NYAPRS Note: Excerpts from Crain’s below offer a glimpse into the unprecedented transition of assets from FEGS to JBFCS in NYC.
Meet NYC’s Largest Human-Services Agency
Crain’s Health Pulse; 5/29/2015
The Jewish Board of Family Services has final legal and regulatory approval to take over $75 million worth of behavioral health programs from Federation Employment & Guidance Services on June 1. FEGS reported a $19.4 million loss in 2014 and filed for bankruptcy in March.
The transfer of a portfolio of behavioral health programs will swell the Jewish Board’s budget to about $250 million, which, it says, will make it the largest human-services agency in the city. FEGS’ former initiatives will add 850 apartments, six mental-health clinics and three day programs for mentally ill adults to the Jewish Board’s existing locations. The sites, which serve about 8,000 people, operate in all boroughs except Staten Island. Other sites in Nassau and Suffolk counties will be operated by the Jewish Board until suitable local operators are identified.
…”It’s a massive undertaking even though the Jewish Board and many of our counterparts have taken over programs before, and we’ve even merged with other organizations,” he said. “There’s just nothing like the size and scope and the accelerated time frame of this transition. It’s truly unprecedented.”…