Comptroller’s office will register more than 200 ACS contract extensions
to ensure existing childcare programs remain in place for over 40,000 children
City
Comptroller John C. Liu today called on the Administration for
Children’s Services (ACS) to reassess its EarlyLearn NYC Request for
Proposal (RFP) process. The EarlyLearn NYC initiative was designed to,
according
to the agency, “merge childcare and early education into a single,
seamless system.”
In
May, following an RFP process, ACS announced new contract awards for
the EarlyLearn NYC initiative which was scheduled
to begin on September 1, 2012. Following an outcry from numerous
well-established childcare vendors who responded to the agency’s RFP
process, ACS began submitting requests to the Comptroller’s office to
extend the existing childcare contracts scheduled to
expire this month. These contracts have now been extended for up to one
year.
“While
the EarlyLearn NYC initiative may be well intentioned, the RFP process
has been, by too many accounts, a disaster. It has also caused a
tremendous amount of unnecessary
anxiety for parents, children, and service providers,” Comptroller Liu
said. “It is unfair to put parents through the stress of not knowing how
long the doors of their childcare provider will remain open. ACS should
use the twelve months provided under the
contract extensions to conduct a comprehensive review of the EarlyLearn
NYC RFP.”
“City
Hall is taking some of the best programs in the country and throwing
them out the window. You have to fear for our kids’ futures if
we lose centers like these,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. “If
this were really about the merits, the City would have never made these
decisions. The Comptroller is absolutely right to extend these contracts
given the serious concerns with this RFP
process.”
“Several
centers in my district will be closed as a result of the EarlyLearn RFP
and many others have been significantly
downsized as slots have been diverted to lesser known centers in and
around the community,” said City Council Member Letitia James. “The
citywide effect is even more detrimental. Mayor Bloomberg's proposed
city budget slashes more than 47,000 low-income and
working-class children from subsidized daycare, Head Start and
afterschool programs. About 6,500 children will be left without a slot
come this November as a result of Early Learn. I believe something is
extremely wrong with this picture and it is our time
now to stand up and say enough is enough.”
To
date, the Comptroller’s Office has received 35 contract extensions from
ACS and expects to receive
nearly 200 more before the looming expiration deadline. In order to
ensure stability in childcare for more than 40,000 children throughout
the City, Comptroller Liu’s Bureau of Contract Administration will work
to swiftly register these extensions.
This
blunder echoes a similar incident at ACS in 2010, when the agency
rescinded awards worth $470 million for a group of more than 60 foster
care nonprofits because
of mistakes made when the contracts were evaluated.
Due
to the importance of early childhood education and the serious issues
raised regarding the EarlyLearn NYC RFP, Comptroller Liu will be
exploring the possibility of
auditing whether ACS has abided by all applicable procurement
guidelines.
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