In January 2024, the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) released a Literacy RFP for new 3-year contracts starting in July 2024. The RFP included a new rigid geographic framework that required programs to be located within target Neighborhood Tabulation Areas (NTAs) in order to apply for funding. A February 9th RFP Addendum revised the NTA requirement and created a new two-stage competition that will still prevent the majority of current adult literacy programs from competing.

Students will be isolated from services:

• Over 6,000 students are at risk of being disconnected from essential services, including wraparound services. 

• The city risks the closure of trusted literacy programs in immigrant and BIPOC communities and the loss of jobs for hundreds of experienced teachers and staff.

Many current DYCD-funded adult literacy providers [1] are excluded from this RFP:

• 60% of current adult literacy sites citywide will be excluded from the first stage of the RFP competition.

• Over 70% of current DYCD-funded adult literacy providers are excluded from the first stage of the RFP competition because they are not located in a designated NTA.

Neighborhoods across the city will be affected:

• 70% of Chinatown and Sunset Park DYCD-funded adult literacy providers will likely be excluded despite AAPIs being the most linguistically isolated group with some of the highest LEP rates in New York.

• All DYCD-funded adult literacy providers in Western Queens and Staten Island will likely be excluded despite a long history of immigrant services and numerous new HERRCs in these areas.

Many target NTA allocations have no existing DYCD-funded literacy provider:

• Overall, 18 ESOL/BENL & ABE/HSE zones have no existing DYCD-funded adult literacy provider.

This will destabilize the Adult Literacy infrastructure of New York at a time when we need literacy classes more than ever. Why is this important?

• More than 3 million immigrants in NYC [2] come from 150 countries speaking ~700 languages and dialects. [3]

• More than 200,000 migrants have arrived in NYC in the last 2 years. [4]

• English language skills are needed to navigate healthcare, support a child’s education, access a job and engage fully as a member of our city. The contextualized learning helps adult learners improve their English language communication skills, but also helps them acclimate to their new home, understand their rights, and gain access to supports and services that empower them and their families.

HELP US TAKE ACTION!      

• Urge DYCD to adopt a more inclusive policy that allows all providers to apply if they can effectively serve the community, mirroring the 2013 RFP's approach:

  • Remove the two-stage competition process that excludes organizations not located in a designated NTA from being considered in the first stage of competition. Open up the competition to allow all qualified organizations regardless of location to compete and demonstrate how they will effectively serve the target population and the priority communities. 

  • Extend the proposal deadline to March 31st to give potential bidders time to adjust to these changes.

  • Baseline the $21,720,000 in the Mayor’s Preliminary Budget for FY25 and include the full amount (nearly $10 million more than what is currently included for adult literacy) in the Literacy RFP to raise the per-student funding rate and serve more students.

For questions, please contact
Sierra Stoneman-Bell sierrasb@lacnyc.org or Lena Cohen at lcohen@unhny.org.

Powered by NYCCAL & UNH member research.
Site by Chinese-American Planning Council.