Recent Changes in New York Welfare and Work, Child Care, and Child Welfare Systems

Implementation of Family Assistance (FA), the New York TANF program, has resulted in significant reductions in FA caseloads and increased county discretion in implementing local FA-related policy. New York is one of only seven states that offer payments to families beyond the 60-month federal lifetime limit, using state and local funds. The state also offers a generous earnings disregard that provides a substantial incentive to working. Though the state consolidated child care subsidy resources into a single funding stream at the state level, and substantially increased the level of funding, some counties still had waiting lists for child care subsidies. Local spending for child welfare services increased four times more than state spending increases between 1996 and 2000, owing largely to the creation of a state block grant for child welfare services that capped state spending.