Gov slapped on fed $ loss
ALBANY — New York is losing out on millions in federal funds for domestic violence programs that have been frozen because Gov. Cuomo has not made good on a promise to fix problems with state policy on the issue.
Despite a vow to the federal Administration for Children and Families in November, Cuomo didn’t include fixes in his initial budget to bring New York into compliance with the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act or the Violence Against Women Act.
Assembly Social Services Committee Chairman Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens) flagged the discrepancy and blasted the governor for not following through on the pledge.
“Despite promising the federal government that New York State will provide funds for domestic violence survivors, Andrew Cuomo has lied and provided no additional funds,” he said. “Counties, domestic violence [help] providers and survivors of domestic violence will suffer as a result.”
The feds froze the funds, estimated to be about $2.5 million, last year after first reaching out to the state in June, alerting officials that New York was out of compliance with federal statutes. The state wasn’t ensuring domestic violence victims’ personal information was protected and was failing to check that service providers were not charging fees to survivors.
A letter to the state indicates that New York officials have “been aware of the confidentiality provisions for many years” and even received training on the subject. However, the state made domestic violence survivors fill out a public assistance form when seeking shelter, violating the federal statute protecting their privacy.
The federal government, which released half of the money to the state, said officials could comply by “providing survivors with information on how to apply for public assistance, but making it clear doing so is voluntary and is not necessary in order to receive shelter.”
Laura Velez, deputy state commissioner of child welfare and community services, told Kenya Fairley, the federal Administration for Children and Families acting director of Family Violence Prevention and Services, in a separate letter dated Nov. 21, 2018, that the state would include a proposal in this year’s budget that would “remove the public assistance application and fee requirements from [the] state statute.”
She also noted that the state would “commit funds to domestic violence in lieu of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds” during the freeze-out of federal money.
According to Hevesi, who initially provided the letter and other documentation to the Daily News, the Cuomo administration has indicated the state’s counties will make up the difference in domestic violence funds. “Counties, domestic violence providers and survivors of domestic violence will suffer as a result” of the governor’s inaction, Hevesi said.
Cuomo’s office countered by saying the final state budget, which has yet to be completed, will resolve the issue and noted no services have been affected.
The office also chalked up Hevesi’s position to a grudge held against the governor for locking up his dad, former state Controller Alan Hevesi, over a pension fund scandal more than a decade ago when Cuomo served as attorney general.