Borden Avenue Veterans' Shelter (NYC) Report 2026

Part 12: NYC Department of Homeless Services

Timothy Pena

Founder/Veterans Justice Project

September 2026

Contracting, Compliance, and Oversight

Introduction

The New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) occupies a central municipal role at the Borden Avenue Veterans’ Residence. Although the Institute for Community Living (ICL) manages day-to-day operations, DHS administers the City's contractual relationship with ICL, monitors provider performance, oversees public expenditures, and determines whether contracted services are being delivered. Borden Avenue's participation in the federal VA Grant and Per Diem (GPD) framework adds another layer of responsibility because municipal shelter operations intersect with a specialized Veteran transitional program.

Parts 8 through 11 separately examine Borden Avenue operations, emergency activity, ICL finances, and program-model questions. This Part does not repeat those findings. Its narrower focus is DHS's responsibility as the contracting agency and how contract administration should translate operational information into provider accountability and corrective action.

Contracting Does Not Transfer Accountability

New York City relies extensively upon nonprofit providers to operate shelters and deliver specialized services. Contracting transfers responsibility for specified day-to-day functions, but it does not eliminate the City's responsibility to determine whether publicly purchased services are actually delivered.

This distinction is particularly important at Borden Avenue because responsibility can be divided among DHS, ICL, subcontractors, and VA. Concerns involving food, transportation, security, facility conditions, housing assistance, or other services may therefore involve different contractual or governmental authorities.

For DHS, those distinctions should lead to a determination of responsibility rather than an administrative dead end. The source Part appropriately frames the issue in three ways: when a vendor fails, DHS faces an oversight problem; when the contract is inadequate, DHS faces a contracting problem; and when DHS policy prevents effective service delivery, DHS faces a policy problem.

Measuring Contractor Performance

Contract monitoring should extend beyond invoices, staffing requirements, occupancy, and completion of required paperwork. The source Part cites broader Comptroller findings that DHS did not systematically track the level, quality, and outcomes of several services provided within the shelter system, limiting its ability to determine how services affected housing outcomes.

For a specialized Veteran residence, performance monitoring should include:

• Permanent-housing placements, unsuccessful exits, and length of stay.
• Resident safety, serious incidents, and emergency-response trends.
• Delivery of contracted housing and supportive services.
• Transportation and practical access to necessary services.
• Resident grievances and documented corrective actions.
• Coordination with VA where GPD requirements are implicated.

These measures should complement, rather than duplicate, VA's federal GPD monitoring. DHS is not the federal GPD regulator; its principal responsibility is determining whether City-funded contractual operations support rather than undermine the specialized transitional purpose of the residence.

From Deficiency to Corrective Action

Part 9 documents emergency and arrest activity, while Part 10 examines spending. Those figures do not independently prove contractor failure. For DHS, their significance lies in whether documented patterns trigger meaningful contract review.

Effective monitoring should distinguish among provider failure, inadequate contract design, City policy, federal requirements, external housing barriers, and circumstances involving individual residents. Once responsibility is identified, the appropriate entity should be required to respond.

A functional accountability process should move from identification of a problem, through review and assignment of responsibility, to corrective action and verification. A deficiency should not be considered resolved merely because a provider submits an explanation or corrective-action plan; DHS should determine whether conditions actually improve.

GPD and Shared Responsibility

Borden Avenue's dual structure requires coordination without confusing jurisdiction. VA establishes and monitors federal GPD requirements, ICL operates the facility, and DHS administers the City's contractual relationship.

Where an issue concerns federal GPD compliance, VA should exercise the applicable federal authority. Where the problem concerns an ICL contractual obligation, DHS should address provider performance. Where DHS rules or contract design interfere with effective transitional services, the City should evaluate its own requirements rather than placing responsibility entirely upon the provider.

Shared responsibility should therefore produce coordinated action, not fragmented accountability.

Conclusion

DHS's responsibility at Borden Avenue extends beyond maintaining an active contract and funding shelter operations. As the City's contracting agency, DHS should determine whether ICL delivers required services, public expenditures correspond with contractual obligations, identified deficiencies are corrected, and City policies support effective operation of a Veteran transitional residence.

The broader governmental-oversight questions belong in Part 17, while GPD standards, finances, and safety are examined elsewhere. Part 12 establishes the municipal accountability principle connecting those Parts: DHS must convert information about program performance into effective contract administration.

For Borden Avenue, successful oversight should therefore be demonstrated through measurable improvement rather than administrative activity alone. When problems arise, responsibility should be identified, corrective action should follow, and DHS should verify whether the correction worked. Contracting may divide operational duties among multiple organizations, but it should never leave Veterans navigating those divisions while essential problems remain unresolved.