Summary
Over the past several years, a significant rise has occurred in the number of people turning to emergency food programs and pantries. Many are members of working families who use these pantries to supplement their paychecks and feed their families. A need for increased funding exists to ensure that the emergency food pantries can provide needed assistance.
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Summary
In the delivery of health and human services to the neediest New Yorkers, providers seek to help people and families rebuild lives that have been hurt by a financial, emotional, or health crisis, a natural disaster, or some other calamity. Social services agencies play an essential role in New York State, working in partnership with government in repairing the lives of people who are so affected.
In rendering services, providers aim to make lives as whole as possible by providing not only the food, clothing, emergency financial assistance and health care services that people need, but also appropriate client education, information and advocacy services to assure that they are receiving all the government aid to which they are entitled. However, in doing so, social service providers have been placed at financial risk, because unlike the provision of emergency food and other services – which are reimbursed through government contract –services as client education, information and referral and advocacy are considered “non-categorical case management services,” and as such are not funded by state contract or reimbursement.
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Summary
Providers of affordable and supportive housing programs have met resistance to the siting of these programs for people with special needs, whether they are homeless, mentally ill, chemically dependent, low income individuals and families, seniors or persons with chronic HIV. The New York State Division of Housing has begun an educational campaign that emphasizes what good neighbors supportive housing residents can be. More needs to be done to encourage acceptance of these much needed programs.
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Summary
Federal welfare reform in 1996 ended the welfare entitlement, substituting a block grant payment to each state. New York State received $2.43 billion a year through the Federal fiscal year ending in 2002, as a result of the State meeting certain requirements, such as work participation rates. Recently the base year for caseload decline was moved from 1995 to 2005, and work participation requirements were increased.
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