Department of Social Services

Provides support for low-income and homeless populations

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Trends: DSS’s federal grants have increased by $211 million (14 percent) since FY 2010 after adjusting for inflation

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Current Funding: Take a deeper dive into how federal grants support NYC’s DSS

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DSS’s Federal Grants Have Increased by $211 Million
(14 Percent) Since FY 2010

DSS’s federal grants have increased by $211 million (14 percent) since FY 2010 after adjusting for inflation. This includes five primary grants and five city-wide grants, collectively accounting for 99.9 percent of the agency’s federal funding.

These trends are masked by a $550 million (45 percent) increase in TANF funding from New York State since Fy 2010 after adjusting for inflation. While the State has increased funding to NYC, the federal allocation of the TANF block grant to New York State has remained unchanged – representing a decline in value of more than 35 percent – since TANF was created in 1996 under the guise of “welfare reform” in 1996. These increases may also be a result of funding shifts at the state level. In other words, this analysis does not illustrate federal decline in the value of the TANF block grant.

Primary Grants (shown in chart below): DSS’s five primary grant accounts for just seven percent of the agency’s federal grants and have fallen by $61 million since FY 2010 after adjusting for inflation, driven by the decline of RCDI, LIHEAP, and CSE.

City-Wide Grants: DSS’s five city-wide grants account for 93 percent of the agency’s budget and have increased by $273 million since FY 2010 after adjusting for inflation, driven by increased TANF funding, which offset declines in SNAP, SSBG, and HOPWA. Read about DSS’s city-wide grants.

Select a primary grant to show funding trends

FPWA analysis of NYC CAFR data. See more charts on Tableau and/or download the data

Why Federal Grants Matter to New Yorkers

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Current Funding: See How Federal Grants Support DSS in FY 2019

DSS Federal Funding – All

DSS’s FY19 Adopted Budget is more than $10 billion, of which 16 percent ($1.6 billion) comes from the federal government through thirteen individual grants. Of those, just three federal grants account for more than 80 percent of DSS’s federal grants.

FPWA analysis of NYC OMB Budget Function Analysis (FY19 Adopted Budget). See more charts on Tableau and/or download the data

DSS Federal Funding – By Program Area

DSS’s spending is divided into twenty-one program areas, also known as budget functions. Each program area relies on a mix of funding sources and is uniquely vulnerable to budget cuts. For example, Public Assistance Grants — which supports families and single adults in need of financial assistance — relies on the largest sum of federal grants ($581 million), while Home Energy Assistance — which supports funding for low income clients to help pay heating and cooling costs — relies on the largest share of federal grants (99 percent).

Select a Program Area to Explore Which Federal Grants It Relies Upon