Evaluation Finds NYCitizenship and its Community Navigator Model are Valuable in Helping Clients
There were over 620,000 lawful permanent residents of New York City who were eligible to become citizens, as of 2019. Almost two-thirds of lawful permanent residents are in the labor force, but they earn significantly less than citizens (native-born or naturalized) and 27% currently live in poverty (compared to 18% of United States-born citizens) in New York City. Increasing immigrants’ access to citizenship is a key strategy for fighting poverty, especially when paired with financial counseling and other supports intended to enhance the economic benefits that accrue from naturalization.
About NYCitizenship
In 2016, NYCitizenship was established by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA). MOIA works in partnership with NYC’s Human Resources Administration (DSS/HRA) and the public library system to help immigrant New Yorkers complete the naturalization process. NYCitizenship provides free legal services, financial counseling, and legal representation to eligible lawful permanent residents who have not yet applied for citizenship. In 2017, with support from the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity), the program incorporated the Community Navigators model, which expanded the capacity of NYCitizenship legal teams. Community Navigators are highly qualified paralegals with linguistic fluency that interface directly with clients, support the completion of naturalization applications, and maintain ongoing oversight of open cases. NYC Opportunity continues to monitor performance metrics for this program.
Westat and Metis Associates’ Robust Mixed-Method Evaluation Findings
In 2019, NYC Opportunity engaged the services of Westat and Metis Associates to evaluate the effectiveness of the Community Navigator model and assess outreach strategies implemented across the program, including differences between outreach strategies undertaken by the library partners and DSS/HRA. The Westat and Metis Associates evaluation found that the NYCitizenship program provides essential services to clients, who reported that they would not have otherwise been able to complete the naturalization process. The evaluation also identified aspects of the NYCitizenship program that could be improved, including: outreach and engagement strategies in languages that match the needs of clients, secure space suitable to legal teams’ work, and a clearer division of responsibility amongst partners.
Aspects that Worked Well for NYCitizenship
The evaluation identified a number of aspects of NYCitizenship that were particularly valuable:
- Partnering with credible institutions for outreach and engagement. Both the library partners and DSS/HRA built on existing practices to engage residents in the program, leveraging roles as “safe spaces” and positive relationships with clients.
- Engaging directly with community members. Direct engagement with potential clients was found to be an effective messaging strategy. At the libraries, this included visits to local community groups, face-to-face engagement, and information sessions. At DSS/HRA, this included letters sent to clients and follow-up phone calls.
- Community Navigator model. Community Navigators improved program efficiency and provided necessary staff support with linguistic fluency that allowed attorneys to focus on more complex cases that required additional attention.
- On-site legal services. Providing legal services on-site at libraries and DSS/HRA was found to enhance trust between legal teams and their clients.
- Effective coordination between primary program partners. The NYCitizenship model was anchored by the partnership between MOIA, NYLAG (the legal service provider), and the credible institutions through which clients were reached.
Priority Components for Replication
The evaluation highlighted aspects of the program that should be emphasized if it is replicated:
- Strong legal services and administrative/paralegal assistants (referred to as Community Navigators in the current implementation) who are hired from within the communities they serve and that are well supported with proper space, technology, and other resources.
- Partnering with credible institutions, which should be organizations that have an established and trust-based relationship with local immigrant communities.
- Strong partnerships with these institutions that include close communication, responsibility-sharing, and clear lines of demarcation (and complementary skills as well as needs).
- Service targets and metrics calibrated to the complex nature of services provided.
To learn more, take a look at the Findings at a Glance and read the full findings in our 2020 NYCitizenship Evaluation Report.
