Assembly and Senate hear OCFS, OTDA outline budget priorities for children and families

The Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees convened a joint fiscal hearing on the governor's 2025–26 human services budget and heard detailed testimony from Dr. Demia Harris-Madden, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, and Barbara Gwinn, Commissioner of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. Both commissioners praised the executive proposal's investments for children and families — including expanded child care funding, a larger Empire State Child Tax Credit, and new initiatives to support runaway/homeless youth — while acknowledging gaps lawmakers and advocates urged them to close.

Harris-Madden told the committees OCFS manages a broad mix of services and contracts across the state and highlighted several budget items intended to increase child care seats and program capacity: $100 million in capital grants for child care construction, expanded funding for the Child Care Assistance Program and a new “New York Coalition for Child Care” to develop sustainable financing. She described the governor's “Get Offline, Get Outside 2” youth initiative and specific increases, among them $15 million for youth programming and $7 million for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (ages 0–5). She also outlined a $10 million increase for runaway and homeless youth services and a 2.1% targeted increase in contract funding for provider agencies.

Commissioner Gwinn said OTDA's budget continues expansions in the Empire State Child Tax Credit and other anti‑poverty measures and seeks to support food, housing and essential benefits access. She described proposals for a birth allowance (a monthly pregnancy benefit plus a one‑time payment at birth) and $35 million for HEAP this winter. Gwinn highlighted investments in supportive housing (an added $17 million for NYSHIP and $25 million increase for the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program) and reiterated OTDA's commitment to protecting SNAP recipients, though she said federal policy changes complicate state planning.

Lawmakers pressed both commissioners on multiple fronts: Assembly and Senate members asked for larger, recurring funds to pay the human‑services workforce and raise wages for child care and foster‑care staff; they pressed for stronger action on SNAP benefit skimming and accelerated deployment of EMV (“chip”) EBT cards; and they queried the availability and accounting of migrant and HEAP funds. Commissioners repeatedly said they support stronger workforce pay but noted budget constraints and that some proposals would need legislative decisions and supplemental funding to implement.

Why it matters: The agencies that appeared — OCFS and OTDA — operate core safety‑net programs used by millions of New Yorkers. The hearing foregrounded both large, visible investments (child care seats, child tax credit expansion and housing capital) and persistent operational pressures (workforce recruitment and retention, provider insurance costs, fraud against benefits recipients). Lawmakers signaled willingness to press for larger workforce and program supports during negotiations.

Looking ahead: Both agencies said they will work with the Legislature to refine program details and that several initiatives (child tax credit expansion, capital grants, birth allowance) will require follow‑up implementation rules. Members said they plan to push for higher COLA amounts for human‑services contractors and for targeted supports to stabilize foster‑care and child‑care providers.