The FY 2024 Executive Budget recommends $5.8 billion in appropriations for OCFS, which is a $1.5 billion increase compared to FY 2023 levels. This increase reflects an additional $1.1 billion in child welfare appropriations and $44 million in Adult Protective services appropriations, which are primarily to allow for better appropriation alignment with Federal fiscal years – not programmatic changes.
The total also reflects $17 million to assist certain foster care providers with Federal provisions as they relate to Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD), $7 million for both preventive and permanency placement services for foster families, adoptive families, and kinship families, $16 million in additional capital funding to renovate and maintain vital infrastructure at OCFS youth facilities, $83 million to move funding for the Empire State After-School and Advantage After School programs to the Office of Children and Family Services, who already administers the programs, $700,000 for Runaway and Homeless Youth program year shift, $600,000 for the Youth Sports program, $8.5 million to fund the Human Services Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for impacted programs, $4 million for minimum wage increases, $3.3 million for union settlement agreements, a net increase of $128 million in State General Fund support for child care subsidies and to reflect the market rate, $100 million in additional Federal child care funding, $2 million for child care union agreements, $4.8 million for a new child care pilot program with local businesses, and $1 million for a new business navigator program. These increases are partially offset by a decrease of $57 million related to the expiration of one-time legislative adds and one-time child care capital funding.
The FY 2024 Executive Budget recommends a workforce of 2,886 FTEs, unchanged from FY 2023.
