Creating and Promoting a Culture of Ethics and Integrity in - - PDF document

Creating and Promoting a Culture of Ethics and Integrity in Government Introduction Evidence is overwhelming that most of us wish to be good people and believe ourselves to be such, yet we commonly lie and cheat to advantage ourselves. There are some psychological reasons why good people may do bad things such as downplaying or rationalizing the bad act, pressure to perform or conform, or the Pygmalion effect –people act the way they are treated. High Profile Cases of Government Corruption Scott Pruitt, Head of EPA William F. Boyland Jr., NYS Assemblyman Daniel Halloran III, NYC Councilman Efrain González Jr., NYS Senator & Malcolm Smith, NYS Senator & Maj. Leader Brian M. McLaughlin, NYS Assemblyman & Anthony S. Seminerio, NYS Assemblyman Jane Swift, Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Ethics in Government Definitions Ethics are moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity. Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Public Service is a public trust--there must be a measure of trust and integrity in public institutions and officials. Ethics laws are codes, statutes, written laws, etc. Ethical norms are culturally accepted values and principles (e.g. morality, agreed upon standards of appropriateness). Every organization may have its

• wn unique culture- accepted and understood behavior OR “Corporate Culture.” Morality and ethics
• ften exceed the law. Ethics in government refers to honesty, transparency, and avoiding bribery,

political corruption, conflict of interest, avoiding the appearance of impropriety, etc. Ethics in Government: Governing Rules and Governing Bodies The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) advises on maintaining integrity of government programs and operations. OGE does not handle complaints of misconduct; it lacks investigative or prosecutorial

• authority. OGE's mission is one of prevention.

The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (“JCOPE” or “The Commission”), established as part of the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011, which comprehensively reformed the oversight and regulation of ethics and lobbying in New York State. JCOPE was created to restore public trust in government by ensuring compliance with the State’s ethics and lobbying laws and regulations.

New York State law (General Municipal Law § 806(1)(a)) requires that the governing body for each county, city, town and village adopt an ethics code setting forth the standard of conduct that is expected

• f its municipal officers and employees.

Ethics in NYC Government The NYC Conflict of Interest Board - Chapter 68, known as the City's "Ethics Law.” NYC Department of Investigation (DOI) - Executive Order 16 requires City employees to report allegations of corruption to DOI. This ensures that matter will be probed confidentially and professionally by DOI investigators independent of the employee's own agency and superiors. Agency Compliance Officers – EEO and Legal Departments The Stakes High-profile cases of corruption and mismanagement can color public perceptions of the legitimacy and quality of government action. Improving the ethical behavior of government employees is fundamental to the legitimacy of democratic governance. There must be a measure of trust and integrity in public institutions and officials. When there is no trust, programs, administrations and agendas are at risk. Public trust in the government remains near historic lows. Only 18% of Americans today say they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (3%) or “most of the time” (15%). Public trust in the government was 77% in 1964. (Pew Research Center December 2017). Citizens Budget Commission 2017 NYC Resident Survey found that only 20% agree that City properly spends money. Think “waste, fraud, abuse, corruption.” (CBC May 2017). Challenges to Creating an Ethical Culture Challenges include: 1) Competition from operational priorities; 2) Lack of adequate buy-in; 3) Inadequate reporting of misconduct; 4) Inadequate enforcement/discipline; 5) Compliance fatigue; 6) Limited resources; and 7) Human nature—greed and peer pressure. Creating and Promoting an Ethical Culture Building the Framework The 7 Compliance Elements: 1) Written policies and procedures; 2) Designated compliance officer and compliance committee; 3) Due Diligence in hiring practices; 4) Effective training/education & Effective lines of communication; 5) Internal monitoring and auditing; 6) Enforcement of standards through well- publicized disciplinary guidelines; and 7)Prompt response to detected problems through corrective actions.

Prevention People need to know what they should be doing. It is important to have clear policies and procedure, training, monitoring, and due diligence. Also, people need to know where to report misconduct/noncompliance. Prevention: Risk Assessments Good governance requires proper assessment. Assessment is necessary to verify the effectiveness of integrity and corruption prevention policies. Risk assessments also enable agency awareness, risk prioritization, and solutions or risk mitigation strategies. Prevention: Data Analytics Data analytics can enable you to use data not only for performance measurement, but also for qualitative measurements. You can also proactively identify ethical lapses, insufficient internal controls,

• etc. For example, data can shows trends across areas, which centers over issuing, which centers have

duplicate issuances, which employees are reviewing cases they shouldn’t be reviewing, etc., and how providers rank in their inspections. Communication It is important to set the expectation through regular communications on ethical standards, such as through compliance newsletters or HR communications. The goal is to ensure that from the moment an employee starts with the agency, they are made aware of the culture they are becoming a part of. It needs to be in every communication they receive and in the amount of importance it is given. Compliance Newsletter tips include: make them interesting (e.g. use recent news stories), learn from recent internal investigations; highlight findings from internal or external audits; welcome feedback and ideas from employees; circulate on a regular schedule; develop a platform for the newsletter to exist (such as intranet, website, SharePoint). Responses to Lapses Reporting misconduct: Create hotlines and portals for filing complaints, giving tips, etc. Responses must be swift, consistent and fair. Discipline and enforcement are key. Transparency: Create a transparent process for handling reports of fraud, waste and abuse. Employees need to know outcomes (not necessarily specific details). Assure staff that reported violations are being handled appropriately with adequate resolutions. Technology can be used to increase transparency in internal and external communication. External communication can include the use of social media. Combat the idea that government is hidden from the public by using a variety of ways to connect and communicate and by creating messaging around the agency’s culture and values.

Reporting: Hotline tips include creating a Hotline Management System, ensuring that Hotline is adequately staffed and can provide feedback and updates to employees, and distinguishing the noise from the reality and looking for patterns in the noise. Identifying Players and Stakeholders Internal players include HR/Legal- Code of Conduct, EEO, and the Executive Office. External players include DOI and regulatory oversight agencies such as OTDA, SDOH/OMIG, and OCFS. Recommendations for working with players/partners include: creating Compliance Committees, ensuring compliance visibility (e.g. Compliance Corners or Roadshow), Compliance Newsletters, sharing findings and information learned from the hotline, and education and training (e.g. tracking and reporting on trainings). NYC Department of Social Services Model In 2014, NYC DSS created the Office of Program Accountability (OPA), charging it with protecting the

• verall integrity of the agency’s programs. This office is separate and independent from program
• perations, the legal department, and human resources. It includes, specifically: the Office of

Compliance & Contract Monitoring, Regulatory Compliance, Investigations, Collections, and Audit and Quality Assurance. This model is in line with current compliance best practices as it: allows for uncompromised advocacy re: integrity concerns, it creates program-specific expertise in compliance and integrity, it provides for direct access to executive/board level, and it works closely with the legal department. The Office of Program Accountability (OPA) is responsible for supporting the integrity of social services programs administered by the New York City Department of Social Services (DSS), and ensuring that DSS is in compliance with all statutory, regulatory, and contractual standards. We do this through: 1) Client investigations; 2) Provider investigations; 3) Claim establishment and collections; 4) Audits—internal and external; 5) Quality assurance reviews; 6) Contract monitoring; 7) Medicaid trust monitoring; 8) Regulatory compliance; and 9) Promotion of an agency-wide culture of ethics and compliance. OPA works to ensure proper integrity controls are in place so the agency can be assured that funds are being appropriately spent, fraud and abuse is minimized, the risk of lawsuits are mitigated and/or minimized, overpayments are recovered and recouped appropriately, vendors/providers are held accountable, regulations and laws are being followed, and public confidence in programs is maintained. Ethical Failures: Takeaways from Real Cases Castro v. City of New York: Castro was fired in 2012 from his position as a NYC DHS Manager and Certified Fire Safety Director for refusing to “make false certifications” on the job. Castro declined to falsify the fire safety and compliance reports for homeless shelters he was tasked with inspecting, and when he reported that this corrupt activity was going on to his supervisors, he was fired for it.

Tipaldo v. Lynn: Tipaldo was the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Planning and Engineering at the NYC DOT when he realized his two supervisors (the Commissioner & First Deputy Commissioner) planned to award a contract for signs on the Queensborough bridge to a friend of the Commissioner’s. Tipaldo and some of his colleagues questioned the decision and refused to authorize it. After Tipaldo reported the pair, he was phased out of meetings and projects, publicly bad-mouthed, and eventually demoted. Bonina v. City of New York: Bonina and Coyne were Administrative Law Judges for the NYC TLC. Upon making complaints of “public corruption,” they claim they were deemed whistleblowers and therefore denied promotions within the TLC for bringing the complaints to light. Matter of Casale v. MTA: Casale and his colleague Anemone attempted to carry out a corruption investigation involving the MTA accepting inflated bills & being “wined and dined” by another company attempting to secure contracts with the LIRR. Casale and Anemone claim they were repeatedly inhibited in their quest to investigate the corruption internally, and so they finally went to the Queens DA and then the media to expose it. The MTA holds that Casale and Anemone were actually the ones

• bstructing OIG’s investigation, and that they only went to the media to appear to be whistleblowers in
• rder to protect themselves, when really they were the alleged problem.

Whistleblowing in the NYPD: Det. Jeffrey McAvoy, Det. James E. Griffin, and Sgt. Robert P. Borrelli all reported claims of alleged wrongdoing to the NYPD IAB regarding their individual command units/precincts. Each was retaliated against, targeted by other officers and supervisors, and some even left partner-less, affecting their ability to work. After being forced to transfer, their whistleblower status followed each of them from location to location, eventually forcing them all to leave the force. Scott Pruitt, Head of EPA: Although this has not yet been brought to court, there is concern that a minimum of five EPA officials have either been reassigned, demoted, or left the office after they all individually reported or expressed concern regarding the “spending and management” of Pruitt as the Agency’s Director. Conclusion What You Can Do Leadership sets the example. Employees need to not be afraid of retaliation. Fairness and transparency around lapses in ethics (address the “everyone is doing it…” excuses swiftly). An organization’s ethical culture is very much dependent on consistent commitment by agency leadership.