
Fax: 212-694-1853, email: [email protected].
Constituent Services. Council member seeks R1U nME ASSISTANT to handle
constituent services in Western Queens office. Responsibilities include:
casework, outreach to city agencies, attending community events and gen-
eral office duties. Competitive salary and good benefits. Fax resume to:
Benjamin Erskine at 718-507-2982. No phone calls please.
Gay Men's Health Crisis seeks POlICY ASSOCIATE to provide teamwork and
leadership in issue research, policy development, policy analysis, public
advocacy, public education and community organizing in support of govern-
mental policies that met the needs of individuals and communities affected
by HIV/AIDS. Although not exclusively, the position will focus on New York
City issues. Qualifications: Bachelor' s degree or equivalent experience,
proven experience in HIV/AIDS advocacy, policy and planning, and commu-
nity mobilization. Familiarity with federal, state and city political and
HIV/ AIDS policy and service environment, demonstrated research and writ-
ing abilities required. Send resume with cover letter that must include salary
requirement to GMHC, HR Department, 119 West 24th Street, New York, NY
10011. GMHC values diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity
employer.
GRANTS MANAGER, Program Services. The Grants Manager is responsible for
managing the agency's federal, state and city government grants. SpeCific
responsibilities include assisting in drafting and preparation of all materials
and supporting documents required for submission to funders for new gov-
ernment grant proposals, continuing funding applications, contract renewal
and modifications, and assistance with preparation, organization and sub-
mission of monthly and annual reports to funders. Reports to: Managing
Director, Program Services. Qualifications: Proven experience managing
grants in a social services or not for profit environment, strong working
knowledge of grant research and procurement. Bachelor's degree strongly
preferred. Ability to work with minimal supervision. Outstanding written com-
munication and organizational skills. Excellent computer skills. Send resume
with cover letter that must include salary requirement to GMHC, HR
Department, 119 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10011. GMHC values
diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
PARENTICOMMUNITY ORGANIZER. Women' s Housing and Economic
Development Corporation, an award-winning social services organization,
seeks a Parent/Community Organizer to develop and lead
Parent/Community involvement in a collaborative model at the nearby com-
munity school. Responsibilities: Develop outreach materials to increase
caretaker/ parent involvement in school & after school programs, organize
parent activities and community projects, facilitate group workshops, devel-
op and administer program assessments. Qualifications: BA, Bilingual
English/Spanish. Background in community organizing, public school advo-
cacy, working in low-income communities. WHEDCO' s After School program
seeks several part-time positions to start immediately: GENERAL ClASSROOM
LADERS, ART INSTRUCTOR, COMPIrnR INSTRUCTOR, and GYM INSTRUCTOR.
Please fax cover letter and resume to: D. Russell, 718-839-1172.
Prospect Park Alliance seeks energetiC YOUTH WORKERICOORDINATOR for
expanding leadership program. Candidate should have experience with youth
development, group skills, interpersonal skills, community involvement,
information and referral, event coordination, engagement of adolescents
ages 14-21. Qualifications: Bachelors degree or equivalent experience, NYS
driver's license, computer skills, Spanish speaking and/or environmental
knowledge a plus. Salary commensurate with experience. Contact: Chase
Torres, Prospect Park Alliance, 95 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215
or 718-965-6931.
Amber Hall, the new 85 unit Supportive Housing facility for PLWA is now
operational and seeking to fill the remaining positions: REGISTtRED NURSE:
with a mental health or Psychiatric background to assume a variety of
responsibilities including intake assessments, crisis intervention, medical
needs management, group and individual counseling and education. ACTM
nES COORDINATOR (three late afternoons/evenings and weekends) to devel-
op, implement and manage a program of recreational and cultural activities.
This is an entry level opportunity. DITJC1ANlN11TRrTION1ST (degreed and
licensed, 21 hours per week (three days)) to provide counseling, education,
menu planning and community resource development. All positions require
computer literacy and a willingness to work in a team oriented, culturally
diverse environment. Please send resume and cover letter, stating salary
DECEMBER 2000
requirements to: Bob Raphael , Executive Director, Amber Hall , 1385 Fulton
Avenue, Bronx, NY 10456 or you may FAX to Bob Raphael 718-508-3013.
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER. A Human Resources Manager is required by
the Salvation Army to engage in review and processing of personnel records,
development and monitoring of personnel policies. Development and deliv-
ery of employee orientation and training, assurance of compliance with
reporting and regulatory requirements, maintenance and management HR
database and monitoring of HR practices and record-keeping within the
Homeless Services Department. Salary 4045K. Fax resume to: Carlyle
McKetty, 212-337-7279 or mail to: 120 W. 14th Street, New York, NY
10011. Qualifications: Bachelors Degree and three years or relevant experi-
ence.
The Citizens Advice Bureau seeks to fill several positions in its Workforce
Development Department. CAB seeks a PROGRAM DIRECTOR, 2 TRAINERS AND
A RCRUrTMENTJRETDmON SPECIALIST for a new program to assist adults liv-
ing in the agency' s two family shelters obtain and keep employment; a
SENIOR JOB DEVELOPER to coordinate agency-wide efforts and a PROGRAM
COORDINATOR and EMPLOYMENT COUNSROR for a neighborhood employment
center. Salaries are competive. Fax J. Lacen at (718) 993-8089 or mail CAB
- Bronx Works, 391 East 149th Street, Suite 520, Bronx, NY 10455. EOE.
The Citizens Advice Bureau also seeks a SOCIAL WORKER to work at our
Homeless Outreach Team. This position requires a CSW license, although an
MSW may be hired with the expectation that they obtain their CSW within 6
months of employment, a valid NYS driver' s license and the ability to work
evenings, weekends and holidays during the winter. Salary high 30s/low
40s. Fax N. Concepcion at (718) 716-8599 or mail CAB - HOT, 18()o'()8
Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10457. EOE.
GREENWAYS PROGRAM COORDINATOR. Gardening expertise, a willingness to
work with ex-offenders from Rikers Island maintaining gardens at branch
libraries. The coordinator links GreenBranches program (library partnership
project between city library systems and city botanical gardens to design,
install and maintain gardens at libraries) with our GreenHouse Program on
Rikers Island. GreenHouse provides non violent offenders, men & women,
with horticultural training, Individuals are eligible for transitional employment
opportunities as interns at GreenBranches sites. Coordinator supervises the
interns in garden maintenance helping secure long term poSitions/ training
elsewhere. At least 3 years experience with plant identification, irrigation,
pest control , weeding, grass cutting, seasonal displays and skills supervis-
ing small teams of workers. Clean driving record, flexible schedule, desire to
work with public institutions. Spanish speaking preferable Salary: commen-
surate with experience, full benefits, full time, some weekend. Please fax
resume/ cover letter to: 212-246-1207.
ourREACH WORKER. Responsibilities include provision of street based out-
reach services to Injection Drug Users, their significant others and their com-
munity through the distribution of materials, information, and literature.
Minimum requirements: H.S. or GED Diploma, minimum of 1 year street out-
reach experience working with injection drug users. A project of Bronx
Community College of the City University of New York. Fax resume to: 718-
292-3315 (call before faxing).
Community Access, a cutting edge, non-profit housing agency providing reha-
bilitation services and advocacy to adults with psychiatric disabilities is cur-
rently seeking to fill the following positions: PROGRAM DIRECTOR For 7 ~ d
scatter site, transitional apartment program. Responsibilities include super-
vision of 10 staff, 24 hour pager and crisis intervention skills. Candidate
needs strong organizational and interpersonal skills, team leadership skills,
. and ability to "think out of the box to help create innovative service mod-
els. Salary mid 40' s. MSW preferred. INTAKE COORDINATOR This poSition is
primarily responsible for managing the receipt and processing of applications
for our SRO housing and coordinating the applications-in-process with the
Intake Department. Other duties include coordinating involvement of other
staff in the processing of applications; carrying a partial caseload; supervi-
sion of staff; and outreach and liaison with other agencies about intake
issues. Our ideal candidate will possess experience in case management,
advanced clinical and judgment skills, and have the ability to work in a team
environment. MSW or equivalent experience and training preferred; ability to
speak Spanish a plus. Excellent benefits package offered. Interested candi-
dates should forward their resumes with cover letters and salary history to:
Community Access, HR Dept., 666 Broadway, 3rd Roor, NY, NY 10012; fax:
212-780-1412. EOE. M/F/D/V.
(conti nued on page 36)
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(continued from page 35)
TENANT SUPPORT COORDINATOR PART nME. Citywide not-for-profit housing
organization seeks energetic, motivated individual to work three days/week
with tenants in three Bedford Stuyvesant buildings. Responsibilities: identify
and cultivate resident leaders, help organize and support two tenant asso-
ciations, work with partner organization to design and organize training
workshops, develop an inventory of neighborhood based resources, provide
direct tenant assistance where appropriate. Qualifications: Community orga-
nizing/social work experience required. Excellent interpersonal skills and
ability to engage tenants and work independently a must. Salary: $18 -
22,000 depending on experience. Benefits available. Mail/fax resume and
cover letter to Michele Greenberg, New Destiny Housing Corporation, 2
Lafayette Street, 3rd Roor, New York, NY 10007. Fax 212-577-7759.
Major NYC union looking for experienced RESEARCHER to help develop and
implement comprehensive campaigns in the regulatory, legislative, corpo-
rate, legal , public relations arenas and keep leadership informed of industry
trends. Should be: commited, creative, good writer, hard worker, team play-
er with proven research skills and understanding of basic business con-
cepts. Should have experience in city politics, labor union or campaign orga-
nizing. Good salary and full benefits. Fax: 212-977-9461 or mail to Job, 395
Parkside, Brooklyn, NY 11226.
NMIC seeks COORDINATOR of Job Development and Placement with strong
supervisory and administrative experience; experience with low-income pop-
ulations and/ or in employment related programs; team-building abilities; and
proposal writing skills. Helpful : Bilingual Spanish/English; Masters degree or
equivalent; computer skills; knowledge of job development resources. Fax
resume to 212-9284180, attn: Andrea Vaghy.
TENANT ORGANIZER. NYS Tenants and Neighbors seeks tenant organizer for
HUD assisted housing in New York City. Full-time position is funded through
Americorps VISTA program. VISTAs are paid monthly stipends of approxi-
mately $750 and receive health insurance and other benefits. Send or fax
resume/ cover letter to Michele Bonan, NYST&N, 505 8th Avenue, 18th
Roor, NYC 10018. Fax: 212.{5954314.
EMPLOYMENT & TRAINING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR. Job
Description: Duties include, but are limited to: facilitate part of Pre-vocation-
al training and conduct on-going workshops and support groups, case man-
agement; meet with all terminated(and pre-terminated) trainees; refer and
follow-up to myriad services; track type of referrals made; meet with trainees
as needed and interface with all units; prepare weekly or monthly reports to
social service manager. Experience: Experience in working with Public
Assistance recipients; knowledge of NYC' s social service delivery system;
expt!rience working with the Human Resources Administration; experience in
facilitating groups and workshops; excellent communication, public speaking
and organizational skills. Education level : BSW with experience; graduate
degree preferred (MSW or MA) Salary:$30-35K depending upon experience.
Hours: 35 hours per week. Bilingual candidate required (English/Spanish).
Resumes can be faxed to Robina Niaz at 212-4144125.
DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (DTA). The NYC Coalition Against
Hunger seeks a senior staff member for a new initiative to build the capac-
ity of emergency food programs to help the hungry in ways that go beyond
food. The DTA will help a faith-based, voluntary sector develop manage-
ment skills and implement new programs through a comprehensive pro-
gram of training, information and TA. Qualifications: Extensive community
based experience, both social services and management, including
fund raising, program development, training and writing. EOE. Salary: mid-
thirties. Four-day work week, benefits, four weeks vacation. Resumes to:
212-825-0267, [email protected]. For questions, job description: 212-
825-0028.
JOB DEVELOPER. Dynamic individual to develop internships/permanent jobs
for homeless MICA, MI , SA population. Must know current NYC job market.
Strong communication skills. Computer literacy. BA plus 2 years prior expe-
rience required. Letter and resume to J. Conley, 237 East 77th Street, New
York, NY 10021.
College Grad/Politics/ Government. The NYC Campaign Rnance Board, the
leading government agency in campaign finance reform, is seeking a person
for its CANDIDATE SERVICES UNIT. Applicants must be college grad, have
strong written & verbal communication skills, and be organized.
Demonstrated interest in NYC politics & government a plus. Salary com-
mensurate with experience. Liberal benefits. NYC residency required.
Send/fax resume requirements to: Man Wai Gin, Director of Administrative
Services, NYC Campaign Rnance Board, 40 Rector Street, 7th Roor, New
York, NY 10006 or Fax: 212-306-7143. EOE.
The DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING at the Lesbian and Gay Community
Services Center will manage a variety of public policy programs including an
international program, a voter mobilization project, a speaker' s series, coor-
dinate grassroots advocacy campaigns, and oversee development of educa-
tional events. Experience in supervision, grassroots organizing, and data-
base management is needed. Excellent oral and written communications
skills and knowledge of issues affecting the Igbt community is required.
Please forward a resume and cover letter stating minimum salary require-
ments to Human Resources, Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center,
One Little W. 12th Street, New York, NY 10014, Fax 212-924-2657. Women
and people of color are encouraged to apply. Please visit our website at
www.gaycenter.org.
FUunME YOUTH ORGANIZING COORDINATOR: Make the Road by Walking, com-
munity-based organization in Brooklyn, seeks coordinator to support fast-
growing, youth-led organizing project. Organizing or youth experience
required. Salary $30,000/ yr or higher based on experience. Full benefits.
People of color encouraged to apply. Contact Oona by fax at 718418-9635.
TREATMENT SPECIALIST- The Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) seeks
a CASAC with previous supervisory experience to identify and address the
prevention and intervention treatment needs of juvenile justice involved
youth and their families, in a community-based setting. Responsibilities
include supervision of two case managers, outreach, intake and assess-
ment, providing education and training and workshop curriculum develop-
ment. Salary low $30' s with full benefits. Bilingual Spanish a plus. Fax
resume to Patrick Thomas, M.S.W., Director of Youth Services at 212.{575-
0825.
The New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) has several positions
open. We seek a COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR with a demonstrated ability to
think creatively and strategically about the role of communications in achiev-
ing our goals and expanding the diverse set of clients for our work.
Responsibilities include: mapping out a communications strategy to increase
lBO' s visibility and ensure our work is disseminated; developing relation-
ships with our key constituencies; managing our media relations and elec-
tronic publications programs. Qualifications include excellent writing and
communications skills, and prior publications and media experience.
Experience in a research, public sector, or not-for-profit environment is par-
ticularly desirable. Mid- and senior-level POLICY ANALYSTS in the fields of
housing, education, social services, and municipal labor relations/ pontracts.
IBO analysts review the budgets of city government agencies and programs
and engage in public policy research on issues that affect New York City's
fiscal condition. Advanced degree in public policy, economics, or a related
field with experience analyzing policy or budget issues required. Excellent
empirical and communication skills essential. Experience using statistical
software to analyze complex data sets is particularly desirable. Mid- to
senior-level ECONOMIST to forecast the local economy and city revenues, ana-
lyze tax policy, and contribute to a variety of public policy research projects.
The ideal candidate has a background and interest in regional economics
and public finance, strong econometric skills, and public policy research
experience. A completed Ph.D. is preferred, and excellent analytical and
communication skills are a must. Salaries are commensurate with experi-
ence; an excellent benefits package is also provided. Send cover letter and
resume to: Kevin Koshar, Chief of Staff; Independent Budget Office; 110
William Street, 14th Floor; New York, NY 10038-3901. E-mail:
[email protected]. Fax: 212-442-0350. The IBO is an equal opportunity
employer.
Citizen Action of New York seeks a COMMUNITY ORGANIZER to organize on
access to health care, focusing on Spanish-speaking communities in NYC,
w/emphasis on the lack of affordable health coverage and the inability of
immigrants to qualify for state programs such as Medicaid. Responsibilities:
Organizing community meetings, outreach to community leaders, recruiting
members and volunteers, public speaking. Qualifications: Community, issue
or electoral organizing experience preferred, Bi-lingual in English and
Spanish. Salary and benefits: The salary is competitive, with full benefits.
Please send a resume and cover letter to: Richard Kirsch, CANY, 94 Central
Avenue, Albany NY 12206 or fax: 518465-2890 or email : rkirsch@citizen-
CITY LIMITS
actionny.org. CANY is an equal opportunity employer. Women and people of
color strongly encouraged to apply.
The American Liver Foundation (ALF), a voluntary health organization, seeks a
HEALTH COMMUNICJmONS COORDINATOR. Responsibilities include assisting with
production of education and public relations materials. Draft & edit copy for
newsletters, website, and other projects. Handle and maintain news articles,
catalog periodicals, etc. Work with medical consultants on materials. Maintain
press and photo archives. Conduct search on appropriate databases.
Qualifications: B.A. in English, or related field, minimum three years
writing/editing experience, computer proficiency, strong communication and
organizational skills, ability to meet deadlines, and juggle several projects.
Contact: E. Jenkins, fax: 212-483-8179. Email : ejenkins@liverfoundation. org.
The Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS) has the following posi-
tions available in its mid-town supportive housing residence for low-income
and formerly homeless individuals including those with special needs such
as mental illness, substance abuse and/or HIV/AIDS. SOCIAL WORKER-
Responsibilities include clinical interventions and case management for
caseload of 30. Other duties involve group work and tenant engagement,
and assistance with program development. Reqs: MSW and relevant experi-
ence with indicated population. Recent graduates are encouraged to apply.
Salary commensurate with experience + compo benefits. CASE MANAGER-This
pOSition is responsible for individual and group services, crisis intervention,
coordination of program activities, and work with team members to develop
treatment plans and interventions. Reqs: HS Diploma, one year of related
experience, good verbal & written communication skills; computer literacy.
Committed to the development of affordable housing
GEORGE C. DELLAPA, ATTORNEY AT LAW
15 Maiden Lane, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10038
212-732-2700 FAX: 212-732-2773
Low-income housing tax credit syndication. Public and private
financillg. HDFCs and not-for-profit corporations. Condos and co-ops.
1-51 Tax abatement/exemptions. Lending for historic propenies.
, ' THE ANALYSIS AND SOLUTIONS COMPANY
'" : Daniel Convissor, President
,; Website & Database Design. Public Policy Research.
. , .. Management & Tramportation Comulting .
... . : 4015 7 Av #4WA, Brooklyn NY 11232
", .: ' :. v: 718-854-0335 f: 718-854-0409
, . . :., .' [email protected]
" www.AnalysisAndSolutions.com
Excellent rate for nonprofit organizatiom.
OFFICE SPACE PROBLEMS?
ILI.W
CSI
CSI INC.
(914) 566-1267
Expert Real Estate Services - once
available only to major corporations and
institutions -
Now offered to NY non-profits ...
at no out-ot-pocket cost,
or at specially reduced rates.
Visit our web site: www.npspace.com
Call for a free, no-obligation consultation.
www.npspace.com
DECEMBER 2000
Some college preferred. A Bachelor degree may substitute for experience.
Bilingual Spanish/English preferred. Salary: 25K + compo benefits. Send
cover letter and resume to Susan Maye, CUCS-The Times Square, 255 West
43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. Fax: 212-391-5991. Indicate position.
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR. FUll-time. Park Slope Geriatric Day Center is the pre-
mier NYC social adult day services program serving physically and cogni-
tively frail older adults. Must have successful experience organizing and
implementing annual campaigns. Knowledge of corporate and foundation
funding. Strong written, verbal and people skillS. Salary commensurate with
experience. EOE. Fax resume and cover letter to: PSGDC 718-768-2119.
SOCIAL WORK SUPERVISOR. FUll-time social work supervisor being sought for
a preventive service program. Small staff, friendly environment, competitive
salary. MSW and bilingual (English/Spanish) required. Please send/fax
resume to Rheedlen Place, 457 West 51st Street, New York, NY, 10019/
(212) 315-1762 - An. ZS.
FIELDIDATA SPECIALIST for non-profit organization ' s Weatherization
Assistance Program. Seeking computer literate, well-organized individual
with good people/phone skills. Spanish a plus. Duties include field work at
building site and data entry, office management and phones at office. Salary
to union scale. Excellent benefits. Women & minorities encouraged to apply.
Send resume & cover letter to Executive Director, HCC, 777 10th Avenue,
NY, NY 10019.
(continued on page 38)
SPECIALIZING IN REAL ESTATE
J-51 Tax Abatement/Exemption. 421A and 421B
Applications. 501 (c) (3) Federal Tax Exemptions. All forms
of government-assisted housing, including LISC/Enterprise,
Section 202, State Turnkey and NYC Partnership Homes
KOURAKOS & KOURAKOS
Attorneys at Law
Eastchester, N. Y.
Phone: (914) 395-0871
Bronx, N.Y.
(718) 585-3187
Isabel Ochoa
liP Associates
Do good. Do well.
We can help you do both .
(212) 969-8508
iocboatelellne.ea
Funding Research, Grantwriting, Marketing
ADAPTING TO ADOPTION
Consulting Services in Adoption & Foster Care
Trainings for adoption & foster care professionals,
facilitators, educators, administrators
Workshops for birth and adoptive parents;
mediation within & between families
Youth development/conflict resolution for
adopted & foster care teens
Leanne Jaffe (718) 399-0739 [email protected]
-
(continued from page 37)
The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), a public research university,
seeks an experienced GRANTIPROPOSAL WRITER who is able to translate com-
plex technological topics into clear and compelling proposals, and to
enhance the name of NJIT among prestigious, national foundations and
obtain major support for the university research centers and colleges. The
position requires a strategic thinker with tact, determination and superior
writing skills, who is able to conceptualize ideas and be able to work with
research faculty and college deans to develop fundable proposals. In addi-
tion, the individual also will have writing assignments for the President of the
University, which may range from speech writing and policy statements to
public commentary. Qualifications include a college degree (MA preferred),
demonstrated technical and persuasive writing skills. Knowledge of founda-
tion resources would be an asset. A minimum of three years of successful
grant writing is required. Compensation will be both competitive and com-
mensurate with the successful candidate' s experience. Inquiries, applica-
tions and nominations should be directed to: Davi B. Axinn, Junior Associate
ISAACSON, MILLER 334 Boylston Street, Suite 500 Boston, Massachusetts
02116-3805 Telephone: (617) 262-6500 Fax: (617) 262-6509 E-Mail: dax-
[email protected]
Bushwick Family Residence, a Salvation Army Tier II for homeless families,
seeks a BlUNGUAL CASE MANAGER. Experience with similar populations. BA
Degree required. Send resume and cover letter to: L. Weiss, Bushwick Family
Residence, 1675 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11207. Fax: 718-574-2713.
CONSULTANT SERVI CES
Proposals/Grant Writing
HUD Grants/Govt. RFPs
MI(HA(L 6. BU((I
CONSULTANT
HousUw'Program Development
Real Estate Sales/Rentals
Technical Assistance
Employment Programs
Capacity Buildi.ng
HOUSING, DEVELOPMENT & FUNDRAISING
212-765-7123
212-397-6238
[email protected]
451 WEST 48th STREET, SUITE 2E
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10036-1298
COMPUTER SERVICES
Hardware Sales:
IBM Compatible Computers
Okidata Printers
Lantastic Networks
Software Sales:
NetworkslDatabase
Accounting
Suites! Applications
Services: NetworkiHardwareiSoftware Installation,
Training, Custom Software, Hand Holding
Morris Kornbluth 718-857-9157
LAWRENCE H. McGAUGHEY
Attorney at Law
Meeting the challenges of affordable housing for 20 years.
Providing legal services in the areas of General Real Estate,
Business, Trust & Estates, and Elder Law.
217 Broadway, Suite 610
New York, NY 10007
(212) 513-0981
ACCOUNTANT (Full-Charge Bookkeeper) for nonprofit. A/P, A/R, ban rec.,
account analysis, report prep, payroll, personnel records, office equip over-
sight. Salary-mid 30's. Good benefits. Fax resume: SM, Child Care, Inc.
212-929-5785. EOE.
REHABlUTATlON SPECIALIST. (Evening Team: 2:30 pm-10 pm) For the CUCS
Transitional Living Community (TLC), a successful mental health and housing
placement program for mentally ill, homeless women located in SoHo. Resp:
Case management for 8-12 clients, individual and group counseling, and cri-
sis intervention. The position also assumes greater responsibility and may
assist in the development and implementation of group services and in pro-
gram planning. Reqs: BSW and 1 year relevant experience (including field-
work); BA and 2 years relevant experience; HS Diploma (Or GED) and 6 years
relevant experience. Additionally, for applicants without college degrees,
every 30 credits can be substituted for 1 year of experience. Applicants
should have good verbal and written communication skills. Computer litera-
cy and bilingual Spanish/English preferred. Salary: 30K + comp benefits
including $65/month in transit checks. Send cover letter and resume to
Heather Griffin, CUC5-TLC, 350 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012.
CUCS is committed to workforce diversity. EEO.
CUCS' West Harlem Transitional Services Program, a highly successful pro-
gram that helps mentally-ill homeless people prepare for, and access hous-
ing through its outreach services, droj:}-in center, and transitional residence
is currently recruiting for the following positions: PR DIEM CASE MANAGER
NesoH Associates
management solutions for non-profits
Providing a full range of management support services for
non.profit organizations
management development & strategic planning
board and staff development & training
program design, implementation & evaluation
proposal and report writing
Box 130 75A Lake Road Congers, NY 1092()O tel/fax (914) 268-6315
DEBRA BECHTEL - Attorney
Concentrating in Real Estate & Non-profit Law
Title and loan closings 0 All city housing programs
Mutual housing associations 0 Cooperative conversions
Advice to low income co-op boards of directors
313 Hicks Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201,
(718) 780-7994 (718) 624-6850
GET A BREAK ON POSTAGE
WHILE GIVING SOMEONE A BREAK
Let us Zip+4 and Bar Code Your Mailings for Maximum Postal
Discounts and Faster Delivery
We also offer hand inserting, live stamp affixing, bulk mail,
folding, collating, labeling, wafer sealing and more.
Henry Street Settlement Mailing Services is a work readiness program
offering participants on-the-job and life-skills training
For information contact Bob Modica
(212) 505-7307 Fax: (212) 533-4004
CITY LIMITS
(Various shifts) Resp: Providing case management services, ensuring safety
of premises, crisis intervention and working with other team members to pro-
vide services to homeless, mentally ill clients. Reqs: HS Diploma or equiva-
lent and 1 year direct service experience with related population; good ver-
bal and written communication skills preferred. BA, computer literacy, and
bilingual Spanish/English preferred. Salary: $13.75/hour. FRONT DESK
ATTENDANT: Resp: general clerical duties, reporting and recording observa-
tions in the program logbook and alerting CUCS senior staff to emergencies.
Additionally, this individual will place calls to 911 when a client emergency
arises and assist with emergency evacuations. Reqs: HS Diploma or equiv-
alent and expo working with the population served in the program. Bilingual
Spanish/English pref. Salary: $15K + compo Benefits including $65/month
in transit checks. Send cover letter and resume (indicate position) to Carlene
Scheel , CUCS-WHTS, 312-314 West 127th Street, New York, NY 10027.
CUCS is committed to workforce diversity.
PERSONNEL & PAYROlL MANAGER. The St. Nicholas Neighborhood
Preservation Corporation is seeking an individual to oversee entire payroll
functions and employee benefit functions. Candidate should have two years
payroll-related experience-preferably working with ADP. Possess at least an
Associate Degree. Individual should possess good interpersonal skills and
be well organized. Send cover letter and resume to Cindy Ross, Director of
Finance by fax 71&486-5982 or by email cross@stnicksnpc_com.
FUNDRAISING DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR. The New York Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Responsible for all aspects of fundraising
including foundation, corporate, individual support and special events. Must
be computer literate, well organized, detail oriented and have excellent writ-
ing skills. The NYSPCC, 161 William Street, New York, NY 10038, fax: 212-
791-5227, email : [email protected].
EMPlOYMENT SERVICES MANAGER. Innovative Brooklyn org. seeks manager
for employment services program. Oversee neighborhood-based program to
place un- and under-employed residents into jobs. Supervisory experience a
must. Job development experience, well-organized, motivated with excellent
communication skills; computer literate. Bilingual (English/Spanish) a plus.
Some evening hours required. Fax cover letter, resume and salary require-
ments to 718-857-4322. AA/EOE.
DIRECTOR OF THE NAT1ONAI. OFFICE. War Resisters League, national nonprofit
peace organization, seeks director for office and financial management,
fundraising, staff accountability. Qualifications: commitment to nonviolent
social change; experience in nonprofit administration, financial manage-
ment, fundraising. For full job description see <www.nonviolence.orgjwrl> or
call (212) 228-0450. Resume, cover letter to:Hiring Committee, WRL, 339
Lafayette St., NY, NY 10012 or fax: (212) 228-6193. Deadline: October 20.
Women, people of color, and lesbians and gay men encouraged to apply.
Assemblymember Deborah Glick is looking for a COMMUNnY LIAISON for her
district office. The Liaison would be responsible for providing administrative
support, constituent services and representing the Assemblymember at
meetings, public hearings and other events. Must be computer literate, avail-
able for evening meetings, and have excellent communication and writing
skills. Knowledge of New York City politics is a plus. EOE. Salary commen-
surate with experience and great benefits. Please fax resume and cover let-
ter to: Karen Feuer, 212-674-5530.
PROGRAM ASSISTANT. Astraea Lesbian Action Foundation, www.astraea.org,
seeks a detail-oriented individual to provide administrative support for our
US and International Grants Programs supporting Igbt community organizing.
Helpful: writing and computer skills. Bilingual Spanish preferred, not
required. Full t ime. Salary: upper 20s. Excellent benefits. Fax resume to 212-
982-3321, email [email protected].
OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR in university/non-profit setting. Microsoft office skills
a must; needs initiative and problem-solving skillS. Full-time w/benefits.
Send resume and writing sample to: Kim Sabo, InnoNet, Center for Human
Environments, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York
10016.
The New York City L1SC program seeks an ASSET MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE to
provide technical assistance to tax credit housing development sponsors on
compliance issues; manage collection, input, and analysis of data on project
performance; maintain project files; and, prepare correspondence.
Qualifications include experience in real estate operations or affordable
DECEMBER 2000
housing areas; excellent analytical skills, with some knowledge of statistics
and accounting; Microsoft Word and Excel. L1SC is a national non-profit orga-
nization which provides financial and technical assistance to neighborhood-
based nonprofit community development corporations (CDCs) working to
improve housing and economic conditions in older, central city neighbor-
hoods. The New York City program works with over 40 CDCs throughout the
City to develop affordable multi-family rental housing, homeownership oppor-
tunities, commercial enterprises, community facilities, and community build-
ing programs focusing on areas such as healthcare and public safety. Please
send resume and cover letter to: Julie Hertzog, NYC L1SC, 733 Third Avenue,
NY, NY 10017; or 212-687-1396 (Fax); or [email protected]. L1SC IS AN
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.
SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR. The Pratt Area Community
Council (PACC) is a dynamic, community development noHor-profit that
works to improve the quality of life for residents of Central Brooklyn. PACC
seeks a small business development coordinator to work out of our
Employment & Entrepreneurship Resource Center. Responsibilities include
providing one-on-one counseling to clients looking to start or expand a busi-
ness, organizing monthly workshops, and working with the Economic
Development Coordinator to develop small business assistance projects.
Must have at least five years academic and/or professional experience in
small business development. Ideal candidate is a self-starter with strong
communication and organizational skills, is computer literate (must be
knowledgeable of spreadsheet programs), and can work independently and
in teams. Fax letter, resume, and salary requirements to: PACC, 718-783-
3289.
The following positions are currently available at CUCS' Transitional Living
Community (TLC), a successful mental health and housing placement pro-
gram for homeless, mentally ill women. CASE MANAGER- Day and Evening
Positions- Responsibilities: case management, individual and group ser-
vices, and crisis intervention. Requires: HS or equivalent and one year direct
experience in. mental health or housing placement. BILINGUAL
SPANISH/ENGLISH REQUIRED. Good verbal and written communication
skills preferred. BA and computer literacy preferred. Salary $25K + comp
benefits including $65 in monthly transit checks. Resume with cover letter to
Melody Hartman, CUCS-TLC, 350 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012.
CUCS is committed to workforce diversity. EEO.
PART TIME POSITIONS AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY! The New York Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has 3 weekend part-time positions open
in their EZaccess Supervised Visitation Program. The responsibilities of the
WEEKEND VISIT SUPERVISORS include: supervising and coordinating court-
ordered visits between nOrH:ustodial parents and their children; writing
reports for the court; conducting intake interviews; counseling parents
around issues of access, visitation and parenting; and making referrals for
appropriate services. Candidates must have a minimum of a BA or BSW, and
excellent writing and communication skills. Social work experience with fam-
ilies, children and the legal system is preferred. Bilingual candidates are
encouraged to apply. Send resume and cover letter to Beth Zetlin, Program
Director. NYSPCC, 161 Williams St., 12th floor, New York, NY 10038. Fax
212-791-5227.
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR. Monitor & manage all contracts & grants for NY
School & Community Services project. BA/BS + min 5 yrs exp or equiv; bud-
get dev & grants contract mgmt, preferred in not-for-profit org or private firm
receiving grants & gov't contracts; budgeting for proposals & w/government
procurement & contracting requirements; Lotus/WP 8; excellent org & writ-
ten skills. Full job description www.aed.org; $40-52K; Resume w/cover Itr &
ref pos#KV0269cl: AED/HR, 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW, WDC 20009 or
fax 202-884-8413 or 100 Fifth Avenue, 2nd Roor, NY, NY 10011, fax 212-
627-0407; email: [email protected]. Only those candidates selected for inter-
views will be contacted. AA/EOE/M/F/D/V
Social Services. ASSISTANT EXECUT1VE DIRECTOR. HELP USA, a leading
provider of residential & social services seeks a professional to be respon-
sible for the management of daily operations of a transitional housing facili-
ty for homeless families located in Brooklyn. Liaison to all on-site & con-
tracted service providers. Direct supervision of social services department
& DOH licensed day care program. Requirements: MSW preferred; MA in
related field, Min. 5 years experience. Bilingual a plus. Prior experience in
residential setting A plus. Send resume to: Executive Director, HELP, 515
Blake Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207. Or fax to: 718-485-5916.
(continued on page 40)
(continuedlrom page 39)
Hudson Guild, A not-for-profit social service agency located in the Chelsea
section of Manhattan is seeking qualified, ambitious and dedicated candi-
dates for a great opportunity to learn and provide essential direct support
to Chelsea residents. The following positions are available: INDIVIDUAL
GIFTS COORDINATOREXTERNAL RElATIONS. Responsibilities: Maintain annu-
al fund/donor program; interface with trustees to obtain updated &
expanded lists; run direct mail solicitation program; coordinate major gifts
tracking and updating database system. Write related materials for newlet-
ters, annual reports and generate giving reports for external and internal
use. Qualifications: Excellent writing & verbal skills with 3-5 years experi-
ence in fundraising. Proficient in MS Word, Excel, Access; knowledge of
Donor Perfect database system A+. Positions: Full-time; Salary low-to-mid
30's. PARTTlME EDUCATION SPECIALIST-CENTER FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT &
EMPlOYMENT. Responsibilities: Assist in the development and implemen-
tation of homework, SAT, GED, and Regents preparation. Chaperon various
field trips and monitor other after school activities. Qualifications: Working
towards college degree in Secondary Education or college graduate.
Experience working with adolescent and bilingual Spanish A+ Position:
Part-time, $10hr., 19 hrs/week. TEACHEREARLY HEAD START DEPARTMENT.
Responsibilities: Lead play groups for children from birth to three years of
age. Qualifications: New York State certified or certificate teacher with
prior experience with age group an/or bilingual (English-Spanish/English-
Chinese) helpful. GROUP TEACHER-CHILDREN CENTER. Responsibilities:
Develop daily- classroom plans, oversees supervision of children (pre-
school), and assist teacher, interact with parents and other related duties
as assigned. Qualifications: B.A. degree, and must be actively pursuing
permanent New York State Certificate, N-6, Bilingual
Spanish/ English/ Chinese A+. Salary commensurate with experience, com-
prehensive benefits package Union Scale, DC 1707. Position: Full-Time ..
ASSISTANT TEACHER-CHILDREN CENTERSCHOOL AGE. Responsibilities:
Develop daily classroom plans, oversees supervision of children ages 6-
12 years old, and assistant teacher, interact with parents and other relat-
ed duties as assigned. Qualifications: Working towards college degree in
Elementary Education or college graduate. Spanish/English/ Chinese A+.
Salary commensurate with experience, comprehensive benefits package,
Union Scale, DC 1707. Position PIT. MEALS ON WHEELS DELIVERERSENIOR
SERVICES DEPARTMENT. Responsibilities: Assist with meal packing for
homebound clients. Collect and record client contributions. Deliver pro-
gram materials and information to the homebound. Escort frail elderly to
and from their apartment. Notify MOW Coordinator in the clients status or
inability to deliver meals. Move, unpack and store food items and supplies
as required. Qualifications: Candidate must be able to work independent-
ly and be in good physical condition. Candidate must have the ability to
read, write and speak English. Position: P /T, 19 hrs. per week or per diem.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. If you meet the above qualifica-
tions then please send us your resume with cover letter in confidence
specifying position (s) desired. Mail resume to: L. Davis/ Human
Resources Department, Hudson Guild 441 W. 26th Street, New York, NY
10001 or Fax resume to: L. Davis/ Human Resources Department, 212-
268-9963.
BUDGET ANALYST sought for award-winning community development organi-
zation. Prepare budget proposals and reports, interface with management
staff on fiscal issues, oversee contract budgets. Excellent spreadsheet and
bookkeeping skills required. Midtown location. Fax resume/ cover letter to R
Miller 212-255-8722.
PROJECT DlRECTORISOCIAL WORKER. Experienced administrator/ social worker
to oversee new program serving disabled and mentally ill homeless individ-
uals with housing and benefits assistance. Will supervise one caseworker
and work with legal counsel to secure benefits and housing for disabled
homeless shelter residents. Will also conduct assessments of program
clients and make field visits to shelters. Qualifications: MSW; administrative
and supervisory experience; experience in area of homelessness/related
field preferred. Competitive salary/benefits. EOE. Women/minority candi-
dates strongly urged to apply. Fax resume, salary history, short writing sam-
ple to: Patrick Markee, Coalition for the Homeless, 212-964-1303. CASE
MANAGER- Experienced case manager for new program serving disabled and
mentally ill homeless individuals with housing and benefits assistance. Will
work with project director and legal counsel to secure benefits and housing
for disabled homeless shelter residents. Will make regular field visits to shel-
ters and arrange referralS for evaluations and services. Qualifications: BA;
five years experience as case manager; experience in area of homeless-
ness/related field preferred. Competitive salary/benefits. EOE.
Women/ minority candidates strongly urged to apply. Fax resume, salary his-
tory, short writing sample to: Patrick Markee, Coalition for the Homeless,
212-964-1303.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - For Progressive Union Officials. Newly-elected
progressive union officers seek well-organized, systematic administrative
assistant with good writing, research and communication skills. Must be
able to work independently. Computer-literacy, high-nergy, and commitment
to unionism required. Excellent salary and benefits. Send resume with ref-
erences to Kathy Hodge at the Professional Staff Congress/ CUNY, 25 West
43rd Street, Rfth Roor, New York, New York 10036.
GRANT WRITER: Staten Island CBO seeks grant writer to prepare govern-
ment/private funding applications, research funding and write promotional
materials. College degree and/ or two years relevant experience. Spanish a
plus. Salary $30k. Fax resumes to (718) 981-3441.
VOCATIONAL COUNSELOR/JOB DEVELOPER: Community Food Resource Center
is developing a Community Culinary Training Center in West Harlem, to pre-
pare people for jobs in the food service industry. We are seeking a full-time
Vocational Counselor/Job Developer to assist training participants in the
transition to work. Responsibilities include recruitment, assessment, case
management, help with personal and family issues that may interfere with
participation and employment, job readiness preparation, job development,
and career planning. Qualifications: Bachelors degree and at least one year
full-time experience in training, counseling, job development, job placement,
marketing, personnel, or related activities. Strong verbal , written and inter-
personal skills, professionalism and ability to manage a number of tasks.
Commitment to working with low-income communities and helping individu-
als achieve their full potential. Competitive salary and benefits. Community
members, women and people of color are encouraged to apply. Send
resumes to: Amy Brown, Director of Program Planning, CFRC, 39 Broadway,
10th Floor, New York, NY 10006; fax (212) 616-4990; e-mail : amy@cfrc-
nyc.org.
CULINARY ARTS INSTRUCTOR HELP USA, a leading provider of residential and
social services, seeks dynamic professionals to fill the following positions in
two shelters for survivors of domestic violence and their families. F /T or P /T
positions for an experienced chef/ culinary instructor to teach homeless sub-
stance abusers in the culinary arts field. Strong communication and writing
skills. BA preferred. Computer skills a must. Must have food handlers
license. EOE. Please send/ fax 212-534-9826 resumes to: HELP, Attn: R.
Capella, 1 Wards Island, New York, NY 10035. HELP is a drug free work-
place.
LIFE SKILLS INSTRUCTORS HELP USA, a leading provider of residential and
social services, seeks dynamic professionals to fill the following positions in
two shelters for survivors of domestic violence and their families. Seeking
individual with strong platform skills and ability to develop lesson plans for
homeless/ substance abusers returning to work. Strong communication and
written skills. Previous experience working with similar population. BA pre-
ferred. Computer skills a must. MS Word/ Excel. EOE. Please send/ fax
resumes to: 212-534-9826, HELP, Attn: R. Capella, 1 Wards Island, New
York, NY 10035. HELP is a drug free workplace.
CONGRESSIONAL CASE WORKER. Caseworker position available in busy
Congressional office. Position requires experience in intervention with gov-
ernmental agencies on behalf of constituents seeking assistance related to
housing, public benefits, etc. Must be computer literate, have strong writing
and communications skills, and be well-organized. Competitive salary and
excellent benefits. Please fax resume and cover letter to: "Casework
Position" at 212-334-5259 or mail: llBeachStreet. Suite 910, New York,
NY 10013.
The New York Task Force on Immigrant Health seeks enthusiastic persons
for two programs: PROJECT DIRECTOR for the Community Tuberculosis
Prevention Program serving the city's foreign-born population. Qualifications:
NurSing degree or Masters in Public Health with 3 years experience; fluency
in Spanish and/ or Haitian Creole. HEALTH EDUCATOR for the Cancer
Awareness Network for Immigrant Minority Populations. Incumbent will serve
Haitian immigrant communities with cancer awareness and control.
Qualifications: Bachelors degree; fluency in Haitian Creole. Fax or e-mail
cover letter and resume to Francesca Gany: 212-263-8234;
[email protected]
CITY LIMITS
EHTITlEMENTS SPECIALIST - The Center for Urban Community Services, a
nationally recognized model for providing services to homeless and special
needs individuals, seeks an entitlement specialist. This individual will pro-
vide supplemental services and supports to participants of a unique job
training and employment program for mentally ill individuals. This individual
will be principally responsible for providing consultation, training & educa-
tion, and information & referral services, and may also have some respon-
sibility for direct participant services and group work. Qualified individuals
must possess a strong knowledge of entitlements resources and systems,
and have a wide range of skills in accessing these complex systems. Reqs:
BA and 2 years direct service experience with indicated populations (BSW
and 1 year relevant experience excluding field work), or HS diploma and 6
years direct services with indicated populations. ( Note: for every 30 college
credits earned, 1 year of experience may be reduced from the requirement
for applicants with HS diplomas). Experience providing vocational services
or a demonstrated ability to serve a specialized population or address a spe-
cial need of the program. Experience working with people with mental illness
preferred; good verbal and written communication skills; computer literacy
and bilingual Spanish/English preferred. Salary: $30K + comp benefits
including $65/month in transit checks. Send cover letter and resume t 0 Gila
Azar, CUCS-The Prince George, 14 East 28th Street, New York, NY
l0016.CUCS is committed to workforce diversity.
CASE MANAGER - MSW /BSW with Human Services & experience with seniors
preferred. Assess/plan & coordinate services to homebound elderly in com-
munity-based agency. Challenging, rewarding work. Salary $30,000 +.
Resume to: Betsy Tuft, Director, Project Life, 312 E. 109th Street, New York,
NY 10029.
Community Training and Resource Center seeks candidates for a STAFF
ASSOCIATE position. CTRC is staffed by a team of organizers who champi-
on low-income tenants and the housing and community groups that serve
them. We provide information, training and technical assistance to hous-
ing groups, neighborhood associations and social service agencies in an
effort to preserve housing and neighborhoods for low income New
Yorkers. The Staff Associates responsibilities include: Provide public rela-
tions support for CTRC activities; Conduct technical research on code
enforcement, weatherization and other Housing Preservation issues;
Provide administrative and technical support for CTRC programs and
fundraising activities; Provide support to CTRC tenant training activities;
Provide training for CTRC housing policy advocacy. Requirements:
Applicants must be well organized and prepared to interact with a network
of public and private sector agencies involved in housing preservation. The
position requires that the applicant have a college degree ( 4 year) degree
and working knowledge of the following computer programs: Corel
WordPerfect Suite '8, AceFile 2.0 or similar program, Excel and Microsoft
Office 98. Excellent writing and communication skills are required.
Experience with nonprofit social service group preferred. Bilingual a plus.
Compensation: Health Plan. Two weeks paid vacation, first year. Salary
low to mid 30s. Send resume and cover letter to: Community Training and
Resource Center, 90 William Street - Suite 1200. New York, NY 10038.
Attention: Kevin Ryan or fax: 212-227-1125.
God's Love We Deliver is a non-sectarian organization that provides and
delivers freshly cooked meals to people living with HIV/AIDS who are unable
to prepare meals for themselves. We seek a CUENT SERVICES INTAKE SPE-
CIALIST to assess and register potential clients for the agency's meal pro-
gram by completing documentation for all intakes, managing daily client
activities including original data entry into the MS Access based Client
Activity Tracking System (CATS). Responsibilities: Maintain compliance and
integrity of data entered into, and client reports generated by, CATS. Conduct
telephone interviews to assess and register clients. Determine eligibility and
make appropriate outside referrals when necessary. Perform data entry and
file maintenance to maintain information for audit readiness. Verify all infor-
mation with clients' medical practitioners and maintain daily contact with
clients' medical practitioners regarding changes in clients' status. Monitor
needs of active clients including start-ups, breaks, discontinuations in meal
delivery service and other delivery issues. Maintain appropriate logs show-
ing daily client activities and contact. Represent the agency at workshops
and meetings. Other duties as assigned. Job Requirements: College degree
or equivalent work background. Minimum of 2 years experience preferably in
customer service or community-based organization. Proficient in Microsoft
Word, Excel, Access and the Internet. Thorough knowledge of HIV/AIDS.
Excellent writing, verbal, telephone communication and listening skills are
DECEMBER 2000
essential. Must be patient, understanding and compaSSionate and be able
to work as part of a team. Please fax resume and cover letter to: Fax: 212-
294-8101.
The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCD-
CUI, based at the Association Center of Wall Street, is a 26-year old non-
profit representing 200 institutions that serve low-income and minority
neighborhoods across the U.S. We are seeking to fill two vacancies: CAPI-
TALIZATION PROGRAM DIRECTOR. Senior management position. Serves a chief
underwriter, managing an $l8-million program that makes loans, deposits,
and grants to credit unions. Five years experience in lending, investments,
or financial management. Experience in credit unions and/or banking pre-
ferred. Superior analytiC abilities, strong customer-service orientation, good
computer skills preferred. Salary: $50K +. PROGRAM ASSISTANT-AMERICORPS
VISTA. Aid in managing national volunteer program. Coordinate volunteer
contacts, maintain records, prepare reports. Good writing and telephone
skills. BA/B.S. required. Word processing required; knowledge of database
software desirable. Salary: Mid-$20s. Excellent benefits, including company-
paid health, dental , and more. Send resume and cover letter to Job Search
- (Name of position), NFCDCU, 120 Wall Street, 10th Aoor, New York, NY
10005. Fax: 212-809-3274. Equal Opportunity Employer.
CASES, a major non-profit agency dedicated to assuring better futures for
court involved defendants, seeks a BUDGET and GRANTS MANAGER, GRANTS
ACCOUNTANT and PAYROU./FISCAL ADMINIS11fATOR. BUDGET AND GRANTS
MANAGER: Responsible for overseeing the grants and disbursement
processes; assisting in annual budget preparation; preparing quarterly
budget reviews; supervising fiscal administrative staff of two; preparing
monthly and quarterly vouchers and invoices for government contract reim-
bursement; reconCiling grant expenditures in general ledger to monthly
claims for fiscal year-end close; maintain labor distributions and budget
lines in the accounting software system; creating, assigning and maintain-
ing budget lines in the system; and manage special projects as needed.
College degree; Master' s degree preferred; Budget/Accounting experience
necessary; strong proficiency in Excel required; proficiency in American
Fundware Accounting System preferred; and strong communication skills.
Salary: to mid 40K' s, plus excellent benefits. GRANTS ACCOUNTANT:
Responsible for restricted funds, both government and private sources;
preparing vouchers for contract reimbursement; assist in budget prepara-
tion; and entering budget lines into financial software system. Budget expe-
rience necessary; college degree; minimum 2 years fund accounting and
spreadsheet experience; strong proficiency in Excel required; proficiency in
American Fundware and/or Ceridian Payroll software preferred. Salary:
$30K' s; commensurate with experience, plus excellent benefits. PAY-
ROUIF1SCAL ADMINIS11fATOR: Responsible for the biweekly payroll and
assisting in government contract reimbursements. SpeCific duties include
overseeing the biweekly troubleshoot with payroll vendor as necessary; pre-
pare check requests for penSion contributions and other related fringe ben-
efits; responsible for entering for preparing the monthly bank reconciliation
for the general fund account. College degree; budget/Accounting experi-
ence necessary; minimum three-five years fund accounting experience and
Ceridian Payroll software; excellent analytical and organizational skills
required. Salary is commensurate with experience, excellent benefits. Fax
resume to: CASES, 212-571-0292.
Hudson Guild, a not-for- profit settlement house located in the Chelsea
neighborhood of Manhattan, in its 104th year of providing essential direct
support and community building programs to Chelsea area residents, has
the following pOSitions available: GRANTS/GENERAL ACCOUNTANT.
Responsibilities: Highly detailed and organized skill set in spreadsheet
report preparation. Must comprehend fiscal function and overall attention
to accuracy and detailed analYSis of all prepared reports. Reports directly
to Controller, works independently with fiscal and program personnel to
obtain necessary documentation for agency reports. Qualifications: BA
degree in Accounting or Business Administration. Minimum five years of
grants/contracts expertise, preferably in a non-profit setting. Familiarity
with Fund EZ or similar fund accounting software; self-starter, with ability to
multi-task and meet deadlines. Desire to grow with an established com-
munity organization. Salary: Competitive, mid-40K. We are an Equal
Opportunity Employer. If you meet these qualifications then please send us
your resume in confidence. Mail resume to: LaShone Davis, Human
Resources Department, Hudson Guild, 441 W. 26th Street, New York, NY
10001. Fax resume to: LaShone Davis, Human Resources Department.
212-268-9983. No phone calls please.
(continued on page 42)
laRads

(continued from page 41)
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), a Bronx-based social services agency,
seeks to fill the following positions: PROGRAM DIRECTOR to supervise various
programs including a drop-in center for single adults, homeless outreach pro-
gram, harm reduction program and MICA case management program. The
position requires a CSW, program management/supervisory experience and
ability to work with community groups. Must have excellent organizational
and communication skills. GrantswritingJfundraising experience desired.
English/Spanish preferred. Some evenings, weekends and holidays
required. Fax resume and cover letter to S. Auwarter at (718) 293-1946 or
mail to Mgt, 1130 Grand Concourse, 3rd R, Bronx, NY 10456.
ASSISTANT PROGRAM DIRECTOR for its homeless outreach team (HOT). The
position requires a CSW license, although an MSW may be hired with the
expectation that s/he obtain his/her CSW within 6 months of employment,
a valid NYS driver's license and the ability to work evenings, weekends
and/or holidays during the winter season. Clinical experience, supervisory
experience and experience working with the homeless and mentally ill popu-
lation is a plus. Fax resume and cover letter to N. Concepcion at (718) 716-
8599 or mail to CAB-HOT, 1800 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10457. PR0-
GRAM COORDINATOR for its Express-to-Success after school program. The
position is a full-time position and requires a bachelor's degree in education
or a related field and at least two years of curriculum design, lesson plan-
ning, counseling or child development experience. Candidates must be able
to write reports, maintain records and develop management information sys-
tems. Hours are 10 am to 6 pm. Fax credentials to J. Esteves-Vargas at
(718) 590-5866 or mail to CAB-Girls Club, 1130 Grand Concourse, Bronx,
NY 10456.MENTAL HEAL11t COUNSELOR for its teen pregnancy prevention pro-
gram.The position is a part-time position and requires a MSW, excellent clin-
ical skills and a minimum of 3 years experience working with adolescents
ages 13 -19. Counselor will provide individual and group counseling to teens
and parents as well as crisis intervention. Evening hours are required. Fax
credentials to w. HilljV. Vazquez at (718) 590-5866 or mail to CAB-Girls
Club, 1130 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10456. CASE MANAGER for its drop-
in center for single adults. The position requires a bachelors in social work
or related field as well as experience working with substance abuse, home-
less and mentally ill population. Spanish/English is preferred. Some
evenings, weekends and holidays may be required. Resume and cover letter
to T. Marsik at (718) 893-3680 or mail to CAB-living Room, 890 Garrison
Avenue, Bronx, NY 10472. CASE MANAGER for its homeless outreach pro-
gram. The position requires a bachelors, a valid NYS driver' s license and
experience working with substance abuse, homeless and mentally ill popu-
lation. Spanish/English is preferred. Some evenings, weekends and holidays
may be required. Resume and cover letter to N. Concepcion at (718) 716-
8599 or mail to CAB-HOT, 1800 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10457. NIGHT
OUTREACH WORKER for its homeless outreach program. A high school diplo-
ma/GED is required. Requires working from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. and a valid
NYS driver's license. Resume and cover letter to N. Concepcion at (718)
716-8599 or mail to CAB-HOT, 1800 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10457.
FOU..OW-UP WORKER for its COBRA program within its AIDS services depart-
ment. A high school diploma/GED is required. Knowledge of housing ser-
vices and familiarity with the service needs of people with HIV/AIDS is
essential. Spanish fluency is a plus. Fax cover letter and resume to E.
Fowlkes at (718) 293-9767 or mail to 1130 Grand Concourse,
Bronx, NY 10456. TUTORS for its afterschool and adolescent development
programs. Tutors will provide one-on-one tutoring, small group tutoring and
homework assistance to children and teenagers Monday through Thursdays.
Positions are part-time only and require working from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Some
college education is required. Fax cover letter and resume to W. Hill (teen
program) or J. Tibbets (after school program) at (718) 590-3866 or mail to
CAB-Girls Club, 1130 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10456. CAB is an equal
opportunity employer.
MANAGER, CORPORATE AND FOONDATION SUPPORT Gay Men's Health Crisis
seeks Manager, Corporate and Foundation Support to identify, cultivate,
solicit and secure funding for GMHC programs and speCial events from cor-
porate and foundation funding sources. The position will coordinate research
and development of proposals, reports, letters and other program-related
materials for corporate and foundation donors, will obtain sponsorships for
special events, and will function as account manager to ensure accuracy of
fiscal materials related to grant reports and proposals. The successful can-
didate will have extensive knowledge of HIV / AIDS funding sources, and famil-
iarity with HIV / AIDS and human services issues. Ability to articulate and fos-
ter achievement of long range goals of an agency with a very high public pro-
file required. Superior written and oral communication skills and interper-
-
sonal skills, supervisory experience necessary. Send resume with cover let-
ter which must include salary requirement to GMHC, HR Department, 119
West 24th Street, New York, New York 10011. GMHC values diversity and is
proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
Major NYC Union looking for experienced ADMINIS1RATlVE ASSISTANT to work
for Organizing Director. Must be detail-oriented, problem solver. Duties to
include data management, purchasing, scheduling, and developing and
maintaining filing system. Should be willing to work long hours in exchange
for a chance to be part of an exciting organizing project. Spanish language
and Apple skills a big plus. Good salary and full benefits. Fax to JOB SEARCH
at 212-977-9461 or mail to Jim Donovan at 305 West 44th Street, New York,
NY 10036.
COORDINATOR, PROGRAM DEVElOPMENT. The American Red Cross in Greater
New York is seeking a qualified professional to work in our Program
Development dept to identify opportunities for government grants and con-
tracts to support Red Cross programs and for coordinating the work neces-
sary to obtain grants and contracts. You will monitor periodical publications
to identify government grant opportunities that might support Red Cross pro-
gramming. Establish and maintain a network of contacts that can provide
resource information about government funding opportunities for Red Cross
Programs. Develops familiarity and maintain relationships with personnel in
government agencies that are potential funders of Red Cross services.
Assist in the drafting of proposals, concept papers and other submissions
for funding. Requirements: Bachelors degree: Master's degree preferred.
Minimum of two years experience in program development. Experience net-
working with government representatives. Excellent communication, inter-
personal, and organizational skills are essential. Knowledge of government
funding operations, knowledge of office systems: MS Office preferred. We
offer a salary of $30,000 and a comprehensive benefits package. Please
mail/fax your resume to The American Red Cross in Greater New York, Dept
JP 150 Amsterdam Avenue, NY, NY 10023; fax 212) 875 2357. Email
[email protected]. An EOE M/F/DjV.
CUCS, a leader in the development and advancement of effective housing
and service initiatives for homeless people, particularly those with a serious
mental illness, HIV/AIDS, or other disabling conditions, seeks the following.
TRAINING COORDINATOR-PARr 11ME POSmON (14 hours / week) to coordinate
in-service training program for agency staff, and oversee social work student
intern unit. Responsibilities: training committee coordination, scheduling,
trainer recruitment, liaison to area schools of social work, coordinator of stu-
dent unit seminars. Requirements: MSW, 4 years applicable post-master's
direct service experience with indicated populations (2 years pre-master's
may substitute for 1 year post-master's), SIR, administrative experience,
strong verbal & written communication strong organizational skills,
computer literacy. Salary: $24.90 per hour. Resume and cover letter to Sue
Smith, CUCS/The Prince George, 14 E. 28th Street, New York, NY 10016.
CUCS is committed to workforce diversity. EEO. Visit us at www.cucs.org.
CUCS, a leader in the development and advancement of effective housing
and service initiatives for homeless people, particularly those with a serious
mental illness, HIV/AIDS, or other disabling conditions, seeks the following:
CASE MANAGER. This position is responsible for individual and group ser-
vices, crisis intervention, coordination of programs and activities, and work
with team members to develop treatment plans and interventions.
Requirements: High School diploma. A Bachelor degree and experience work-
ing with mentally ill, homeless individuals are preferred. The salary for this
position is $25,018 plus comprehensive benefits. Send cover letter and
resume to Sarena Lewit, CUCS-The Prince George, 14 East 28th Street, New
York, NY 10016. CUCS is committed to workforce diversity.
The Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment, a statewide
group of environmental , affordable housing and public policy organiza-
tions, is seeking its first FULL-TIME EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR to lead the
organization in implementing an ambitious statewide agenda, includ-
ing: affecting state policy on issues of importance to the membership
and their constituencies; raiSing the profile of the Coalition; activating
the membership around grassroots and statewide issues; and provid-
ing a strategic direction' to the Coalition. Requirements: extensive
. experience (including supervisory) with community-based and/or pub-
lic policy organizations; strategic planning experience; strong written
and verbal communication skills; commitment to grassroots organizing
and community empowerment; experience in public/media relations,
legislative process, and fundraising. For a complete job description
CITY LIMITS
- - - - - - - - ~ ~ - ~ ~ ----
contact (609) 278-5656 or [email protected] with fax number, e-
mail or US mail address.
PROJECT DIRECTOR-Advocacy Counseling Entitlement Services (RSVP-59).
Initiates the program to low-income people. Provide training on public bene-
fits to volunteers. Monitor services and volunteers at new and existing sites.
Oversee recruitment and placement process. Provide direct advocacy to
clients as necessary. Travel involved. Requirements- B.A. in Social Work or
related field required. Minimum five (5) years experience in volunteer man-
agement and/or public benefits required. Demonstrated written, oral, inter-
personal and supervisory skills. For more inquiries about our organization
please visit our web site at www.cssny.org. For employment consideration
please send resume including desired position code to CSS, 105 E. 22nd
Street, NYC 10010, fax to 212-614-5336 or e-mail your resume to cssem-
[email protected].
DIRECTOR OF INSTTTUTIONAL GMNG (DV-l0) Leading social welfare research
and advocacy organization seeks Director with minimum of four years expe-
rience to work closely with program staff and developing project and secur-
ing funding from foundations, corporations and government agencies.
Oversees grant-seeking process from prospecting to stewardship. Must
demonstrate excellent writing, supervisory, budgeting and interpersonal
skills. Excellent benefits, salary range mid to high 40&#8217;s. For more
inquiries about our organization please visit our web site at www.cssny.org
.For employment consideration please send resume including desired posi-
tion code to CSS, 105 E. 22nd Street, NYC 10010, fax to 212-614-5336 or
e-mail your resume to [email protected]
PROJECT COORDINATOR-Advocacy Counseling Entitlement Services (RSVP-57).
Assist in planning and developing new and existing sites. Provide orientation
and training on public benefits to volunteers. Responsible for compilation,
production, and distribution of newsletter. Coordination of ACES training.
Assist in providing direct advocacy for cl ients. For more inquiries about our
organization please visit our web site at www.cssny.org .For employment con-
sideration please send resume including desired position code to CSS, 105
E. 22nd Street, NYC 10010, fax to 212-614-5336 or e-mail your resume to
[email protected]
PROJECT COORDINATOR-Experience Corps Project (RSVP-56). Assist in plan-
ning and developing new and existing sites in the Bronx and Manhattan.
Provide orientation and training for volunteers at public schools. Develops
job development and creating volunteer aSSignments. Develop and imple-
ments a recruitment strategy including developing outreach materials. For
more inquiries about our organization please visit our web site at
www.cssny.org .For employment consideration please send resume including
desired position code to CSS, 105 E. 22nd Street, NYC 10010, fax to 212-
614-5336 or e-mail your resume to [email protected]
PROJECT COORDINATOR-Grand friends Head Start Program (RSVP-58). Assist
in planning and developing new and existing sites in the Bronx. Provide ori-
entation and training for volunteers at Head Start Centers. Develops volun-
teer curriculum. Enhance volunteer opportunities, and insure the quality pro-
gram services. Develop and implements a recruitment strategy including
developing outreach materials.
For more inquiries about our organization please visit our web site at
www.cssny.org .For employment consideration please send resume including
desired position code to CSS, 105 E. 22nd Street, NYC 10010, fax to 212-
614-5336 or e-mail your resume to [email protected]
PROGRAM COORDINATOR (RSVP-55) Bronx office Two (2) openings assist
in providing volunteer opportunities. Interview and place volunteers at
new and existing sites. Represent CSS/ RSVP at community meetings
and conferences. Assist in orientation and training for volunteers.
Excellent benefits, and salary mid to high 20s. B.A. related field or min-
imum four (4) years experience in volunteer management which
includes: recruitment, placement, job development, site development
and/ or community organizing. Good oral , written and interpersonal skills
required. Bilingual a plus. For more inquiries about our organization
please visit our web site at www.cssny.org .For employment considera-
tion please send resume including desired pOSition code to CSS, 105 E.
22nd Street, NYC 10010, fax to 212-614-5336 or e-mail your resume to
[email protected]
Inwood House has 2 job openings available working with pregnant/parenting
teens. A part-time PEER-TO-PEER MENTORING COORDINATOR to expand our
Peer Mentoring Program. Partners in Parenting (PIPE) education model,
recruitment and training exp a +. A JOB DEVaOPER to develop intern-
ships/permanent employment; assist clients with resume writing & inter-
view skills; networking & community outreach. Candidates for both must
have excellent communication and computer literacy skills (MS Office).
BS/ BA + 2 yrs. expo Fax resume to T. Loggin, 212-535-3775.
ADVERTISE IN CITY LIMITS!
To place a classified ad in City limits, e-mail your ad to [email protected] or
fax your ad to 212-344-6457. The ad will run in the City limits W e e k ~ , City limits
magazine and on the City Limits web site. Rates are $1.46 per word, minimum 40
words. SpeciaJ event and professional directory advertising rates are also available.
For more infonnation, check out the Jobs section of wn.citylimits.org or call
Associate Publisher Anita GutieM'81 at 212-479-3345.
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