Children and Family Services Office of

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/22/08.

Mission

The Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) was established in 1998 to strengthen services for and promote the well being and safety of children and families.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget recommends $3.7 billion All Funds ($2.09 billion General Fund; $1.65 billion Other Funds) for the Office of Children and Family Services. This is a net increase of $178.4 million ($186.3 million General Fund increase; $7.9 million Other Funds decrease) from the 2007-08 Budget. This net change primarily reflects continued growth in child welfare services, the transfer of certain Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) appropriations to OCFS, the third year of the Human Services COLA, previously announced youth facility closings, and elimination of the 50 percent State share of local youth detention facility costs.

OCFS' staffing level for 2008-09 will be 3,862, a decrease of 243 annual salaried positions from the 2007-08 Budget. This reduction reflects the net impact of closing seven youth facilities (-254), the redeployment of 23 current positions and the planned hiring of 12 additional staff to enhance educational and community reintegration services for youth, child welfare investigations and adult protective services, and the transfer of one position to the Department of Health to monitor the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Services program.

Major budget actions include:

• Open-ended Funding for Child Welfare Services: The centerpiece of the child welfare financing system is the provision of 65 percent State reimbursement for community-based preventive services that avert placement of children in foster care or juvenile justice facilities. State funding at the 65 percent level is also available for child protective services, aftercare services, independent living activities, and local administration costs related to adoptions. The Budget includes an increase of $153.7 million in 2008-09, from $465.6 million to $619.3 million, to support local child welfare initiatives.

• Enhanced Services for Children in Foster Care: The Executive Budget includes $10.2 million in General Fund support for the Bridges to Health Medicaid Waiver, which, by the end of 2008-09, will support 610 slots designed to enhance services to foster care children with multiple needs and prevent them from entering institutional care. Implementation of this program began in January 2008.

• Adoption Subsidies: The Executive Budget includes $226.8 million, an increase of $17.2 million, for the State's share of subsidies provided to families that adopt children with special needs. These funds will support approximately 48,000 children in adoptive homes and include a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for adoptive parents.

• Foster Care Block Grant: The $444.9 million Foster Care Block Grant provides counties with a clear incentive to reduce the number of children in foster care. Under the Block Grant, savings that result from reduced use of foster care can be reinvested in locally-designed child welfare initiatives that strengthen preventive services or better serve high-needs children. The Executive Budget includes an $18.7 million increase in the Foster Care Block Grant to support a COLA for foster care workers and parents. The Executive Budget also provides districts with the ability to draw down increased Federal revenue for children in foster care through access to wage reporting data. A portion of savings associated with the anticipated Federal revenue is recouped for General Fund savings.

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Support to Local Social Services Districts: Local districts will continue to receive up to $35 million for summer youth employment, $3 million for non-residential services to victims of domestic violence and $1.01 billion for the Flexible Fund for Family Services. The Flexible Fund will continue to give local districts the discretion to use their TANF resources for child welfare and child care services, as well as any other TANF allowable purposes.

• Transparency in Funding: Programs historically funded within OTDA with Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant dollars, but administered by other agencies, will be transferred to the administering agency and will be supported by the General Fund. This action will result in $71.45 million in appropriation authority transferring from OTDA to OCFS and will increase transparency, eliminate unnecessary administrative steps, and expedite the distribution of funds. Additionally, the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Services program that was previously funded in TANF and administered by OCFS will be transferred to the Department of Health (DOH) to better coordinate the State's pregnancy prevention programs.

• Child Care Funding: The Child Care Block Grant, comprised of Federal, State, local and one-time prior year funds, will total $540 million in 2008-09. In addition to this amount, districts will maintain the option of using the Flexible Fund for Family Services to support their child care program. These funding sources, in combination with prior year resources, will allow districts to maintain current subsidy levels in the face of increased market rates.

• Right-Size Youth Facility Capacity: The 2008-09 Executive Budget reflects $2.6 million in net savings, growing to $12.1 million in 2009-10, from the previously announced closures and downsizings of OCFS facilities. These net savings reflect a partial reinvestment into community-based and other youth services. A total of seven facilities will be closed, including one closure by mid-May 2008 and six closures and one downsizing by mid-January 2009. These actions are consistent with a significant decline in the population at OCFS' non-secure facilities that has led to a 50 percent utilization rate and more than 200 vacant non-secure beds. In May 2008, the Cass non-secure facility, which has not provided direct services to children since January 2007, will be closed and then converted to a training center for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The January 2009 actions will include the closure of the Brace, Great Valley, and Auburn non-secure centers. The two Adirondack non-secure centers will be merged into one facility at a reduced capacity. The Pyramid reception center in the Bronx will be closed and its function relocated elsewhere in New York City, and a community residential home in Gloversville that has been vacant for more than a year will also be closed. The Lansing non-secure facility will be downsized consistent with its declining population.

These actions will reduce OCFS facility jobs by 254 annual salaried positions, of which 238 were filled as of December 2007. All annual salaried staff will be offered comparable jobs at another OCFS facility or State agency.

• Enhance Community-Based Alternatives: A total of $863,000 in savings from the facility closures will be reinvested in alternative community-based programs that divert youth from facility placement and shorten the length of time a youth spends at a facility. Funding for these initiatives will grow from $12.9 million in 2007-08 to $14 million in 2008-09.

• Juvenile Justice Staff: By redeploying its existing staff resources and using a portion of its facility closure savings, OCFS will hire 25 new staff in 2008-09 to help improve outcomes for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. These positions will include additional teachers at youth facilities and aftercare workers for community service teams that work with youth released from a facility.

• Local Detention Costs: Counties and New York City will become responsible for 100 percent of the costs to operate their local detention facilities, an increase from their current 50 percent share. This should encourage the use of less costly community-based program options for non-violent youth who do not require confinement while their case is pending in Family Court.

• Information Technology: The Executive Budget includes $112 million in State, Federal, and capital funding to operate and continue development of agency computer systems. This includes $17 million in bond financing for the modernization of CONNECTIONS, the State's child welfare information system. The current outdated CONNECTIONS infrastructure is fragile, inflexible and difficult to use for both case workers and local governments. Modernization will make the system more agile and user friendly, thereby easing administrative burdens and permitting case workers to spend more time with clients. CONNECTIONS modernization will be coordinated with systems development in other human services agencies to maximize service delivery and reduce costs.

2008-09 Executive Budget — Agency Presentation
Children and Family Services Office of (PDF)