UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric Goldstein is among the two dozen nonprofit human services executives and other experts in the field named to a blue-ribbon commission to examine the sudden shuttering of FEGS and other nonprofit human service providers.
FEGS (Federation Employment and Guidance Service), a $250 million health and human services nonprofit and UJA-Federation beneficiary, announced last month that is shutting down after unexpectedly losing $19.4 million last year.
Gordon Campbell, the former president and CEO of United Way of New York City, will chair the commission of the Human Services Council (HSC) of New York, which held its first meeting on Tuesday.
Campbell, who now teaches at the NYU Robert Wagner School of Public Service, told The Jewish Week that the commission would take “a critical look” at the FEGS situation as part of “the growing closure trend among nonprofit human service providers” in New York, such as Alianza Dominicana and Hale House.
He said the commission plans to meet four or five times as a full body and prepare a list of recommendations by the end of the year to the HSC, which works closely with city and state government.
A statement from Campbell and HSC board chair Joel Copperman said the commission will “evaluate the financial details, management decisions, government contract terms, and accountability systems of these organizations to gain a full picture and understanding of what caused them to close.” It will also “examine existing oversight approaches, including those required and those considered best practices, investigate the financial and other management decisions made, and identify funding and other systemic issues contributing to financial problems.”
Goldstein of UJA-Federation is the only member of the commission representing a Jewish nonprofit organization.
