2004 Yellow Book
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OFFICE OF TEMPORARY AND DISABILITY ASSISTANCE (Summary) View Details

		Adjusted Appropriation 2003-04	Executive Request 2004-05	Change	Percent Change

AGENCY SUMMARY
	General Fund	1,434,055,400	1,497,213,300	63,157,900	4.4%
	Special Revenue-Other	167,846,000	164,657,000	(3,189,000)	-1.9%
	Special Revenue-Federal	3,138,468,600	3,082,011,600	(56,457,000)	-1.8%
	Capital	30,000,000	30,000,000	0	0.0%
	Internal Service Fund	1,000,000	1,200,000	200,000	20.0%
	Fiduciary	11,500,000	10,000,000	(1,500,000)	-13.0%
Total for AGENCY SUMMARY:		4,782,870,000	4,785,081,900	2,211,900	0.05%

ALL FUNDS PERSONNEL BUDGETED FILL LEVELS
Fund	Current 2003-04	Requested 2004-05	Change

General Fund:	482	463	(19)
All Other Funds:	1,884	1,884	0
TOTAL:	2,366	2,347	(19)

Budget Highlights

The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) was created pursuant to Chapter 436 of the Laws of 1997. OTDA, along with the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), are the successor agencies to the Department of Social Services (DSS). OTDA is responsible for the administration of public assistance programs including: Family Assistance; Safety Net Assistance; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); the Federal Food Stamp Program; the State Food Assistance Program; the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP); child support services; refugee assistance programs; homeless shelter and service programs. Through its Division of Disability Determinations, OTDA evaluates the medical eligibility claimants for Federal SSI and Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. OTDA works closely with OCFS and the Department of Labor (DOL), which administers employment and training programs to enable participants to transition from public assistance to unsubsidized employment. The Executive projects the number of Public Assistance and Safety Net Assistance recipients to increase by 4.7 percent and 10 percent respectively in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2004-05.

The Executive requests All Funds appropriations totaling $4,785,081,900 in SFY 2004-05. This represents an increase of $2,211,900 from the SFY 2003-04 level.

This agency is included in the Education, Labor, and Family Assistance appropriation bill.

State Operations

The Executive recommends an All Funds State Operations appropriation totaling $441,175,000, which represents an increase of $4,405,500 from SFY 2003-04.

The Executive proposes a $20,000,000 appropriation for the ongoing cost of redesigning the Welfare Management System (WMS), continued development of the Welfare to Work Caseload Management System, and other initiatives including the Human Services Enterprise Network.

Aid To Localities

The Executive proposes an All Funds Aid to Localities appropriation totaling $4,313,906,900 in SFY 2004-05, which reflects a decline of $2,193,600 from SFY 2003-04 levels.

The 2003-04 enacted State budget reduced General Fund appropriations for several administration programs through the imposition of a new local administration cap. This reduction represented only one-quarter of the annualized savings, however, since the cap became effective January 1, 2004. The Executive’s proposed SFY 2004-05 budget, reduces General Fund support for the Food Stamp Administration Program by $23,796,000, and reduces General Fund support for the Temporary and Disability Assistance Administration Program by $30,862,400.

The Executive budget also eliminates several of the TANF Surplus initiatives that assist recipients in gaining employment. However, the proposed budget increases by $18,268,800 or 28 percent, State funded Employment Services Administration costs which are used by local social service districts to support Work First initiatives.

Capital Projects

The Executive proposes a Capital Projects appropriation totaling $30,000,000 for the Homeless Housing Assistance Program (HHAP), which is unchanged from SFY 2003-04.

Article VII

The Executive proposes three pieces of Article VII legislation that would greatly alter public assistance recipients’ basic grant. The first proposal would authorize a full family sanction if the head of household does not comply with work requirements. Current policy applies the sanction as a pro-rated share against the adult member of the household, but still allows grant assistance for children. The total General Fund savings associated with this proposal is $16.8 million in SFY 2004-05 and $40.2 million when fully annualized.

The second proposal would reduce the non-shelter component of the public assistance grant by 10 percent, for families on welfare assistance for more than 5 years and for single adults and childless couples on welfare for more than one year. The total General Fund savings associated with this proposal is $16.2 million in SFY 2004-05 and $31.1 million when fully annualized.

The last Article VII proposal would reduce the amount of earnings disregard a recipient may retain while receiving public assistance. Current policy of disregarding the first $90 of a family’s earned income for determining welfare benefit eligibility would still be allowed. However, the remainder of earnings would be disregarded at a fixed rate of 50 percent for recipients on welfare for less than two years, 25 percent for recipients on welfare more than two years but less than five years, and would be eliminated for recipients on welfare for more than five years. The total General Fund savings associated with this proposal is $16.9 million in SFY 2004-05 and $33.7 million when fully annualized.

Federal TANF Block Grant

State Fiscal Year 2004-05 will be the eighth year in which New York has received its federal public assistance funding through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant. Federal authorization of the TANF Block Grant is set to expire on March 31, 2004, providing spending authority through the end of SFY 2003-04. Congressional reauthorization, or at the very least a continuation of the TANF Block Grant at current funding levels, is expected this session. The Executive’s recommended SFY 2004-05 budget is predicated on Congressional reauthorization of the TANF Block Grant at the current allocation of $2.44 billion for New York.

New York’s caseload and expenditures were significantly higher in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 1995 than in subsequent years. As a result of the change in the number of New Yorkers in the TANF Program, the State has annually experienced Federal TANF funding above the amount needed to support the Federal share of the Family Assistance Program. This funding overage is referred to as the “TANF surplus”. The Executive’s budget projects the TANF Surplus to be $1,519,676,000 for SFY 2004-05.

The Executive proposes to use the TANF surplus in the following manner for SFY 2004-05:

Earned Income Tax Credit $414,944,000 Child Care (Includes CAP and EAF) $375,000,000 Child Welfare EAF $140,000,000 Title XX $119,000,000 Child and Dependent Care Credit $107,700,000 Local JD/PINS $105,000,000 Employment and Transitional Initiatives Block Grant $ 50,000,000 NYC Foster Care Tuition $ 41,000,000 Advantage Schools $ 20,200,000 Home Visiting $ 16,000,000 Summer Youth Employment $ 15,000,000 EDGE Program $ 12,500,000 Food Pantries $ 12,000,000 OCFS Juvenile Delinquent Programs $ 12,000,000 Systems $ 11,500,000 Bridge Program $  9,553,000 Pregnancy Prevention $  9,500,000 New Initiative “Best Practices” $  8,500,000 Domestic Violence $  6,000,000 Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (APPS) $  5,954,000 PINS and Preventive Services $  5,950,000 Transportation $  5,000,000 Alternatives to Incarceration $  3,800,000 School Based Health Centers $  3,325,000 Title XX – WIC $  3,000,000 Drug Screening/Assessment $  2,500,000 Child Welfare Quality $  1,900,000 WIC $  1,900,000 OCFS Community-Based Juvenile Delinquency Services $   950,000

Previously funded legislative initiatives were not included in the Executive’s proposed TANF surplus appropriation, resulting in a reduction of over $46 million in programs that were funded in SFY 2003-04. The Executive also proposes to sweep funding for programs the Legislature allocated through the TANF surplus in SFY 2003-04. The Executive's proposed SFY 2004-05 budget reallocates approximately $104.3 million of TANF surplus funding from prior year allocations.

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