SUBJECT:

PURPOSE:

New York City
Thursday, December 15, 2005
10:30 A.M.
Assembly Hearing Room
250 Broadway
Room 1923, 19th Floor

This hearing is being conducted to address the impact of the changes made in the SFY 2005-06 budget in regard to TANF-funded programs targeted to public assistance recipients and low-income families across New York State. This year, in appropriating available TANF Surplus funds, the Legislature and Executive established a new $600 million block grant allocated directly to local social services districts known as the Flexible Fund for Family Services (FFFS). Additional TANF Surplus funds, amounting to approximately $550 million, were appropriated to existing programs to assist low-income families in making the transition to self-sufficiency. In response to these changes, numerous TANF-funded programs have been restructured by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) in an attempt to improve service delivery and streamline administrative activities. In addition, new Requests for Proposals (RFPs) have been issued for several programs, including Basic Education, English as a Second Language (ESL), Adult and Family Literacy, and Youth Employment and Education Training Program (YEETP) demonstrating recent attempts that have been made by the OTDA to significantly modify the form and administration of these programs.

The Committee seeks to elicit testimony from all non-profit organizations, public and private social services agencies, and families and individuals who may be affected by these changes in order to better understand the full effect of the OTDA's development of new administrative and implementation strategies. Furthermore, this hearing will address the impact of the transition of authority for operating Welfare-to-Work programs from the Department of Labor (DOL) to the OTDA. Specifically, the Committee is interested in understanding any changes that have occurred regarding the approach taken by the State toward engaging public assistance recipients in work activities and employment and training programs. It is crucial that the Legislature be informed of the effects that all of these changes currently being implemented as a result of the SFY 2005-06 budget will have on local districts, social services providers, and low-income families in need of TANF-funded services.

Please see below for a list of subjects to which witnesses may direct their testimony, and for a description of the bills which will be discussed at the hearing.

Persons wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Committee at the above hearing should complete and return the reply form as soon as possible. It is important that the reply form be fully completed and returned so that persons may be notified in the event of emergency postponement or cancellation.

Oral testimony will be limited to 10 minutes' duration. In preparing the order of witnesses, the Committee will attempt to accommodate individual requests to speak at particular times in view of special circumstances. These requests should be made on the attached reply form or communicated to Committee staff as early as possible. In the absence of a request, witnesses will be scheduled in the order in which reply forms are postmarked.

Ten copies of any prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The Committee would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements.

In order to further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and organizations of the Committee's interest in hearing testimony from all sources.

In order to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the Assembly, in accordance with its policy of non-discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has made its facilities and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to afford such individuals access and admission to Assembly facilities and activities.

SELECTED ISSUES TO WHICH WITNESSES MAY DIRECT THEIR TESTIMONY:

1. Restructuring of TANF-Funded Programs

   • How have the changes made by the OTDA in the administration and implementation of any particular TANF-funded program(s) affected the ability of providers to deliver services to low-income families and individuals?

   • What specific changes to the administration of TANF-funded programs have improved the process of delivering services to populations in need? Have any of these changes made it more difficult to provide needed services?

   • Are there any identifiable barriers to obtaining continued funding for TANF-funded services already in existence? If so, what are these barriers and what efforts have been made by the OTDA to overcome them?

2. Transfer of Welfare-to-Work Programs from the DOL to the OTDA

   • What specific changes, if any, has the OTDA made to Welfare-to-Work programs for public assistance recipients as a result of the transfer of authority from the DOL?

   • What impact has this transition had upon current and future participants in Welfare-to-Work programs?

   • What steps has the OTDA taken to improve employment opportunities for public assistance recipients facing the greatest barriers to work?

PUBLIC HEARING REPLY FORM

Persons wishing to present testimony at the public hearing on The Implementation Of TANF-Funded Programs In The SFY 2005-06 Budget are requested to complete this reply form as soon as possible and mail it to:

Jill Poklemba
Legislative Associate
Assembly Committee on Social Services
Room 522 - Capitol
Albany, New York 12248
Email: poklemj@assembly.state.ny.us
Phone: (518) 455-4371
Fax: (518) 455-4693

I will address my remarks to the following subjects:

I will require assistance and/or handicapped accessibility information. Please specify the type of assistance required: