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People doing time in city jails will soon have an entry into civil-service jobs.
To the rehabilitative tenets ascribed to the city’s forthcoming borough-based jails, add the opportunity to prep for and then take the civil-service exams that are prerequisites to municipal gigs.
Legislation passed by the City Council last week would compel the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which administers tests for municipal jobs, to work with the Department of Correction and offer the exams to all incarcerated people who have been jailed for at least 10 days and who meet minimum qualifications for the positions.
“Reentry into the workforce after release from jail is crucial to the stability of formerly incarcerated people, their families and society at large,” Councilwoman Carmen De La Rosa said at a July 13 meeting of the Civil Service and Labor Committee, of which she is the chair, prior to the Council’s vote.
She said that research has shown that steady work jobs and income reduced the possibility of recidivism, and therefore increased public safety.
The legislation, sponsored by Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, also waives exam fees for those in DOC custody or within a year of their release. The fees, tied to starting salaries of the position for which an applicant is testing, can run as high as $101.
It also requires the DOC to offer exam prep programming, such as practice tests, study materials and employment guidance, in consultation with DCAS to those in their custody.
Adams had previewed her intent to introduce the legislation at her State of the City address last year. The bill’s initial version would have allowed people being held at Rikers to take part in the program. The version passed by the Council, though, says that the program will be available only to individuals held in borough-based jails, which are planned for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Brooklyn, but may not be ready until 2027, the date the Council set for Rikers’ closure.
A Council spokesperson noted that it takes some time for new programs such as these to be successfully implemented. “Intro. 645 removes obstacles to civil service exams and makes study material more widely available to justice-involved New Yorkers, which will expand opportunities for economic stability and success when they return to their communities,” the spokesperson, referring to the bill number, said in a statement. “The agreed-upon timeline for the implementation of this critical legislation will provide time for City agencies to design a program that can be properly implemented in the borough-based jail system by 2027.”
Expanding ‘equitable access’
“We are committed to finding ways to best serve all New Yorkers, and this extends to those who are presently incarcerated. We will continue to work with the NYC Department of Correction to implement new strategies that prioritize access to resources and information about the civil service process,” a DCAS spokesperson said in a statement.
The DOC, which said it was reviewing the bill when it was introduced last year, did not respond to a request for comment on the legislation’s implementation.
“It is critical that we continue to expand equitable access to opportunities for all New Yorkers to enter into our city’s workforce,” Adams said during the Council’s July 13 meeting. She said the legislation “will strengthen the pathway to civil-service justice for justice-involved New Yorkers.”
All 50 Council members in attendance voted in favor of the legislation, which still needs Mayor Eric Adams’ signature.
About 80 percent of municipal government positions — from mechanics to landscape architects — require an exam. “The exam system is intended to ensure fairness and equal opportunity to produce a municipal workforce that reflects the diversity of the city,” De La Rosa said at the committee meeting.
The bill’s fiscal impact statement, noting that it costs the city an average of $192 per exam to administer the tests, estimated the program’s cost in its first year at between $50,000 and $350,000, depending on the jail population.
While it’s anticipated the jail population will decrease, other potential expenses, such as IT buildout and logistics of administering exams that have a physical component, like those for some sanitation posts, could come into play.
richardk@thechiefleader.com
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