NYC Veterans’ office gets ‘C’ grade in first City Council agency report card

A year after announcing plans to release report cards for city agencies, the New York City Council is out with its first grade: a “C” for the little-known Department of Veterans’ Services.

The council logged problems with one of the agency’s main tasks – providing information about benefits to veterans. Some advocates reported that they found it difficult to access information on the resources the veterans’ department provides, with one advocate saying that older veterans who don’t have computer skills found it especially difficult to learn about the agency’s services.

The council’s first agency report card comes amid heightened tensions between the legislative body and the mayor’s office. In addition to what’s likely to be another fraught budget negotiation, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is running in the Democratic primary to replace Mayor Eric Adams as mayor next year.

Speaker Adams announced plans last year for the council to conduct performance evaluations of city agencies as part of its oversight role, City & State first reported. The mayor’s administration already puts out a twice yearly Mayor’s Management Report, but the speaker and other council members have said that report lacks important information. 

The Department of Veterans’ Services was the first to be evaluated, alongside the Department of Youth and Community Development, and the Department of Parks and Recreation. (The council has yet to release those report cards, but they expect to soon.) The reports are conducted by the council's compliance division.

Launched in 2016, Department of Veterans’ Services is one of the city’s newest and tiniest agencies. They have just under 40 full-time staffers, and their $5 million budget barely registers in the city’s overall $107 billion budget. The agency helps to connect the city’s roughly 135,000 veterans to services including housing vouchers, mental health screenings and more. For the most part, the department directs veterans to services from external partners, including other city agencies and nonprofits.

The fiscal year 2024 Mayor’s Management Report’s analysis largely portrayed an agency performing well. The report shows the agency exceeding a target for the number of veterans served (10,700) and sharply increasing the number of a particular type of veteran-specific housing voucher utilized (35), and even growing social media impressions and newsletter subscribers.

The City Council’s version has much less metric-based data. Rather than being driven by distinct performance indicators, it cites surveys of advocates and veterans, though the report provides no detail about the survey or what questions they were asked. A council spokesperson said that 21 people were surveyed as part of the report. Outreach also included roundtable discussion and engagement with the city’s Veterans Advisory Board.

In the feedback it received, the council’s report states that it found a “disconnect” in how the agency views its own success and how those stakeholders evaluate it. 

Along with grading performance, the council’s report makes recommendations for improvement, including creating and publishing a strategy for a “DVS 2.0” to help the agency better address the needs of the population, reevaluating the locations and hours of its veterans resource centers, and more actively soliciting feedback from veterans, and other partners to help close the performance disconnect.

Council Member Robert Holden, who chairs the council’s Committee on Veterans, has repeatedly called for increased resources for the agency. “The Department of Veterans' Services is one of the smallest agencies in the city, which is deeply concerning – but with its limited resources, the agency must prioritize smartly,” Holden said in a statement. “City Hall must step up to fight for the funding and support it needs to succeed.” 

The agency has some bones to pick with the evaluation ahead of a council hearing on the matter next week. For example, they reject a claim in the report that they don’t have a presence at a veteran-specific shelter in Queens. “We thank the City Council for its feedback. DVS recently received the report and we are currently reviewing its findings,” Commissioner James Hendon said in a statement. “We look forward to addressing their recommendations during the City Council Hearing on April 28th, and continuing to connect, mobilize, and empower New York City's veteran community.”