Council hearing finds gaps in data, payments and coordination as DYCD outlines Crisis Management System overhaul

City Council Committee on Children and Youth Chair Althea Stevens convened an oversight hearing July 1 to examine New York City's Crisis Management System (CMS) after the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) began administering the programs in 2024. DYCD officials described steps taken to standardize contracts, launch a shared data system and provide technical assistance, while council members and CMS providers repeatedly pressed the agency for faster payments, clearer real-time data sharing with the NYPD and baseline, multi-year funding.

The hearing mattered because CMS funds and coordinates community-based violence-interruption work citywide, deploying credible messengers and wraparound services that aim to interrupt retaliation, link people to services and change community norms. Council members said gaps in data, payment timing and agency coordination reduce providers' ability to operate and limit the city's ability to evaluate program impact.

Denise Williams, deputy commissioner for planning, program integration and evaluation at DYCD, told the committee that the agency has integrated CMS providers into DYCD's system of record, DYCD Connect, and has begun standardized site evaluations. "DYCD has integrated NYPD data streams into its system of record to support real time data driven communication between ONS initiative managers and CMS providers," Williams said, adding that DYCD's FY25 implementation work included 102 evaluations with 98% meeting standards…