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 own unique culture- accepted and understood behavior OR “Corporate Culture.” Morality and ethics often 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 of 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.