A Follow-Up on the New York City Council's Hearing on the Human Services Extranet

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A Follow-Up on the New York City Council's Hearing on the Human Services Extranet
By Tech News Staff Writer

On February 6, 2003, the New York City Council held a special hearing on the proposed plan for a Human Services Extranet to serve New York City. At that meeting, Ester Fuchs, a Special Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg, announced the creation of a task force to facilitate the development of the city's Extranet.

What the Task Force Looks Like
The Integrated Human Services Task Force, as it is officially known, represents the city government's first acknowledged commitment to a project that has been discussed among city agencies and nonprofits for the last ten years. The principal goal of the project, as envisioned by the task force, is to improve the sharing of data and technology among human service agencies. The task force will focus on facilitating this goal in several areas, including sharing eligibility confirmation, case management data, and contract management information.

Ongoing Operations
The task force is co-chaired by Ms. Fuchs, the Mayor's Special Advisor for Governance and Strategic Planning, and Gino Menchini, the Commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT). The task force has also appointed a Project Director, Gabrielle Kreisler, who comes to the Integrated Human Services Project from the Administration for Children's Services, where she was Assistant Commissioner for External Affairs.

With the creation of The Integrated Human Services Task Force, the city appears to be making a real commitment to the Extranet project.

The task force was created in December 2002, drawing upon representatives of 13 city agencies, as well as the Office of Management and Budget, the Law Department, and DoITT.

Concerns Raised At the Hearing
Testimony at the hearing came from representatives of government, New York City nonprofits, academic programs, and for-profit technology companies that work with nonprofits. The announcement of the task force generally was received as a sign of mayoral support and was welcomed by many of the hearing's speakers as an essential step towards executing a successful Extranet project. William Kowalski, former Executive Director of One Ease E-Link, New Jersey's human services technology initiative, said, "It is critical to the success of a project like this to have a task force, and that that task force have some clout."

Fuchs emphasized that the task force and its goals are a priority for the city, saying that "the strong commitment from the mayor...will make all the difference in making sure something real happens here." There were several common issues raised by the speakers, including client confidentiality, the organizational Digital Divide, integration of new data collection systems with pre-existing agency systems, and leadership buy-in. While acknowledging the concerns of the speakers, Fuchs did not provide definitive answers to many questions. She explained that the task force would have to solidify its internal organization before it began to address these issues in depth.

Fuchs did respond strongly to the concern over preserving client confidentiality, explaining that the task force would be working with the city's Law Department on the subject. "Be assured that we are addressing that issue and it will be a very important part of this project," said Fuchs. She noted that the task force is examining a variety of options for ensuring client privacy, including a system that had been developed for aid distribution following the events of September 11, 2001.

Client confidentiality will be a central issue for the task force as it shapes its Integrated Human Services vision.

In terms of the organizational Digital Divide issue raised by several of the hearing's speakers, Fuchs said that the task force is aware of the concerns. She was referring to the problem of nonprofits lacking the equipment and training to comply with new systems that might be required to participate in the New York City Integrated Human Services Project. "The issue of training is important for the nonprofits as well as the smaller city agencies," said Fuchs.

In the face of concerns expressed by several of the hearing's speakers, Fuchs was optimistic about the Integrated Human Services Project. "We're very enthusiastic about this and we really think it's going to make a huge difference, both for the clients and the providers and for creating better public policy and efficiencies for the city."

Fuchs comes to city government from an academic background. She holds positions as Director of the Center for Urban Research and Policy at Columbia University, Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Columbia University and Barnard College, and Chair of the Urban Studies Program at Columbia and Barnard Colleges.

To review more testimony from the hearing, go to the New York City Council Web site at http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/schedule/index.cfm?DayToEdit=2/6/2003.

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