Hudson questions DCAS on Urban Fellows retention rates

Thank you so much, Chair, and hello, Deputy Commissioner.

One question I had from your testimony was you said we continue to see a growing number of fellows remaining in city government.

This was specifically about the Urban Fellows Program.

With 77% staying on last year and 38% staying on this year, which years...

Can those numbers be attributed to specifically calendar years, fiscal years?

So that'll be for the program year.

So our Urban Fellow program year usually starts from the, let's say this year we have a new group that starts from 2026, so they'll go into 2027.

So for the 38%, it was from 2025 to 2026.

And then for the 78%, it was from 2024 into 2025.

So they run from September to June.

September to August.

We have some people that may stay on until August, yes.

Okay, I'm just trying to figure out why there was such a drop, and if the year that you're referring to the 38% is completed, or if this is a partial number.

So it's completed.

There are several factors that ties into whether or not individuals are able to stay on.

As we mentioned, it's a nine-month program.

And so we do a couple of things in order to keep folks that are engaged and interested in city government.

We also know that individuals that participate in the program, they may relocate from a different city or state to participate.

And so it also depends on the opportunities that are available to them.

So we know that for the 78%, which was for the previous program.

You said 24 is 25.

And sorry, I didn't catch the nine-month piece.

Yes, both are completed.

But the 77% you said is from 24 into 25?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay, sorry.

I stopped you in the middle.

Yes, and so it really depends on the vacancies and the positions that are available and the interest of the candidates.

We do a lot of focus on making sure people are aware of the civil service process, aware and taking civil service exams.

There may be opportunities that are directly related to the positions that they are interned, they're doing the fellowship with.

So they're able to go into that full-time positions at the agencies.

For the last program year that ends up where we're at 38%, we know that there are still individuals that are interested and engaged.

They're currently going through the interview process.

They may be considering or taking an exam and waiting on a list to be hired.

Okay, so then based on that, I would say it's safe to assume that perhaps more people from the last year could potentially be hired.

Yes.

Okay, so the 77% is counting people from the 24-25 year who could have still been hired in 2026.

And so that could be attributable to the lower number with the 38%.

It just seems like a big drop.

So I'm just trying to figure out.

Definitely.

77% seems like a great number.

And a lot of people that moved on into, you know, civil servant work and 38%, not so much.

But if people are still going through the process and.

People are still going through the process.

Okay.