Temporary and Disability Assistance, Office of
skip breadcrumbsAgency Web Site: http://otda.ny.gov/
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 low-income households achieve economic self-sufficiency through work, job training and the provision of supportive services that help avert dependency on public assistance. OTDA also provides economic assistance to aged and disabled persons who are unable to work.
Budget Highlights
The Executive Budget recommends $5.47 billion for the agency. This is a decrease of $260 million from the 2013-14 budget. The change primarily reflects decreases in authority for Federal grant programs, as well as a decrease in the SSI program due to the State administrative takeover of the program.
The Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 1,918 FTEs for OTDA, which reflects the addition of 54 staff related to the takeover of the SSI State supplementation program from the Federal government that was authorized in the 2012-13 enacted Budget and the addition of 5 staff to implement additional Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP) capital construction projects.
Major budget actions include:
- Expanding Homeless Housing Capital Funding: The 2014-15 Executive Budget proposes a total of $63 million in capital funding for HHAP, a $33 million increase over 2013-14. This funding will expand and improve the supply of permanent, transitional, and emergency housing for homeless persons.
- Implementing a Fair Hearings Chargeback: OTDA administers and the State pays for the fair hearings process through which recipients of various benefit programs such as SNAP, public assistance and Medicaid may appeal a decision made by a local social services district. The high volume of hearing requests, of which approximately 60 percent are withdrawn, has led to increased State costs and indicates that local districts could improve their efforts in resolving outstanding issues before a fair hearing is requested. This Executive Budget proposal will establish a performance based “chargeback” to local social services districts to recoup a portion of State costs associated with administering such hearings.
For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:
Briefing Book – Human Services (PDF)
| Category | Available 2013-14 |
Appropriations Recommended 2014-15 |
Change From 2013-14 |
Reappropriations Recommended 2014-15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Operations | 412,909,000 | 398,545,000 | (14,364,000) | 262,484,000 |
| Aid To Localities | 5,283,114,000 | 5,006,940,000 | (276,174,000) | 3,141,421,000 |
| Capital Projects | 30,000,000 | 63,000,000 | 33,000,000 | 86,101,000 |
| Total | 5,726,023,000 | 5,468,485,000 | (257,538,000) | 3,490,006,000 |
| Program | 2013-14 Estimated FTEs 03/31/14 |
2014-15 Estimated FTEs 03/31/15 |
FTE Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administration | |||
| General Fund | 345 | 345 | 0 |
| Administrative Hearings | |||
| General Fund | 311 | 311 | 0 |
| Child Well Being Program | |||
| General Fund | 11 | 12 | 1 |
| Special Revenue Funds - Federal | 38 | 38 | 0 |
| Disability Determinations Program | |||
| Special Revenue Funds - Federal | 879 | 879 | 0 |
| Employment and Economic Support Program | |||
| General Fund | 208 | 260 | 52 |
| Special Revenue Funds - Federal | 10 | 0 | (10) |
| Specialized Services Program | |||
| General Fund | 34 | 45 | 11 |
| Special Revenue Funds - Federal | 23 | 23 | 0 |
| Supported Housing | |||
| Capital Projects Funds - Other | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 1,859 | 1,918 | 59 |
Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/20/2014