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The Department of Youth and Community Development's (DYCD) Citizenship New York City program (CNYC) has successfully provided assistance to thousands of applicants seeking help with citizenship services, according to a report released by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. The program, which began in 1997, steadily increased the number of citizenship applications completed and submitted to the Immigration and Naturalization Service from 5,607 in Fiscal Year 1998 to 10,273 in Fiscal Year 2001. Moreover, the report found that the CNYC helped significantly larger numbers of individuals seeking assistance or information; that number grew from 7,436 in FY 1998 to 12,764 in FY 2001.

"Immigration has been a crucial component in making New York City and our nation creative and strong," said Thompson. "I applaud the efforts made by the CNYC to assist so many legal residents in their quest to become citizens."

The CNYC was created as a result of the Federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, which established new restrictions on the eligibility of legal aliens for public assistance and further restricted public benefits for illegal aliens and non-immigrants (those here to visit, attend school, or work temporarily). One way in which immigrants remain eligible for Federal benefits is by becoming naturalized U.S. citizens.

CNYC assists legal permanent residents living in New York City who are eligible for naturalization, who receive or apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or food stamps, or whose food-stamp or SSI eligibility has been discontinued because of their immigration status. The program also helps legal immigrants who do not receive or seek Federal benefits but simply want to become citizens.

CNYC measures its effectiveness by the number of applications it submits to the INS. The audit found that, based on this measurement, the program is working well. However, there is room for improvement. Among the audit's 13 recommendations:

· Formalizing the process for determining the status of citizenship applicants who were assisted by CNYC.
· Developing and reporting performance indicators that set goals and measure the actual outcome of the program.
· Continuing to generate exception reports to ensure all individuals in the system receive the necessary outreach.
· Reporting in the Mayor's Management Report the percentage of applications filed with the INS for individuals who are at risk.

In its response, the DYCD agreed with most of the audit's recommendations and stated: "DYCD would like to thank the Comptroller's Office for its continuous communication with DYCD officials throughout the course of the audit. These discussions made us aware of areas for improvement and allowed us to implement corrective action plans immediately."

"I encourage immigrant New Yorkers to take advantage of this free service and apply for citizenship," Thompson said. The Comptroller noted DYCD has offices in all boroughs but Staten Island, and that its main number is 1-888-374-5100.

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