Children and Family Services, Office of

Agency Web Site: https://ocfs.ny.gov/main/

Mission

The Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) serves New York's public by promoting the safety, permanency and well-being of our children, families and communities. OCFS achieves results by setting and enforcing policies, building partnerships, and funding and providing quality services.

Organization and Staffing

OCFS is headed by a Commissioner who is served by an Executive Deputy Director and several Deputy Commissioners who oversee various departments and programs. Agency staff are located throughout the State in OCFS operated residential facilities and in regional offices, where they work with county commissioners to implement and monitor local programs.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2019 Executive Budget recommends $3.8 billion in appropriations for OCFS, which is a decrease of $107 million from FY 2018. The change primarily reflects: not extending $41.4 million in funding to NYC for Close to Home, a $5.4 million decrease related to the closure of the Ella McQueen Reception Center, a $30 million increase in General Fund support for child care subsidies, of which $23 million resulted from an equal decrease in Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF) fund support, a change in new capital appropriation authority for Raise the Age related projects from $110 million (remains in budget as a reappropriation) to $50 million, and the elimination of legislative adds. The FY 2019 Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 2,907 FTEs. This is a decrease of 58 FTEs from FY 2018 and is related to the closure of the Ella McQueen Reception Center.

Major budget actions include the following:

• Implementing raising the age of criminal responsibility from age 16 to age 18. The FY 2019 Budget includes capital and $100 million reflected in a separate Raise the Age appropriation to support facility placements and reform measures, such as comprehensive diversion, probation, and programming services for 16- and 17-year-old youth who will be involved in the juvenile justice system.
• Reauthorizing the Close to Home Initiative, while not extending the State's obligation to reimburse NYC for youth placed in Non-Secure and Limited Secure placement settings.
• Authorizing the closure of the underutilized Ella McQueen Reception Center located in Brooklyn.
• Increasing child care subsidy funding by $7 million, from $799 million to $806 million, restoring funding to FY 2017 levels.
• Capping State share reimbursement to NYC for Child Welfare costs at $320 million, the City's estimated FY 2018 State share reimbursement amount.

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

Child Welfare Services

Child Welfare Services provide a variety of services to families to ensure the safety and well-being of children, and to strengthen families to successfully care for their children. Child Protective Services include: investigating reports of child abuse or maltreatment, providing solutions to protect children, and helping prevent future occurrences of abuse or maltreatment. Preventive Services are provided to families with children at risk of entering foster care. Independent Living Services teach youth aging out of foster care the necessary skills to be independent adults.

Foster Care

Foster Care provides out-of-home placements for children and youth who have been removed from their homes due to abuse/neglect by their parent, or a court determination that a child is a "person in need of supervision" or a juvenile delinquent. Foster boarding homes provide care in a home setting by foster parents, and residential programs serve youth with more significant health or emotional needs. The foster care caseload has dropped from 37,000 in FY 2003 to 17,000 in FY 2017 after the State reformed child welfare financing to incentivize preventive and Child Protective Services that help keep families together.

Child Care

The Child Care Block Grant (CCBG) provides child care subsidies to families on public assistance, families transitioning off of public assistance, and low-income families. The FY 2019 budget provides $874.4 million for the NYS Child Care Block Grant, that also includes $68.3 million of local dollars. Child Care Block Grant funding includes $806 million for child care subsidies, restoring subsidy funding to the FY 2017 level.

Adoption Services

Adoption Services provide funding for expenses related to the adoption of children from the Foster Care system. Subsidies are provided to families to help meet the needs of caring for handicapped and hard-to-place children.

Adult Protective Services

Adult Protective Services assist individuals 18 and over that present the following: physical and/or mental disabilities resulting in a reduced capacity for self-care; evidence of harm or risk of being harmed by others; and lack of assistance from others. In 2016, the agency received approximately 58,280 adult protective services referrals.

Domestic Violence Services

Domestic Violence Services assist individuals 16 and over that have been victims of domestic violence (DV). Services are designed to provide safety and support to victims and their children through approved residential and non-residential programs. In 2016, 11,338 adults and children received DV residential services and 41,399 adults and children received DV non-residential services.

Committees on Special Education

Committees on Special Education (CSE) are the primary placement system for providing special education services for children with educational disabilities. CSEs place students into day and residential schools, both in and out-of-state, and CSE funding supports the maintenance costs of residential CSE placements. During FY 2017 1,270 students were placed in-state and 378 students were placed out-of-state.

Runaway and Homeless Youth Services

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Program provides funding to counties for contracts with not-for-profit runaway programs that provide services to youth. Services include short-term shelter and long-term transitional and independent living services for youth. All youth receive case management services and basic needs, either directly by the service provider or through referral to other programs.

Youth Facilities and Youth Program Services

The Youth Facilities Program supports the Division for Juvenile Justice and Opportunities for Youth (DJJOY), which provides a range of core mandated and enhanced services to court adjudicated youth and their families, delivered in state-operated residential facilities and at community sites. The Program also provides support for local detention facilities that house youth while the cases are pending in family court. In addition, the Youth Development Program provides funding to localities to support delinquency prevention programs.

Commission for the Blind

The Commission for the Blind supports services to legally blind children and older adults including Vocational Rehab Basic Support, Independent Living for Adults and Preschool Children, Independent Living for Older Blind, Supported Employment programming and In-Service Training. The Commission also provides support for assessments, mobility training, academic instruction, case management, and job-oriented vocational instruction.

Statewide Central Register

The Statewide Central Register is responsible for screening all calls of suspected child abuse and maltreatment.

Human Services Call Center

The Human Services Call Center (HSCC) handles more than one million calls annually for ten state agencies from 48 different lines, providing callers with information through high- quality customer service.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/16/2018