Derek Thomas, Senior Fiscal Policy Analyst | Gaurav Gupta-Casale, Fiscal Policy Analyst | Ana Maria Camelo Vega, Former Policy Fellow

Following the 2016 election, FPWA member agencies expressed grave concern about the impact of federal fiscal policies on New York City’s social services budget and sector. Our members — many of whom have been fighting poverty on the frontlines for more than a century – rely on federal funding to provide care for older adults, the youth, people living with mental illness, and persons with physical disabilities. They’re also stamping out hunger, offering safety and services for survivors of domestic violence, building skills and breaking down barriers for individuals locked out of the workforce, and working to integrate the justice-involved into their communities.

In response, we created the FPWA Federal Funds Tracker to foster greater awareness of and engagement in the federal budget process through data, storytelling, and action. 

The Federal Funds Tracker reveals that, following a decade of austerity and misplaced priorities, all federal grants to New York City have fallen by nearly $2 billion since FY 2010 after adjusting for inflation. This includes more than $300 million in social service grants, as well as funding for education, transportation, and environmental protection. By tracking grants for individual agencies, including the Administration of Children’s Services, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Youth and Community Development, and the Department for the Aging, the Federal Funds Tracker shines a light on the nearly $76 million lost in funding to, among others, effective poverty fighting tools, programs to support the needs of our children and older adults, and grants to assist New Yorkers who cannot meet their basic needs.