Vera Institute of Justice

Overview

New York City’s eight health and human services (HHS) agencies provide billions of dollars worth of services each year to more than two million people, many of whom are served by more than one agency. This brief first outlines the challenges of a system that includes thousands of contracts, numerous city agencies, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations, and the inherent inefficiencies that result from a system with so many autonomous stakeholders. Next, it discusses the policy changes and reforms that were designed to streamline the process and better address clients’ needs, and finally, it looks ahead at lessons learned and forthcoming issues that will need attention.