OFFICE OF TEMPORARY AND DISABILITY ASSISTANCE

Agency Mission

Pursuant to Chapter 436 of the Laws of 1997, the Department of Social Services was transformed into the Department of Family Assistance (DFA), and two agencies were established within the Department to carry out its functions and responsibilities -- the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) and the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). The OTDA is responsible for the administration of public assistance programs, including: Family Assistance, Safety Net Assistance, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI); the Federal Food Stamp Program and the State Food Assistance Program; the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), child support services, refugee assistance programs, and homeless shelters and homeless housing programs. OTDA, through its Division of Disability Determinations, also evaluates the medical eligibility of disability claimants for federal SSI and Social Security Disability benefits.

At the county level, the aforementioned programs are administered by the State's 58 local social services districts (the five counties comprising the City of New York are one such district), with operational support and supervision provided by the OTDA. It is vital that the OTDA works closely with the OCFS, which is responsible for child care services, and the State Department of Labor (DOL), which is responsible for employment and training programs, to ensure that public assistance recipients are able to access the services necessary for them to achieve the ultimate goal of welfare reform -the transition from welfare to unsubsidized employment, thereby achieving self-sufficiency.

Year-to-Year Change

The Executive's proposed All Funds State Operations appropriation increases by $27,891,000 or 5.75 percent from SFY 1998-99.

The Executive's proposed Aid to Localities All Funds appropriations total $4,474,700,000. This amount represents a decrease of ($393,275,000) or 8.08 percent from SFY 1998-99.

The Executive requests a Capital Projects All Funds appropriation of $30,000,000 for SFY 1999-2000 which is the same amount as in SFY 1998-99.

Legislative Proposals

Caseload Re-Estimates

The Ways and Means Committee staff public assistance caseload model indicates that the Family Assistance program caseload will close out the 1998-99 State fiscal year with an average monthly recipient population of 857,000, a decline of 12.3 percent. Comparison to the Executive's close out of 865,700 yields a current year General Fund savings of $4.9 million. The Safety Net Assistance program caseload is estimated by the Ways and Means Committee to closeout 1998-99 with a recipient population of 183,700, a decline of 17.5 percent. The Executive's Safety Net Assistance estimate for 1998-99 is 183,200. This difference yields a current year General Fund cost of $1.1 million.

For SFY 1999-2000, the Ways and Means Committee staff estimates an average monthly Family Assistance caseload of 756,300, a decline of 11.7 percent. Contrast with the Executive's caseload estimate of 809,400 yields a 1999-2000 General Fund savings of $29.5 million. The average monthly Safety Net Assistance caseload for 1999-2000 is projected by the Ways and Means Committee staff to be 152,700, in contrast to the Executive's caseload projection of 164,300. This difference yields a 1999-2000 General Fund savings of $21.8 million.

Combining the SFY 1998-99 closeout savings and SFY 1999-2000 re-estimate savings, the General Fund cost for the Family Assistance Program will be $34.4 million less than that budgeted by the Executive. The total Safety Net Assistance Program General Fund cost will be $20.7 million less than the Executive budgeted. Together, these two programs yield savings to the State General Fund over both years of $55.1 million.

TANF Surplus

New York State receives $2,440,000,000 per year from the Federal Government for the Family Assistance Program, through the Federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant. Because the amount of New York's TANF allocation is based on the State's caseload and expenditures in Federal Fiscal Year 1995, New York will receive more funds from the Federal Government than needed for the lower caseload in SFY 1999-2000. Family Assistance caseload declines over the past four years create the difference between the amount of TANF funds the State receives and the amount needed for expenditures on the current caseload. The difference yields a projected TANF "surplus" of $1.433 billion in SFY 1999-2000.

The Assembly allocates the TANF surplus as follows:

--$357,000,000 for transfer to the Title XX Social Services Block Grant and other related programs and services;

--$350,000,000 for a recession protection fund for future Family Assistance program expenditures;

--$288,000,000 for transfer to the Child Care Block Grant for additional low income child care subsidies, child care market rate enhancements, child care staff development, expansion of child care resource and referral agencies, development of family child care networks, and expansion of eligibility for subsidized care to families with income up to 250 percent of the Federal poverty line;

--$200,000,000 for a reserve fund for additional child care block grant purposes;

--$95,000,000 for a statewide Jobs program including job creation, pre and post-employment services, job readiness and on-the-job training, including technology training, and other skills development with added bonuses to employers who hire program participants;

--$21,000,000 for case management services targeted to hard-to-serve TANF caseloads and for the Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) pilot program;

--$20,000,000 for alcohol and substance abuse screening, assessment and treatment;

--$12,000,000 for the Food Assistance Program to replace Food Stamps for the legal immigrant adult parents of TANF eligible children;

--$10,000,000 for basic education and adult literacy programs;

--$10,000,000 for vocational English as a Second Language programs;

--$10,000,000 for vocational educational services for individuals with disabilities;

--$10,000,000 for adolescent pregnancy prevention education and services;

--$10,000,000 for innovative transportation programs to get recipients to and from work activities and employment;

--$10,000,000 for work experience programs in educational and vocational settings

--$10,000,000 for domestic violence screening, referrals and services;

--$6,000,000 for the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) component of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP);

--$ 5,000,000 for medical examinations and workplace accommodations for recipients with work limitations;

--$3,000,000 for a temporary rent subsidy program targeted to homeless families;

--$2,500,000 for a multi-year independent evaluation of the Family Assistance Program - Family Assistance Inquiry and Review;

--$2,000,000 for summer care for the children of TANF working families;

--$1,000,000 for Federal compliance and reporting; and

--$600,000 for displaced homemaker program activities.

The Assembly proposes additional funding related to public assistance programs to facilitate the transition of individuals from welfare to unsubsidized employment. Key among the additions for this purpose are $5,000,000 for non-TANF adult participation in the statewide Jobs Program and $1,000,000 for vocational English as a Second Language (ESL) programs.

The Assembly also proposes additional funding for homeless housing programs. By targeting this funding to programs that provide permanent housing opportunities for homeless families and individuals, future needs and commensurate expenditures for emergency homeless housing services can be reduced. Specifically, the Assembly provides $12,000,000 for expansion of the Homeless Housing Assistance Program, with $2,000,000 set aside for the development of housing for persons with AIDS; $2,000,000 for a temporary rent subsidy program for homeless individuals; $1,000,000 for additional single room occupancy supportive services; and $350,000 for a housing demonstration program for the homeless disabled.

The Assembly provides $2,000,000 for a cost-of-living adjustment to the State supplement portion of Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for impoverished elderly, blind, and/or disabled individuals living in the community. The Assembly further provides for the impoverished elderly population with the addition of $6,000,000 for statewide expansion of and elimination of the local share for the State Food Assistance Program to cover elderly legal immigrants between the ages of 60 and 68 years who are not eligible for the Federal Food Stamp Program.

The Assembly recommends that the public assistance shelter allowance schedule be continued pursuant to current statute and regulations.