Generate Savings by Restoring Funding for the Disability Advocacy Program

April 1, 2010

Author: Kristin Brown Lilley

Through the DAP program, legal services providers in every region of the state provide low income disabled New Yorkers with legal assistance when their SSI/SSD applications have been denied or their benefits terminated.  Many of the clients represented receive welfare benefits while they await a decision about their application.  For each successful case, the Social Security Administration provides a retroactive award to the client for benefits they would have received, beginning from the time of initial application and reimbursement to state and local governments for the benefits provided. With a success rate of 83% in 2007, the DAP program consistently generates federal reimbursement money for the state that exceeds the state funding used to provide the services.  Over the course of the past six years, the DAP program generated a total of  over $152 million in retroactive awards to clients to be spent in communities around the state and just under  $47 million in interim assistance paid to state and local governments. 

Unfortunately, the ability of DAP providers to continue to generate this type of savings is being eroded - from almost fifteen years of flat funding combined with recent cuts in the general funding that allows providers to assist those who are in the 100% state and local funded Safety Net program, which is where the majority of interim awards and retroactive benefits are generated from.

The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) which administers DAP estimates that for each Safety Net recipient DAP advocates secure Disability benefits for, $3180 in annual savings is generated.  Again, according to OTDA, for each TANF recipient we successfully help, $831 in annual savings is generated.  In 2008 alone DAP secured Disability benefits for 996 Safety Net recipients, and 388 TANF recipients generating almost $3.5 million in ongoing annual savings which compounds year after year, as these individuals stay off of state and local funded benefits and DAP helps more clients secure disability benefits.  

General funding for the Disability Advocacy Program (DAP) in the 2010-11 Executive Budget proposal is slated for a 10% reduction, on top of the 8% cut enacted in the 2009-10 State Budget.  In addition, TANF funding of $1 million has been eliminated and replaced with $2.5 million from the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund   – federal stimulus dollars that must be spent by September 30th 2010 and are only available for “short term, non recurrent” services.

Even before these funding reductions, providers have had to increasingly turn clients and thus potential savings for state and local government away due to lack of resources.  This lack of resources has resulted in a reduction in the number of cases programs can close.  Between 2004 and 2007, DAP saw an approximate 25% reduction in the number of cases closed.  

An informal survey of DAP providers conducted by Empire Justice in early December,  2009 found that despite high demand, providers have had to utilize strategies such as waiting lists, scheduling appointments months into the future, severely limited intake of new cases, and even temporarily shutting down intake so that advocates can catch up.  One program reported that they had an active case list of over 800 cases. Empire Justice only does intake two days a week for two hours because we are unable to meet the need.  Of those who responded, 80% of programs indicated that flat funding has resulted in being able to serve fewer clients and thus generate less savings for the state. Many have had to jeopardize the quality of services because they are unable to hire experienced staff.  Most have stopped doing any form of outreach or education about their services, as they simply can’t encourage people to call for assistance.  

Clearly the ability to keep bringing federal dollars into New York is being undermined by lack of funding. To help maintain the DAP program, we urge restoration of DAP funding at the 1995 – 2007 level of $5.74 million and a restoration of the $1 million in TANF Surplus funding and $1.5 million ECF. 

Please note that the general fund restoration would amount to just under $500,000, a result of the way the program is funded – with a local match which could be paid out of the interim assistance the state receives from the federal government.