County Calls on Federal Government to Restore Federal Funding

During Thursday’s Cortland County Legislative meeting, the Legislature voted unanimously calling for the federal government to restore funding immediately for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Child Care Development Fund, and Social Services Block Grant programs.

The county says the programs are administered at the local level through a combination of federal, state and local taxpayer dollars. Counties throughout the state administer the programs and are themselves responsible for determining eligibility, delivering services, and program integrity.

Back on January 6, the US Department of Health and Human Services informed New York State that it will withhold federal funding for the three programs. New York was one of several states affected by funding withheld totaling over $10 billion dollars.

Cortland County says a “blanket withholding” of federal funds threatens to destabilize essential services that are relied on by hundreds of thousands of families in the state and could exacerbate the ongoing affordability crisis, child care access, and shift costs onto county-funded Safety Net Assistance programs.

In their resolution, the county calls for the state and federal governments to work collaboratively to address any fraud concerns through existing oversight mechanisms, audits, and enforcements instead of a blanket funding freeze.