Temporary and Disability Assistance, Office of

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

Mission

The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), working in close collaboration with the Office of Children and Family Services and other agencies, helps needy adults and families achieve economic self-sufficiency through work, job training and child support enforcement. OTDA provides economic assistance to aged and disabled persons who are unable to work, transitional support to welfare recipients while they are working toward self-sufficiency, and supportive services to low-income households to help them avoid welfare dependency.

Budget Highlights

The Executive Budget recommends $5.0 billion All Funds ($1.3 billion General Fund; $3.7 billion Other Funds) for OTDA. This is a decrease of $244 million ($183 million General Fund; $61 million Other Funds) from the 2007-08 Budget. This net change primarily reflects the transfer of funding for non-OTDA programs from OTDA to the budgets of administering agencies; an increase in the county share of public assistance costs; and other adjustments.

The Office's workforce will remain unchanged at 2,305 positions in 2008-09. Approximately 660 of these positions are paid by State tax dollars from the General Fund with partial Federal reimbursement and 1,299 are funded directly by Federal grants. The remaining 346 positions are supported by various special revenues.

Major budget actions include:

• Child Support: The amount of child support collections passed through to custodial parents receiving public assistance will increase from a maximum of $50 to $100 per month.

• Supportive Housing: The amount of funding for OTDA's Single Room Occupancy Program will reach $21.3 million in 2008-09, a $1.4 million increase from 2007-08. This increase will fund supportive services for new housing units expected to come online in 2008-09.

• Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to the SSI State Supplement: Legislation enacted in 2006 provided an annual State COLA for SSI recipients residing in Congregate Care Level III facilities. The 2008-09 Executive Budget includes $3 million to fund the 2008 COLA.

• Performance Reporting: The 2007-08 Enacted Budget required performance reporting for a number of OTDA initiatives. The 2008-09 Executive Budget will expand this requirement to additional programs to assist OTDA in analyzing the effectiveness of current programs and implementing cost-effective program changes. Expanded performance data will be available on the agency’s public website.

• 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 funded from the General Fund. This action, which will involve the transfer of $112 million in appropriation authority out of OTDA and into the budgets of the administering agencies, will increase transparency, eliminate unnecessary administrative steps, and expedite the distribution of funds.

• Public Assistance Costs: The gross cost of public assistance benefits is approximately $2 billion a year, of which approximately 60 percent is reimbursed with Federal and State funds, with the remainder paid by local governments. The 2008-09 Executive Budget will require New York City and counties to pay 2 percent more of all public assistance costs. In the case of families who have been on assistance for less than five years, the local share will increase to 27 percent. In the case of single adults and families on welfare for more than 5 years, the adjusted local share will be 52 percent. This proposal, which will generate $40.5 million in State savings in 2008-09, should encourage counties to focus on those public assistance recipients, 111,000 in total, who they have deemed unable to work, to ensure they are either provided with the supportive services they need to make the successful transition from public assistance to self-sufficiency or that they receive the appropriate government support for any long term disabilities. In addition, the Executive Budget will apply more stringent work requirements for county attainment of a work incentive bonus initiated by the State to encourage counties to place more of their public assistance recipients in work activities.

2008-09 Executive Budget — Agency Presentation
Temporary and Disability Assistance, Office of (PDF)