Temporary and Disability Assistance, Office of

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Agency Web Site: https://otda.ny.gov/

Mission

The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), works in close collaboration with the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) 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.

Organization and Staffing

OTDA has its central office in Albany and several field offices statewide. These offices provide direct operational support, supervision and guidance to the State’s 58 local social services districts, which include each county and New York City. Social services districts are responsible for directly administering most public assistance programs, including those that serve the homeless and refugees. Agency staff also provide legal and audit support.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2020 Executive Budget recommends $5.8 billion for the agency. This is an increase of approximately $90 million from the FY 2019 budget. The increase primarily reflects increased authority to accommodate additional federally-authorized staff in OTDA’s Federal Disability Determinations Division to implement improved determinations processing and updated public assistance projections.

The FY 2020 Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 1,989 FTEs, maintaining FY 2019 workforce levels.

Major budget actions include:

• Continue the Affordable Housing and Homelessness Initiative. The FY 2020 Executive Budget continues funding to support full implementation of the five year investment for the Affordable and Homeless Housing Plan, which continues to create new housing opportunities for individuals in need of supportive services and provide resources to support vulnerable populations in securing stable housing.

• Reform Residential Domestic Violence Shelter Requirements. Statutory provisions that require domestic violence victims to apply for Public Assistance and permit providers to charge victims with sufficient resources a fee for services have been determined by the Federal government to contradict Federal rules for Family Violence Prevention Services Act (FVPSA) funding. To ensure that all victims have access to vital emergency services with no strings attached, the FY 2020 Budget would eliminate these requirements.

• Establish a New York City Share for Family Assistance to Needy Families Expenditures. The FY 2020 Executive Budget establishes a 10 percent local share for New York City for the Family Assistance program, which provides assistance to eligible families earning less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty level. This is consistent with the existing 10 percent local share that the City pays for the Emergency Assistance to Families program.

• Fund New York City HIV/AIDS Rent Cap through Safety Net Assistance. The FY 2015 Budget amended Social Services law to authorize a limit on rent paid by NYC residents living with HIV/AIDS who receive Public Assistance (PA). The State cost for this limit of no more than 30 percent of monthly income toward rental costs was paid for with settlement funds from FY 2016 to FY 2019. In FY 2020, the Executive Budget shifts the cost of this program to Safety Net Assistance. This creates a permanent funding source for the program.

• Continue HIV/AIDS Rent Cap Outside of New York City. The Budget builds upon the FY 2019 creation of the Rest of State HIV/AIDS rent cap to establish a program to allow districts outside of New York City to opt in to a program to partner with a Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) and a not-for-profit service provider to assist public assistance recipients living with HIV in maintaining or securing stable housing, to enable them to gain more control over their health and other outcomes and generating savings on health expenditures. Through this program, the State provides up to $1 million per district, the MCO’s provide a dollar-for-dollar match to the State funds, and the service provider connects the recipient to housing and other services.

• Increase Funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program. The Executive Budget increases funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program by $4 million, to $44 million, to ensure that the State can continue to serve approximately 19,000 youths that were employed through the 2018 program, consistent with the previous year.

• Authorize Job Try-Outs for Public Assistance Recipients. The Executive Budget establishes authority for local social services districts to assign PA recipients to 90-day job try-outs as work experience assignments with private for-profit, non-profit, and public sector entities in satisfaction of PA work requirements. These programs will provide training and skill learning opportunities that will lead to permanent employment at the end of a trial period.

• Continue Supporting the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative. The Executive Budget provides $4.5 million to continue supporting the 16 communities in the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative (ESPRI). This funding will ensure that all sixteen cities continue to provide services to their communities throughout the upcoming fiscal year.

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)

Program Highlights

Public Assistance

New York provides cash assistance to income-eligible individuals and families through the Family Assistance (FA) and Safety Net Assistance (SNA) programs. For income-eligible families with a minor child, ongoing cash assistance provided through the FA program is financed entirely with Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for up to 60 months, pursuant to federal statute. Families who have exhausted their 60-month time limit on FA, as well as income-eligible single adults and childless couples, can receive such assistance through the SNA program which is financed with State and local dollars. The FY 2020 caseload is estimated at approximately 532,000 recipients.

SSI State Supplement Program

New York's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program supplements Federal SSI benefits to low-income elderly, blind, and disabled persons. The FY 2020 caseload is estimated at 700,000 recipients.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

SNAP is a federally mandated program that seeks to improve the nutritional level of low-income families and individuals by providing supplemental assistance to purchase food items. In New York, SNAP is directly administered by local social services districts, which are also responsible for administering programs to assist SNAP recipients in gaining the skills necessary to obtain and retain employment through training, education, and supportive services.

Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP)

HHAP provides grants to not-for-profit corporations and municipalities to expand and improve the supply of permanent, transitional, and emergency housing for homeless persons. HHAP also links its projects to other State and Federal funding sources to deliver appropriate support services to help tenants move towards greater self-sufficiency and economic stability.

Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)

HEAP helps low-income households pay the cost of heating their homes. Eligibility is based on a number of factors, and eligible households may receive one regular benefit per year and emergency benefits, as available. The HEAP program also operates a heating equipment repair and replacement program, a heating equipment clean and tune program, and a cooling program during the summer months.

Child Support Services

The Child Support Services Program provides assistance with paternity and child support establishment, as well as the collection of child support. In addition, the Center operates an Access and Visitation program, which aids parents in development of successful parenting plans and visitation supervision and enforcement.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 1/15/2019