Participants in City Agency-Funded Adult Literacy, English Classes Dipped After Contracting Overhaul

In the bulk up-to-date fiscal year that ended in June participants took part in Department of Youth and Neighborhood Development-funded adult literacy programs a percent drop from the year before But more than additional people took part in classes paid for by the City Council which stepped in during last year s budget negotiations to plug a multi-million dollar cut An English for Speakers of Other Languages ESOL class at St Nicks Alliance in Brooklyn on Aug Adi Talwar City Limits For years the city s Department of Youth and Locality Expansion DYCD has worked with local organizations to develop adult literacy programs helping New Yorkers improve their reading writing and communication skills for jobs or to pursue further training Last year DYCD changed how it selects nonprofit providers for adult tuition contracts starting to use Neighborhood Tabulation Areas to target zones with low English proficiency and educational attainment and high poverty rates However after a year of implementing the new contracting system the number of people who took part in these programs which include English language classes for immigrant New Yorkers dropped by percent function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' In the largest part contemporary fiscal year that ended in June participants took part in DYCD-funded adult literacy programs down from the year before and short of the agency s previously stated goal of participants for the year But another more than people took part in classes paid for by the City Council which stepped in during last year s budget negotiations to plug a million cut in DYCD funding for adult literacy programs amidst the contract overhaul Last year advocates promptly criticized the contract changes after the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy released that over percent of existing programs were not located in an NTA and therefore weren t eligible for funding The Council s discretionary funds a one-time million infusion was used to keep programs afloat for longtime providers who were cut out of the new contracts as City Limits released at the time Anticipating the impact of the budget cut the City Council made its largest single-year increase in adult literacy discretionary funding in history explained Ira Yankwitt executive director of the Literacy Assistance Center LAC LAC was selected to collect content on the classes funded by the Council and its September document stated that students participated Advocates and staff from Council Member Julie Won s office mentioned that when including participants in both DYCD and Council-funded programs the total number of participants stayed around people in the last fiscal year in line with previous years This number of students served by the Pilot Project takes us back to the over students served in prior years revealed Farah Salam district director of Council Member Julie Won s office This current fiscal year which started July the Council once again allocated funds for two adult instruction programs the City Council s Adult Literacy Initiative its larger umbrella adult learning venture and the Council s Adult Literacy Forward project lawmakers more contemporary assets in community-based offerings previously called the City Council Adult Literacy Pilot Project City Council FundingFY FY FY Adult Literacy Initiative million million millionAdult Literacy Pilot Project renamed AL Forward in FY million million millionTotal from City Council million million million CREDIT Literacy Assistance Center Still there have been other challenges in the wake of DYCD s contract changes The assignment and allocation of funds in the majority latest fiscal year took longer than planned and not all NTAs neighborhoods the city targeted for services under the new formula veritably had programs DYCD explained In February when City Limits informed on two bidders withdrawing their applications to run programs DYCD commented it had selected new providers to fill those areas But by the end of last fiscal year the city had received no viable proposals for two NTAs for Adult Basic Training and High School Equivalency DYCD stated DYCD commented that the agency is working on reallocating those slots to Bilingual Guidance programs and English for Speakers of Other Languages classes The new contracting method also led to delays in the city selecting providers who in turn had shorter time frames to get classes up and running According to the latest Mayor s Management Statement MMR the percentage of participants meeting standards of improvement on English skills in adult literacy classes also decreased from percent to percent Due to delays in contract awards and the initiative start-up process providers did not have as long with participants to reach outcomes explains the MMR Chosen providers also struggled to fill their slots DYCD revealed that providers who had trouble meeting their enrollment targets this year were offered help from a vendor that could help them improve their ceiling A drop-in English conversation class at the St Agnes branch of the New York Community Library in January Adi Talwar City Limits DYCD stated the number of spots decreased because the cost per person increased to allow for better offerings But they also recognized the undertaking s bumpy start and that delays affected how multiple people enrolled DYCD is committed to helping New Yorkers attain the reading writing and communication skills they need to get a job give back to their locality and pursue further training Our Adult Literacy Undertaking is doing just that and we re making this effort even more robust to give New Yorkers the tools they need to succeed a DYCD spokesperson stated There s been an increase in demand for these programs in recent weeks since the city absorbed over displaced persons since Around of them are still in the shelter system When sought for participation records on the current fiscal year the DYCD did not provide specifics saying that July and August typically represent a small percentage of enrollment while details for September wasn t yet final To reach the reporter behind this story contact Daniel citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint strategy here The post Participants in City Agency-Funded Adult Literacy English Classes Dipped After Contracting Overhaul appeared first on City Limits