Reducing Poverty

Mayor Bloomberg And The Rockefeller Foundation Announce Launch Of A Learning Network To Share Design And Implementation Strategies For Opportunity NYC, The Nation's First Conditional Cash Transfer Program

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:36:14 -0500

Learning Network Will Include Countries and Cities Developing Or Implementing Incentive-Based Poverty Reduction Programs As A Strategy For Information Sharing

Mayors and Senior Staff from Six Cities Join Discussion on Poverty Reduction Initiatives

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the Rockefeller Foundation today announced the launch of a new Conditional Cash Transfer Learning Network which will share New York City’s experience designing and implementing Opportunity NYC, the nation’s first conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, as well as to continue learning from other countries and US cities about incentive-based poverty reduction programs. The announcement was made at a meeting of mayors and senior staff from six cities at Gracie Mansion to discuss poverty reduction strategies. The Mayor was joined by Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs; Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) Executive Director Veronica White; Rockefeller Foundation Initiatives Vice President Darren Walker; Miami, Florida Mayor Manuel Diaz; Savannah, Georgia Mayor Otis Johnson; Shelby County, Tennessee Mayor A.C. Wharton, Jr., as well as representatives from the cities of Baltimore, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The CCT Learning Network is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and managed collaboratively between the Center for Economic Opportunity and MDRC, the research organization evaluating the program.

“We are encouraged by the interest generated in Opportunity NYC, and look forward to sharing our expertise with others as they seek to tackle the issue of poverty in their respective countries and cities,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The CCT Learning Network will help us to expand the dialog about how incentive-based programs work, as well as the challenges faced in creating and implementing other poverty reduction strategies.”

“We have learned a great deal from other countries and national experts. And, recently we have had the opportunity to begin giving back.” said Deputy Mayor Gibbs. “Through the leadership of CEO and with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation we will continue the work of sharing our experiences and learning from others through the CCT Learning Network.”

The Learning Network provides an important opportunity for cities to exchange information and data on what works, and in particular for those in New York City to share findings from Opportunity NYC with their counterparts in other cities and interested parties at the state and federal levels. The network also represents an opportunity for policymakers and practitioners in the US to learn from the experiences of other countries, and to contribute to the growing international body of knowledge about CCTs.

CCT programs are being implemented in over 20 countries around the world, and unlike conventional approaches to poverty reduction which focus on social services to create a safety net for those in need, incentive-based strategies increase participation in targeted activities and programs that decrease factors that contribute to poverty and long-term dependency. Financial incentives are awarded when households meet specific targets. Opportunity NYC provides cash incentives to low-income families in three key areas: education, health, and employment and training.

“As a global foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation has a keen interest in finding poverty-fighting models that work in different contexts around the world,” said Rockefeller Foundation Initiatives Vice President Darren Walker. ‘The Foundation is proud to be a lead funder of Opportunity NYC, and we see the CCT learning network as an important means to further our investment in this groundbreaking pilot program.”

As part of the CCT Learning Network, city officials and Opportunity NYC partners have met with national and local legislators to discuss the initiative, and have participated in conferences with officials from countries implementing CCT programs. The Center for Economic Opportunity recently hosted a delegation of representatives from the United Kingdom where, in February, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced efforts to initiate a Contract Out of Poverty, using the same kind of economic incentives as Opportunity NYC. The purpose of the visit was to understand the structure and operation of the program. The CCT Learning Network will continue to expand its outreach nationally and internationally, convening and attending information sharing meetings, best practices, and the evolution of CCTs.

The Center for Economic Opportunity

The Center for Economic Opportunity was established by Mayor Bloomberg to implement innovative ways to reduce poverty in New York City. The CEO works with City agencies to design and implement evidence-based initiatives aimed at poverty reduction, and manages an Innovation Fund through which it provides City agencies annual funding to implement such initiatives. It will oversee a rigorous evaluation of each program to determine which are successful in demonstrating results towards reducing poverty and increasing self-sufficiency among New Yorkers. The CEO is also charged with oversight of Opportunity NYC, including its design, management and implementation. Copies of the Center for Economic Opportunity's Strategy and Implementation Report are available at www.nyc.gov.

The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation was established in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller, Sr., to "promote the well-being” of humanity by addressing the root causes of serious problems. The Foundation supports work around the world to expand opportunities for poor or vulnerable people and to help ensure that globalization’s benefits are more widely shared. With assets of nearly $4 billion, it is one of the few institutions to conduct such work both within the United States and internationally.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg And San Francisco Mayor Newsom Launch The Cities For Financial Empowerment Coalition

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:31:44 -0500

New York Consumer Affairs Commissioner Mintz and San Francisco Treasurer Cisneros to Co-chair Coalition of Cities Dedicated to Financially Empowering Residents and Addressing Poverty

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom today announced the launch of Cities of Financial Empowerment (CFE), a coalition of City governments seeking to address and expand the role of municipal government in improving the financial health and security of residents with low and moderate incomes. The CFE Coalition will be co-chaired by the City of New York led by Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz and the City of San Francisco led by Treasurer José Cisneros. They will be joined by the cities of Miami, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; Savannah, Georgia; and Seattle, Washington as the founding members of the coalition. CFE members will focus on financial empowerment programs that help reduce debt, build savings and provide access to the most appropriate financial products and services. To advance these goals, the cities will share information about successful programs, unite behind a common agenda and leverage the resources and innovations of the private and non-profit sectors.

“Cities for Financial Empowerment will provide us with a great opportunity to develop and share innovative solutions to one of the toughest challenges facing all cities: poverty,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “This is not a problem that can be solved by the public sector alone, or the nonprofit sector alone, or by any one city. It will require all of us – working together with the private sector – to find creative new ways to help more Americans increase their earnings and maximize their savings. By joining forces, our cities will spread best practices and strengthen our voice on Capitol Hill. Reducing poverty isn’t easy, but we believe it is possible – if we are willing to embrace innovative new ideas and leverage the power of public-private partnerships.”

“I’m pleased that San Francisco will serve as co-chair of the Coalition for Financial Empowerment,” said Mayor Newsom. “This city has been home to many groundbreaking new ideas, and the Coalition will allow a venue to show the country that everyone deserves a chance to be successful.”

“The Cities for Financial Empowerment coalition brings together pioneering municipal governments from all over the country who have begun to leverage their own resources and position to advance innovative financial empowerment initiatives,” said DCA Commissioner Mintz. “New York City is proud to co-chair this groundbreaking coalition with San Francisco and will continue to reach out to other cities to mobilize our collective strengths to advance the financial empowerment agenda on a state and national level.”

“With the model program of ‘Bank on San Francisco,’ I’m thrilled to partner with other cities across the nation to promote the best asset-building practices,” said San Francisco Treasurer Cisneros. “I’m proud to work in partnership with New York City on this critical endeavor.”

The CFE coalition will hold a three-day forum in New York, which was kicked off today by a reception hosted by Mayor Bloomberg at New York’s City Hall. The CFE Coalition and forum were launched with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. The forum will focus on strategies for asset building, access to financial products and services, consumer protection, and financial education. Each member of the Coalition has implemented successful and innovative financial empowerment programming in their respective cities and will now join together to both teach and learn from one another. The coalition will continue to meet periodically to share research and promising practices and identify unique ways to fight poverty both individually and collectively. The CFE coalition also launched its website www.cfecoalition.org, where visitors can learn about the mission of CFE, its core principles and the financial empowerment initiatives of each member city.

Mayor Bloomberg serves as co-chair of two other national coalitions focusing on ways city governments can improve the lives of Americans around the country. The Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, launched in April 2006, now boasts over 275 members from more than 40 states focused on stopping the flow of illegal guns into America’s cities. The Building America’s Future Coalition was launched in January 2008 and is co-chaired by Mayor Bloomberg, California Governor Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania Governor Rendell. Last month, 13 Governors from across the country joined the non-partisan coalition for federal infrastructure investment.

New York City began looking at more innovative ways to reduce the number of people living in poverty with the creation of the Mayor’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO). As part of Mayor Bloomberg’s aggressive efforts to fight poverty in New York City, the Department of Consumer Affairs launched its Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE), the first local government initiative in the nation aimed expressly at educating, empowering and protecting those with low incomes so they can build assets and make the most of their financial resources. OFE was also the first program to be implemented under CEO.

Consumer Affairs enforces the Consumer Protection Law and other related business laws throughout New York City to ensuring a fair and vibrant marketplace. The agency licenses more than 60,000 businesses in 55 different categories. Through targeted outreach, partnerships with community and trade organizations, and informational materials, Consumer Affairs educates consumers and businesses alike about their rights and responsibilities. OFE is the first municipal office of its kind in the nation with a mission to educate, empower and protect New Yorkers with low incomes, to help them make the best use of their financial resources to move forward economically. For more information, call 311 or visit Consumer Affairs online at www.nyc.gov/consumers.

Mayor Bloomberg And Homeless Services Commissioner Hess Announce Decline In Street Homelessess For The Third Consecutive Year

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 11:29:31 -0600

City and MTA Unveil ‘Give Real Change’ Public Education Campaign to Help the Homeless

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Robert V. Hess today announced that street homelessness in New York City is down 12 percent since last year and 25 percent since 2005 – the first year the City conducted the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate, or HOPE. The HOPE survey is conducted annually in January to produce an accurate estimate of the total number of unsheltered individuals on the streets and in the subway system. The Mayor and Commissioner were joined by Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs, MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot “Lee” Sander, former New York Jets running back Curtis Martin, who is collaborating with the City on efforts to reduce homelessness, and representatives from City agencies and homeless services non-profit providers. The City and the MTA also unveiled a new public education campaign, called ‘Give Real Change’, which reminds New Yorkers that the best way to help homeless individuals on the streets or in subways is to call 311 to have an outreach team sent to help.

“Tackling homelessness in its many forms has been a priority for our Administration – and I’m pleased to announce further progress in our efforts to help people leave the streets for a better life,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The good news, from both humanitarian and quality of life perspectives, is that a quarter fewer New Yorkers live on city streets today than when we started measuring in 2005. We will continue to bring innovation and focused management attention to this longstanding urban challenge.”

“The annual HOPE count not only provides an estimate of the street homelessness population but it also enables us to evaluate and improve our approach to services,” said Commissioner Hess. “Used along with other information, HOPE informs the development of programs and partnerships that have produced the results we see today—nearly 1,100 fewer New Yorkers living on our streets.”

Behind the Numbers: City Points to Successful Strategies

The City credits the decline in street homelessness to stepped-up strategies undertaken over the last two years. These include the Homeless Encampments Initiative, through which DHS and more than a dozen city and state agencies partnered to clear 70 targeted encampments and “hot spots” throughout the five boroughs, and the NYC Street to Home outreach program—a major overhaul of the City’s approach to outreach efforts citywide. In addition, the introduction of innovative housing options like Safe Havens and a partnership with the MTA positively impacted this year’s results.

From Street to Home

NYC Street to Home, provides for the first time, a citywide approach to street outreach. NYC Street to Home further changes DHS contracting by combining a new outreach approach with increased accountability for providers. Instead of many contracts being managed by multiple city agencies, for the first time, DHS maintains oversight for all outreach contracts, with one non-profit provider responsible for each borough, ensuring a higher level of coordination. NYC Street to Home moves away from conventional outreach methods that focus on the number of times a team contacts particular clients to one that emphasizes placing the longest-term or most chronically homeless individuals into permanent housing. Providers work independently and share best practices and areas of concern at monthly StreetStat meetings, held by DHS to ensure teams have the necessary resources. In its six short months, NYC Street to Home providers have collectively placed 450 individuals with some of the longest histories—sometimes decades—of street homelessness into permanent or transitional housing.

DHS works closely with its sister agency, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), to provide clinical expertise and guidance on the contracts. The providers are: Goddard Riverside Community Center (Manhattan Consortium), Manhattan; Common Ground Community, Brooklyn/Queens; Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Bronx; and Project Hospitality, Staten Island.

A Safe Haven from the Street

In November 2006, New York City piloted its first Safe Haven, in partnership with the Bowery Residents Committee (BRC), a non-profit service provider, and with the support of a grant from The Betty and Norman F. Levy Foundation made to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Safe Havens offer a safe, barrier-free temporary housing option for street homeless individuals who otherwise would not come off the streets. The size and atmosphere of Safe Havens, which tend to be smaller and have few restrictions, are an innovative alternative for those individuals who choose not to come into shelter. In its first year, the BRC Safe Haven partnership had served 52 clients with an average length of street homelessness of seven and a half years. Seventeen of these clients—some who were chronically homeless for more than 20 years—have moved into permanent homes of their own.

Based on the success of the pilot program, Mayor Bloomberg provided funding in the City’s budget to replicate the Safe Haven model citywide. There are currently more than 200 Safe Haven beds across the City at five sites, and by the end of 2008 there will be more than 500 beds. The new Safe Havens will follow the BRC pilot program’s approach, reserving capacity for the hardest-to-reach street homeless individuals who consistently have rejected placement in the shelter system, and who instead, opt to stay on the streets.

City-MTA Partnership

Many homeless individuals seen on the streets also spend time in the MTA’s transit systems. The MTA Connections Outreach Program has provided services to homeless individuals on subways, and in stations and terminals for many years. In 2007, the City and the MTA embarked on a partnership to better coordinate efforts on the streets and in the subways. As a result of this partnership, homelessness is down by 30 percent in the subways from last year.

The City-MTA collaboration includes improved access to housing, such as Safe Haven beds, and other resources; MTA Connections’ participation in monthly StreetStat meetings to promote sharing of best practices and learning across all outreach providers; and an ongoing initiative targeting Penn Station, one of the highest density transit hubs in terms of homelessness. This ongoing collaboration has included coordinated efforts with NYPD, MTA PD, MTA agency staff, Amtrak, and Midtown Community Court to conduct outreach to the homeless at Penn Station and NYC Transit terminal stations.

“Through the MTA Connections Outreach Program, the MTA has demonstrated its commitment to addressing homelessness on our system. These professional services provided by BRC, offer the homeless a better alternative to living on the street or subway. The collaboration with the City has improved the services MTA Connections Outreach can provide its clients,” said MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot G. Sander. “The results have been very positive for homeless individuals and the riding public.”

‘Give Real Change’ Public Education Campaign

To further reduce street homelessness, Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Hess, and MTA Executive Director Sander also unveiled a new public education ad campaign called ‘Give Real Change’, which is currently going up in subway cars and stations around the city. The spots inform subway riders that the best way to help homeless individuals on the streets or subways is to call 311 to have an outreach team sent to help. The campaign emphasizes that New Yorkers can make a difference by joining the efforts already underway to house the homeless.

The MTA provided premium subway squares and one-sheet posters in subway cars and stations for this campaign, which should extend into the spring.

By the Numbers

New York City has an estimated 3,306 unsheltered individuals according to HOPE 2008—a ratio of 1 unsheltered homeless individual to 2,485* of the general city population. San Francisco has a 1 in 269 ratio; followed by Seattle with 1 in 295; Miami-Dade County with 1 in 1,741; and Chicago with 1 in 1,798.

There were an estimated 1,263 unsheltered individuals in Manhattan; 279 in the Bronx; 336 in Brooklyn; 135 in Queens; and 152 in Staten Island for a total of 2,165 on the surface (meaning streets and parks). There were 1,141 unsheltered individuals in the subways. Additionally, the Single Adult Shelter Census showed a decline by 19 percent from 8,687 in 2005 to 6,998 in 2008.

HOPE volunteers—this year 1,700 strong—walked a total of 8,291 miles and surveyed more than 1,000 subway cars. The HOPE survey is nationally recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as the national standard for this type of homeless count.

*This represents a list of the largest U.S. cities with a similar street count methodology for which DHS was able to confirm a recent census.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Addresses World Bank Employees On "Building Better Cities: New York's Experience In Urban Transformation" At World Bank Urban Sector Day

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:45:27 -0600

“I’m deeply honored by this invitation to address the World Bank Group’s Urban Sector. Your work you do in so many rapidly growing cities puts you center stage in the world’s most important drama.

“And you should be proud of the difference you’re making to so many that need society’s help. You are truly at the center of our rapidly changing world. This year, for the first time in human history, city dwellers will begin to make up the majority of the Earth’s population. This global urbanization represents a seismic shift in world affairs – and it’s happening at a breathtaking pace. Fifty years ago, fewer than 100 of the world’s cities had populations of one million or more people. Within ten years, nearly 500 will.

“For example, 50 years ago, China was still a largely agrarian nation. But by the middle of our current century, it’s expected that as much as three-fourths of the Chinese population will live in cities. I was there two months ago, and two things are true: They’ve made enormous progress – and they have staggering problems ahead.

“Such astonishing growth has thrust major new responsibilities onto the shoulders of those of us working in the world’s large cities. All of us, in every country, today face – daily and directly – the economic, social, and environmental consequences of explosive urban growth. In addition, we now have to deal with the forces of globalization and climate change. And we also must confront the challenge of providing all our people with the health and social services they need to create better lives for their families.

“As citizens of the world, our duties are great – but so are the opportunities for building a more secure and prosperous world for everyone: a world where anything that can be imagined, can be achieved – whether that’s ending illiteracy or hunger, or stopping the AIDS epidemic, or cleaning the air, or deterring corruption. The World Bank has a critically important role to play in these and other areas. So does the UN. So do the developed countries. And so do all of us who are lucky enough to have shared what I describe as the Great American Dream – a dream that also embodies the aspirations of people around the globe.

“Some people doubt that the world’s cities are up to the tasks before us. I don’t. Time after time, cities have shown an ability to overcome even the most daunting obstacles, and to mobilize and maximize the talents of our people. Today, I’d like to use the transformation of New York as a small example of what can be done – although God knows you help those with infinitely more serious problems in just staying alive.

“In the days immediately following 9/11, many thoughtful people believed that New York’s days of greatness were numbered. There were serious predictions that businesses and residents would flee the city wholesale, that our economy would never recover, that crime would once again take root in our city, and that New York was headed into an irreversible downward spiral of decline.

“Sound familiar? I would bet that all of you here have heard the naysayers and cynics tell you why your efforts at the World Bank won’t succeed – why you can’t succeed. We’ve heard the same in my city. But over the past six years, New York City has proved the naysayers wrong – and you will too!

“How? There’s no one answer, of course, no royal road to success. But I believe that four values which have helped transform New York provide lessons that are universal and transferable. They are: harnessing the forces of immigration and globalization; tapping the power of innovation; instituting rigorous and accountable governance; and having the independence to take on entrenched interests when they stand in the way of progress.

“Let me expand on each of those values, beginning with the long-term and continuing embrace of immigration and globalization. If you want to know the biggest difference between New York and the cities that never recovered from the job losses of the 1970s, I have one word for you: immigrants.

“Over the past 30 years, our immigrant population has more than doubled in size. Today 37% of New Yorkers – more than three million people – are foreign-born, and more than 70% of them have come to New York since 1980. Their ambition, hard work, and entrepreneurial drive continue to bring dynamic new life to our economy and a fresh new spirit to our city. New Yorkers understand that. Even after 9/11, when it would have been understandable for us to become fearful about the rest of the world, we have continued to welcome immigrants at a history-making pace. And they have more than repaid us.

“Just as important as this global movement of people is the increasingly crucial role that global capital plays in New York’s economy. We finance development around the world – and you see today other countries investing in New York. International – and multi-directional.

“The power of globalization played a big part in reviving New York’s fortunes over the past 30 years, and preventing us from going into a downward spiral after 9/11. And our success story is far from being a ‘one-off’ anomaly in today’s world. Just look at what India and China have achieved as they have become more urbanized and more fully re-integrated into the global economy. What this tells us is that the world’s cities emphatically do not need the restrictive new barriers to immigration or trade that many political leaders want to erect, especially here in the U.S.

“The cities that hope to succeed in the 21st century cannot close their doors to the world’s workers anymore than they can close their doors to the world’s capital or the world’s ideas. In New York, the free, global movement of labor, capital, and ideas defines our character, underlies our prosperity, and explains our comeback.

“Sadly, some of our national leaders are turning their backs on this formula for success. And if they insist on turning away the best and the brightest, and protecting jobs instead of promoting them, then the hard economic times that we are beginning to experience here in the U.S. will be with us for a long time.

“The choice is ours – and every country faces the same choice: Do we reap the benefits of globalization and address its difficulties honestly or do we scapegoat globalization and turn away its benefits? I believe we should be working to bring the benefits of globalization not only to the U.S., but to cities around the world where too many people remain isolated and impoverished – something that the World Bank’s lending policies can help achieve.

“One of the benefits of globalization is the ever freer movement of ideas – a trend that reinforces the second value I want to stress: the power of innovation. There are so many educated, creative, brilliant minds in our world today, capable of creating innovative solutions to many, if not all of the problems that plague us. We must foster this spirit of innovation and reinforce it at every turn.

“New York – and other cities, too – understand this. We are increasingly adopting one another’s innovative approaches to our shared challenges. This is especially true in two areas: reducing poverty and global climate change.

“In the U.S., we’ve been fighting poverty with pretty much the same arsenal of weapons for the past 40 years. And guess what? Not much has changed. That’s why innovation that promises to break this cycle of futility is so crucial. So far, there’s been precious little talk of innovation at the national level – in our government, or in our current political campaigns.

“But the world’s cities – including New York – aren’t waiting for others to act first. Countries around the world, especially in the developing world, are experimenting with anti-poverty programs that smash taboos and turn orthodoxies on their head – and some of them have had very promising results.

“That’s why New York has recently become the first U.S. city to adopt – on a trial basis – the kind of ‘conditional cash transfers’ that have been a success in Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, and other developing nations. And I’m pleased to see that Prime Minister Brown of Great Britain is now proposing a similar program for the United Kingdom. By offering conditional cash payments that can amount to up to one-third of household income, we hope to encourage low-income New Yorkers to stay in school, stay in their jobs, and stay on track to rise out of poverty.

“Nearly 5,000 families are now enrolled in ‘Opportunity NYC.’ This program is currently funded privately; if it becomes the success we hope it will be, we’ll invest public dollars in it. The World Bank has long been a leader in supporting conditional cash transfers, and I want to thank its staff for working with us as we designed and set up Opportunity NYC. That includes, in particular, Laura Rawlings of the Bank’s Caribbean and Latin American regional office.

“New York and other cities are also sharing innovative ideas about addressing an equally critical issue: climate change. Indeed, in many instances, cities are well out in front of their national governments in this area, too. For example, even though our national government has not ratified the Kyoto Accord, more than 700 American cities, including New York, have pledged to meet its standards.

“In the past year, I’ve met and talked with mayors of the world’s great cities, from London, to Mexico City, to Beijing. We recognize that, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has written, when it comes to climate change, ‘It’s too late for later.’ So we’re not waiting for others to act first. Increasingly, we’re working in concert with one another, and adopting one another’s best practices in areas ranging from ‘greening’ our streets to cleaning our air.

“New York’s sustainability agenda – called PlaNYC – draws on the policies of cities around the world, from Berlin to Singapore. New York City will extend and encourage that exchange of ideas when we host a major two-day international conference on climate change and urban air quality in June.

“The World Bank Group has shown its own leadership on climate change, starting with the example you’ve set by becoming a ‘carbon neutral’ organization. Now your lending practices can support the world’s cities as we find innovative ways to shrink our carbon footprints, too.

“But to be effective, innovation has to be coupled with the third value that I want to stress: Rigorous and publicly accountable governance – governance that is transparent, efficient, and that makes decisions based on data. There’s a saying: ‘In God we trust. Everyone else bring data.’ I’ve found that in business and government, those are good words to live by.

“In New York City, we’ve not only used data to drive decisions, we’ve made it transparent – so that the public will be able to see where the problems lie. That’s why, for example, we’ve begun grading all 1,500 of our public schools – the schools, not just the kids – so that parents will know how their child’s school compares to other schools. If their children go to a school that’s failing, will they yell and scream until things get better? They should! And that’s exactly the point.

“Accurate, transparent, and continually collected data is also crucial to deciding when and how to most efficiently use scarce resources. Public safety is a prime example. During 2007, New York City had fewer homicides than we have had in any year since 1963 – cementing our hold on the title of ‘America’s safest big city.’

“We’ve done that by relentlessly mapping crime trends and deploying officers accordingly. And we’ve done that even as our police force has shrunk by some 5,000 officers over the past six years, and even as the police department has assumed extensive new intelligence and anti-terrorism responsibilities in the wake of 9/11.

“In American cities, just as in the global development community, some people will tell you that the solution to any problem is easy: More money. But in New York, we’ve learned that while more money is always nice, it also really is possible to do more with less.

“We can attack problems most effectively by rigorous analysis and a high-accountability approach: identifying the communities in greatest need.., driving resources to them, and holding front-line workers responsible for success. Such rigorous, accountable governance also allows us to direct funds that might otherwise be wasted to investments in the infrastructure that our growing city needs.

“To cite just one example: We are now on course to complete a third water tunnel that is vital to New York’s future. It’s a project that had stopped and stalled for more than 30 years – in large part because every time the economy slowed, the easy out politically was to cut infrastructure spending while maintaining spending on popular programs. This kind of approach will not solve the problems that we must solve. Through accountable governance, we’ve shown that it’s possible to sustain, and even improve, basic services, while also investing in the City’s future.

“Finally, let me turn to the fourth value I want to stress: political independence. In reforming our schools, in reinventing our social services, in area after area, we’ve been willing to touch the so-called ‘third rail’ issues that others have avoided. The reason, quite simply, is that the political independence of our Administration has allowed us to take on vested interests, and let the chips fall where they may.

“I’ve found that when you do this, the voters – even if they don’t agree with you on everything – will respect you, because they know that you’re making decisions based on the merits, not based on polls or partisanship or political calculus.

“A good example of how we’ve been independent – and one with global implications – concerns the largest single cause of preventable death worldwide: Tobacco. Over the past six years, New York City has been very pro-active against smoking – often in the face of stiff and vocal opposition.

“We’ve raised cigarette taxes, mounted aggressive public information campaigns, increased smoking cessation programs, and outlawed smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars. And if you want a character-building experience, I suggest doing that, and then marching in a St. Patrick’s Day parade that goes past the city’s pubs. You’d be surprised how many one-fingered waves you get!

“But let me tell you, this is an area where political independence – a willingness to fight the vested interests – has really paid off. We’ve cut smoking among adult New Yorkers by 20% during the past six years and reduced teen smoking by 52%. That translates into a quarter-million fewer smokers, untold millions, short- and long-term, in saved dollars in health care costs, and even more importantly, saved lives.

“Now we need to write the same kind of success story worldwide. And to do that, your help is needed in supporting the city and national leaders who are willing to show political independence in the face of the powerful vested interests promoting tobacco use. As you may know, developing countries already account for 70% of cigarette consumption. And tobacco companies are stepping up their marketing in the developing world.

“As The Economist put it recently, ‘The tobacco industry is getting the world’s poor hooked before governments can respond.’ Unless we do respond, the result will be a public health calamity: One billion pre-mature deaths – from cancer, stroke, and heart disease – in this century, many of them in the cities where you work.

“In response, my foundation supported a recent World Health Organization study of tobacco habits and policies in 179 different countries. If we want countries to change their policies, we first had to know scope of the problem. That’s just the first step in what is going to be a long struggle, fought on many fronts. But as New York City has shown: This is a winnable fight – one that the world’s other cities and nations now must also join. Again, I ask you to join me in this effort.

“Globalization, innovation, accountable governance, independent leadership: Each of you in your work in cities around the world has the opportunity to foster these values. The 21st century will see an increasingly urban world – on every continent on our globe. Now it’s up to all of us to ensure that the residents of the world’s cities enjoy a safer, healthier, and more secure future.

“Every generation, in its own way, faces the challenge of enlarging the realm of human happiness and opening up new vistas of human possibility.

“When we talk about ‘building better cities’ in our world, that’s truly what’s at stake. We have the knowledge, we have the resources, and I believe we all have the will!

“I want to thank each of you in the World Bank Group for working to meet that challenge. Good luck to you all – may your efforts here, and in cities everywhere, be crowned with success.”

Bloomberg Incentive Chases King's Dream

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:59:08 -0600

"I have a dream" will forever be linked with the man whose life we celebrated this month. But let's not forget that Martin Luther King Jr. also said, "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has risen to King's challenge by investing in those less fortunate.

Mayor Bloomberg Tackles Poverty

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:36:23 -0600

Politicians have mostly skirted poverty as a political issue since President Lyndon Johnson declared war on it more than four decades ago. Even the federal government’s method of measuring poverty is a relic from the 1960s

That Elusive Poverty Line

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:33:25 -0600

New York's mayor sets a worthy task of calculating a more accurate measure for poverty.

Mayor Bloomberg Addresses The Brookings Center On Children And Families "Briefing On The Census Poverty Report"

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:37:28 -0500

Mayor Proposes New Earned Income Tax Credit that Demands More of Recipients in Exchange for Greater Benefits

“Thank you, Strobe, and good afternoon, everyone. The Brookings Institution has achieved a special measure of respect in Washington because it has risen above partisanship – and that’s not an easy thing to do in this town.

“It’s an honor to be invited to join this group today to talk about the Census Bureau’s latest poverty numbers. It was 40 years ago this month that the Bureau released its first national assessment of poverty in America. And since then, we’ve learned an awful lot about what works – and what doesn’t work – in the fight against poverty.

“For instance, we know that a good education is one of the best ways to fight poverty. But for decades, politicians just threw money at our schools, without holding them accountable for success – and a generation of children paid a heavy price. We increased our costs, antagonized those paying the bills, and made no meaningful change in outcomes. The children are now struggling to succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy – and too many are losing out. I know from my own life how important a good education is. I'm the product of public schools, and I know the opportunity that public education provides.

“In New York City, there are 1.1 million public school students, and for too long they were victimized by a system that put politics and patronage ahead of learning and excellence. We are beginning to turn around the schools in New York City by setting the bar high, and holding everyone – students, teachers, principals, and administrators – accountable for success and, if we don’t get it, stopping the funding. As a result, test scores are up between 10 and 20 points, and graduation rates are up nearly 20 percent.

“For every additional child that we can get to graduate high school and go on to higher education—that is one more child who will be far less likely to get stuck in a lifetime of poverty—and far more likely to climb the ladder of success.

Lessons Learned in Fighting Poverty

“Transforming our schools into centers of learning where excellence is expected and failure is not acceptable is the best long-term strategy we have for fighting poverty – and for ensuring America’s continued economic dominance.

“But what about those who are stuck in poverty now? How do we help them to seize opportunities and lift themselves out of poverty? Those are the questions I’d like to focus on today. Of course, I don’t have to tell anyone in this room that there’s no single answer – no magic bullet.

“But we’ve learned the hard way that you can’t fight poverty by ducking its principal causes – that includes not only a lack of education, but also dependency on government. The 1996 welfare reform law – which many people in this room really deserve credit for shaping – took aim at dependency, and though it hasn’t been a magic bullet, it definitely hit the mark.

“Combined with the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and backed by a growing economy, welfare reform led millions of people into the labor market, where they attained the dignity of work and a chance to rise out of poverty.

“In New York City, for instance, welfare caseloads are lower than at any time since 1964. They’ve dropped more than 33 percent over the past five years while we’ve been in office, which outpaces the decline nationally. Unemployment in our city hit a historic low last year – 4.9 percent.

“Across the nation, welfare reform and expansions to the EITC helped us moved the percentage of Americans living in poverty from an average of about 14.5 percent in the early 1990s to 12.3 percent today. But while that reduction is good news, the fact is, today’s poverty rate is still higher than it was for much of the 1970s. Of course, the accuracy of the poverty measure is another story – and I’ll speak to that in a few minutes.

“But since it’s the measure everyone uses, the question is: Is leaving one in eight Americans in poverty really the best we can do? Millions of them are mothers and children living day-to-day, struggling to lead stable lives – to put food on the table – to stay healthy – to survive.

“Are we just going to shrug our shoulders and hope that the market’s invisible hand lifts them up? Or pound our fists and demand that the heavy hand of government pick them up? If we’re going to take either route – we’re going to fail. No “ifs, ands, or buts” about it.

“But if we’re willing to apply the critical lessons we’ve learned in fighting poverty – beginning with the need to discard ideology in favor of innovation and experimentation – then I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made over the past 10 years and drop poverty to historic lows over the next ten years.

New York City’s New and Innovative Anti-poverty Programs

“One of the lessons of welfare reform was that cities and states can be both a catalyst and a model for federal action – and so in New York City, we’re determined to help lead the way.

“About nine months ago, we established a Center for Economic Opportunity in New York City government, with a budget of $150 million to test and evaluate innovative new strategies. Its initial focus: Reducing poverty among young adults, families with small children, and the working poor – three groups that together comprise close to half the approximately 1.5 million New Yorkers living in poverty. Its philosophy: Fighting poverty through the proven strategy of encouraging personal responsibility.

“Up to now, government policy has applied this philosophy primarily by developing policies that encourage work. In New York City, we are committed to building on that effort, but we’re also taking it a step further – and let me give you just a few examples.

“Next month, we will launch a controversial pilot program that incentivizes personal decisions – the critical decisions that are most likely to help people break the cycle of poverty. For instance, more than a quarter-million young people between the ages of 16 and 24 live below the poverty line in New York City. Often, they’re just one wrong, short-sighted step—like dropping out of school or committing a crime—away from a lifetime of poverty. But with the right incentives, we believe they will be better able to make the right decisions.

“The same idea holds for poor adults, most of whom want the same things for their families that all of us want – and most of them are trying to succeed. But let’s face it: Sometimes, life can throw some pretty tough curves at you – a sick child, a big rent increase, a family emergency. And sometimes, the resources just aren’t there.

“But if resources are made available on the condition that a job is maintained – or that other steps are taken that will help lead out of poverty, families can better manage these curves, instead of falling victim to them.

“That’s where our new ‘Opportunity NYC’ initiative comes in. It’s modeled on programs that have succeeded in Mexico and other countries, but that haven’t yet been tried in America—until now. Starting next month, we’ll begin making cash payments—from privately raised dollars— to a test group of young people and adults if – let me say that again: If – they do the things that are most likely to lead them to break the cycle of poverty. That means high school students will be able earn $600 for each statewide standardized test they pass – $400 for graduating – and up to $50 a month for maintaining near-perfect school attendance – while adults will be able to earn up to $150 a month for working full-time.

“Now, you might say – “But why should we pay people for doing what they’re supposed to do?” It’s a fair question – but think of it this way: Every other anti-poverty program that’s been tried has failed to get the national poverty rate below 11 percent. So what are the options? Do nothing? Or dress-up the failed old ideas?

“We have other options – but only if we’re not afraid of thinking outside the box, even if that means breaking taboos. And let’s face it: If we had been afraid of breaking taboos in the 1990s, requiring mothers to work never would have happened as part of the welfare reform – but now almost everyone accepts that it was a good and necessary thing.

“That’s leadership. You have to be willing to stick your neck out on policies where the results are unknown.

“My perspective is this: Why shouldn’t we experiment with a program built around the one strategy that has proven time and again to work wonders – capitalism? Employees are supposed to work hard, but the promise of a bonus usually makes people work their hardest. That’s capitalism, and it shouldn’t be a foreign concept to government. We use it through tax policy, loan guarantees, and subsidies to encourage or discourage economic activity and personal behavior.

“We’re going to rigorously evaluate whether these ‘conditional cash transfers’ are successful. If they are, we’ll expand them. If they aren’t, we’ll modify or end them.

“We also know that learning new skills helps people move from minimum wage jobs to living wage jobs. And so we’ll also test whether conditional cash transfers can encourage working adults to complete training programs for higher-wage jobs that lead out of poverty.

“To help more parents enter the workplace and expand their hours, this year we’ll also begin offering a new child care tax credit – joining Washington D.C. as the only two cities to offer a local credit. It will benefit close to 50,000 working families in our city – and for many people, especially mothers, it could mean the difference between working and not working – or working 20 hours a week versus working 40 hours a week.

Reforming and Expanding the EITC

“Nonetheless, a full-time job remains, hands down, the best anti-poverty program ever devised. And the most effective way that government has ever encouraged employment is the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC enjoys unusually broad support from both the left and the right – not because it’s a compromise, but because it’s innovative and smart and effective. But right now, we’re not leveraging its full power.

“That’s why today, I want to propose a substantial expansion and reform of the Federal EITC that, I believe, will allow us to take the next big step in poverty reduction. Welfare reform and the EITC have both primarily incentivized work among women with young children.

“But why should we expect young mothers to work and not young fathers? Right now, fathers are missing from our strategy to drive down the poverty rate. The gains that we’ve made over the past ten years have been fueled by mothers. That strategy has worked very well, but we’re now approaching its limits – in part because fathers have been missing from the table and in part because of declining real wages for all low-income workers.

“If we are going to achieve another round of substantial gains like the kind we experienced post-1996, then we have to do more to connect fathers to jobs and to their families. And we have to increase the rewards for work so that work pays –both for parents and individuals. I believe that by expanding and reforming the EITC, we can do both.

“Today, you’re all receiving a detailed fact sheet on my proposal, but let me just quickly run over a few of the highlights: Currently the qualifying age for the federal EITC for individual, childless tax filers is 25; we should lower it to 21. People in their early 20s are making life-changing decisions – we want those decisions to center on entering the workforce.

“Today, the EITC’s maximum qualifying income for single filers is $12,000 a year; we should raise that ceiling by roughly a third, to just over $18,000 – which will substantially increase the EITC grant to those making poverty-level wages.

“For instance, along with other adjustments to the EITC that we’re proposing, the result of these changes would mean that someone now making $11,000 a year, who now qualifies for a Federal EITC with a grand total of $86, would instead be eligible for close to $1,000 more in after-tax income. And because New York has State and City EITCs pegged to the Federal program, this tax credit would increase by approximately $350 more.

Eliminate Marriage Penalty and Ask More of Fathers

“I also believe we should eliminate what is now a significant EITC ‘marriage penalty’ for families both with and without children. Marriage increases a family’s chances of rising out of poverty – why would government discourage it? It shouldn’t. At the same time, why should government give cash to a father who is not paying child support? Again, it shouldn’t. The EITC should be a catalyst for fathers to fulfill their obligations as responsible spouses, parents, and citizens.

“What I’m proposing today is an EITC that offers more, and in exchange, expects more – from fathers, and from all workers. If you owe child support and you’re not current on your payments, no check from the IRS. Period. And individuals should have to work the equivalent of at least 26 weeks a year – so that the incentive is not just for occasional work that will yield extra cash from the government, but sustained, full-time work.

“Bigger benefits – basic responsibilities. That’s a fair trade – and as we’ve seen time and again, both in welfare reform and education reform, people will rise to the expectations that are set for them.

“This proposal would cover roughly 445,000 New York City residents, nearly 80 percent of who would be new recipients. Nationwide, 19.7 million Americans would qualify, with 10.5 million of them newly eligible, which would add roughly $8.5 billion a year to the cost of the EITC. That’s not a small chunk of change – but there is no doubt that with more Americans working, and more fathers working and paying child support – our economy – and our whole society – will benefit enormously.

Reforming the Antiquated Poverty Formula

“Now, before closing, let me note that so far I’ve refrained from saying how many people our expanded EITC would ‘lift out of poverty.’ There’s a reason for that—and it goes to a fundamental problem we’ve got to address if we’re serious about reducing poverty.

“The federal poverty measurement – as I’m sure everyone here knows – hasn’t been changed since it was first introduced in 1964. Since then, the federal government has launched a number of programs that are designed to supplement income: Food Stamps, Medicaid, subsidized housing, and of course the EITC.

“Yet none of these programs are counted towards a person’s income for purposes of defining poverty. Nor are income taxes and payroll taxes deducted out, even though they affect a families’ real income, as do regional differences in cost-of-living. Nor does the formula indicate that we’ve made any gains in fighting poverty.

“In 2005, the poverty rate was higher than it was throughout the 1970s, but by virtually any measure of material deprivation – including hunger – overcrowded living conditions – ownership of cars and household appliances – health and dental care – and life expectancy – we have made real progress in fighting poverty and raising living standards since the 70s. At the same time, the poverty line is now much further away from the middle-class than it was back in 1964.

“The poverty formula, you might say, is bankrupt. It obscures both the good results we’ve achieved, as well as the hard work that remains to be done. I come from a background where numbers matter, and data drive decisions. We all say ‘In God We Trust,’ and we do. But for all others, you have to bring data. I’m a big believer in the saying, ‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.’ So just as we need a more creative, more vigorous approach to fighting poverty – we need a more accurate method of assessing whether we’re making any progress.

“That’s why in New York, as we pilot many of our new strategies, we are also going to be developing new, more accurate, more informative poverty measures that both sides of the political aisle can support. I expect that in doing this over the course of the next year, we’ll be looking for help from some of the people in this room. And we’ll also be drawing on the work that has already been done in this area, both by the Census Bureau and by organizations like the National Academy of Sciences.

“Just as cities and states led the way in fundamentally changing the welfare reform debate, I believe they can play the same role when it comes to poverty – both in terms of measuring and managing the problem. We can be the pioneers of the next big ideas – but at the same time, we need the federal government to expand on the strategies that have already proven successful.

“And so in the months ahead, we will be working closely with our Congressional delegation – especially Charlie Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee – to put poverty back on the national agenda. And I believe that issue Number One should be expanding and reforming the best anti-poverty tool we have: the EITC.

“By taking proven strategies to the next level, and by experimenting with innovative new pilot programs, as we’re doing in New York – I believe that we can help more Americans become independent, responsible individuals and parents who invest in their own success, and the success of their families and communities. Those investments have the power to break the cycle of poverty – and we should do everything in our power to encourage them. All of us have a role to play – whether you’re a researcher – an advocate – an elected official – or a voter.

“Progress is not inevitable. It’s up to us to create it. Let’s get to work. Thank you.”

Mayor Bloomberg Releases Incentives Schedule For Opportunity NYC

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 01:09:36 -0500

Families, Adults, and Children to Receive Incentives Around Health, Education and Adult Workforce Development

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs today released details of the incentives for Opportunity NYC, the city’s innovative conditional cash transfer program aimed at helping New Yorkers break the cycle of poverty. Based upon successful models of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs around the world, Opportunity NYC is a key initiative of Mayor Bloomberg's Center for Economic Opportunity, which was established to implement his second-term agenda to reduce poverty and increase economic opportunity in New York City. Today’s announcement outlines the specific program details and incentives for accomplishing the goals of the conditional cash transfer program. This privately funded pilot initiative is designed to measure and evaluate the impact of incentive-based strategies on poverty reduction. Opportunity NYC, the nation’s first conditional cash transfer program,consists of three separate pilot programs all aimed at improving the education, health and workforce outcomes for children, adults, and families living in poverty.

“For all of us the stress of our daily lives can cause us to make decisions that aren’t always in our best interests. Living in poverty makes it even more difficult and can lead to missing a doctor’s visit, for example,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Struggling families are so focused on surviving, that it is often difficult for them to plan for the future. We are serious about tackling poverty in New York City, and are committed to finding innovative ways of doing so. The Opportunity NYC program gives New Yorkers in poverty a financial incentive to look ahead and to make decisions that will improve their prospects for the future.”

“Opportunity NYC helps to alleviate some of the financial implications that families face when deciding, for example, to take their child to a doctor even if it means being docked a day’s pay,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, Linda Gibbs. “The financial incentives are tied to conditions we know are related to the perpetuation of poverty in our communities, and aim to disrupt the repetition of those patterns into the next generation.”

Family-Focused Pilot Program

The family-focused pilot program, first announced in March, offers financial incentives to families in three key areas correlated with poverty: children’s education, family health, and adults’ workforce skills and job training. The education incentives will promote school attendance, parental engagement, achievement, and improved performance on standardized tests. Health incentives will be offered for maintaining adequate health coverage for all children and adults in participant households as well as age-appropriate medical and dental visits for each family member; while employment and training incentives will promote increased employment and earnings, or combine work activities with job training and education. Families will report their completion of incentivized activities and receive their earned cash transfers every two months. Enrollment for this pilot begins the last week in June; anticipated start date is September 2007.

As part of the education component, families can earn $25 or $50 per month for 95 percent school attendance for elementary, middle, and high school students; $25 for attending parent-teacher conferences; and $50 for obtaining a library card. An improvement in scores or proficiency on standardized tests at the elementary and middle school levels can earn a family from $300 or $350 per test; while at the high school level, a student can earn $600 for each passing grade on individual Regents exams. Incentives of $25 will be earned for both parental review of the test and discussion with teachers; high school students can earn $50 for taking the PSAT exam, and will share $600 with their parents for annually accumulating 11 credits, and a $400 bonus for graduating.

In the health incentive portion of the program, families can earn $20 or $50 per adult per month for maintaining health insurance and $20 or $50 for maintaining health insurance for all the children in the family; from $100 to $200 per family member for preventive health screenings, and $100 per member for preventive dental care.

The workforce component will allow adults to earn $150 a month for maintaining full-time employment, and from $200 to $400 for completing job training or educational courses, to a maximum of $3,000 while employed.

The family-focused pilot programwill be implemented in Central and East Harlem in Manhattan, Brownsville and East New York in Brooklyn, and Morris Heights/Mount Hope and East Tremont/Belmont in the Bronx—six communities that are among New York City’s poorest. It will serve 2,550 families in these selected communities with incomes at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level (approximately $22,000 for a family of three), and who have at least one child in public school in a critical transition year (fourth, seventh, or ninth grade). Once a family is enrolled, all school-age children in the home are eligible for the education- and health-focused incentive payments, regardless of grade level.

Adult-Focused Pilot Program

The adult-focused pilot program uses subsidized housing as a platform for increasing self-sufficiency by offering monetary incentives to adult Section 8 voucher holders for maintaining full time employment and completing job training and education programs. This pilot will serve 2,400 adult Section 8 voucher holders from all five boroughs that are eligible for the Family Self Sufficiency Program (FSS). FSS is a federally funded asset-building program designed to promote economic advancement for low-income families receiving housing subsidies. The Opportunity NYC adult-focused pilot will test the effectiveness of workforce-related CCT strategies alone, compared to the FSS program, and compared to a third group receiving a combination of the workforce-related CCT strategies and the FSS. As with the family-focused pilot program, participants will report their completion of incentivized activities and receive their earned cash transfers every two months. Anyone receiving assistance through a Section 8 voucher is eligible for this program; enrollment begins in August with an anticipated start date of late December.

Child-Focused Pilot Program

The child-focused pilot program will provide small monetary incentives to fourth and seventh grade students throughout the city for effort and performance on standardized tests taken during the academic year. A total of 20 fourth grade and 20 seventh grade schools—approximately 9,000 students—will participate in this segment of the program, which will test the effectiveness of small monetary incentives in reducing the educational achievement gap. For the child-focused education pilot, students in the fourth grade will receive up to $25 for a perfect score on each of 10 interim assessment tests taken throughout the year, up to a total of $250. Seventh graders can earn up to $50 per test for a maximum payment of $500 per year. Each is based on a scaled incentive. Schools can currently volunteer to participate and children attending the selected schools will be enrolled in September.

The three pilot programs will all be enrolling participants this summer. Seedco, a national non-profit intermediary that focuses on creating opportunities for low-wage workers and their families, will lead the operation of the family and adult-focused pilot programs.

Each pilot will be
evaluated using a random assignment design to assess the impact of these incentives on families, adults, and children, as well as its effect on overall poverty reduction. MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization, will evaluate both the family and adult components; while the Department of Education, together with Harvard Professor Dr. Roland Fryer, will administer the child-focused pilot, with Dr. Fryer conducting the assessment.

The incentives for each program were developed in coordination with City agencies, including the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Education, Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Small Business Services, the New York City Housing Authority; Human Resources Administration, as well as with the support of international, national and local experts and community leaders in each of the programs’ areas of concentration.

Opportunity NYC is privately funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, The Starr Foundation, The Robin Hood Foundation, The Open Society Institute, the American International Group (AIG), the Broad Foundation, as well as Mayor Bloomberg. The Rockefeller Foundation provided the initial research and development capital for this effort.

Center for Economic Opportunity

The Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) was established by Mayor Bloomberg to implement innovative ways to reduce poverty in New York City. Led by Executive Director, Veronica White, the CEO works with City agencies to design and implement evidence-based initiatives aimed at poverty reduction. The CEO manages an Innovation Fund through which it provides City agencies annual funding to implement such initiatives and will oversee a rigorous evaluation of each to determine which are successful in demonstrating results towards reducing poverty and increasing self-sufficiency among New Yorkers. The CEO is also charged with oversight of Opportunity NYC, including its design, management and implementation.

Pay The Poor For Good Behavior?

Thu, 24 May 2007 13:29:55 -0500

New York Mayor Bloomberg wants to reduce poverty through cash incentives. It just could work.

What if poor parents were paid to talk with their kid's teacher? Or to visit a dentist, or get job training? New York's mayor believes such incentives can reduce the nearly 20 percent poverty rate in his city. Kudos to him for taking a new crack at an old problem.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's hope is not just a wispy dream. Similar incentive programs in other countries have a proven track record and broad political support. In Mexico, such an approach has helped to raise school attendance, improve nutrition, and reduce extreme poverty. The World Bank enthusiastically backs the idea, which is being practiced in about 30 countries.

The mayor, a Republican, is not above importing policy, as long as it works (he plans to copy London's tax on downtown driving to fight global warming).

The city will start the privately funded, anti-poverty experiment in September, measuring it against a control group of nonparticipants. Those in the pilot plan can earn up to $5,000 a year by meeting criteria related to health, education, and work. That amounts to a 25 percent raise for a family of four living below the poverty line of about $20,000. If the plan succeeds, the mayor wants to commit public funds to expand it.

It's no shock that a mayor is reaching for this kind of innovation. Cities and states are America's problem-solving laboratories. What is surprising, and refreshingly so, is new national attention to poverty.

Politicians usually avoid the "P" word. It doesn't sell as a campaign topic. Nor are the poor big voters. And in the economic boom years of the 1990s, poverty decreased and the pressure was off.

But in 2005, hurricane-battered New Orleans exposed American poverty for all to see. That year, poverty in the US held steady at 12.6 percent, or 37 million people, but it rose in the four previous years. Next month, a Conference of Mayors task force will meet to draft an anti-poverty agenda. And presidential candidate John Edwards is making poverty his campaign theme.

Poverty can be a politically polarizing issue, with Democrats traditionally claiming its roots as structural (loss of manufacturing jobs, poorly funded schools, etc.) and Republicans seeing the cause as social or personal failures (teen mothers, absent fathers).

The value of Bloomberg's plan is that its incentives approach reinforces an emerging political consensus on how best to help the poor.

The New Deal and Great Society programs generally didn't require people to change behavior to get assistance – thus the birth of the "welfare queen." But the welfare reform of the last decade showed that people really do want to do for themselves; they just need an incentive, or a consequence.

Not only did plunging welfare rolls prove that point, but so has another incentive-based tool for the poor: the Earned Income Tax Credit. That direct payout is available only to whose who work. Studies show it has reduced both family and child poverty.

The poor are just as interested in advancement as anyone. But a nighttime office cleaner can't spare the hourly wages to attend parent-teacher night, that, say, the daytime salaried worker in that office could. It will be worth tracking whether Bloomberg's program really will allow the poor to do that – and many other things to lift themselves up.

Reused with permission from The Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com), May 24, 2007.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg And Delegation Visit Mexico's 'Oportunidades' Program

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:41:22 -0500

Visit to Inform the Final Design Decisions of the Nation's First Conditional Cash Transfer Program

Mayor Meets with Mexican President Calderon, Mexican Secretary of Social Development, and Mayors of Mexico City and Toluca

Mayor Michael Bloomberg traveled to Toluca, Mexico today for a site visit in support of his recently-launched Opportunity NYC, the nation's first-ever conditional cash transfer pilot program designed to help New Yorkers break the cycle of poverty. He met with Mexico's Secretary for Social Development Beatriz Zavala and Toluca Mayor Juan Rodolfo Sanchez, and also traveled to Mexico City and met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. This visit, in which the Mayor observed first-hand Toluca's Oportunidades conditional cash transfer program and attended several meetings and working sessions with senior government officials, continues a learning exchange with the Mexican government that began when Mexican officials visited New York in January. Opportunity NYC is a key initiative of Mayor Bloomberg's Center for Economic Opportunity, which was established to implement the recommendations of his second-term poverty agenda. Opportunity NYC is based upon successful models of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs around the world, including Mexico's. The Mayor was accompanied by Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs and Dr. Judith Rodin, the President of the Rockefeller Foundation, the lead organization in this effort.

"New Yorkers recognize the power of a good idea, and we're here in Toluca today to see first-hand how one good idea - the Oportunidades program - works," said Mayor Bloomberg. "The bottom line about Mexico's conditional cash transfer program is that it works, and during this trip we want to study the details of what they're doing right, so our program in New York can also succeed. This visit will enable us to structure our Opportunity NYC program effectively, so that it can help us meet our goal of breaking the cycle of poverty. I want to thank the Rockefeller Foundation for their lead role in this important initiative and for underwriting the delegation's travel."

"The Mexican Oportunidades program has helped to revolutionize poverty reduction work by creating a model that allows recipients to make investments for the future," said Dr. Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, which provided the initial research and development capital for the pilot program. "The results of Oportunidades have been so remarkable that the conditional cash transfer model has been replicated in twenty countries, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Jamaica and Turkey. And now, Mayor Bloomberg and his Administration have the foresight and ingenuity to create a pilot program in New York City that is modeled on this program. The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to support this very important learning exchange and the Opportunity NYC pilot."

The other members of the delegation also served on the Commission on Economic Opportunity (also known as the Mayor's Poverty Commission): President of MDRC, Dr. Gordon Berlin; President and CEO of Seedco, Diane Baillargeon; Executive Director of the Center for Economic Opportunity, Veronica White; Professor of Applied Psychology and Public Policy at NYU's Steinhardt School; Dr. Lawrence Aber, and CEO of Safe Space, Dr. Lilliam Barrios-Paoli.

Oportunidades, Mexico 's conditional cash transfer program and principal anti-poverty initiative, serves approximately 25 million people. The program focuses predominantly on helping families in rural and urban communities invest in improving the health, education and nutrition of their children. Mexico's Secretariat for Social Development, or SEDESOL, runs Oportunidades, with each state having a coordinator and each locality a team of managers.

Oportunidades has been recognized for having a significant impact on reducing poverty in Mexico. In a ten-year period from the mid-1990's to the mid-2000's, Oportunidades contributed to a 5% reduction in poverty. This decrease was largely a product of the country's effective efforts in targeting its poorest citizens. Between 2000 and 2004, the rate of extreme poverty in Mexico dropped by 7%.

Evaluations of Mexico's program have demonstrated improved child and family outcomes in the areas of health and education. For instance, between 1997 and 2002, the demand for preventative health services increased by five times the amount prior to the implementation of Progresa, as Oportunidades was formerly called. This improvement in utilization of preventive health care has led to better public health, as demonstrated by:

• A reduction in sick days among children and adults in both rural and urban areas
• An increase in prenatal health visits
• An improvement in the development of fine and gross motor skills in young children

Health outcomes have also been linked to improved educational outcomes in young children, with children enrolled in the program exhibiting increased school-readiness skills compared to non-participants. Oportunidades has also resulted in enhanced educational outcomes, particularly in critical transition periods between elementary and middle school, with significant decreases in failing and drop-out rates among participating children.

As the design of Opportunity NYC approaches the final stages, this visit to Mexico will allow the Mayor and his delegation to gain an increased knowledge of Oportunidades's details by meeting with government officials, national and local program administrators, independent program evaluators, and program beneficiaries. In addition, it will help to inform specific operational decisions by providing a chance for the New York City delegation to see the program's cash distribution methods, and to observe and develop effective implementation strategies, which can be tailored to New York City's needs and circumstances.

In January 2007, representatives from the Oportunidades program and independent evaluators of the program visited New York City to meet with staff from City Agencies and partner organizations involved in the design of Opportunity NYC to discuss the design, operation, and evaluation of Oportunidades.

The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation was established in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller, Sr., to "promote the well-being" of humanity by addressing the root causes of serious problems. The Foundation works around the world to expand opportunities for poor or vulnerable people and to help ensure that globalization's benefits are more widely shared. With assets of more than $3.5 billion, it is one of the few institutions to conduct such work both within the United States and internationally.

Center for Economic Opportunity
The Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) was established by Mayor Bloomberg to implement innovative ways to reduce poverty in New York City. The CEO works with City agencies to design and implement evidence-based initiatives aimed at reducing poverty, to support these initiatives through a new Innovation Fund, and to oversee a rigorous evaluation of each initiative to determine which are most successful. The CEO is also charged with oversight of Opportunity NYC, including its design, management and implementation.