Operation Right Answer: Housing Services Modernization

Overview

Operation Right Answer is an initiative to modernize customer service delivery for New Jersey’s Division of Housing and Community Resources (DHCR). The project focuses on building a data-driven performance framework—a “Service Scorecard”—that measures what matters most to residents: how quickly they get answers, whether their issues are resolved on first contact, and their overall satisfaction with the service experience.

This work is being conducted in partnership with the New Jersey Innovation Authority (formerly the Office of Innovation) as part of a broader contact center modernization effort using Amazon Connect.

Resident Impact

The initiative prioritizes improvements that directly benefit residents seeking housing assistance:

• Warm callbacks that eliminate long hold times and let residents continue their day
• AI-assisted support enabling staff to provide faster, more accurate answers
• Multilingual accessibility to serve New Jersey’s diverse communities
• Outcome-oriented measurement focused on resolution quality, not just call volume

Leadership & Framework

As project lead, I am working with a cross-functional team to develop a plain-language performance evaluation framework that translates technical contact center metrics into meaningful service standards. This collaborative effort involves program operations staff, call center supervisors, and the New Jersey Innovation Authority team. Together, we are ensuring the framework drives continuous improvement and positions DHCR to deliver excellent resident service at scale.

Recognition

This project serves as my capstone for the New Jersey Certified Public Manager (CPM) program, addressing competencies in Systemic Integration, Public Service Focus, Change Leadership, Management Information Systems, and Quantitative Techniques.